Department of Energy 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

BP Energy Company (Applicant or BP Energy) has applied for authorization to transmit electric energy from the United States to Mexico pursuant to the Federal Power Act.

The fixed firm power rates for the Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects (SLCA/IP) (Provisional Rates) have been confirmed, approved, and placed into effect on an interim basis. Based on the FY 2021 financial toll on the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund (Basin Fund) and the drought-impacted purchased power projections from the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) August 2021 24-Month Study for FY 2022 and FY 2023 and the August 2021 Colorado River Simulation System (CRSS) traces for FY 2024 through FY 2026, existing rates will not sustain a balance in the Basin Fund capable of supporting operations. The Colorado River Storage Project Management Center (CRSP MC) of the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) is implementing a new SLCA/IP firm power rate, effective December 1, 2021, through December 31, 2023.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of the Draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing Evaluation for the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration, U.S. Department of Energy (Draft WIR Evaluation). The Draft WIR Evaluation concerns DOE's proposed Test Bed Initiative (TBI) Demonstration. Under the proposed TBI Demonstration, approximately 2,000 gallons of waste from tank SY-101 at the Hanford Site in Washington will be pretreated to remove most key radionuclides, then solidified (grouted) offsite and subsequently disposed of at a licensed and permitted disposal facility outside of the State of Washington. The Draft WIR Evaluation demonstrates that the pretreated and solidified waste will be incidental to reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, will not be high-level radioactive waste (HLW), and may be managed as low-level radioactive waste (LLW). DOE prepared the Draft WIR Evaluation pursuant to DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management, and DOE Manual 435.1-1, chg 3, Radioactive Waste Management Manual. DOE is consulting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) concerning the Draft WIR Evaluation. DOE is also making the Draft WIR Evaluation available for comments from States, Tribal Nations, stakeholders and the public. After consultation with NRC, carefully considering comments received, and performing any necessary revisions of analyses and technical documents, DOE plans to prepare a final WIR Evaluation. Based on the final WIR Evaluation, DOE may determine, in a future WIR Determination, whether the pretreated and solidified waste is incidental to reprocessing, is non-HLW, and may be managed as LLW.

The U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'') proposes to establish a test procedure for a category of cooking products, i.e., conventional cooking tops, under a proposed new appendix. The proposed test procedure would adopt the latest version of the relevant industry standard with modifications to adapt the test method to gas cooking tops, offer an optional method for burden reduction, normalize the energy use of each test cycle, include measurement of standby mode and off mode energy use, update certain test conditions, and provide certain clarifying language. This NOPR also proposes to retitle the existing cooking products test procedure for microwave ovens only. DOE is seeking comment from interested parties on the proposal.

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-587 (Land Description: Public Land States/ Non-Public Land States), which will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a review of the information collection requirements.

On December 6, 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'') published a notice of proposed rulemaking (``NOPR'') proposing certain amendments to its test procedure for external power supplies (``EPS'' or ``EPSs''). In this supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (``SNOPR''), DOE is proposing additional amendments and modifications to certain proposals presented in the SNOPR. In this document, DOE is proposing to remove reference to direct operation and indirect operation Class A EPSs in the scope; simplify and more explicitly align the scope of the test procedure with the scope of the energy conservation standards; provide additional specifications for the testing of EPSs that do not ship with an output cord; and align the testing requirements for programmable power supplies with those for Universal Serial Bus Power Delivery (``USB-PD'') EPSs. Further, DOE proposes to maintain the location of certain definitions for which it proposed in the NOPR to relocate. DOE is seeking comment from interested parties on the proposals.