Rapid Response Team for Transmission, 11517-11518 [2012-4464]
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 38 / Monday, February 27, 2012 / Notices
Issued at Washington, DC, on February 21,
2012.
LaTanya R. Butler,
Acting Deputy Committee Management
Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012–4461 Filed 2–24–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[OE Docket No. RRTT–IR–001]
Rapid Response Team for
Transmission
Office of Electricity Delivery
and Energy Reliability, Department of
Energy, DoE.
ACTION: Request for information.
AGENCY:
The Department of Energy’s
Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy
Reliability is seeking information on the
questions related to permitting of
transmission lines. In responding to this
RFI, please specify the role of your
company or agency in the electric
sector.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on
or before March 28, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be
addressed to: Lamont Jackson, Office of
Electricity Delivery and Energy
Reliability, Mail Code: OE–20, U.S.
Department of Energy, 1000
Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20585. Because of
delays in handling conventional mail, it
is recommended that documents be
transmitted by overnight mail, by
electronic mail to Lamont.Jackson@hq.
doe.gov, or by facsimile to 202–586–
8008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Lamont Jackson (Program Office) at
202–586–0808, or by email to Lamont.
Jackson@hq.doe.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Infrastructure projects—such as high
voltage, long distance, electric
transmission facilities—often involve
multiple Federal, State, local and Tribal
authorizations and are subject to a wide
array of processes and procedural
requirements in order to obtain all
necessary permits and other
authorizations. Delays in securing
required statutory reviews, permits, and
consultations can threaten the
completion projects of national and
regional significance.
As our nation moves towards cleaner,
more diverse fuel sources and responds
to state renewable energy standards, a
number of developers are looking to
build electric generators where the fuel
is most abundant, which is often far
from electric customers, thereby
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
18:10 Feb 24, 2012
Jkt 226001
requiring long transmission lines. At
least three problems may arise when
trying to develop this type of
infrastructure: (1) Non-synchronous
evaluations by all governmental entities
with jurisdiction; (2) uncertainty about
whether all necessary permits and
approvals will be received; and (3)
significantly different development
times for generation and transmission.
This Request for Information is focused
on making the development times for
generation and transmission to be more
commensurate with one another.
While most types of electric
generators can be developed within a
few years, developing the transmission
necessary for that generation may take
much longer. The differential in
development times between generation
and transmission creates a Catch-22 that
inhibits the development of both. (Of
course if a load serving entity is
developing both the generation and
transmission for its own customers, then
no such Catch-22 exists.) While
generation developers need assurance
that transmission will be built before
they will commit to building the
generation, the transmission developers
need a commitment that the generation
will be built. As the differential in
development times increases, the Catch22 deepens, thereby hampering the
building the infrastructure this Nation
needs.
Presidential Memorandum—Speeding
Infrastructure Development Through
More Efficient and Effective Permitting
and Environmental Review
On August 31, 2011, the President
issued a memorandum to the heads of
Executive Departments and Agencies.
That Memorandum states:
in the current economic climate it is critical
that agencies take steps to expedite
permitting and review, through such
strategies as integrating planning and
environmental reviews; coordinating multiagency or multi-governmental reviews and
approvals to run concurrently; setting clear
schedules for completing steps in the
environmental review and permitting
process; and utilizing information
technologies to inform the public about the
progress of environmental reviews as well as
the progress of Federal permitting and review
processes.
It further states that agencies should
‘‘ensure that their processes for
reviewing infrastructure proposals work
efficiently to protect our environment,
provide for public participation and
certainty of process, ensure safety, and
support vital economic growth.’’
Rapid Response Team for Transmission
Recognizing the need for Federal
agencies to coordinate their efforts on
PO 00000
Frm 00038
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
11517
transmission and to quickly respond to
challenges, nine Federal agencies have
been closely coordinating their review
of electric transmission on Federal lands
under a joint Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) executed in 2009.
Building on the cooperation
developed through the MOU, and in
response to the Presidential
Memorandum, on October 5, 2011, the
Administration announced the creation
of a Rapid Response Team for
Transmission (RRTT).
The RRTT aims to improve the overall
quality and timeliness of electric
transmission infrastructure permitting,
review, and consultation by the Federal
government on both Federal and nonFederal lands through:
• Coordinating statutory permitting,
review, and consultation schedules and
processes among involved Federal and
state agencies, as appropriate, through
Integrated Federal Planning;
• Applying a uniform and consistent
approach to consultations with Tribal
governments; and,
• Resolving interagency conflicts and
ensuring that all involved agencies are
fully engaged and meeting timelines.
Participating Agencies include: the
Department of Agriculture, the
Department of Commerce, the
Department of Defense, the Department
of Energy, the Department of Interior,
the Environmental Protection Agency,
the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, the Advisory Council on
Historic Preservation, and the White
House Council on Environmental
Quality.
