Department of Energy September 23, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to authorize the expenditure of federal funding for the design, construction, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of ``Project Icebreaker,'' a 20-megawatt offshore wind renewable energy project that would be located in Lake Erie, approximately 8 miles off Cleveland, Ohio. The proposed project would consist of up to six wind turbine generators and the necessary electrical transmission facilities (i.e. underwater and underground cable) to connect to the Cleveland Public Power Lake Road Substation. The Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) anticipates receiving an application pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act for the proposed project. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is responsible for reviewing impacts related to navigation and the USCG mission. Pursuant to the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), DOE is preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA) to identify and analyze potential impacts to the human environment that may occur if DOE authorizes the expenditure of federal funding in support of Project Icebreaker. The USACE and the USCG are cooperating agencies in preparation of the EA. DOE is requesting public input on the scope of the EA for Project Icebreaker. The notice of public scoping for the EA and a description of the proposed project is available for review at: www.energy.gov/node/ 2001046.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including residential furnaces. EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to periodically determine whether more-stringent, amended standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. On March 12, 2015, DOE published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR), in which DOE proposed amendments to the energy conservation standards for residential non-weatherized gas furnaces and mobile home gas furnaces. In response to the NOPR, DOE received comment expressing concern regarding DOE's proposed approach and encouraging the Department to examine establishing a separate product class for small furnaces. In response, DOE published a notice of data availability (NODA) in the Federal Register on September 14, 2015 that contained an analysis of a potential product class for small non-weatherized gas furnaces. In this supplemental notice of rulemaking (SNOPR), DOE responds to comments received on the NOPR and NODA and is making a modified proposal regarding amended energy conservation standards for the subject residential furnaces (including a separate small furnaces product class), which supersedes DOE's earlier proposal, as set forth in the March 12, 2015 NOPR. The notice also requests comment on the SNOPR's proposed standards and associated analyses and results. The SNOPR also proposes clarifications to the certification and reporting requirements of standby mode and off mode values for non-weatherized oil furnaces (including mobile home oil furnaces) and electric furnaces, to provide direction on the rounding of standby mode and off mode values, generally, and to clarify the level of precision for the furnace and boiler standards.