Department of Energy March 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Under section 215 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes to approve Reliability Standard MOD-028-2, submitted to the Commission for approval by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization. NERC proposes one modification to the currently-effective Reliability Standard MOD-028-1, pertaining to the information a transmission service provider must include when calculating Total Transfer Capability using the area interchange methodology for the on-peak and off-peak intra-day and next day time periods. The Commission also proposes to approve NERC's proposed implementation plan and retirement of the currently-effective standard.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), BPA intends to prepare an EIS on its decision whether to fund the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation's (CTUIR) proposal to construct and operate a hatchery for spring Chinook salmon in the Walla Walla River basin. The hatchery would expand facilities at the site of the CTUIR's existing Adult Holding and Spawning Facility on the South Fork Walla Walla River near the town of Milton-Freewater in Umatilla County, Oregon, to allow production of up to 500,000 yearling spring Chinook smolts. Project operations would include collection of adult spring Chinook for broodstock at Nursery Bridge Dam downstream of the proposed hatchery, incubation and rearing of juvenile spring Chinook, and release of smolts and adults in tributaries to the Walla Walla River in both Oregon and Washington. Spring Chinook were extirpated from the Walla Walla River basin in the early to mid-1900s. The proposal would augment fish populations available for harvest and aid in establishing a naturally spawning spring Chinook population. With this Notice of Intent, BPA is initiating the public scoping process for the EIS. BPA is requesting comments about potential environmental impacts that it should consider as it prepares the EIS. In accordance with DOE regulations for compliance with floodplain and wetlands environmental review requirements, BPA will prepare a floodplain and wetlands assessment to avoid or minimize potential harm to or within any affected floodplains and wetlands. The assessment will be included in the EIS.

This notice announces a teleconference call of the State Energy Advisory Board (STEAB). 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.

This action is to extend the rate setting formula for the Central Arizona Project, reflected in Transmission Service Rate Schedules CAP-FT2, CAP-NFT2, and CAP-NITS2, from January 1, 2013, through December 31, 2015. These Transmission Service Rate Schedules contain formula rates recalculated from annual updated financial and load data.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requests information to help inform its current rulemaking in which it has proposed to set energy conservation standards for classes of battery chargers and external power supplies. Specifically, DOE seeks information on battery chargers that manufacturers have certified as compliant with the California Energy Commission (CEC) standards that became effective on February 1, 2013. DOE is actively reviewing battery chargers that have been certified as compliant with the CEC standards to determine if the analysis DOE prepared in support of the notice of proposed rulemaking for Battery Chargers and External Power Supplies published on March 27, 2012, needs revision in light of the availability of these products. Based on testing data and information received from stakeholders, DOE may propose alternative energy conservation standard levels for battery chargers if it is determined that new energy conservation standards for battery chargers are technologically feasible and economically justified. If DOE determined that different standards could satisfy these criteria, DOE would issue a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking in order to discuss any new findings, propose alternative energy conservation standard levels, and request stakeholder feedback. At this time, DOE welcomes written comments from the public on the issues brought up in this Request for Information or on any other topic within the scope of this rulemaking.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of the decision and order (Case No. DW-010) that grants to BSH Corporation (BSH) a waiver from the DOE dishwasher test procedure for certain basic models containing integrated or built-in water softeners. Under today's decision and order, BSH shall be required to test and rate its dishwashers with integrated water softeners using an alternate test procedure that takes this technology into account when measuring energy and water consumption.