Department of Energy January 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508 and 10 CFR part 1021, respectively), the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), an agency within the DOE, announces its intent to prepare a supplemental site-wide environmental statement (S-SWEIS) to update the analyses presented in the Final Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operation of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (SWEIS) (DOE/ EIS-0238; January 1999). The purpose of this notice is to invite individuals, organizations, and government agencies and entities to participate in developing the scope of the S-SWEIS. In its September 1999 Record of Decision (ROD) based on the SWEIS, DOE announced its decision to implement the Expanded Operations Alternative analyzed in the SWEIS, with modifications to weapons related production work (the Preferred Alternative), at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). That decision is being implemented at LANL. Pursuant to 40 CFR 1502.20, the S-SWEIS will rely on and expand on the analysis in the original SWEIS. The No Action Alternative for the S- SWEIS is the continued implementation of the SWEIS ROD, together with other actions described and analyzed in subsequent NEPA reviews. The Proposed Action in the S-SWEIS will include changes since the SWEIS 1999 ROD.

The Department of Energy (DOE), pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, intends to extend for three years, an information collection package with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) concerning legal collections related to invention reporting by DOE contractors, and related matters. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the extended collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is proposing to amend in Docket No. RM96-1-026 its regulations governing standards for conducting business practices with interstate natural gas pipelines. The Commission is proposing to incorporate by reference the most recent version of the standards, Version 1.7, promulgated December 31, 2003, by the Wholesale Gas Quadrant (WGQ) of the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB); the standards ratified by NAESB on June 25, 2004, to implement Order No. 2004, and the standards implementing gas quality reporting requirements ratified by NAESB on October 20, 2004. These standards can be obtained from NAESB at 1301 Fannin, Suite 2350, Houston, TX 77002, 713-356-0060, https://www.naesb.org. The Commission is also terminating a rulemaking, instituted by a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in Docket No. RM96-1-015, issued on June 30, 2000, which examined whether the Commission should require pipelines to permit shippers to designate and rank the contracts under which gas flows on their systems.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) affirms, with certain clarifications, the fundamental determinations in Order No. 2003-A.