Department of Energy January 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces its decision to provide cost-shared funding to Leucadia Energy, LLC (Leucadia) for its Lake Charles Carbon Capture and Sequestration project (Lake Charles CCS project) under DOE's Industrial Carbon Capture Sequestration (ICCS) Program. DOE prepared an environmental impact statement (EIS) to evaluate the potential environmental impacts associated with DOE's proposed action of providing financial assistance to the Lake Charles CCS project. The EIS evaluated the impacts associated with construction and operation of the proposed project and Leucadia's Gasification Plant, which is a connected action. DOE's proposed action is to provide financial assistance through a cooperative agreement with Leucadia to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the Gasification Plant and transport the CO2 via pipelines to the West Hastings oil field, for use in existing, commercial enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The West Hastings research monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA) program will provide an accurate accounting of approximately 1 million tons of stored CO2.

The Department of Energy (DOE) invites public comment on an extension of a currently approved collection of information that DOE is developing for submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The Department of Energy (DOE) has submitted an information collection request to the OMB for extension under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The information collection requests a three- year extension of its Weatherization Assistance Program, OMB Control Number 1910-5157. The proposed collection will collect information on the status of grantee activities, expenditures, and results, to ensure that program funds are being used appropriately, effectively and expeditiously. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the currently approved 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 pertaining to the approved collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to further enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information being collected; and (d) ways to further minimize the burden regarding the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

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.

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-733, Demand Response/Time-Based Rate Programs and Advanced Metering, 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 63172, 10/23/2013) requesting public comments. FERC received no comments on the FERC-733 and is making this notation in its submittal to OMB.

The Department of Energy (``DOE'') today publishes this final rule to adjust DOE's civil monetary penalties (``CMPs'') for inflation as mandated by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996. This rule adjusts CMPs within the jurisdiction of DOE to the maximum extent allowed by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996.