Department of Energy August 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Administrator, Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern), has prepared Current and Revised 2011 Power Repayment Studies which show the need for an increase in annual revenues to meet cost recovery criteria. Such increased revenues are needed primarily to cover increased costs associated with compliance requirements of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation and to cover increased investments and replacements in hydroelectric generating facilities. The Administrator has developed proposed Integrated System rates, which are supported by a rate design study, to recover the required revenues. The June 2011 Revised Study indicates that the proposed rates would increase annual system revenues approximately 5.4 percent from $177,191,800 to $186,761,225 effective November 1, 2011 through September 30, 2015.

This notice announces receipt of and publishes the Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (Samsung) petition for waiver and application for interim waiver (hereafter, ``petition'') from specified portions of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) test procedure for determining the energy consumption of clothes washers. Today's notice also grants an interim waiver of the clothes washer test procedure. Through this notice, DOE also solicits comments with respect to the Samsung petition.

Pursuant to Section 14(a)(2)(A) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463), and in accordance with Title 41, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 102.3 65(a), and following consultation with the Committee Management Secretariat, General Services Administration, notice is hereby given that the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee will be renewed for a two-year period beginning July 29, 2011. The Committee provides advice and recommendations to the Director, Office of Science concerning the Basic Energy Sciences program. Additionally, the renewal of the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee has been determined to be essential to the conduct of the Department's mission and to be in the public interest in connection with the performance of duties imposed upon the Department of Energy by law and agreement. The Committee will operate in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and rules and regulations issued in implementation of that Act.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is hereby granting a nationwide limited waiver of the Buy American requirements of section 1605 of the Recovery Act under the authority of Section 1605(b)(2), (iron, steel, and the relevant manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality), with respect to: five kilowatt (5kW) and fifty kilowatt (50kW) wind turbines for use on eligible EERE-Recovery Act funded projects.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is hereby granting a nationwide limited waiver of the Buy American requirements of section 1605 of the Recovery Act under the authority of Section 1605(b)(2), (iron, steel, and the relevant manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality), with respect to Recovery Act projects funded by EERE for: (1) 2-10 horsepower, self contained, sensorless, variable speed pumps; (2) bi-directional bicycle counters; (3) 28W, 30W, and 60W 360 degree LED bulbs for retrofits of HPS streetlights; (4) bathroom ventilation fans with a built in occupancy sensors; (5) solar thermosiphon water heating systems certified by FSEC; (6) 40 Ton, factory-assembled, indirect-fired absorption chillers; (7) premium efficiency electric drive submersible pump motors (motors only, not pumps themselves); and (8) flush-to-handrail LED lighting systems.

The U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'' or the ``Department'') is currently evaluating energy efficiency test procedures for luminaires (also referred to herein as lighting systems) and collecting information for the labeling of such products. DOE recognizes that well-designed test procedures are important to produce reliable, repeatable, and consistent test results and that labeling assists informed consumer choice. The existing luminaire test procedures DOE is evaluating include those already established by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and ENERGY STAR, which include by reference numerous test procedures established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), the International Commission on Illumination (Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE)), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA). To inform interested parties, facilitate its consideration of appropriate test procedures, and collect information on labeling, DOE seeks comment and requests information related to test procedures and labels for lighting systems based on industry-standard procedures and practices for luminaires. In particular, DOE is interested in if and how test procedures and labels may include controls for powering the luminaire on or off depending on time of day, daylight or occupancy sensor readings and other factors.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes to amend the instructions on page 700 of FERC Form No. 6 (Form 6) to ensure that pipelines report interstate-only barrel and barrel-mile data and not a combination of interstate and intrastate throughput. The Commission also proposes to direct pipelines that reported combined interstate and intrastate data on lines (1) through (12) of page 700 of their 2010 Form 6 to file a revised page 700 containing only interstate data for the years 2009 and 2010.

In compliance with the requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A) (2006), (Pub. L. 104-13), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the proposed information collections described below.