On February 21, APGA submitted comments in response to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNOPR) pertaining to revised energy performance standards for new and renovated federal buildings. Through the comments, APGA urged DOE to withdraw the SNOPR.
In 2007, Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA). Section 433 of EISA directed DOE to establish regulations that would require “fossil fuel-generated energy consumption” reductions for certain new federal buildings and federal buildings undergoing major renovations. For applicable buildings, Section 433 mandated that the buildings be designed so that a building's “fossil fuel-generated energy consumption” is reduced as compared with such energy consumption by a similar building in fiscal year 2003.
The SNOPR will have an impact on many APGA members, as public gas systems deliver natural gas to many federal buildings and facilities. DOE attempted to promulgate such regulations in both 2010 and 2014. APGA submitted comments in opposition to both previous proposals. APGA also has long pushed for the repeal of Section 433. In this current SNOPR, DOE attempted to redefine “fossil fuel-generated energy consumption” to only include site energy as opposed to considering both site and source energy. If finalized, DOE would exceed its authority granted by Congress through Section 433 of EISA. Accordingly, APGA argued that the agency must withdraw the SNOPR.
APGA also argued that withdrawal was appropriate because DOE relied on dated and flawed environmental information in addition to failing to prepare certain analyses necessary for such a significant rulemaking. Furthermore, if DOE were to finalize the SNOPR, it would be promulgating poor public policy that neither guarantees energy savings nor emissions reductions. APGA pointed to these flaws of the SNOPR as additional reasons for why the SNOPR should be withdrawn.
A copy APGA’s comment letter is available here.
APGA also joined several trade associations from across the natural gas industry in signing onto a comment letter that also urged the agency not to finalize the SNOPR. A copy of the joint comment letter is available here.
While APGA and others requested an extension of the comment period, DOE did not respond to that request before the end of the comment period. Accordingly, APGA submitted comments on February 21. However, since then, DOE has announced the extension of the comment period by an additional 30 days. APGA staff is evaluating whether additional comments should be submitted.
For questions on this article, please contact Stuart Saulters of APGA staff by phone at 202-802-0493 or by email at ssaulters@apga.org.