Department of Energy 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of receipt of an application filed on August 31, 2009 by ConocoPhillips Company (ConocoPhillips), requesting blanket authorization to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) that previously had been imported from foreign sources on their own behalf or as agent for others on a short-term or spot market basis from existing facilities on Quintana Island, Texas in an amount up to the equivalent of 500 Billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas to the United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Japan, South Korea, India, China, Taiwan, France, and/or Italy, as well as any country with the capacity to import ocean-going LNG, with which trade is not prohibited by U.S. law or policy. ConocoPhillips seeks to export the LNG over a two year period commencing on the date of the authorization.

Western Area Power Administration (Western), an agency of the Department of Energy (DOE), is canceling preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for construction, operation, and maintenance of the proposed Transmission Agency of Northern California (TANC) Transmission Project, which would have included building and upgrading over 600 miles of 230- kilovolt (kV) and 500-kV transmission lines and associated equipment and facilities in northern California.

This notice announces that the period for submitting comments on the proposed rule to amend the regulations implementing the loan guarantee program authorized by section 1703 of Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is extended to September 22, 2009. In the proposed rule, DOE considers certain changes to: Provide flexibility in the determination of appropriate structures, collateral packages to secure guaranteed loan obligations, and other credit support; facilitate collateral sharing and related inter-creditor arrangements with other project lenders; and provide a more workable interpretation of certain statutory provisions regarding DOE's treatment of collateral.