Department of Energy May 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 United States Code (U.S.C.) 3507(a)(1)(D), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is submitting the information collection FERC-585, Reporting of Electric Energy shortages and Contingency Plans under PURPA, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review of the information collection requirements. Any interested person may file comments directly with OMB and should address a copy of those comments to the Commission as explained below. The Commission issued a Notice in the Federal Register (77 FR 11519, 02/27/2012) requesting public comments. FERC received no comments on the FERC-585 and is making this notation in its submittal to OMB.

This notice announces an open meeting of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB), Small Modular Reactor Subcommittee (SMR). The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is amending its energy conservation standards for small, large, and very large water-cooled and evaporatively-cooled commercial package air conditioners, and variable refrigerant flow (VRF) water-source heat pumps less than 17,000 Btu/h. DOE is adopting new energy conservation standards for computer room air conditioners and VRF water-source heat pumps with a cooling capacity at or greater than 135,000 Btu/h and less than 760,000 Btu/h. Pursuant to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, DOE must assess whether the uniform national standards for these covered equipment need to be updated each time the corresponding industry standardthe American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air- Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)/Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) Standard 90.1 (ASHRAE Standard 90.1)is amended, which most recently occurred on October 29, 2010. The levels DOE is adopting are the same as the efficiency levels specified in ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010. DOE has determined that the ASHRAE Standard 90.1- 2010 efficiency levels for the equipment types listed above are more stringent than existing Federal energy conservation standards and will result in economic and energy savings compared existing energy conservation standards. Furthermore, DOE has concluded that clear and convincing evidence does not exist, as would justify more-stringent standard levels than the efficiency levels in ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010 for any of the equipment classes. DOE is also updating the current Federal test procedures or, for certain equipment, adopting new test procedures to incorporate by reference the most current versions of the relevant industry test procedures specified in ASHRAE Standard 90.1- 2010. Furthermore, DOE is adopting additional test procedure provisions to include with modification certain instructions from Air- Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) operations manuals in that organization's test procedures that would clarify the application of the DOE test procedures and harmonize DOE testing with the testing performed by industry.

This notice announces a meeting of the Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee (BERAC). The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register.

In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the currently approved information collection FERC-576, Report of Service Interruptions.

On February 22, 2012, the Commission published in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (77 FR 10415) (NOPR) proposing to amend its regulations to incorporate by reference the latest version (Version 2.0) of business practice standards adopted by the Wholesale Gas Quadrant of the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) applicable to natural gas pipelines. The Commission, however, did not propose to adopt two standards it found inconsistent with its regulations. Among the comments filed with the Commission were comments from NAESB explaining that its Wholesale Gas Quadrant Executive Committee was in the process of voting on two standards to rectify the inconsistency noted in the NOPR by the Commission. On May 4, 2012, NAESB filed a status report informing the Commission that it had finalized the two corrections. The Commission is providing interested parties an opportunity to file comments with respect to the two corrected standards adopted by NAESB and whether the Commission should incorporate these revised standards into its regulations.