Voglio sapere a riguardo di…

70954

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 14, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
regulatory actions such as issuance of a test procedure rulemaking notice. DOE
further notes that 10 CFR 430.27c1
and 10 CFR 431.401c1 require each petitioner for interim waiver, upon publication of a grant of an interim waiver in the Federal Register, notify in writing all known manufacturers of domestically marketed basic models of the same product or equipment class as specified in 10 CFR 430.32 or the relevant subpart of 10 CFR part 431 and of other product or equipment classes known to the petitioner to use the technology or have the characteristic at issue in the waiver.12 The notification must include a statement that DOE has published the interim waiver and petition for waiver in the Federal Register and the date the petition for waiver was published. The notification must also include a statement that DOE
will receive and consider timely written comments on the petition for waiver.
In this final rule, DOE finalizes the amendments as proposed in the August 2021 NOPR to specify the contents of a complete petition for interim waiver, to formalize the process by which DOE
will respond to incomplete petitions, and to specify the information that must be provided in a request to extend a waiver to additional basic models.

jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with RULES1

D. Duration of Applicability of Interim Waivers and Waivers DOE proposed amendments to 10 CFR
430.27h and 10 CFR 431.401h, which specify the duration of applicability of interim waivers and waivers. The current regulations provide that upon publication in the Federal Register of a new or amended test procedure that addresses the issues presented in a waiver, an interim waiver will cease to be in effect. 10 CFR 430.27h1ii and 10 CFR 431.401h1ii. Under this provision, a manufacturer can no longer rely on an interim waiver upon the publication date of a new or amended test procedure. In contrast, final waivers automatically terminate on the date on which use of such test procedure is 12 Similarly, 10 CFR 430.27c2 and 10 CFR
431.401c2 require that if a petitioner does not request an interim waiver and notification has not been provided pursuant to paragraph c1, each petitioner, after filing a petition for waiver with DOE, and after the petition for waiver has been published in the Federal Register, must, within five working days of such publication, notify in writing all known manufacturers of domestically marketed units of the same product or equipment class as listed in 10 CFR 430.32 or the relevant subpart of 10 CFR part 431 and of other product or equipment classes known to the petitioner to use the technology or have the characteristic at issue in the waiver. The notification must include a statement that DOE has published the petition in the Federal Register and the date the petition for waiver was published.

VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:20 Dec 13, 2021

Jkt 256001

required to demonstrate compliance i.e., a certain amount of time after the date of publication in the Federal Register. To ensure equitable treatment of final waivers and interim waivers that are in place at the time a test procedure final rule publishes, DOE proposed to specify that final waivers and interim waivers both automatically terminate on the compliance date of the amended test procedure that addresses the issues presented in a waiver or interim waiver.
DOE requested comments on its proposal to specify that interim waivers in place at the time a test procedure final rule is published will automatically terminate on the compliance date of the amended test procedure.
Joint Commenters, Carrier, and MIAQ
supported DOEs proposal to specify that final waivers and interim waivers both automatically terminate on the compliance date of the amended test procedure, stating that this would ensure equitable treatment of manufacturers complying under both final waivers and interim waivers.
Carrier, No. 66 at p. 3; MIAQ, No. 61
at p. 3; Joint Commenters, No. 69 at p.
4 BWC supported waivers and interim waivers terminating when the new or revised test procedure becomes effective, rather than when it is published. BWC, No. 68 at p. 2
NAFEM stated that a blanket rule on terminating interim waivers is improper and that only waivers that were clearly addressed by the new test procedure can be terminated, but that others not addressed should be allowed to stand, as appropriate. NAFEM, No. 62 at p. 4
Lennox noted that the proposed regulatory text for the commercial provisions at 10 CFR 431.401h2 is missing the word terminate. Lennox, No. 60 at p. 8
The proposed provisions specified that when DOE amends the test procedure to address the issues presented in a waiver emphasis added, the waiver or interim waiver would automatically terminate on the compliance date of the amended test procedure. Were DOE to publish an amended test procedure that did not address the issues presented in a particular waiver or interim waiver e.g., an amended test procedure was necessary to make limited and specific corrections, or the timing of a test procedure final rule did not afford full consideration of a granted waiver or interim waiver, such waiver or interim waiver would continue to apply until such time as DOE amends the test procedure to address the issues presented in such waiver or interim waiver.

PO 00000

Frm 00010

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

This final rule finalizes the amendments as proposed in the August 2021 NOPR to specify that when DOE
amends a test procedure to address the issues presented in a waiver, the waiver or interim waiver will automatically terminate on the compliance date of the amended test procedure. This final rule also adds the word terminate at 10
CFR 431.401h2, which was missing in the proposed regulatory text of the August 2021 NOPR. In addition, DOE is also adopting language at 10 CFR
430.27h4 and 10 CFR 431.401h4
to specify when an existing waiver terminates following the issuance of a modified waiver.
E. Transition Period for Compliance With Decision and Order or Amended Test Procedure DOE proposed amendments to 10 CFR
430.27i and 10 CFR 431.401i Compliance Certification to clearly state the transition period for compliance with a decision and order or test procedure final rule. These amendments are necessary to make clear the transition periods for scenarios not previously addressed by these provisions. As proposed, these provisions would apply to required certifications and any representations.
DOE proposed to specify at 10 CFR
430.27i1 13 and 10 CFR 431.401i1
that manufacturers have 180 days or up to 360 days, as applicable for commercial equipment and as specified by DOE in the final decision and order to comply with a decision and order or test procedure methodology, unless otherwise specified by DOE in the decision and order. DOE also proposed to specify at 10 CFR 430.27i1 and 10
CFR 431.401i1 that once a manufacturer uses the decision and order test procedure methodology in a certification report or any representation, all subsequent certification reports and any representations would be required to be made using the decision and order test procedure methodology while the waiver is valid.14
In addition, DOE proposed similar amendments to clarify when certification reports and any representations are required to be based on a new or amended test procedure.
Specifically, DOE proposed that 10 CFR
13 In the August 2021 NOPR, these proposed amendments were inadvertently included in the proposed regulatory text at 10 CFR 430.27i rather than at 10 CFR 430.27i1 as indicated by the preamble discussion.
14 This aspect of the proposal was included in the proposed regulatory amendments at 10 CFR
431.401i1 but was inadvertently omitted from the proposed amendments to 10 CFR 430.27i1.

E:FRFM14DER1.SGM

14DER1