Energy Dominance Financing Amendments

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY <CFR>10 CFR Part 609</CFR> <DEPDOC>[DOE-HQ-2025-0174]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 1901-AB72</RIN> <SUBJECT>Energy Dominance Financing Amendments</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Loan Programs Office, Department of Energy (DOE). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Interim final rule; request for comments. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> This interim final rule amends the Department of Energy's loan guarantee regulations to implement the Energy Dominance Financing provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. This interim final rule expands the definition, criteria, and requirements of certain eligible projects under the loan guarantee program, and makes revisions for clarity, organization, and conformance with the recent enactment. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This interim final rule is effective October 28, 2025. DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding this interim final rule no later than December 29, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Interested persons may submit comments, identified by RIN 1901-AB72 by any of the following methods: <E T="03">Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov</E> . Follow the instructions for submitting comments. <E T="03">Electronic Mail (Email): LPO.IFR@hq.doe.gov</E> . Include RIN 1901-AB72 in the subject line of the message. <E T="03">Postal Mail:</E> Loan Programs Office, Attn: LPO Legal Department, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121. Please submit one signed original paper copy. Due to potential delays in DOE's receipt and processing of mail sent through the U.S. Postal Service, we encourage respondents to submit comments electronically to ensure timely receipt. <E T="03">Hand Delivery/Courier:</E> U.S. Department of Energy, Room 4B-122, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121. No telefacsimiles (faxes) will be accepted. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional information on the rulemaking process, see section III of this document, <E T="03">Public Participation</E> . <E T="03">Docket:</E> The docket for this rulemaking, which includes <E T="04">Federal Register</E> notices, comments, and other supporting documents and materials, is available for review at <E T="03">www.regulations.gov</E> . All documents in the docket are listed in the <E T="03">www.regulations.gov</E> index. However, some documents listed in the index, such as those containing information that is exempt from public disclosure, may not be publicly available. The docket web page can be found at the <E T="03">www.regulations.gov</E> web page associated with RIN 1901-AB72, or at <E T="03">www.regulations.gov/docket/DOE-HQ-2025-0174</E> . The docket web page contains simple instructions on how to access all documents, including public comments, in the docket. See section III of this document, <E T="03">Public Participation,</E> for information on how to submit comments through <E T="03">www.regulations.gov</E> . <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Ms. Chelsea Sexton, Program Officer, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121, email: <E T="03">LPO.IFR@hq.doe.gov,</E> or telephone: (202) 586-1092. Mr. Uchechukwu “Emeka” Eze, Attorney-Advisor, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121, email: <E T="03">LPO.IFR@hq.doe.gov,</E> or telephone: (202) 586-1092. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Introduction</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. One Big Beautiful Bill Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. 10 CFR Part 609 Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Discussion</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Interim Final Rule Overview</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Section-by-Section Analysis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Public Participation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Procedural Requirements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Executive Order 12866 and Executive Order 14192</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Administrative Procedure Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Regulatory Flexibility Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Executive Order 12988</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Executive Order 13132</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. Executive Order 13175</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act of 1999</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">K. Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">L. Executive Order 13211</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">M. Congressional Review Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Approval of the Office of the Secretary</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Introduction</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. One Big Beautiful Bill Act</HD> The Department of Energy's (“DOE”) Loan Programs Office (“LPO”) administers Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (“Title XVII”). <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> Since its initial enactment, Congress has made substantial amendments to Title XVII, including through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (“IIJA”)  <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”). <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> For example, section 50144 of the IRA amended Title XVII to introduce a loan guarantee program (“section 1706”) for projects that (1) retool, repower, repurpose, or replace energy infrastructure that has ceased operations, or (2) enable operating energy infrastructure to avoid, reduce, utilize, or sequester air pollutants, including anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> More recently, Congress passed and the President signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBBA”) on July 4, 2025, which includes substantial amendments to section 1706, and Title XVII. <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  Public Law 109-58, title XVII (2005), as amended; 42 U.S.C. 16511 <E T="03">et seq.</E> </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  Public Law 117-58 (2021). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>  Public Law 117-169 (2022). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>   <E T="03">Id.</E> at Sec. 50144(c). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>  Public Law 119-21, Sec. 50403 (2025). </FTNT> The Energy Dominance Financing provisions of OBBBA amended section 1706 to now authorize the Secretary of Energy (“Secretary”) to guarantee loans of up to a total principal amount of $250 billion through September 30, 2028. Additionally, the Energy Dominance Financing provisions amended the definitions and criteria used to determine section 1706 eligible projects and eliminated certain section 1706 application and project requirements. The cumulative effect of the Energy Dominance Financing amendments to Title XVII is a material expansion of the types of projects eligible for loan guarantees from DOE. DOE is therefore revising 10 CFR part 609 (“part 609”) through this interim final rule (“IFR”) and requesting comments to implement the Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program, as modified, and fully and timely meet the ambitious timeline of guaranteeing loans under section 1706 prior to expiration. DOE is also modifying the colloquial name of section 1706 projects from Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (“EIR”) to Energy Dominance Financing (“EDF”) projects. Section 1706 is still entitled: “Energy infrastructure reinvestment financing;” however, this rebranding is meant to reflect the material changes to the loan program established by OBBBA, as well as the type and volume of projects DOE anticipates. <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. 10 CFR Part 609 Background</HD> Title XVII, as amended, provides the Secretary the authority to issue loan guarantees for certain eligible projects, including innovative energy projects and energy infrastructure reinvestment projects. <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> DOE has administered the Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program pursuant to its regulations set forth at part 609, as required by the authorizing statute. <SU>7</SU> <FTREF/> Part 609 sets forth the policies and procedures that DOE uses for the application process, which includes receiving, evaluating, and approving applications for loan guarantees to support eligible projects under Title XVII. <SU>8</SU> <FTREF/> Part 609 applies to all applications, conditional commitments, and loan guarantee agreements under the Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program and provides specific guidance to program applicants regarding eligibility for the program, the loan guarantee application process and requirements, criteria for DOE's evaluation of applications, and the process for negotiation and execution of a loan guarantee agreement term sheet, conditional commitment, and loan guarantee agreement. Part 609 also describes the terms applicable to the loan guarantee. <FTNT> <SU>6</SU>  Public Law 109-58, title XVII (2005), as amended; 42 U.S.C. 16511 <E T="03">et seq.</E> </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>7</SU>  42 U.S.C. 16515(b), (d). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>8</SU>  DOE has historically provided additional guidance to applicants and established requirements applicable to the Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program in the solicitations for loan guarantee applications, which are issued and updated from time to time. </FTNT> Following DOE's issuance of initial guidelines and an initial solicitation for pre-applications for the program in 2006, DOE promulgated the original part 609 to implement and issue loan guarantees under the program in 2007. <SU>9</SU> <FTREF/> In 2009, DOE amended part 609 to accommodate additional flexibility regarding liens and other collateral utilized for securing guaranteed loans. <SU>10</SU> <FTREF/> DO ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 43k characters. 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