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

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) Multi-colored Full Wave Rectified strands of 5mm, conical shaped LED mini bulbs in molded sockets with 4'' spacing between bulbs, UL listed with a minimum 50,000 hour lamp life; (2) Ancillary items needed for a T-12 to T-8 retrofit, including the ballast disconnects, ancillary wiring and welding materials where needed, and the spacing clip to accommodate T-8 bulbs into a T-12 fixture; and (3) Roof integrated flat plate collectors producing 1250 btu/square foot, where the installation requires a roof integrated solar collector to meet local historic preservation or local building standards.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is hereby granting a determination of inapplicability (unreasonable cost waiver) of section 1605 of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (Recovery Act Buy American provisions) to the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation's (CUC) located in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), recipient of the EECBG grant DE-EE0000762, for 5 diesel engine radiators to be installed at the CUC's main power plant located in Saipan, CNMI. This waiver applies only to this project.

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

The Department of Energy (DOE or Department) is proposing to revise existing regulations covering contractor legal management requirements. Conforming amendments are also proposed to the Department of Energy Acquisition Regulation (DEAR). The proposed regulations will provide rules for handling of legal matters and associated costs by certain contractors whose contracts exceed $100,000,000 as well as legal counsel retained directly by the Department for matters in which costs exceed $100,000.

This notice announces receipt of and publishes a petition for waiver from Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (Samsung). The petition for waiver (hereafter ``petition'') requests a waiver from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) test procedure applicable to commercial package air-source central air conditioners and heat pumps. The petition is specific to the variable capacity Digital Variable Multi (DVM) (commercial) multi-split heat pump models specified in Samsung's petition. Through this document, DOE: (1) Solicits comments, data, and information with respect to the Samsung petition; and (2) announces the grant of an interim waiver to Samsung from the existing DOE test procedure for the subject commercial multi-split air conditioners and heat pumps.

The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of receipt of an application (Application), filed on October 20, 2011 by Carib Energy (USA) LLC (Carib), requesting long- term, multi-contract authorization to export up to a total of 120,000 gallons per day of domestically produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) (equivalent to approximately 3.44 Billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas per year) over a twenty-five year period, commencing on the earlier of the date of first export or five years from the date the requested authorization is granted. The Application states that the LNG would be exported from ports of export in the southeastern United States, which may include Jacksonville, FL, West Palm Beach, FL, Miami, FL, Tampa, FL, Mobile, AL, Gulfport, MS, Savannah, GA, New Orleans, LA, Houston, TX, Galveston, TX, and Pensacola, FL, to any country with which the United States has not entered into a free trade agreement (FTA) providing for national treatment for trade in natural gas located within South America, Central America or the Caribbean that has, or in the future will have, the capacity to import LNG via use of approved ISO IMO7/TVAC-ASME LNG containers (ISO containers) transported on ocean-going carriers, and with which trade is not prohibited by United States law or policy. The Application was filed under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA), as amended by section 201 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. Protests, motions to intervene, notices of intervention, and written comments are invited.

The Commission proposes changes in its rules and regulations relating to the filing of privileged material, in keeping with the Commission's efforts to comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Government Paperwork Elimination Act, and the E-Government Act of 2002. First, the Commission will establish for filing purposes two categories of privileged material: Privileged material and Critical Energy Infrastructure Information. This revision will expand the ability to file electronically by permitting electronic filing of materials subject to Administrative Law Judge protective orders. Second, the Commission proposes to revise its regulations to provide a single set of uniform procedures for filing privileged materials. This effort is being undertaken as part of the Commission's effort to reassess and streamline its regulations to ensure that they are efficient, effective and up to date. Also, the Commission proposes to revise Rule 213(d) of its Rules of Practice and Procedure, which establishes the timeline for filing answers to motions, to clarify that the standard fifteen day reply time will not apply to motions requesting an extension of time or a shortened time period for action. Instead, the Commission proposes to set the time for responding to such motions at five days, unless another time period is established by notice based on the circumstances.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has submitted an information collection request to the OMB for extension under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The information collection package requests a three-year extension of ``Industrial Relations,'' OMB Control Number 1910-0600. This proposed collection covers major Department contractor Human Resource information necessary for contract management, administration, and cost control.