Proposed Agency Information Collection, 70994-70996 [2011-29603]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 221 (Wednesday, November 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70994-70996]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29603]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy


Proposed Agency Information Collection

AGENCY: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Notice and Request for Comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) is submitting to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance a proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995. The proposed collection will support a National Evaluation of 
DOE's State Energy Program (SEP) for the year 2008 (pre-American 
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funding) and the years 
2009-2011 (ARRA funding).
    A 60-day notice and request for comments was published in the 
Federal

[[Page 70995]]

Register on July 7, 2011 (76 FR 39860). One set of comments was 
received in response that notice. Those comments noted the responding 
organization's concern with environmental issues, its past support for 
a long-term national energy strategy, and its belief that increased 
energy efficiency and use of alternative energy sources are important 
components of such a strategy. Because the information gained from the 
proposed information collection will help refine future State Energy 
Program energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives, the 
commenting organization supports the Department of Energy's information 
collection request.
    This subsequent 30-day notice allows public comment on the final 
version of this information collection request. Comments are invited 
on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the Department, including 
whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy 
of the Department'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. Please note that in the final version of the information 
collection request, the estimated burden has remained essentially the 
same.

DATES: Comments regarding this proposed information collection must be 
received on or before December 16, 2011. If you anticipate difficulty 
in submitting comments within that period, contact the person listed in 
ADDRESSES as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be sent to Martin Schweitzer, 
Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, One 
Bethel Valley Road, P.O. Box 2008, MS-6036, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6036; 
schweitzerm@ornl.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to: Martin Schweitzer, Environmental Sciences 
Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, One Bethel Valley Road, P.O. 
Box 2008, MS-6036, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6036; schweitzerm@ornl.gov.
    The detailed technical evaluation plan for this information 
collection can be found at [https://weatherization.ornl.gov/evaluation_sep.shtml]. The surveys and data collection forms that compose this 
information collection request can also be found at this same Web site.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request 
contains:
    (1) OMB No.: New.
    (2) Information Collection Request Title: National Evaluation of 
the United States Department of Energy's State Energy Program.
    (3) Type of Request: New.
    (4) Purpose: The Department of Energy (DOE) is conducting an 
evaluation of the State Energy Program (SEP), a national program 
providing grants and technical support to the States, the District of 
Columbia, and the U.S. territories to implement energy efficiency and 
renewable energy activities that meet their unique energy needs, while 
also addressing DOE's national goals, such as energy security. The SEP 
was created in 1996 by Congress, when the State Energy Conservation 
Program and the Institutional Conservation Programs were consolidated. 
In February 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) 
provided a substantial increase in the funding available to support SEP 
activities. The additional $3.1 billion of ARRA funds began to be 
disbursed in late 2009 and are required to be expended by mid-2012. Due 
to the large differences in volume, scope, and relative priority of 
policy goals between the pre-ARRA and ARRA-funded activities, this 
evaluation will assess the outcomes of SEP programmatic activities for 
one program year (2008) prior to distribution of the ARRA funding as 
well as for the ARRA-funded program years of 2009-2011.
    The principal objective of the evaluation is to estimate four key 
program outcomes:
     Energy, cost, and demand savings;
     Increases in renewable energy capacity and generation;
     Carbon emissions reductions; and
     Direct and indirect job creation
    The evaluation will require information to be collected from SEP 
State program managers, SEP program implementation staff in selected 
States, participants in selected SEP programs, and equipment vendors 
familiar with participants' purchases of qualifying equipment.

Scale of the Information Collection

    The evaluation effort will focus on programmatic activities 
implemented in 2008 (prior to the ARRA funding) and in Program Years 
2009-2011 (with ARRA funding). Programmatic activities will be 
organized into ``Broad Program Area Categories'' (BPACs) for purposes 
of conducting the research. For each evaluation period, DOE has 
determined that those BPACs accounting for approximately 80 percent of 
the total SEP activity will be evaluated.
    A sampling frame consisting of all relevant programmatic activities 
for Program Year 2008 and Program Years 2009-2011 will be compiled, 
assigning each programmatic activity to a single BPAC. A probability 
sample of 82 individual programmatic activities will be selected, using 
BPACs as strata, to represent the most heavily-funded activities in the 
portfolio of SEP's energy efficiency and renewable energy efforts. The 
total level of effort for the evaluation will be allocated to BPACs 
within each study period in proportion to their level of spending.
    To use resources efficiently, the programmatic activities within 
the various BPACs will be studied at different levels of rigor, 
reflecting their relative size and expected contribution towards 
overall energy savings. Rigor level corresponds to both the statistical 
analysis and the quality of data necessary to support the analysis. 
High Rigor evaluation approaches will yield the most reliable impact 
estimates, using methods recognized by the California Evaluation 
Protocols, DOE's Impact Evaluation Framework for Technology Deployment 
Programs, and the International Performance Measurement and 
Verification Protocol (IPMVP). The high-rigor evaluation methods will 
be applied to BPACs that (a) Account for a large proportion of funds 
spent on State-level initiatives; (b) are believed to achieve 
substantial energy savings; (c) are considered important by the States; 
and (d) are expected to play a major role in future SEP efforts. 
Medium-high rigor methods will require verification of savings and 
outcomes with individual participants, but will use less intensive data 
collection methods than those prescribed for high-rigor. For example, 
data may be collected by telephone contact with participants, rather 
than a site visit. Sample sizes will also be smaller in the medium-high 
rigor evaluations. Medium-low rigor evaluation approaches will not 
include any data collection from individual program participants to 
estimate savings or outcomes. These evaluations will use data that can 
be obtained from program records and secondary sources, as well as 
engineering-based methods to produce energy savings and outcome 
estimates.
    A range of qualitative, quantitative (survey), on-site inspection 
and verification, and secondary data will be used to support the 
evaluation. Different types of data will be required for each