Request for Information (RFI)
Building upon the Presidential
Memorandum and in support of the
RRTT, the Department of Energy’s
Office of Electricity is seeking
information on the questions asked
below. In responding to this RFI, please
specify the role of your company or
agency in the electric sector.
(1). The development timelines for
generation and attendant transmission
are often not coordinated or run
concurrently. Because of the lengthy
time to obtain regulatory reviews,
permits and approvals (collectively
‘‘Regulatory Permits’’), major new
transmission lines can take significantly
longer to develop than some types of
generation to which the transmission
would connect. This Request for
Information will refer to the difference
in development times between
generation and transmission as
E:\FR\FM\27FEN1.SGM
27FEN1
11518
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 38 / Monday, February 27, 2012 / Notices
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
‘‘Incongruent Development Times.’’
Please answer the following 1:
a. Describe the challenges created
both by the timeline for obtaining
Regulatory Permits for transmission and
by the Incongruent Development Times.
b. To what extent do the Incongruent
Development Times hamper
transmission and/or generation
infrastructure development?
c. What are the primary risks
associated with developing transmission
`
vis-a-vis the timeline for obtaining
Regulatory Permits as well as the
Incongruent Development Times?
d. How is the financing for developing
the attendant transmission influenced
by its lengthy development time and by
the Dissonant Development Times?
e. How if at all, do development
timelines and the Incongruent
Development Times affect the decisions
made in utilities’ integrated resource
planning, if applicable?
f. How do development timelines and
the Incongruent Development Times
affect the ability of parties to enter into
open seasons or power-purchase
agreements?
(2) Besides improving the efficiency
of permitting and approving
transmission, are there any other steps
the federal government 2 could take to
eliminate the barriers created by the
Dissonant Development Times?
(3) What strategies can the Federal
government take to decrease the time
that Federal agencies require for
evaluating Regulatory Permits for
transmission? What other steps can the
Federal government take to address the
challenges created by Incongruent
Development Times?
(4) One way to make the Regulatory
Permit process and development times
between remote generation and
attendant transmission more
commensurate, is to decrease the time
for permitting transmission by some
amount. In determining how much time
can be saved, developing a benchmark
may be helpful. What benchmark
should be used?
a. Example—power purchase
agreements as the benchmark: how far
in the future do load serving entities
(LSE’s) seek to purchase energy or
capacity from remote resources? Do
1 Since the Catch-22 is avoided when a loadserving entity is developing the generation and
transmission for its own customers, for purposes of
answering the questions, please assume that nonLSE’s are developing the generation and its
attendant transmission.
2 While Incongruent Development Times are
caused by a number of forces including state, local
and Tribal decisions, the parties to the MOU are
only Federal agencies and, therefore, this RFI
focuses on how the federal agencies can improve
their own processes.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
18:10 Feb 24, 2012
Jkt 226001
LSE’s seek PPAs that begin delivering
energy/capacity 3 years from the signing
of the PPA? 7 years? 10 years? Please
explain why PPA’s are signed at this
time.
b. Example—development times as
the benchmark: How long does it take to
design, permit and build different types
of remote generation?
(5) In your experience, how long does
it take to design, permit and build
transmission?
(6) Assume that Federal, state, Tribal
and local governments sought to set a
goal for the length of time used for
completing the Regulatory Permitting
process for transmission projects so that
the development times between
generation and transmission were more
commensurate, what goal should that
be? As the length of the project and the
number of governments with
jurisdictions increase so will the time
necessary for permitting and approvals;
accordingly, consider providing a goal
that could be scalable according to the
length of the line.
Interested parties to this RFI might
include, but are not limited to: federal
and state agencies, Native American
Tribes, transmission developers,
renewable energy developers, investors,
manufacturers, electric utilities,
independent power producers, nongovernmental organizations, academics,
and other public, private, or non-profit
entities.
Issued in Washington, DC, on February 21,
2012.
Brian Mills,
Director, Permitting and Siting, Office of
Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability.
[FR Doc. 2012–4464 Filed 2–24–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. IC12–7–000]
Commission Information Collection
Activities; Comment Request;
Extension
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, DOE.
ACTION: Notice of information collection
and request for comments.
AGENCY:
In compliance with the
requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A), the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (Commission or
FERC) is soliciting public comment on
the currently approved information
collection, FERC–587, Land Description
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00039
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
(Public Land States/Non-Public Land
States [Rectangular or Non-Rectangular
Survey System Lands in Public Land
States]).
DATES: Comments on the collection of
information are due April 27, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
(identified by Docket No. IC12–7–000)
by either of the following methods:
• eFiling at Commission’s Web Site:
https://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/
efiling.asp.
• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier:
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
Secretary of the Commission, 888 First
Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.
Instructions: All submissions must be
formatted and filed in accordance with
submission guidelines at: https://
www.ferc.gov/help/submissionguide.asp. For user assistance contact
FERC Online Support by email at
ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or by phone
at: (866) 208–3676 (toll-free), or (202)
502–8659 for TTY.
Docket: Users interested in receiving
automatic notification of activity in this
docket or in viewing/downloading
comments and issuances in this docket
may do so at https://www.ferc.gov/docsfiling/docs-filing.asp.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ellen Brown may be reached by email
at DataClearance@FERC.gov, telephone
at (202) 502–8663, and fax at (202) 273–
0873.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: FERC–587, Land Description
(Public Land States/Non-Public Land
States [Rectangular or Non-Rectangular
Survey System Lands in Public Land
States]).
OMB Control No.: 1902–0145.
Type of Request: Three-year extension
of the FERC–587 information collection
requirements with no changes to the
current reporting requirements.
Abstract: The Commission requires
the FERC–587 information collection to
satisfy the requirements of section 24 of
the Federal Power Act (FPA). The
Federal Power Act grants the
Commission authority to issue licenses
for the development and improvement
of navigation and for the development,
transmission, and utilization of power
across, along, from or in any of the
streams or other bodies of water over
which Congress has jurisdiction.1 The
Electric Consumers Protection Act
(ECPA) amends the FPA to allow the
Commission the responsibility of
issuing licenses for nonfederal
hydroelectric plants.2
Section 24 of the FPA requires that
applicants proposing hydropower
1 16
U.S.C. Section 797d (2010).
Law 99–495, 100 Stat. 1243 (1996).
2 Public
E:\FR\FM\27FEN1.SGM
27FEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11517-11518]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4464]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[OE Docket No. RRTT-IR-001]
Rapid Response Team for Transmission
AGENCY: Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability,
Department of Energy, DoE.
ACTION: Request for information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Energy's Office of Electricity Delivery and
Energy Reliability is seeking information on the questions related to
permitting of transmission lines. In responding to this RFI, please
specify the role of your company or agency in the electric sector.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before March 28, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to: Lamont Jackson, Office of
Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Mail Code: OE-20, U.S.
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC
20585. Because of delays in handling conventional mail, it is
recommended that documents be transmitted by overnight mail, by
electronic mail to Lamont.Jackson@hq.doe.gov, or by facsimile to 202-
586-8008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lamont Jackson (Program Office) at
202-586-0808, or by email to Lamont.Jackson@hq.doe.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Infrastructure projects--such as high
voltage, long distance, electric transmission facilities--often involve
multiple Federal, State, local and Tribal authorizations and are
subject to a wide array of processes and procedural requirements in
order to obtain all necessary permits and other authorizations. Delays
in securing required statutory reviews, permits, and consultations can
threaten the completion projects of national and regional significance.
As our nation moves towards cleaner, more diverse fuel sources and
responds to state renewable energy standards, a number of developers
are looking to build electric generators where the fuel is most
abundant, which is often far from electric customers, thereby requiring
long transmission lines. At least three problems may arise when trying
to develop this type of infrastructure: (1) Non-synchronous evaluations
by all governmental entities with jurisdiction; (2) uncertainty about
whether all necessary permits and approvals will be received; and (3)
significantly different development times for generation and
transmission. This Request for Information is focused on making the
development times for generation and transmission to be more
commensurate with one another.
While most types of electric generators can be developed within a
few years, developing the transmission necessary for that generation
may take much longer. The differential in development times between
generation and transmission creates a Catch-22 that inhibits the
development of both. (Of course if a load serving entity is developing
both the generation and transmission for its own customers, then no
such Catch-22 exists.) While generation developers need assurance that
transmission will be built before they will commit to building the
generation, the transmission developers need a commitment that the
generation will be built. As the differential in development times
increases, the Catch-22 deepens, thereby hampering the building the
infrastructure this Nation needs.
Presidential Memorandum--Speeding Infrastructure Development Through
More Efficient and Effective Permitting and Environmental Review
On August 31, 2011, the President issued a memorandum to the heads
of Executive Departments and Agencies. That Memorandum states:
in the current economic climate it is critical that agencies take
steps to expedite permitting and review, through such strategies as
integrating planning and environmental reviews; coordinating multi-
agency or multi-governmental reviews and approvals to run
concurrently; setting clear schedules for completing steps in the
environmental review and permitting process; and utilizing
information technologies to inform the public about the progress of
environmental reviews as well as the progress of Federal permitting
and review processes.
It further states that agencies should ``ensure that their
processes for reviewing infrastructure proposals work efficiently to
protect our environment, provide for public participation and certainty
of process, ensure safety, and support vital economic growth.''
