The Honorable Jennifer M. Granholm, Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy (March 13, 2024)

Summary

This letter dated March 13, 2024 is signed in the name of Roger Williams, Chairman, Committee on Small Business, and is addressed to Secretary Granholm of the Department of Energy. The Committee requests further information about the Department of Energy's decision making and practices relating to the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). It says the Committee has sent a total of five letters and that the Department has failed to produce any requested communications. The letter requests complete responses to the document requests no later than March 27, 2024, covering rules on energy conservation standards for distribution transformers, battery chargers, ceiling fans, and commercial refrigerators, freezers, and refrigerator-freezers.

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                                              March 13, 2024

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 (the Committee) writes to request further
information about the Department of Energy’s (DoE) decision making and practices relating to
the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The Committee has sent a total of five letters requesting
communications and other information about the economic impact analyses for certain rules.
While the DoE has responded to some of the Committee’s requests in narrative form, to date, the
DoE has failed to produce any requested communications.

        As you are well aware, the RFA requires agencies to identify and take steps to mitigate
any possible significant economic impact on small entities, including the consideration of less
impactful alternatives to the rule.1 Although the DoE has claimed to recognize “the important
role small businesses play in our economy,” the Biden Administration’s regulatory agenda has
had a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities.2 In fact, the DoE alone has
pushed 1,246 paperwork hours and $23.9 billion in costs onto American businesses since
President Biden took office.3

         On February 22, 2023, the Committee launched this investigation by sending a letter to
the DoE requesting communications and information regarding compliance with the RFA.4 Since
then, the Committee has sent an additional four letters to the DoE requesting communications
and information for specific rules. The DoE has failed to produce a single communication in
response to any of these letters. Further, the DoE has failed to provide any valid reason for
withholding these documents. The lack of transparency and willingness to be forthright with the
Committee is unacceptable.

1
  See 5 U.S.C §§ 602-612.
2
  Letter from Ron Pierce, Director, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Dep’t of Energy, to
Rodger Williams, Chairman, H. Comm. On Small Bus. (Apr. 12. 2023).
3
  Explore the Data, Regulation Rodeo, AM. ACTION FORUM (last visited Mar. 7, 2024),
https://regrodeo.com/?year%5B0%5D=2024&year%5B1%5D=2023&year%5B2%5D=2022&year%5B3%5D=2021
&agency%5B0%5D=Energy.
4
  See Letter from Roger Williams, Chairman, H. Comm. on Small Bus., to Jennifer M. Granholm, Secretary, U.S.
Dep’t of Energy (Feb. 22, 2023).
The Honorable Jennifer M. Granholm
March 13, 2024
Page 2 of 2

        America’s small businesses deserve to have their voices heard and considered. In
furtherance of the Committee’s investigation into the DoE’s decisions in complying with the
RFA, the Committee is requesting complete responses to the document requests below, which
incorporate and narrow its outstanding documents requests, no later than March 27, 2024.

      1. All communications, including but not limited to emails, between and among Department
         personnel relating to the RFA, impact analyses, compliance burdens, and the
         determination of whether there will be a “significant impact on a substantial number of
         businesses” for the following proposed rules and time periods:
             a. Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Distribution
                Transformers from January 1, 2022, to January 11, 2023.
             b. Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Battery
                Chargers from March 1, 2022, to March 15, 2023.
             c. Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Ceiling Fans
                from June 1, 2022, through June 22, 2023.
             d. Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Commercial
                Refrigerators, Freezers, and Refrigerator-Freezers from October 1, 2022, through
                October 10, 2023.

       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
                                          Chairman
                                  Committee on Small Business




cc:      The Honorable Nydia M. Velazquez, Ranking Member
         Committee on Small Business


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