Department of Energy March 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces an open meeting of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future (the Commission). The Commission was organized pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 94-463, 86 Stat. 770) (the Act). The Act requires that agencies publish these notices in the Federal Register. The Charter of the Commission can be found at https://www.energy.gov/news/documents/BRC_Charter.pdf.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is establishing metal halide lamp ballast test procedures in today's final rule by which manufacturers will demonstrate compliance with the metal halide lamp fixture energy conservation standards mandated by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), as amended. These test procedures are based primarily on and incorporate by reference provisions of American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard C82.6-2005, ``Ballasts for High-Intensity Discharge LampsMethods of Measurement.'' As further required by EPCA, DOE is establishing a test method for measuring standby mode power consumption and explaining why off mode power consumption does not apply to metal halide lamp ballasts. The test procedures' standby mode provisions are based on the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Standard 62301, ``Household electrical appliancesMeasurement of standby power.'' This rule also adopts a number of definitions for key terms.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy of the U.S. Department of Energy hereby provides notice that on February 11, 2010, the Assistant Secretary for EERE granted nationwide categorical waivers of the Buy American requirements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5 (Recovery Act) under the authority of section 1605(b)(2) [iron, steel, and the relevant manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality] for the purchase of LED traffic lights, arrows, and crosswalk signals (excluding the metal or plastic fixtures); fluorescent electronic lighting ballasts (with the exception of electronic dimming ballasts for fluorescent lamps that are capable of operating the lamps below 50 percent of their rated light output); and screw-base and pin-base compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) (with the exception of plug-in CFLs longer than 10 inches). These nationwide categorical waivers apply to all projects using EERE Recovery Act funds for the construction, alteration, maintenance and repair of a public building or public work. EERE reserves the right to revisit and amend these nationwide categorical waivers based on new developments or changes in the domestic manufacturing capacity for these three technologies.