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

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is amending its regulations to provide for electronic filing of Applications for Authorization for the Issuance of Securities or the Assumption of Liabilities. The Commission is making these changes as part of its effort to modernize its reporting and filing requirements and to eliminate unnecessary filing burdens for those entities that file applications or reports with the Commission pursuant to 18 CFR part 34. The proposed revisions will reduce the Commission's and the respondent's costs by allowing the submission of financial information in electronic format in lieu of the present hard copy format; the type of financial data that jurisdictional entities submit in this application is already routinely stored in electronic format, making hard copy filing of such information burdensome. In this Final Rule the Commission continues to move toward electronic filing, as the Government Paperwork Elimination Act mandates. The modifications in this Final Rule are the result of a review conducted by the Commission's Information Assessment Team (FIAT), identifying the Commission's current information collections, evaluating their original purposes and current uses, and proposing ways to reduce the reporting burden on industry through the elimination, reduction, streamlining or reformatting of current collections.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes to revise its regulations for filings by persons holding interlocking positions and for utilities listing their twenty largest purchasers of electricity. The proposed revisions provide for electronic filing. The modifications in this Proposed Rule are the result of a review conducted by the Commission's Information Assessment Team (FIAT), identifying the Commission's current information collections, evaluating their original purposes and current uses, and proposing ways to reduce the reporting burden on industry through the elimination, reduction, streamlining or reformatting of current collections.

The Western Area Power Administration (Western) is proposing revised rates for Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin ProgramEastern Division (P-SMBPED) firm electric and firm peaking power service. Current rates, under Rate Schedules P-SED-F7 and P-SED-FP7, extend through December 31, 2008. The proposed rates will provide sufficient revenue to pay all annual costs, including interest expense, and repayment of required investment within the allowable period. Western will prepare a brochure that provides detailed information on the rates to all interested parties. The proposed rates, under Rate Schedules P-SED-F8 and P-SED-FP8, are scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2006, and will remain in effect through December 31, 2010. Publication of this Federal Register notice begins the formal process for the proposed rates.

In the Final West Valley Demonstration Project Waste Management Environmental Impact Statement (WVDP WM EIS, Department of Energy (DOE)/EIS-0337, December 2003), DOE considered alternatives for the management of WVDP low-level radioactive waste (LLW), mixed (radioactive and hazardous) LLW (MLLW), transuranic (TRU) waste, and high-level radioactive waste (HLW). DOE prepared the WVDP WM EIS pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 United States Code (U.S.C.) 4321 et seq., the Council on Environmental Quality's regulations for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) parts 1500- 1508), and DOE's NEPA Implementing Procedures (10 CFR part 1021). To make progress toward fulfilling its responsibilities under the WVDP Act, DOE needs to disposition the wastes that are either currently in storage at the site or that will be generated at the site over the next ten years. DOE evaluated three alternatives for the management of the wastes: A No Action Alternative (Continuation of Ongoing Waste Management Activities), Alternative A (Off-site Shipment of HLW, LLW, MLLW, and TRU Wastes to Disposal), and Alternative B (Off-site Shipment of LLW and MLLW to Disposal, and Shipment of HLW and TRU Waste to Interim Storage [prior to disposal]). Based on the analysis of the potential impacts documented in the EIS, implementation of any of the alternatives would result in very low impacts to human health and the environment. DOE has decided to partially implement Alternative A, the preferred alternative, for the management of WVDP LLW, MLLW, and HLW that are either currently in site over the next ten years: DOE will ship LLW and MLLW off site for disposal in accordance with all applicable regulatory requirements, including permit requirements, waste acceptance criteria (WAC), and applicable DOE Orders. DOE will dispose of LLW and MLLW at commercial sites (such as Envirocare, a commercial radioactive waste disposal site in Clive, Utah), one or both of two DOE sites (the Nevada Test Site [NTS] in Mercury, Nevada; or the Hanford Site in Richland, Washington), or a combination of commercial and DOE sites, consistent with DOE's February 2000 decision regarding LLW and MLLW disposal.\1\ Disposal of WVDP LLW and MLLW at Hanford would be subject to the limits DOE has imposed upon non-Hanford waste receipts in its June 2004 decision regarding waste management at the Hanford Site,\2\ and contingent upon the resolution of ongoing Hanford litigation in which a preliminary injunction has been entered against shipping off site LLW and MLLW to Hanford.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) generally reaffirms its determinations in Order No. 2005. Order No. 2005 establishes requirements governing the conduct of open seasons for proposals to construct Alaska natural gas transportation projects, including procedures for allocation of capacity. Pursuant to the directive of section 103(e)(2) of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act, enacted on October 13, 2004, the regulations promulgated in Order No. 2005 include the criteria for and timing of any open season, promote competition in the exploration, development, and production of Alaska natural gas, and for any open seasons for capacity exceeding the initial capacity, provide for the opportunity for the transportation of natural gas other than from the Prudhoe Bay and Point Thomson units. In this order, the Commission addresses the requests for rehearing and/or clarification of Order No. 2005. Here, we grant rehearing in part, deny rehearing in part, and provide clarification of Order No. 2005. In specific, we: Clarify that the Commission may require design changes necessary to ensure that some portion of a proposed voluntary expansion will be allocated to new shippers or shippers seeking to transport gas from areas other than Prudhoe Bay or Point Thomson, provided such shippers are willing to sign qualifying long-term firm transportation agreements; codify the expanded criteria for evaluating late bids for capacity and the requirement that any late bid contain a good faith showing; in the case of the mandatory pre-review, codify that the plan to be filed by the Commission must contain the open season notice, and eliminates the 30-day prior notice requirement; discuss how the open season rules may apply to jurisdictional gas treatment plants; clarify that capacity bid for the open season is exempt from allocation only in a case where there is also presubscribed capacity, and that in the event there are more than one pre- subscription agreement, bidders in the open season may not cherry-pick among the provisions of the several agreements; clarify the project applicant's obligation to establish a separate entity to conduct the open season; and further codify the requirements of the catchall provision regarding information to be included in an open season notice.

In compliance with the requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(a) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the information collection described below.

The Commission is amending its regulations to delegate to the Director of the Office of Markets, Tariffs and Rates the ability to refer to an Administrative Law Judge uncontested interim rate motions for natural gas rate decreases, pending Commission action on settlement agreements. Currently, the Director only has this authority in electric cases. This change is needed to facilitate more efficient processing of natural gas settlements, which will permit customers to receive the benefits of lower rates at an earlier time. The Commission also is revising its regulations to allow the Director of the Office of External Affairs to subdelegate responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act. This will allow for more efficient processing of requests under that Act.

This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EMSSAB), Rocky Flats. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. No. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has submitted an information collection package to the OMB for extension under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The package requests a three-year extension of its ``Technology Partnership Ombudsmen Reporting Requirements'', OMB Control Number 1910-5118. This information collection package covers information necessary to implement a statutory requirement that the Technology Transfer Ombudsmen report quarterly on complaints they receive.