Department of Energy September 9, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the cancellation of a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for certain facilities associated with the 2007 selection of Richton, Mississippi, as the location of a new storage site for expanding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). In April 2011, Congress rescinded all funding for the SPR expansion project.

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)(1) (amended public interest waiver), with respect to the following solar photo-voltaic (PV) equipment: (1) Domestically-manufactured modules containing foreign-manufactured cells, (2) Foreign-manufactured modules, when completely comprised of domestically-manufactured cells, and (3) Any ancillary items and equipment (including, but not limited to, charge controllers, combiners and disconnect boxes, breakers and fuses, racks, trackers, lugs, wires, cables and all otherwise incidental equipment with the exception of inverters and batteries) when utilized in a solar installation involving a U.S. manufactured PV module, or a module manufactured abroad but comprised exclusively of domestically-manufactured cells.

This document announces an open meeting of the Negotiated Rulemaking Working Group for Liquid-Immersed and Medium-Voltage Dry Type Transformers (hereafter ``MV Group''). The MV Group is a working group within the Appliance Standards Subcommittee of the Efficiency and Renewables Advisory Committee (ERAC). The purpose of the MV Group is to discuss and, if possible, reach consensus on a proposed rule for regulating the energy efficiency of distribution transformers, as authorized by the Energy Policy Conservation Act (EPCA) of 1975, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(C) and 6317(a). A separate Working Group on Low-Voltage Dry Type Transformers is being convened to discuss and, if possible, reach consensus on a proposed rule for regulating the energy efficiency of low-voltage transformers, as authorized by the Energy Policy Conservation Act (EPCA) of 1975, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(C) and 6317(a) [76 FR 50148].