Department of Energy February 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is withdrawing its advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANOPR) considering potential modifications to the Commission's policies for evaluating oil pipeline indexed rate changes and certain additions to the annual reporting requirements in FERC Form No. 6, page 700. Additionally, the Commission denies the petition for rulemaking filed by certain shippers seeking changes to page 700 reporting requirements.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) seeks comments regarding the potential benefits and risks associated with the use of virtualization and cloud computing services in association with bulk electric system operations, as well as whether barriers exist in the Commission-approved Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standards that impede the voluntary adoption of virtualization or cloud computing services.

This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Northern New Mexico. The Federal Advisory Committee Act requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register.

In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the currently approved information collection, FERC-725A(1B), (Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System)

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is revising its regulations to incorporate by reference, with certain enumerated exceptions, the latest version (Version 003.2) of the Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities adopted by the Wholesale Electric Quadrant (WEQ) of the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) as mandatory enforceable requirements. The Commission is adopting this latest version instead of WEQ Version 003.1, which was the subject of an earlier notice of proposed rulemaking. The Commission declines to adopt the proposal to remove the incorporation by reference of the WEQ-006 Manual Time Error Correction Business Practice Standards as adopted by NAESB.

The U.S Department of Energy (DOE) is issuing this RFI to invite public input on key challenges in reconstituting uranium mining and conversion capabilities in the United States. This invitation is in recognition of the importance of nuclear fuel supply chain capabilities to the United States. The Joint Explanatory Statement of the Energy and Water Development Committees on H.R. 1865, the Fiscal Year 2020 Energy and Water Appropriations Act, requests the Department to contract not later than 60 days after enactment of the Act with a Federally-Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) or other independent organization to work with industry to identify key challenges in reconstituting mining and conversion capabilities in the United States. The responses received from this RFI will be provided to the FFRDC or the independent organization.

This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Oak Ridge. The Federal Advisory Committee Act requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register.