Rapid Response Team for Transmission
Recognizing the need for Federal agencies to coordinate their
efforts on transmission and to quickly respond to challenges, nine
Federal agencies have been closely coordinating their review of
electric transmission on Federal lands under a joint Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) executed in 2009.
Building on the cooperation developed through the MOU, and in
response to the Presidential Memorandum, on October 5, 2011, the
Administration announced the creation of a Rapid Response Team for
Transmission (RRTT).
The RRTT aims to improve the overall quality and timeliness of
electric transmission infrastructure permitting, review, and
consultation by the Federal government on both Federal and non-Federal
lands through:
Coordinating statutory permitting, review, and
consultation schedules and processes among involved Federal and state
agencies, as appropriate, through Integrated Federal Planning;
Applying a uniform and consistent approach to
consultations with Tribal governments; and,
Resolving interagency conflicts and ensuring that all
involved agencies are fully engaged and meeting timelines.
Participating Agencies include: the Department of Agriculture, the
Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense, the Department of
Energy, the Department of Interior, the Environmental Protection
Agency, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Advisory Council
on Historic Preservation, and the White House Council on Environmental
Quality.
Request for Information (RFI)
Building upon the Presidential Memorandum and in support of the
RRTT, the Department of Energy's Office of Electricity is seeking
information on the questions asked below. In responding to this RFI,
please specify the role of your company or agency in the electric
sector.
(1). The development timelines for generation and attendant
transmission are often not coordinated or run concurrently. Because of
the lengthy time to obtain regulatory reviews, permits and approvals
(collectively ``Regulatory Permits''), major new transmission lines can
take significantly longer to develop than some types of generation to
which the transmission would connect. This Request for Information will
refer to the difference in development times between generation and
transmission as
[[Page 11518]]
``Incongruent Development Times.'' Please answer the following \1\:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Since the Catch-22 is avoided when a load-serving entity is
developing the generation and transmission for its own customers,
for purposes of answering the questions, please assume that non-
LSE's are developing the generation and its attendant transmission.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
a. Describe the challenges created both by the timeline for
obtaining Regulatory Permits for transmission and by the Incongruent
Development Times.
b. To what extent do the Incongruent Development Times hamper
transmission and/or generation infrastructure development?
c. What are the primary risks associated with developing
transmission vis-[agrave]-vis the timeline for obtaining Regulatory
Permits as well as the Incongruent Development Times?
d. How is the financing for developing the attendant transmission
influenced by its lengthy development time and by the Dissonant
Development Times?
e. How if at all, do development timelines and the Incongruent
Development Times affect the decisions made in utilities' integrated
resource planning, if applicable?
f. How do development timelines and the Incongruent Development
Times affect the ability of parties to enter into open seasons or
power-purchase agreements?
(2) Besides improving the efficiency of permitting and approving
transmission, are there any other steps the federal government \2\
could take to eliminate the barriers created by the Dissonant
Development Times?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ While Incongruent Development Times are caused by a number
of forces including state, local and Tribal decisions, the parties
to the MOU are only Federal agencies and, therefore, this RFI
focuses on how the federal agencies can improve their own processes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(3) What strategies can the Federal government take to decrease the
time that Federal agencies require for evaluating Regulatory Permits
for transmission? What other steps can the Federal government take to
address the challenges created by Incongruent Development Times?
(4) One way to make the Regulatory Permit process and development
times between remote generation and attendant transmission more
commensurate, is to decrease the time for permitting transmission by
some amount. In determining how much time can be saved, developing a
benchmark may be helpful. What benchmark should be used?
a. Example--power purchase agreements as the benchmark: how far in
the future do load serving entities (LSE's) seek to purchase energy or
capacity from remote resources? Do LSE's seek PPAs that begin
delivering energy/capacity 3 years from the signing of the PPA? 7
years? 10 years? Please explain why PPA's are signed at this time.
b. Example--development times as the benchmark: How long does it
take to design, permit and build different types of remote generation?
(5) In your experience, how long does it take to design, permit and
build transmission?
(6) Assume that Federal, state, Tribal and local governments sought
to set a goal for the length of time used for completing the Regulatory
Permitting process for transmission projects so that the development
times between generation and transmission were more commensurate, what
goal should that be? As the length of the project and the number of
governments with jurisdictions increase so will the time necessary for
permitting and approvals; accordingly, consider providing a goal that
could be scalable according to the length of the line.
Interested parties to this RFI might include, but are not limited
to: federal and state agencies, Native American Tribes, transmission
developers, renewable energy developers, investors, manufacturers,
electric utilities, independent power producers, non-governmental
organizations, academics, and other public, private, or non-profit
entities.
Issued in Washington, DC, on February 21, 2012.
Brian Mills,
Director, Permitting and Siting, Office of Electricity Delivery and
Energy Reliability.
[FR Doc. 2012-4464 Filed 2-24-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
