Department of Energy May 30, 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Energy (``DOE'') issues this interim final rule (``IFR'') amending the regulations implementing the loan guarantee provisions in Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (``Title XVII'') to implement provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (``IRA'') that expand or modify the authorities applicable to the Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program. Specifically, this IFR: establishes regulations necessary to implement the Energy Implementation Reinvestment (``EIR'') Program and other categories of projects authorized by the IRA for Title XVII loan guarantees; revises provisions directly related to DOE's implementation of the Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program as expanded by the IRA; amends provisions to conform with the broader changes to the Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program; and revises certain sections for clarity and organization. DOE is issuing an IFR due to the urgency to implement an additional potential $290 billion of loan authority for loan guarantees prior to the loan guarantee authority expiration in 2026 and to provide the opportunity for all eligible projects to seek loan guarantees under the new IRA provisions. The amendments in this IFR also facilitate the increased volume of applications resulting from the new authorities and funding in the IRA and provide efficiencies in the loan processing.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended (``EPCA''), prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including consumer pool heaters. EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'' or ``the Department'') to periodically determine whether more- stringent, standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would result in significant energy savings. In this final rule, DOE is adopting new and amended energy conservation standards for consumer pool heaters. It has determined that the new and amended energy conservation standards for these products would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.