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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 158 / Thursday, August 19, 2021 / Proposed Rules
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for general service lamps to establish more stringent standards than EPCA
specifies, and 2 whether the exemptions for certain incandescent lamps should be maintained or discontinued. 42 U.S.C.
6295i6Ai. In developing such a rule, DOE must consider a minimum efficacy standard of 45 lumens per watt lm/W. 42 U.S.C. 6295i6Aii.
Further, if the Secretary determines that the standards in effect for GSILs should be amended, EPCA provides that a final rule must be published by January 1, 2017, with an effective date at least three years after the date on which the final rule is published. 42 U.S.C.
6295i6Aiii. Additionally, EPCA
directs that the Secretary shall consider phased-in effective dates after considering certain economic factors. 42
U.S.C. 6295i6Aiv. If DOE fails to complete a rulemaking in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 6295i6Aiiv, or if a final rule from the first rulemaking cycle does not produce savings greater than or equal to the savings from a minimum efficacy standard of 45 lm/W, the statute provides a backstop under which DOE must prohibit sales of GSLs that do not meet a minimum 45 lm/W
standard. 42 U.S.C. 6295i6Av.
EPCA further directs DOE to initiate a second rulemaking cycle by January 1, 2020, to determine whether standards in effect for GSILs which are a subset of GSLs should be amended with more stringent maximum wattage requirements than EPCA specifies, and whether the exemptions for certain incandescent lamps should be maintained or discontinued. 42 U.S.C.
6295i6Bi. As in the first rulemaking cycle, the scope of the second rulemaking is not limited to incandescent lamp technologies. 42
U.S.C. 6295i6Bii.
In addition to the two mandated rulemaking cycles, under the statutory definition of GSL, DOE has authority to include lamps as GSLs upon determining that they are used to satisfy lighting applications traditionally served by general service incandescent lamps. 42 U.S.C.
629130BBiIV.
B. March 2016 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and October 2016 Notice of Proposed Definition and Data Availability Pursuant to its statutory authority, DOE published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on March 17, 2016 that addressed the first question that Congress directed it to consider whether to amend energy conservation standards for GSLs March 2016
NOPR. 81 FR 14528, 1462914630

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Mar. 17, 2016. In that NOPR, DOE
stated that it would be unable to undertake any analysis regarding GSILs and other incandescent lamps because of a then-applicable congressional restriction the Appropriations Rider.
See Id. at 81 FR 14528, 1454014541.
The Appropriations Rider prohibited expenditure of funds appropriated by that law to implement or enforce: 1 10
CFR 430.32x, which includes maximum wattage and minimum rated lifetime requirements for GSILs; and 2
standards set forth in section 325i1B of EPCA 42 U.S.C.
6295i1B, which sets minimum lamp efficiency ratings for incandescent reflector lamps IRLs. Under the Appropriations Rider, DOE was restricted from undertaking the analysis required to address the first question presented by Congress, but was not so limited in addressing the second questionthat is, DOE was not prevented from determining whether the exemptions for certain incandescent lamps should be maintained or discontinued. To address that second question, DOE published a Notice of Proposed Definition and Data Availability NOPDDA, which proposed to amend the definitions of GSIL, GSL, and related terms October 2016 NOPDDA. 81 FR 71794, 71815
Oct. 18, 2016. Notably, the Appropriations Rider originally was adopted in 2011 and was readopted and extended continuously in multiple subsequent legislative actions. It expired on May 5, 2017, when the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 was enacted.4
C. January 2017 Final Rules On January 19, 2017, DOE published two final rules concerning the definitions of GSL, GSIL, and related terms. 82 FR 7276; 82 FR 7322 January 2017 Final Rules. The January 2017
Final Rules amended the definitions of GSIL and GSL by bringing certain categories of lamps within the definitions of GSIL and GSL that EPCA
had exempted. These two rules were issued simultaneously, with the first rule maintaining the existing exemption for IRLs in the definition of GSL and the second rulemaking determining to discontinue the IRL exemption. See 82
FR 7312; 82 FR 7323. The January 2017
Final Rules related only to the second question that Congress directed DOE to consider, regarding whether to maintain or discontinue exemptions for certain incandescent lamps. 42 U.S.C.
4 See Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017
Pub. L. 11531, div. D, tit. III; see also Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 Pub. L.
115141.

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6295i6AiII. DOE explained in the rule that the discontinuation of certain exemptions would render the lamps within those exemptions GSLs, to the extent they would otherwise qualify as GSLs. For certain lamps, the discontinuation of the exemption may also render the lamp a GSIL, to the extent it would otherwise qualify as a GSIL. 82 FR 7277. DOE stated that it would then either impose standards on these lamps pursuant to its authority to develop GSL standards or apply the backstop standard prohibiting the sale of lamps not meeting a 45 lm/W efficacy standard. 82 FR 7276, 7277. The definitions in the January 2017 Final Rules were to become effective on January 1, 2020. 82 FR 7276, 7276; 82
FR 7322, 7322.
D. September 2019 Withdrawal Rule and Subsequent Review With the removal of the Appropriations Rider in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, DOE was no longer restricted from undertaking the analysis and decisionmaking required to address the first question presented by Congressthat is, whether to amend energy conservation standards for GSLs, including GSILs.
Thus, on August 15, 2017, DOE
published a Notice of Data Availability and request for information NODA
seeking data for GSILs and other incandescent lamps August 2017
NODA. 82 FR 38613.
The purpose of the August 2017
NODA was to assist DOE in determining whether standards for GSILs should be amended. 42 U.S.C. 6295i6AiI.
Comments submitted in response to the August 2017 NODA also led DOE to reconsider the decisions it had already made with respect to the second question presented to DOE whether the exemptions for certain incandescent lamps should be maintained or discontinued. 42 U.S.C.
6295i6AiII. As a result of the comments received in response to the August 2017 NODA, DOE also reassessed the legal interpretations underlying certain decisions made in the January 2017 Final Rules.
On February 11, 2019, DOE published a NOPR proposing to withdraw the revised definitions of GSL and GSIL, and the new and revised definitions of related terms that were to go into effect on January 1, 2020. 84 FR 3120. In a final rule published September 5, 2019, DOE finalized the withdrawal of the definitions of GSIL, GSL, and related terms established in the January 2017
Final Rules. 84 FR 46661 September 2019 Withdrawal Rule. Informed, in part, by comments received in response
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