Department of Energy February 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to Subtitle A (Reliability Standards) of the Electricity Modernization Act of 2005, which is Title XII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) and which added a new section 215 to the Federal Power Act (FPA), the Commission is amending its regulations to incorporate: Criteria that an entity must satisfy to qualify to be the Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) which the Commission will certify as the organization that will propose and enforce Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System in the United States, subject to Commission approval; procedures under which the ERO may propose new or modified Reliability Standards for Commission review; a process for timely resolution of any conflict between a Reliability Standard and a Commission-approved tariff or order; a process for resolution of an inconsistency between a state action and a Reliability Standard; regulations pertaining to the funding of the ERO; procedures governing an enforcement action by the ERO, a Regional Entity or the Commission; criteria under which the ERO may enter into an agreement to delegate authority to a Regional Entity for the purpose of proposing Reliability Standards to the ERO and enforcing Reliability Standards; regulations governing the issuance of periodic reliability reports by the ERO that assess the reliability and adequacy of the Bulk-Power System in North America; and procedures for the establishment of Regional Advisory Bodies that may provide advice to the Commission, the ERO or a Regional Entity on matters of governance, applicable Reliability Standards, the reasonableness of proposed fees within a region, and any other responsibilities requested by the Commission.

This notice announces a meeting of the DOE/NSF Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC). Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92- 463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is announcing in advance its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), for the proposed action of providing Federal funding (up to $700 million) for the FutureGen Project. FutureGen would comprise the planning, design, construction and operation by a private-sector organization of a coal-fired electric power and hydrogen gas (H2) production plant integrated with carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and geologic sequestration of the captured gas. DOE has prepared this Advance Notice of Intent (ANOI) in accordance with DOE's NEPA regulations [(10 CFR 1021.311(b)] to inform interested parties of a pending EIS and to invite early public comments on the proposed action, including: (1) The proposed plans for implementing the FutureGen Project, (2) the potential range of environmental issues and alternatives to be analyzed, and (3) the nature of the impact analyses to be considered in the EIS. DOE will later issue a Notice of Intent (NOI) and initiate a public scoping process during which DOE will conduct public meetings and invite the public to comment on the scope, proposed action, and alternatives to be considered in the EIS. Following President George W. Bush's announcement that the United States would sponsor a $1 billion, 10-year FutureGen initiative to build the world's first coal-based, near-zero emissions power plant that produces both electricity and H2, the DOE signed, on December 2, 2005, a Cooperative Agreement (DE-FC26-06NT42073) that provides financial assistance to the FutureGen Industrial Alliance, Inc. (Alliance), which will undertake the planning, design, construction and operation of the project facilities. The FutureGen initiative would establish the technical and economic feasibility of co-producing electricity and H2 from coal while capturing and sequestering the CO2 generated in the process. The Alliance is a consortium led by the coal-fueled electric power industry and the coal production industry. Members of the Alliance collectively own and produce over 40 percent of the Nation's coal and about 20 percent of its coal-fueled electricity. The Alliance would plan, design, construct and operate the FutureGen power plant and the sequestration facility. The Alliance would also monitor, measure, and verify geologic sequestration of CO2. DOE will provide technical and programmatic guidance to the Alliance, retain certain review and approval rights as defined in the Cooperative Agreement, and oversee Alliance activities for compliance with the terms of the Cooperative Agreement. DOE will be responsible for NEPA compliance activities. Both DOE and the Alliance would consider ways for state and local agencies, local communities, the environmental community, international stakeholders, and research organizations to participate in the Project, including involvement in testing, monitoring and verification protocols for CO2 sequestration.

This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Oak Ridge Reservation. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register.

Pursuant to the authority delegated by 18 CFR 375.308(x)(1), the Director of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP) computes and publishes the project cost and annual limits for natural gas pipelines blanket construction certificates for each calendar year.

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.