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

The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy gives notice that during February 2013, it issued orders granting authority to import and export natural gas and liquefied natural gas and vacating prior authority. These orders are summarized in the attached appendix and may be found on the FE Web site at https:// www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/gasregulation/authorizations/O rders- 2012.html. They are also available for inspection and copying in the Office of Fossil Energy, Office of Natural Gas Regulatory Activities, Docket Room 3E-033, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-9478. The Docket Room is open between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy gives notice that during January 2013, it issued orders granting authority to import and export natural gas and liquefied natural gas and vacating prior authority. These orders are summarized in the attached appendix and may be found on the FE Web site at https:// www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/gasregulation/authorizations/O rders- 2012.html. They are also available for inspection and copying in the Office of Fossil Energy, Office of Natural Gas Regulatory Activities, Docket Room 3E-033, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-9478. The Docket Room is open between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

In this Final Rule the Commission revises its Continuity of Operations Plan regulations to revise its hierarchy of delegation of Commission authority during emergency conditions, principally to ensure that, during emergency conditions, there are staff members located outside the National Capital Region to whom authority is delegated.

This proposed rule would correct the energy conservation standards for room air conditioners. In the direct final rule establishing amended energy conservation standards for residential clothes dryers and room air conditioners, published in the Federal Register on April 21, 2011, and the subsequent notices of effective date and compliance dates for the direct final rule and amendment of compliance dates, published on August 24, 2011, the Department of Energy (DOE) erroneously specified the maximum cooling capacity for product class 5a for room air conditioners without reverse cycle and with louvered sides as 24,999 British thermal units per hour (Btu/h), and the minimum cooling capacity for product class 5b for room air conditioners without reverse cycle and with louvered sides as 25,000 Btu/h, rather than 27,999 Btu/h and 28,000 Btu/h, respectively.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is amending its August 7, 2000, Record of Decision (ROD) pursuant to the Savannah River Site Spent Nuclear Fuel Management Final Environmental Impact Statement, Aiken, SC (DOE/EIS-0279, 2000; SRS SNF EIS). In the 2000 ROD, DOE decided to develop and demonstrate the ``melt and dilute'' technology to manage approximately 28.6 metric tons of heavy metal (MTHM) of aluminum-clad SNF, consistent with its preferred alternative identified in the SRS SNF EIS. DOE now amends that decision and will manage approximately 3.3 MTHM from the currently projected inventory of 22 MTHM at SRS using conventional processing \1\ at the H-Canyon facility at SRS, as described and evaluated under the Conventional Processing Alternative in the SRS SNF EIS. The quantity of 3.3 MTHM is the minimum amount of SNF necessary to avoid the need for costly modifications to the L-Basin that would allow DOE to accommodate expected receipts of SNF for the foreseeable future. This includes up to 200 High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) cores generated at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and approximately 1,000 bundles of aluminum-clad SNF currently stored at SRS, as well as target residue materials \2\ containing enriched uranium (including target materials from Canada that contain liquid Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) of U.S. origin). DOE anticipates that processing this SNF and target residue material would begin as early as 2014 and continue approximately four years. As a result of this amended decision, HEU in the SNF and target materials will be down-blended to low-enriched uranium (LEU). This end product will not be useable in nuclear weapons, but will be available for use in commercial power reactors such as those operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to generate electricity. DOE will continue to safely store the aluminum-clad SNF not addressed in this Amended ROD in L-Basin at SRS, pending future analysis and DOE decisions.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) requests comments on the draft version of the Wireless Power Meter Challenge Specification. This draft is a set of performance specifications applicable to energy efficiency metering devices for use at the electrical panel level within commercial buildings. The specifications are intended to spur the development of new technologies in the wireless electric metering space.

This notice announces a Board meeting 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.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) seeks comments and information regarding improvements to Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs). ESPCs allow Federal agencies to implement energy savings projects where the up-front capital cost is financed by an Energy Services Company (ESCO), who is then repaid from the agency's energy savings over a period of up to 25 years. The DOE Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) is the lead agency program for providing implementing rules and policies regarding ESPCs. DOE FEMP strives to continuously improve the ESPC processes it is has implemented since 1996. DOE is publishing this RFI to obtain ideas and input from ESPC stakeholders and other interested persons to facilitate further improvements to ESPCs.

The Department of Energy (DOE), pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, intends to extend for three years an information collection request with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the extended 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.

The Deputy Secretary of Energy confirmed and approved Rate Order No. WAPA-157 and Rate Schedules INT-FT5 and INT-NFT4, placing firm and nonfirm transmission service rates for the Pacific Northwest- Pacific Southwest Intertie Project (Intertie) of the Western Area Power Administration (Western) into effect on an interim basis. The provisional rates will be in effect until the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) confirms, approves, and places them into effect on a final basis, or until they are replaced by other rates. The provisional rates will provide sufficient revenue to pay all annual costs, including interest expense, and repay required investment within the allowable periods.