Department of Energy July 22, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of the Hydrogen Energy California's Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Project Preliminary Staff Assessment/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (PSA/DEIS) (DOE/EIS-0431D) for public review and comment. This document is the draft environmental impact statement for DOE's purpose of complying with the National Environmental Policy Act. This document is also the Preliminary Staff Assessment for the California Energy Commission's (CEC) purpose of complying with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). This combined document is hereafter referred to as the Preliminary Staff Assessment/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (PSA/DEIS). The PSA/DEIS analyzes the potential environmental impacts associated with the Hydrogen Energy California's (HECA) Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Project, which would be designed, constructed, and operated by HECA, LLC. HECA's proposal was selected by DOE for financial assistance under the Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI) Program. The PSA/DEIS was prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations that implement the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), DOE's procedures for compliance with floodplain and wetland review requirements (10 CFR Part 1022), and DOE's procedures implementing NEPA (10 CFR Part 1021). DOE's proposed action is subject to the Clean Air Act's General Conformity rule (GCR) set forth in section 176(c) of the Act and 40 CFR Part 93. DOE's Draft General Conformity Analysis is incorporated into the PSA/DEIS. DOE is coordinating its compliance with the GCR requirements for public participation in 40 CFR 93.156 with the public comment period for the PSA/DEIS.

In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is submitting the information collection, FERC Form No. 580 (Interrogatory on Fuel and Energy Purchase Practices), 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 (78 FR 26766, 5/8/2013) requesting public comments. FERC received two comments on the FERC-580. FERC addresses these comments in this notice and in its submittal to OMB.