Rural Utilities Service – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35, as amended), the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) invites comments on the following information collections for which RUS intends to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended), the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), invites comments on this information collection for which the Agency intends to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35, as amended), the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) an agency delivering the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Utilities Programs invites comments on this information collection for which approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will be requested.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) has issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Environmental Assessment (EA) associated with the Holland Cliff to Hewitt Road 230 kV Transmission proposal in Calvert and St. Mary's Counties, Maryland. The EA was prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (U.S.C. 4231 et seq.) and in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ's) regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) and RUS's NEPA implementing regulations (7 CFR part 1794, Environmental Policies and Procedures). The purpose of the EA was to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of and alternatives to a Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) application for a RUS loan for the proposal. The proposal includes construction of a 30-mile 230 kilovolt (kV) transmission line, a new 230/69 kV switching station, and a 230/69 kV switching station expansion.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is amending its regulations on Telecommunications Policies on Specifications, Acceptable Materials, and Standard Contract Forms, by revising RUS Bulletin 1753F-150, Specifications and Drawings for Construction of Direct Buried Plant (Form 515a). The revised specifications will include new construction units for Fiber-to-the-Home, remove redundant or outdated requirements, and simplify the specifications format.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), U.S. Forest Service Chippewa National Forest (CNF), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Division of Resource Management (LLBO) have issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Bemidji to Grand Rapids, Minnesota 230 kV Transmission Line Project (``Project'') in Minnesota. The Final EIS was prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (U.S.C. 4231 et seq.) in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508), and RUS regulations (7 CFR 1794). To minimize duplication of effort pursuant to 40 CFR 1506.2, RUS prepared the Final EIS jointly with the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Office of Energy Security (OES) in compliance with federal responsibilities under NEPA and other federal statutes and regulations, and state responsibilities under the Minnesota Environmental Policy Act and the Minnesota Power Plant Siting Act. RUS is the lead federal agency as defined at 40 CFR 1501.5, and CNF and USACE are cooperating agencies. LLBO accepted an invitation to participate as a cooperating agency. The purpose of the Final EIS is to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of and alternatives to the application of Minnkota Power Cooperative, Inc. for RUS financing to construct a 230 kilovolt (kV) transmission line between the Wilton Substation near Bemidji, Minnesota and the Boswell Substation near Grand Rapids, Minnesota, which will cross portions of Beltrami, Hubbard, Itasca, and Cass counties. Minnkota also proposes to modify the Wilton and Boswell substations and construct a new 115 kV breaker station at Nary Junction, Minnesota. In addition, Minnkota proposes to upgrade an existing or construct a new substation in the Cass Lake, Minnesota area, depending on the route alternative selected for the Project. The Project is being jointly developed by Minnkota, Otter Tail Power Company, and Minnesota Power.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended), the Rural Utilities Service, invites comments on this information collection for which the Agency intends to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The Rural Utilities Service, hereinafter referred to as RUS and/or the Agency, has issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Deer Creek Station Energy Facility project (Project) in Brookings and Deuel Counties, South Dakota. The Administrator of RUS has signed the ROD, which is effective upon signing. The EIS was prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (U.S.C. 4231 et seq.) and in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), RUS's NEPA implementing regulations (7 CFR Part 1794), and the Western Area Power Administration's (Western) NEPA implementing regulations (10 CFR Part 1021). Western was the lead federal agency in preparation of the EIS as defined at 40 CFR 1501.5; RUS was a cooperating agency. The purpose of the EIS was to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of and alternatives to Basin Electric Power Cooperative's (Basin Electric) application for a RUS loan and a Western interconnection agreement to construct the proposed Project. The proposed Project's facility would include a new natural gas-fired combustion turbine set, a heat recovery steam generator, and a steam turbine generator set.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) published a document in the Federal Register of June 8, 2010, at 75 FR 32313 regarding the request for comments on revising RUS Bulletin 1753F-150, Specifications and Drawings for Construction of Direct Buried Plant (Form 515a). This document corrects the Docket ID number.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the Western Area Power Administration (Western) have issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Deer Creek Station project in Brookings and Duel Counties, South Dakota. The Final EIS was prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (U.S.C. 4231 et seq.) in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), RUS's NEPA implementing regulations (7 CFR part 1794), and Western's NEPA implementing regulations (10 CFR part 1021). Western is the lead federal agency as defined at 40 CFR 1501.5; RUS is a cooperating agency. The purpose of the Final EIS is to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of and alternatives to Basin Electric Power Cooperative's (Basin Electric) application for a RUS loan and a Western interconnection agreement to construct the proposed 300 megawatt (MW) Deer Creek Station in Brookings and Deuel Counties, South Dakota (Project). The proposed facility would include a new natural gas-fired combustion turbine set, a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), and a steam turbine generator set.

