Department of Energy 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces a virtual meeting via WebEx of the National Coal Council (NCC). The Federal Advisory Committee Act (92, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register.

On May 31, 2016, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) that proposed amended energy conservation standards for commercial water heaters. DOE published this NOPR so stakeholders can review and provide input on these proposed revisions. The comment period for the NOPR pertaining to the subject commercial water heating equipment was scheduled to end August 1, 2016. After receiving a number of requests for additional time to comment, DOE has decided to reopen the public comment period until August 30, 2016 for the purposes of submitting comments on the NOPR or any other aspect of the energy conservation standards rulemaking for commercial water heating equipment.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces its decision in Lake Charles Exports, LLC (LCE), DOE/FE Docket No. 11-59-LNG, to issue DOE/FE Order No. 3324-A, granting final long-term, multi contract authorization for LCE to engage in the export of domestically produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Lake Charles Terminal located in Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana (Terminal), in a volume equivalent to 730 Bcf/yr of natural gas for a term of 20 years. LCE is seeking to export LNG from the Terminal to countries with which the United States has not entered into a free trade agreement (FTA) that requires national treatment for trade in natural gas, and with which trade is not prohibited by U.S. law or policy (non-FTA countries). Order No. 3324-A is issued under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) \1\ and 10 CFR part 590 of DOE's regulations.\2\ DOE participated as a cooperating agency with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) \3\ analyzing the potential environmental impacts resulting from modification of the existing facilities at the Terminal.

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 battery chargers. In this notice, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposes new energy conservation standards for uninterruptible power supplies, a class of battery chargers, and also announces a public meeting to receive comment on these proposed standards and associated analyses and results.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes to revise its regulations to collect certain data for analytics and surveillance purposes from market-based rate (MBR) sellers and entities trading virtual products or holding financial transmission rights and to change certain aspects of the substance and format of information submitted for MBR purposes. The revisions proposed herein include new requirements for those entities to report certain information about their legal and financial connections to other entities to assist the Commission in its analytics and surveillance efforts. The Commission previously proposed to require certain market participants in the Commission-jurisdictional organized wholesale electric markets to file similar information about their financial and legal connections in the Collection of Connected Entity Data from Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in Docket No. RM15-23-000 (Connected Entity NOPR). However, as described herein, this proposal presents substantial revisions from what the Commission proposed in the Connected Entity NOPR, including, among other things: A different set of filers; a reworked and substantially narrowed definition of Connected Entity; and a different submission process. With respect to the MBR program, the proposals include: Adopting certain changes to reduce and clarify the scope of ownership information that MBR sellers must provide, similar to the notice of proposed rulemaking issued in Docket No. RM16-3-000 (Ownership NOPR); reducing the information required in asset appendices; and collecting currently-required MBR information and certain new information in a consolidated and streamlined manner. The Commission proposes all of these changes in order to eliminate duplication, ease compliance burdens, modernize its data collections, and render information collected through its programs usable and accessible for the Commission and its staff. In furtherance of this effort, in orders being issued concurrently with the instant NOPR, the Commission withdraws the Connected Entity NOPR issued in Docket No. RM15-23-000 and the Ownership NOPR issued in Docket No. RM16-3-000.\1\ The Commission also proposes to eliminate the requirement that MBR sellers submit corporate organizational charts adopted in Order No. 816 in Docket No. RM14-14-000.

The Department of Energy (DOE) invites public comment on a proposed 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. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of DOE's responsibility to develop a regulation pursuant to section 934 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) on implementing the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of DOE's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (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.

This document contains corrections to the final regulations that became effective November 3, 2008 (with implementation of the requirements beginning April 1, 2010), as published in the subsequent editions of the Code of Federal Regulations, including the 2015 edition.

This notice announces a combined meeting of the Environmental Monitoring and Remediation Committee and Waste Management Committee of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Northern New Mexico (known locally as the Northern New Mexico Citizens' Advisory Board [NNMCAB]). 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 sets forth the schedule and summary agenda for a conference call of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), and describes the functions of the Council. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register.