Department of Energy October 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains corrections to the final regulations, which were published in the Federal Register of Wednesday, October 3, 2008 (73 FR 57515). The regulations relate to the obligation to file rate schedules, tariffs and certain service agreements and to the withdrawals and amendments of rate schedules, and tariff or service agreement filings.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announces its intent to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and to hold a public scoping meeting on the proposed Federal action to fund the construction and operation of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) on the campus of Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing, Michigan. FRIB's design is composed of buildings and/or building additions for a heavy ion/proton accelerator, ancillary laboratories, and support facilities. Construction/operation would occur adjacent to the existing National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL), which would ultimately be subsumed into FRIB. The EA will identify and assess potential environmental impacts from the Proposed Action and a range of reasonable alternatives so DOE can determine whether to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) or issue a finding of no significant impact (FONSI). DOE is also opening a 45-day scoping period to allow the public the opportunity to voice any concerns it might have and to make recommendations about the analytical approach and alternatives. During the scoping period, a public meeting will be held. If at any point during the preparation of the EA DOE determines that it is necessary to prepare an EIS, this scoping process will serve as the scoping process that would normally follow a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS.

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.

Sempra Energy Solutions LLC (SES) applied to renew its authority to export electric energy from the United States to Mexico for a period of five years pursuant to section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act.

This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Hanford. 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.

In this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes to revise its regulations, which currently provide the FERC Form No. 556 (Form 556) that is used in the certification of qualifying status for an existing or proposed small power production or cogeneration facility. The Commission proposes to revise its regulations to remove the contents of the Form No. 556 from the regulations, and, in their place, to provide that an applicant seeking to certify qualifying facility (QF) status of a small power production or cogeneration facility must complete, and electronically file, the Form No. 556 that is in effect at the time of filing. We propose to revise and reformat the Form No. 556 to clarify the content of the form and to take advantage of newer technologies that will reduce both the filing burden for applicants and the processing burden for the Commission. We also propose to exempt generating facilities with net power production capacities of 1 MW or less from the QF certification requirement, and to codify the Commission's authority to waive the QF certification requirement for good cause. Finally, we propose to clarify, simplify or correct certain sections of the regulations.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) generally reaffirms its determinations in Order No. 717, but grants rehearing on and clarifies certain provisions. Order No. 717-A aims to make the Standards of Conduct clearer and to refocus the rules on the areas where there is the greatest potential for abuse. The order