Due to emergency maintenance issues on May 14, 2010, the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is extending, by one day, the deadline for submitting Public Notice Requests (PNRs) on pending applications filed under Second Round Notice of Funds Availability (Second Round NOFA) for the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP), published in the Federal Register at 75 FR 3820 (January 22, 2010). Such technical issues also affected the application window for satellite, rural library broadband, and technical assistance projects under BIP's Request for Proposals (RFP), published in the Federal Register at 75 FR 25185 (May 7, 2010). As a result, PNRs on pending Second Round NOFA applications must be filed by May 24, 2010, at 11:59 p.m. Central Time (CT); and applications for satellite, rural library broadband, and technical assistance projects must be postmarked by June 8, 2010.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, announces the Public Television Digital Transition Grant Program application window for fiscal year FY 2010. The FY 2010 funding for the Public Television Station Digital Transition Grant Program is $4.5 million.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35, as amended), invites comments on the following information collections for which the Agency intends to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended), the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) invites comments on this information collection for which approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will be requested.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announces the availability of $993,000 in grant funds to be competitively awarded for the Household Water Well System (HWWS) Grant Program for fiscal year 2010. RUS will make grants to qualified private non-profit organizations to establish lending programs for homeowners to borrow up to $11,000 to construct or repair household water wells for an existing home. The HWWS Grant Program regulations are contained in 7 CFR 1776.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces its Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant program application window for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010. In addition to announcing the application window, RUS announces the anticipated amount of funding available, the minimum and maximum amounts for DLT grants applicable for the fiscal year, and a change in scoring necessitated by the expiration of the Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community (EZ/EC) designations. Finally, the Agency notes that the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-234) expressly added the category of libraries under Sec. 2333 (c)(1) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. S950aaa-2(a)(1)) in order to clearly establish that libraries are eligible to be recipients of DLT Loans and Grants. This confirms the longstanding Agency policy of considering libraries to be eligible entities under the DLT Program. The regulation for the DLT Grant Program can be found at 7 CFR 1703, subpart E.

On January 24, 2010, the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced a second round funding Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) for the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) in the Federal Register at 75 FR 3820. The closing date for submission of applications was announced as March 15, 2010, at 5 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). In response to requests by a wide variety of stakeholders, RUS is extending the application window for applications under the second round NOFA until March 29, 2010 at 5 p.m. ET.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the Western Area Power Administration (Western) have issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed Deer Creek Station in White, Brookings County, South Dakota. The DEIS was prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), RUS's NEPA implementing regulations (7 CFR part 1794), and Western's NEPA implementing regulations (10 CFR part 1021). Western is the lead federal agency as defined at 40 CFR 1501.5; RUS is a cooperating agency. The purpose of the DEIS is to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of and alternatives to Basin Electric Power Cooperative's (Basin Electric) application for a RUS loan and a Western interconnection agreement to construct the proposed 300 megawatt (MW) Deer Creek Station in Brookings and Deuel Counties, South Dakota (Project). The proposed facility would include a new natural gas-fired combustion turbine set, a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), and a steam turbine generator set.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) proposes to amend its regulations for the guarantee program for cooperative and other not- for-profit lenders that make loans for eligible electric and telephone purposes. These proposed amendments implement changes adapted in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. The intended effect is to update agency regulations to reflect current statutory authority.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is proposing to amend the requirements established for Emergency Restoration Plans (ERPs), currently mandated for all borrowers, to include compliance with the requirements established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for public assistance grant eligibility in the event of a declared disaster. This amendment will ensure that RUS borrower's maintain their eligibility for financial aid from FEMA in the event they incur costs for disaster related system repair and restoration by including FEMA requirements in their ERPs.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announces its general policy and application procedures for the second round of funding under the broadband initiatives (the Second Round NOFA) established pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) for the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) which provides loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to facilitate broadband deployment in rural areas. In facilitating the expansion of broadband communications services and infrastructure, BIP will advance the objectives of the Recovery Act by spurring job creation and the economy and by building technological infrastructure that will fuel long-term economic growth and opportunity.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended), the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) invites comments on this information collection for which approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will be requested.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended), the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) invites comments on this information collection for which RUS intends to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

RUS and NTIA announce the release of a joint Request for Information (RFI) seeking public comment on certain issues relating to the implementation of the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) and the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). This is the second joint RFI that the agencies have issued since the enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), which established these broadband initiatives. The input the agencies expect to receive from this process is intended to inform the second round of funding. In particular, the agencies seek to gather information that will help them improve the broadband programs by enhancing the applicant experience and making targeted revisions to the first Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA), if necessary.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is amending its regulations to administer the Electric Program. This action implements the provision in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 hereinafter called the ``2008 Farm Bill,'' amending the definition of ``rural area.'' The 2008 Farm Bill revises the definition of rural to include any area other than a city, town, or unincorporated area that has a population of greater than 20,000 inhabitants. The 2008 Farm Bill also includes in the revised rural definition those service areas of borrowers having an outstanding loan under Titles I through V of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936. The intended effect is to update agency regulations to reflect current statutory authority. No adverse comments are expected.