The Honorable Jennifer M. Granholm, Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy (November 2, 2023)

Summary

Letter dated November 2, 2023, from the House Committee on Small Business to Jennifer M. Granholm, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, about the proposed rule change to energy conservation standards for commercial refrigeration equipment. The Committee says the rule would require small businesses that make the equipment to abandon or redesign many product lines and that the Department of Energy may not have properly considered small entities. It requests information by November 16, 2023, including the cost burden of trial standard level 4 compared with level 5, the conversion cost to revenue rate in Table VI.1, and the effect of a 60-day comment period instead of the recommended 75 days. The signature block lists Roger Williams, Dan Meuser, Maria Salazar, Marc Molinaro, Mark Alford and Aaron Bean.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

                                            November 2, 2023

The Honorable Jennifer M. Granholm
Secretary
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave. SW
Washington, DC 20585

Dear Secretary Granholm:

       The House Committee on Small Business writes to inquire about the recent proposed rule
change to the energy conservation standards for commercial refrigeration equipment. This
proposed rule would decrease the maximum estimated energy consumption permissible for
commercial refrigeration equipment.1 This rule would require the small businesses that
manufacture commercial refrigeration equipment to abandon or redesign many of their product
lines—an extremely costly endeavor.2 It appears that the Department of Energy (DOE) may not
have properly considered small entities during this rulemaking process.

       It is important for agencies to examine small business interests—which make up 99.9
percent of all businesses in the United States—when passing any new rule. America’s small
businesses deserve to have their voices heard and considered. We therefore request the following
information as soon as possible but no later than November 16, 2023:

    1. What is the estimated cost burden to small businesses that manufacture commercial
       refrigeration equipment if trial standard level 4 was implemented as compared to the
       proposed regulation, which uses trial standard level 5?3

    2. Since 2018, how many regulation compliance exceptions has DOE’s Office of Hearings
       and Appeals granted annually to small businesses that manufacture commercial
       refrigeration equipment?

    3. In Table VI.1, DOE estimates a nearly 10 percent conversion cost to revenue rate for
       Manufacture C—does DOE believe this to be reasonable given the average rate of 1.7
       percent?4

1
  Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Commercial Refrigerators, Freezers, and
Refrigerator-Freezers, 88 FR 70196 (to be codified at 10 C.F.R. § 431).
2
  Id. at 70297-8.
3
  Id. at 70257-8.
4
  Id. at 70298.
The Honorable Jennifer M. Granholm
November 2, 2023
Page 2 of 2


    4. In Table VI.1, DOE estimates a nearly 10 percent conversion cost to revenue rate for
       Manufacture E—does DOE believe this to be reasonable given the average rate of 1.7
       percent?5

    5. What additional costs would a small business, such as a restaurant, incur when
       purchasing new commercial refrigeration equipment that complies with these updated
       standards?

    6. Does the DOE anticipate that only accepting comments for 60 days, instead of the
       recommended 75 days, will reduce the number of comments it receives from small
       businesses? 6

       To schedule the delivery of your response or ask any related follow-up questions, please
contact the Committee on Small Business Majority Staff at (202) 225-5821. The Committee on
Small Business has broad authority to investigate “problems of all types of small business” under
House Rule X. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this inquiry.

                                              In God We Trust,



_________________________                                    _________________________
Roger Williams                                               Dan Meuser
Chairman                                                     Member
Committee on Small Business                                  Committee on Small Business



_________________________                                    _________________________
Maria Salazar                                                Marc Molinaro
Member                                                       Member
Committee on Small Business                                  Committee on Small Business



_________________________                                    _________________________
Mark Alford                                                  Aaron Bean
Member                                                       Member
Committee on Small Business                                  Committee on Small Business


5
 Id. at 70298.
6
  Procedures, Interpretations, and Policies for Consideration of New or Revised Energy Conservation Standards and
Test Procedures for Consumer Products and Certain Commercial/Industrial Equipment 10 C.F.R. § 430 (Appendix
A to Subpart C).


File and source

File

2023-11-02_HouseSBC-Majority-to-doe_letter-to-doe-re-commercial-refrigeration.pdf

Size

202,867 bytes

SHA-256

8c309f85ca484a5d16e652d61ed071f4c50c7017e140e817b9af1c8be9aed680

Our copy

2023-11-02_HouseSBC-Majority-to-doe_letter-to-doe-re-commercial-refrigeration.pdf

Original

smallbusiness.house.gov