[[Page 70996]]

of the four types of previously-identified outcomes.
    For estimating energy, cost, and demand savings, the high and 
medium-high rigor evaluations require data such as pre- and post-
participation energy use and demand, surveys of measure implementation 
or participation, and verification of installation of energy efficient 
equipment and operating conditions and schedule by interview and/or on-
site inspection. The calculation of energy impacts will follow the 
IPMVP methods and will include estimation of gross and net savings, 
annualizing and normalizing results to post-participation levels to 
calculate impacts. Medium-high rigor evaluations will utilize telephone 
interview data, combined with engineering data and secondary data, such 
as published reports and program statistics to calculate energy 
impacts.
    The high and medium-high rigor evaluation of increases in renewable 
energy capacity and generation will require collection of meter data 
(where available from participants), on-site inspection and review of 
the system design and equipment used, interviews with project owners 
and operators, and review of project files. Medium-low rigor 
evaluations will utilize secondary data, such as published reports and 
statistics.
    The high and medium-high rigor evaluations of carbon emissions 
reductions will require an assessment of annualized carbon dioxide 
reductions achieved as a result of SEP-funded activities. This 
assessment will require calculation of reductions in consumption of 
fossil fuel and replacement of fossil fuel generation with renewable 
energy generation. The data required for these assessments will include 
the types of data identified above for energy savings and for increases 
in renewable generation.
    The high and medium-high rigor evaluations of direct and indirect 
job impacts will use a 51-region (State) Regional Economic Models, Inc. 
(REMI) Policy Insight simulation model. Data required for the job 
creation analysis will include the types of data identified above for 
energy, cost, and demand savings to calculate the dollar savings to 
households and businesses resulting from energy and electric demand 
plus surveys of additional expenditures on new energy-efficient 
equipment and systems. State economic data on patterns of spending and 
business sales among key sectors affecting the flow of dollars into, 
out of, and within the state will also be required.
    The evaluation will utilize three distinct data collection methods. 
First, the evaluation will employ a total of six computer-assisted 
telephone interviewing (CATI) survey instruments. With an average of 
approximately 669 respondents per telephone survey, 4,016 telephone 
survey respondents will be targeted for participation in the 
evaluation. Second, the study will utilize 28 individual in-depth 
interview guides targeting an average of approximately 31 respondents 
each, with a total target population of 881 interviewees. Third, a 
total of 152 on-site data collections will be conducted as part of the 
evaluation. Together, these three methods will involve 4,897 
respondents and entail a total burden of 5,094 hours. (This calculation 
is based on assumptions that telephone surveys require 45 minutes on 
average, in-depth interviews 90 minutes, and on-site data collections 
300 minutes.)
    The above-described data collection methods will be supplemented by 
additional records research and database review activities applicable 
to all three methods across all participant categories. These general 
recordkeeping activities will require an estimated 1,072 hours. 
Combining the burden hours associated with telephone surveys, in-depth 
interviews, and on-site data collections (5,094 hours) with the burden 
hours associated with general records review (1,072 hours) produces a 
total estimated burden of 6,166 hours.
    The evaluation protocols will provide BPAC-level estimates for each 
of the outcome measures. The results of the evaluations for all the 
BPACs studied will be expanded to produce cumulative estimates. Outcome 
measures will be calculated for the 2008 (pre-ARRA) and the 2009-2011 
(ARRA funding) evaluation periods.
    A number of steps are being taken to avoid duplicating the efforts 
of any concurrent evaluations of SEP activities sponsored by individual 
states. These include: (1) Coordinating with the National Association 
of State Energy Officials (NASEO) to share information on the 
programmatic activities being examined by specific states; (2) 
coordinating with regional DOE project officers to identify any State 
evaluation efforts with which they are associated; (3) meeting with 
selected State program managers to keep informed of ongoing evaluation 
efforts and the research approaches being employed; and (4) 
coordinating with evaluation contractors to learn of State evaluation 
efforts with which they are involved. These efforts will keep the 
national SEP evaluation informed of what States are doing so that the 
programmatic activities sampled for this study do not overlap with any 
independent State evaluations. In addition to these efforts to avoid 
duplication, DOE has provided a set of evaluation guidelines to the 
States to help inform their evaluation efforts and ensure that the 
results are reliable enough to allow them to be used to support the 
national SEP evaluation without the need to study the same activities 
again.
    The sample selection of BPACs and specific programmatic activities 
within each BPAC was completed in June 2011. Data collection and 
calculation of outcomes is scheduled to be completed by July 2012.
    The detailed study design and work plan for the SEP evaluation has 
been available for public review since May, 2011 at https://weatherization.ornl.gov/evaluation_sep.shtml.
    (5) Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: 4,897.
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: 5,049.
    (7) Annual Estimated Total Number of Burden Hours: 6,166.

    Statutory Authority: Title III of the Energy Policy and 
Conservation Act of 1975, (42 U.S.C. 6321 et seq.) as amended, 
authorizes DOE to administer the State Energy Program (SEP).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on November 3, 2011.
Henry C. Kelly,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2011-29603 Filed 11-15-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P