Department of Energy July 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces receipt of and publishes a petition for waiver from ITW Food Equipment Group, LLC (ITW) seeking an exemption from specified portions of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) test procedure for determining the energy consumption of commercial refrigeration equipment under the regulations for basic models of their Innopod temperature controlled grocery and general merchandise system (Innopod). ITW requests modifications, as specified in its petition for waiver, to the existing DOE test procedure, which references Air- Conditioning, and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) Standard 1200-2006 and Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) Standard 1200 (I-P)-2010 that further references American National Standards Institute/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air- Conditioning Engineers (ANSI/ASHRAE) Standard 72. ITW submitted to DOE an alternate test procedure that allows for testing of specified Innopod basic models. This notice also announces that DOE has granted ITW an interim waiver from the DOE commercial refrigeration equipment test procedures for the specified commercial refrigeration equipment basic models, subject to use of the alternative test procedure as set forth in this notice. DOE solicits comments, data, and information concerning ITW's petition and its suggested alternate test procedure.

In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is submitting its information collection [FERC-510 (Application for Surrender of a Hydropower License), FERC-520 (Application for Authority to Hold Interlocking Directorate Positions), FERC-561 (Annual Report of Interlocking Positions), and FERC-583 (Annual Kilowatt Generating Report (Annual Charges))] to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review of the information collection requirements. Any interested person may file comments directly with OMB and should address a copy of those comments to the Commission as explained below. The Commission previously issued a Notice in the Federal Register (82 FR 16191, 4/3/2017) requesting public comments. The Commission received no comments on the FERC-510, the FERC-520, the FERC-561, or the FERC- 583 and is making this notation in its submittal to OMB.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) previously issued a 60-day Notice in the Federal Register requesting public comments on the revisions to FERC-725A (Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System), and FERC-725Z (Mandatory Reliability Standards: IRO Reliability Standards). The Commission received no comments. Another unrelated item is currently pending review at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under FERC-725A. Only one item per OMB Control No. may be pending OMB review at a time. In order to submit this material for Docket No. RD17-4 timely to OMB, the package will be submitted to OMB under FERC-725Z, and a `placeholder' information collection number, FERC-725A(1C) (Mandatory Reliability Standards for Bulk-Power System: Reliability Standard TOP-001-4) rather than under FERC-725A. In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Commission is submitting the FERC-725A(1C) and FERC-725Z to the OMB for review of the revised information collection requirements. Any interested person may file comments directly with OMB and should address a copy of those comments to the Commission as explained below.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has postponed the effectiveness of certain provisions of a final rule, published in the Federal Register on January 5, 2017, that amends the test procedure and specific certification, compliance, and enforcement provisions for central air conditioners and heat pumps. Specifically, DOE postponed the effectiveness of two provisions of a recently issued rule that require outdoor unit models to be tested under the outdoor unit with no match if they meet either of the two following conditions: The outdoor unit is approved for use with a refrigerant that has a 95 [deg]F midpoint saturation absolute pressure that is +/- 18 percent of the 95 [deg]F saturation absolute pressure for HCFC-22; or the unit is shipped requiring the addition of more than two pounds of refrigerant to meet the charge required for testing under the rule and the factory charge is not equal to or greater than 70% of the outdoor unit internal volume times the liquid density of refrigerant at 95 [deg]F.

Vermont Electric Power Company, Inc. (``VELCO''), as operating-and-management agent for the Joint Owners of the Highgate Transmission Interconnection Facilities (the ``Highgate Joint Owners'') filed an application to amend PP-82, issued on May 14, 1985 and amended on March 1, 1994, September 3, 2003, February 7, 2005 and again on May 3, 2016. VELCO requested that DOE reflect changes in ownership of the Highgate Transmission Facility.

On January 4, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'') published a final rule establishing new test procedures for certain varieties of compressors. The final rule established definitions, materials incorporated by reference, sampling plans, representations requirements, enforcement provisions and test procedures for certain varieties of compressors. Since that time, DOE has received correspondence, raising concerns that certain issues and information may not have been fully considered during the original rulemaking proceeding and also indicating further clarification may be needed to implement the rule as adopted. As a result, by this RFI, DOE is soliciting further data and information regarding the compressor test procedure and announcing that DOE will not seek to enforce the test procedure rule for 180 days (i.e., until December 30, 2017) while it considers the data and information already submitted and any further material submitted in response to this request for information.