(a) Scope and purpose. The regulations in this section describe an optional procedure through which the Department of Energy may accept and consider submissions regarding possible Errors in its rules under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 6291-6317). This section applies to rules establishing or amending energy conservation standards under the Act, except that this section does not apply to direct final rules issued pursuant to section 325(p)(4) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 6295(p)(4)).

(b) Definitions.

Act means the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, as amended (42 U.S.C. 6291-6317).

Error means an aspect of the regulatory text of a rule that is inconsistent with what the Secretary intended regarding the rule at the time of posting. Examples of possible mistakes that might give rise to Errors include:

(i) A typographical mistake that causes the regulatory text to differ from how the preamble to the rule describes the rule;

(ii) A calculation mistake that causes the numerical value of an energy conservation standard to differ from what technical support documents would justify; or

(iii) A numbering mistake that causes a cross-reference to lead to the wrong text.

Rule means a rule establishing or amending an energy conservation standard under the Act.

Secretary means the Secretary of Energy or an official with delegated authority to perform a function of the Secretary of Energy under this section.

(c) Posting of rules. (1) It is within in the sole discretion of the Secretary to make a rule available to the public to review for Errors in the document's regulatory text.

(2) If a rule is made available for review, the Secretary ordinarily will keep the document posted for a period of 45 calendar days, but the Secretary in his or her discretion (while remaining consistent with his or her statutory obligations under EPCA and other legal obligations when promulgating an energy conservation standard) may shorten or lengthen the time period during which the rule document is posted.

(3) Any rule document posted pursuant to paragraph (c)(1) of this section shall bear the following disclaimer: Notice: The text of this rule is subject to correction based on the identification of errors as defined in 10 CFR 430.5 before publication in the Federal Register. Readers are requested to notify the United States Department of Energy, by email at [EMAIL ADDRESS PROVIDED IN POSTED NOTICE], of any typographical or other errors, as described in such regulations, by no later than midnight on [DATE SPECIFIED IN THE POSTING OF THE DOCUMENT ON THE DEPARTMENT'S WEBSITE], in order that DOE may make any necessary corrections in the regulatory text submitted to the Office of the Federal Register for publication.

(d) Request for error-correction review. (1) A person identifying an Error subject to this section may request that the Secretary review a potential Error. Such a request must ordinarily be submitted within 45 calendar days of the posting of the rule pursuant to paragraph (c)(1) of this section. The Secretary in his or her discretion may shorten or lengthen the time period during which such requests may be submitted.

(2)(i) A request under this section must identify a potential Error with particularity. The request must specify the regulatory text claimed to be erroneous. The request must also provide text that the requester contends would be a correct substitute. If a requester is unable to identify a correct substitute, the requester may submit a request that states that the requester is unable to determine what text would be correct and explains why the requester is unable to do so. The request must also substantiate the claimed Error by citing evidence from the existing record of the rulemaking, demonstrating that the regulatory text of the rule is inconsistent with what the Secretary intended the text to be.

(ii) A person's disagreement with any policy choices or discretionary decisions that are contained in the rule will not constitute a valid basis for a request under this section. All policy and discretionary decisions with regard to whether to establish or amend any conservation standard and, if so, the appropriate level at which to amend or establish that standard, remain within the sole discretion of the Secretary without regard to the procedures established in this section.

(3) The evidence to substantiate a request (or evidence of the Error itself) must be in the record of the rulemaking at the time of posting the rule, which may include an accompanying preamble. The Secretary will not consider new evidence submitted in connection with an error-correction request.

(4) A request under this section must be filed in electronic format by email to the address that the disclaimer to the rule designates for error-correction requests. Should filing by email not be feasible, the requester should contact the program point of contact designated in the rule order to ascertain an appropriate alternative means of filing an error-correction request.

(5) A request that does not comply with the requirements of this section will not be considered.

(e) Correction of rules. The Secretary may respond to a request for correction under paragraph (d) of this section or address an Error discovered on the Secretary's own initiative by submitting to the Office of the Federal Register either a corrected rule or the rule as previously posted.

(f) Publication in the Federal Register. (1) If, after receiving one or more properly filed requests for correction, the Secretary decides not to undertake any corrections, the Secretary will submit the rule for publication to the Office of the Federal Register as it was posted pursuant to paragraph (c)(1) of this section.

(2) If the Secretary receives no properly filed requests after posting a rule and identifies no Errors on the Secretary's own initiative, the Secretary will submit the rule, as it was posted pursuant to paragraph (c)(1) of this section, to the Office of the Federal Register for publication. This will occur after the period prescribed pursuant to paragraph (c)(2) of this section has elapsed.

(3) If the Secretary receives a properly filed request after posting a rule pursuant to paragraph (c)(1) of this section and determines that a correction is necessary, or discovers an Error on the Secretary's own initiative, the Secretary will, absent extenuating circumstances, submit a corrected rule for publication in the Federal Register within 30 days after the period prescribed by paragraph (c)(2) of this section has elapsed.

(4) Consistent with the Act, compliance with an energy conservation standard will be required upon the specified compliance date as published in the relevant rule in the Federal Register.

(5) Consistent with the Administrative Procedure Act, and other applicable law, the Secretary will ordinarily designate an effective date for a rule under this section that is no less than 30 days after the publication of the rule in the Federal Register.

(6) When the Secretary submits a rule for publication, the Secretary will make publicly available a written statement indicating how any properly filed requests for correction were handled.

(g) Alteration of standards. Until an energy conservation standard has been published in the Federal Register, the Secretary may correct such standard, consistent with the Administrative Procedure Act.

(h) Judicial review. For determining the prematurity, timeliness, or lateness of a petition for judicial review pursuant to section 336(b) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 6306), a rule is considered “prescribed” on the date when the rule is published in the Federal Register.

[81 FR 57757, Aug. 24, 2016], as amended at 89 FR 22924, Apr. 3, 2024