Department of Energy November 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, this notice announces that the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) will submit the collection abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The PRA submission describes the nature of the information collection and its expected cost and burden and includes the actual collection instrument.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is revising its regulations to foster competition in the sale of primary frequency response service. Specifically, the Commission amends its regulations governing market-based rates for public utilities pursuant to the Federal Power Act (FPA) to permit the sale of primary frequency response service at market-based rates by sellers with market-based rate authority for sales of energy and capacity.

The Commission approves revisions to the Transmission Operations and Interconnection Reliability Operations and Coordination Reliability Standards, developed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, which the Commission has certified as the Electric Reliability Organization responsible for developing and enforcing mandatory Reliability Standards. The Commission also directs NERC to make three modifications to the standards within 18 months of the effective date of the final rule.

The Department of Health and Human Services and the other Federal Departments and Agencies listed in this document are extending the comment period on the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects notice of proposed rulemaking. The NPRM requests comment on proposed revisions to modernize, strengthen, and make more effective the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects that was promulgated as a Common Rule in 1991. The NPRM was published in the Federal Register on September 8, 2015.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is proposing to eliminate the exemptions for wind generators from the requirement to provide reactive power. As a result, all newly interconnecting generators, including both synchronous and non- synchronous generators, would be required to provide reactive power. To implement this requirement, the Commission proposes to revise the pro forma Large Generator Interconnection Agreement (LGIA), Appendix G to the pro forma LGIA, and the pro forma Small Generator Interconnection Agreement (SGIA) in accordance with the Commission's regulations, which require every public utility with a non-discriminatory open access transmission tariff on file to also have on file the pro forma LGIA and pro forma SGIA ``required by Commission rulemaking proceedings promulgating and amending such interconnection procedures and agreements.'' In this Proposal to Revise Standard Generator Interconnection Agreements (Proposal), the Commission proposes to modify both agreements to eliminate the exemptions for wind generators from the requirement to provide reactive power. As a result, all newly interconnecting generators (i.e., new generators seeking to interconnect to the transmission system and all existing non- synchronous generators making upgrades to their generation facilities that require new interconnection requests), both synchronous and non- synchronous, would be required to provide reactive power as a condition of interconnection as of the effective date of the final revision.

The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of receipt of an application (Application), filed on November 6, 2015, by Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC (Sabine Pass), requesting blanket authorization to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) in an amount up to the equivalent of 600 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas on a cumulative basis over a two-year period commencing on the earlier of the date of first short-term export or January 15, 2016. The LNG would be exported from the Sabine Pass Liquefaction Project (Liquefaction Project) located in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, to any country with the capacity to import LNG via ocean-going carrier and with which trade is not prohibited by U.S. law or policy. To date, Sabine Pass has been granted long-term, multi-contract authorization under DOE/FE Order No. 2961-A to export LNG in a volume equivalent to 803 Bcf per year of natural gas from the Liquefaction Project to non- FTA countries, for a 20-year term.\1\ Sabine Pass states that, in anticipation of the start of liquefaction operations at the Liquefaction Project, it requests this blanket authorization to engage in short-term exports of LNG produced both prior to commercial operations as well as subsequent to commercial operations if and when appropriate market opportunities arise. According to Sabine Pass, the requested blanket authorization will provide enhanced operational flexibility and the ability to export produced LNG cargoes that may be rejected by customers under long-term contracts. Sabine Pass seeks to export this LNG on its own behalf and as agent for other parties who will hold title to the LNG at the time of export. The Application was filed under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA). Additional details can be found in Sabine Pass's Application, posted on the DOE/FE Web site at: https://energy.gov/fe/downloads/sabine-pass-liquefaction-llc- fe-dkt-no-15-171-lng

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces public hearings to receive comments on the Draft EIS (DOE/EIS-0463) and the Supplement to the Draft EIS (DOE/EIS-0463 S1). The Draft EIS and the Supplement to the Draft EIS evaluate the potential environmental impacts of DOE's proposed Federal action of issuing a Presidential permit to Northern Pass LLC (the Applicant) to construct, operate, maintain, and connect a new electric transmission line across the U.S./Canada border in northern New Hampshire.