Department of Energy 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

New Brunswick Energy Marketing Corporation (NBEMC), formerly known as New Brunswick Power Generation Corporation, has applied to renew its authority to transmit electric energy from the United States to Canada pursuant to section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposes to revise and reorganize its test procedure for commercial refrigeration equipment (CRE) in order to clarify certain terms, procedures, and compliance dates. Specifically, in this notice of proposed rulemaking, DOE addresses several inquiries it has received from interested parties regarding the applicability of DOE's test procedure and current Federal energy conservation standards, the definition of certain terms pertinent to commercial refrigeration equipment, the proper configuration and use of certain components and features of commercial refrigeration equipment when testing according to the DOE test procedure, the proper application of certain test procedure provisions, and the compliance date of certain provisions specified in the DOE test procedure final rule published on February 21, 2012 (hereafter referred to as 2012 test procedure final rule). DOE also proposes a number of test procedure clarifications which have arisen as a result of the negotiated rulemaking process for certification of commercial heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and water heating equipment. These provisions are addressed below in more detail. DOE will hold a public meeting to receive and discuss comments on this NOPR.

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-547, Gas Pipeline Rates: Refund Report Requirements, 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 43186, 7/19/2013) requesting public comments. FERC received no comments on the FERC-547 and is making this notation in its submittal to OMB.

On January 19, 2012, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) to establish a new test procedure for television sets (TVs). Based on comments received in response to the January 2012 NOPR, DOE performed additional testing and proposed amendments to the TV test procedure in its March 12, 2013 supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNOPR). Following the March 2013 SNOPR, DOE issues this final rule to establish a new test procedure for TVs and respond to any subsequent comments from the March 2013 SNOPR. This rule resolves issues with the October 1979 TV test procedure, repealed by DOE on October 20, 2009, by allowing for accurate measurement of the energy consumption of modern TVs.

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.

This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Northern New Mexico. 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.

Under section 215 of the Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approves Transmission Planning (TPL) Reliability Standard TPL-001-4, submitted by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, the Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization. Reliability Standard TPL-001-4 introduces significant revisions and improvements by requiring annual assessments addressing near-term and long-term planning horizons for steady state, short circuit and stability conditions. Reliability Standard TPL-001-4 also includes a provision that allows a transmission planner to plan for non-consequential load loss following a single contingency by providing a blend of specific quantitative and qualitative parameters for the permissible use of planned non-consequential load loss to address bulk electric system performance issues, including firm limitations on the maximum amount of load that an entity may plan to shed, safeguards to ensure against inconsistent results and arbitrary determinations that allow for the planned non-consequential load loss, and a more specifically defined, open and transparent, verifiable, and enforceable stakeholder process. The Commission finds in the Final Rule that the proposed Reliability Standard is just, reasonable, not unduly discriminatory or preferential, and in the public interest. In addition, the Commission directs NERC to modify Reliability Standard TPL-001-4 to address the concern that the standard could exclude planned maintenance outages of significant facilities from future planning assessments and directs NERC to change the TPL-001-4, Requirement R1 Violation Risk Factor from medium to high.

The recently enacted American Energy Manufacturing Technical Corrections Act amended the Energy Policy and Conservation Act as to certain consumer products and commercial and industrial equipment. The amendments include new and revised energy conservation standards and definitions, as well as technical corrections, which the Department of Energy (DOE) is incorporating into its regulations in this technical amendment. DOE is also making additional limited changes to the language of its regulations, as necessitated by the statutory amendments.

Through this Request for Information (RFI), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) seeks certain information to help inform its current rulemaking to consider setting energy conservation standards for ceiling fans. Specifically, DOE seeks information on the interaction between ceiling fan and air conditioning usage. To inform interested parties and to facilitate this process, DOE has identified several related issues in this RFI on which DOE particularly seeks to receive comment and data from stakeholders and the public.

The U.S. Department of Energy Deputy Secretary has approved and placed into effect on an interim basis Rate Order No. SWPA-66, which increases the power rates for the Integrated System pursuant to the Integrated System Rate Schedules to supersede the existing rate schedules.

The Department of Energy (DOE), pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, intends to extend for three years, an information collection request (ICR) with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) concerning the Occupational Radiation Protection Program, OMB Control Number 1910-5105. The Office of Worker Safety and Health Policy ensures that adequate policies are in place for the protection of workers at DOE sites and operations. The Office of Worker Safety and Health Policy uses the information collected from the contractors to evaluate the adequacy of DOE policies for the protection of workers from exposure to ionizing radiation. 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.