Department of Energy 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.

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

On September 7, 2016, Indeck Niles, LLC, as owner and operator of a new baseload electric generating powerplant, submitted a coal capability self-certification to the Department of Energy (DOE), pursuant to the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 (FUA).

Tenaska Power Services Co. (Applicant or TPS) 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 Industry Advisory Board (IAB) to the International Energy Agency (IEA) will meet on September 27-29, 2016, at the Conference Centre of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 27, Rue de la Convention, 75015 Paris, France, in connection with a joint meeting of the IEA's Standing Group on Emergency Questions (SEQ) and the IEA's Standing Group on the Oil Market (SOM) on September 27, 2016, in connection with a meeting of the SEQ on that day and on September 28, 2016. There will also be a meeting involving members of the IAB in connection with the IEA's 8th Emergency Response Exercise (ERE8) for SEQ delegates only to be held at the same location on September 29, 2016.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposes to establish new definitions, a new test procedure for dedicated-purpose pool pumps, new sampling and rating requirements, and new enforcement provisions for such equipment. Specifically, DOE proposes a test procedure for measuring the weighted energy factor (WEF) for certain varieties of dedicated-purpose pool pumps. The proposed test method incorporates by reference certain sections of the industry test standard Hydraulic Institute (HI) 40.6-2014, ``Methods for Rotodynamic Pump Efficiency Testing.'' The proposed definitions, test procedures, certification requirements, enforcement testing procedures, and labeling provisions are based on the recommendations of the dedicated-purpose pool pump (DPPP) Working Group, which was established under the Appliance Standards Rulemaking Federal Advisory Committee (ASRAC).

The EIA, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, intends to submit an information collection request for the Coal Markets Reporting System, OMB Control Number 1905-0167, with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). EIA is soliciting comments on the proposed revisions and requests a three-year extension to Forms: