Department of Energy 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) proposed amendments to the DOE test procedure for residential central air conditioners and heat pumps in a June 2010 notice of proposed rulemaking (June 2010 NOPR) and in an April 2011 supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (April 2011 SNOPR). The amendments proposed in this subsequent SNOPR would change the off-mode laboratory test steps and calculation algorithm to determine off-mode power consumption for residential central air conditioners and heat pumps. DOE welcomes written comments from the public on any subject within the scope of this test procedure rulemaking for addressing the off-mode energy consumption of residential central air conditioners and heat pumps.

International Transmission Company, d/b/a ITCTransmission (ITC), filed a request to further extend the comment period on its supplemental filing of operational documents in an ongoing Presidential permit proceeding regarding the ITC application to amend Presidential Permit No. PP-230-3.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) invites public comment in Docket No. RD11-10-000 on a proposed collection of information that the Commission is developing for submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

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.

This notice announces a meeting of the Unconventional Resources Technology Advisory Committee. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register.

This notice announces a reopening of the time period for submitting comments on the request for information on Building Energy Codes Cost Analysis published in the Federal Register on September 13, 2011. 76 FR 56413. The original comment period closed on October 13, 2011. The comment period is reopened for an additional 30 days.

This notice announces receipt of and publishes the Miele, Inc. (Miele) petition for waiver from specified portions of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) test procedure for determining the energy consumption of dishwashers. Today's notice also grants an interim waiver of the dishwasher test procedure. Through this notice, DOE also solicits comments with respect to the Miele petition.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is issuing this Amended Record of Decision (AROD) for the Nuclear Facility portion of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Building Replacement (CMRR) Project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in Los Alamos, New Mexico. After completing an EIS, NNSA issued a ROD for the CMRR Project on February 3, 2004, deciding to construct a two-building, partially above-ground, CMRR Facility in Technical Area-55 (TA-55) at LANL. This new facility would replace the aging 60-year-old Chemistry and Metallurgy Research (CMR) Building at LANL, and would ensure the ability to continue to perform analytical chemistry and materials characterization operations using plutonium and other actinides in a safe, secure manner in support of NNSA mission activities. As the CMRR Project planning and design process has progressed over the past 8 years, the first building of the two-building CMRR Facility (the Radiological Laboratory/Utility/Office Building, also known as the RLUOB) has been constructed. During this same time period, primarily as a result of efforts to better understand the seismic environment at the selected construction site in TA-55, several design considerations and ancillary support requirements were identified for the CMRR Nuclear Facility (CMRR-NF) that had not been anticipated in 2003. These design considerations and additional ancillary support requirements were not analyzed in the 2003 CMRR EIS. To address this new information, NNSA recently completed a supplemental environmental impact statement, Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Nuclear Facility Portion of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Building Replacement Project at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico (the CMRR-NF SEIS). The CMRR-NF SEIS analyzes the potential environmental impacts of proposed construction changes to the CMRR-NF to address site seismic and safety considerations, as well as newly identified ancillary construction support requirements, such as additional equipment storage areas, soil storage areas, additional transportation needs, and worker parking areas under the Modified CMRR-NF Alternative and compares these impacts to those identified for the construction project selected in the 2004 ROD (No Action Alternative) and for continued operation of the existing CMR facility. NNSA has considered this analysis as well as comments submitted by the public on the Draft and Final CMRR-NF SEIS and has decided to select the Modified CMRR-NF Alternative for constructing and operating the CMRR-NF portion of the CMRR Project. NNSA will select the appropriate Excavation Option (Shallow or Deep) for implementing the construction of this building after initiating final design activities, when additional geotechnical and structural design calculations and more detailed engineering analysis will be performed to support completing the facility design.

The Western Area Power Administration (Western), a Federal power marketing agency of the Department of Energy (DOE), announces its Post-2014 Resource Pool-Loveland Area Projects, Final Power Allocation developed under the requirements of subpart C-Power Marketing Initiative of the Energy Planning and Management Program (Program) Final Rule, 10 CFR part 905. These final power allocations are established prior to the contractual phase of the process. Firm electric service contracts negotiated between Western and allottees will permit delivery of power from the October 2014 billing period through the September 2024 billing period.