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

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

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) invites public comment in Docket No. RD14-2-000 on a proposed collection of information that the Commission is developing for submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed 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 annual public meeting of the Federal Interagency Steering Committee on Multimedia Environmental Modeling (ISCMEM) will convene to discuss the latest developments in environmental modeling applications, tools and frameworks as well as new operational initiatives for FY 2014 among the participating agencies. This meeting is re-scheduled from October 22-23, 2013 due to Federal government shutdown that was caused by a lapse in Congressional appropriations. The meeting will be hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE), one of the participants in the ISCMEM, at its Forrestal Building Main Auditorium at 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585 adjacent to the Smithsonian Metrorail Station. The meeting is open to the public and all interested parties may attend.

The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of receipt of an application (Application) filed on December 11, 2013, by ConocoPhillips Alaska Natural Gas Corporation (CPANGC), requesting blanket authorization to export a quantity of liquefied natural gas (``LNG'') in an amount up to the equivalent of 40 billion cubic feet (``Bcf'') of natural gas on a cumulative basis over a two-year period. CPANGC seeks blanket authorization to export this volume of LNG from facilities located in the Cook Inlet near Kenai, Alaska, acting on its own behalf or as agent for others, to any country with which the United States does not have a free trade agreement requiring national treatment for trade in natural gas and with which trade is not prohibited by U.S. law or policy (``non-FTA countries''). CPANGC seeks such authorization for a two-year period to commence on the date of issuance of the order granting the requested authorization. The Application was filed under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA), 15 U.S.C. 717b.

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

This notice announces receipt of a petition for waiver and application for interim waiver (hereafter, ``petition'') from Liebherr Canada Ltd. (Liefherr) regarding specified portions of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) test procedure for determining the energy consumption of residential electric refrigerators and refrigerator- freezers. In its petition, Liebherr proposes to use an alternate test procedure that would permit the testing of its all-refrigerator model while physically connected to Liebherr's companion upright freezer model, which is necessary for the refrigerator to function properly. DOE solicits comments, data, and information concerning Liebherr's petition and the suggested modifications. Today's notice also grants Liebherr an interim waiver from the residential electric refrigerator and refrigerator-freezer test procedure, subject to use of the alternate test procedure set forth in this notice.

This notice announces receipt of a petition for waiver from Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (Samsung) regarding specified portions of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) test procedure for determining the energy consumption of electric refrigerators and refrigerator-freezers. In its petition, Samsung provides an alternate test procedure identical to the test procedure DOE published in a final rule setting out testing requirements for manufacturers to follow starting in 2014. DOE solicits comments, data, and information concerning Samsung's petition and the suggested alternate test procedure. Today's notice also grants Samsung an interim waiver from the electric refrigerator and refrigerator-freezer test procedure, subject to use of the alternative test procedure set forth in this notice.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of the decision and order (Case No. CD-009) that grants to Indesit Company (Indesit) a waiver from the DOE clothes dryer test procedure. The waiver pertains to the models of condensing residential clothes dryer specified in Indesit's petition. Condensing clothes dryers cannot be tested using the currently applicable DOE test procedure. Under today's decision and order, Indesit shall not be required to test and rate its specified models of residential condensing clothes dryer pursuant to the current test procedure.

Pursuant to section 215(d) of the Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) approves Reliability Standard BAL-003-1 (Frequency Response and Frequency Bias Setting), submitted by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization. Reliability Standard BAL-003-1 defines the amount of frequency response needed from balancing authorities to maintain Interconnection frequency within predefined bounds and includes requirements for the measurement and provision of frequency response. In addition, the Commission directs NERC to submit certain reports to address concerns discussed in the final rule.

The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) announces its decision to provide financial assistance to the FutureGen Industrial Alliance (the Alliance) for its FutureGen 2.0 Project. DOE prepared an environmental impact statement (EIS) (DOE/EIS-0460) to evaluate the potential environmental impacts associated with DOE's proposed action of providing approximately $1 billion of financial assistance for the project (the majority of which was appropriated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)) through cooperative agreements with the Alliance. The EIS evaluated the potential impacts associated with construction and operation of the proposed FutureGen 2.0 Project, which is a public-private partnership formed for the purpose of developing the world's first commercial- scale, oxy-combustion electric generation project integrated with carbon capture and geologic storage. The Alliance, cooperating with Ameren Energy Resources (Ameren), would upgrade one unit in a power plant currently owned by Ameren near Meredosia, Illinois. The repowered unit would include oxy-combustion and carbon capture technologies designed to capture at least 90 percent of its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions during steady-state operation and reduce other emissions to near zero. The captured CO2 would be transported through an approximately 30-mile pipeline to wells where it would be injected approximately 4,000 feet below ground into a geologic saline formation for permanent storage. The project would be designed to capture, transport, and inject approximately 1.2 million tons (1.1 million metric tons) of CO2 annually, and up to a total of 24 million tons (22 million metric tons) over approximately 20 years. The Alliance would also construct and operate visitor, research, and training facilities related to carbon capture and storage in the vicinity of Jacksonville, Illinois. The DOE-funded demonstration period would last for 56 months from the start of operations (approximately 2017) through 2022.