Department of Energy October 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On October 18, 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'') published a notice of proposed rulemaking (``NOPR'') to establish test procedures for air cleaners and to announce a public meeting on November 9, 2022, to discuss the proposal. (``October 2022 NOPR'') This document announces a change to the public meeting time. Instead of being held from 1 to 4 p.m., the public meeting will now be held from 12 to 3 p.m.

In this Policy Statement, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) provides guidance regarding how it will evaluate complaints against oil pipeline index rate increases. Specifically, the Commission replaces the Substantially Exacerbate Test with the Percentage Comparison Test as the preliminary screen for determining whether to investigate complaints against index rate increases.

On September 20, 2022, the Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) issued a $16 million funding opportunity announcement (FOA) to support community engagement with DOE's consent-based siting activities and foster the development of innovative community ideas and feedback related to the potential role that one or more federal consolidated interim storage facilities for commercial spent nuclear fuel may have in the community. To view the FOA, go to https:// www.grants.gov and search for ``DE-FOA-0002575.''

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 requirements and burden of the information collection FERC-923 (Communication of Operational Information between Natural Gas Pipelines and Electric Transmission Operators), described below.

The Department of Energy (DOE), pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, intends to extend for three years a currently approved collection of information with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The information collection request, Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), was previously approved on May 31, 2020, under OMB Control No. 1910-5127 and its current expiration date is May 31, 2023. This ICR will include WAP Annual Appropriations and Weatherization Readiness Funds, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and Multi-Family Buildings. This ICR makes updates to the WAP reporting metrics to ensure the requested information can be shared on an annual basis with Congress.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 directed the Secretary of Energy to develop procedures for the acquisition of petroleum products for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (``SPR''). Pursuant to that direction, in 2006, the Department of Energy (``DOE'' or the ``Department'') promulgated the Procedures for Acquisition of Petroleum for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Over the intervening 16 years, the existing regulations have become outdated due to changes in statutory authority, agency practice, and market dynamics. In this final rule, DOE is amending its regulations on the procedures for the acquisition of petroleum products for the SPR to: more closely align the regulatory language with the applicable statutory language; remove outdated procedures for acquisition under the royalty-in-kind program; add procedures for acquisition by exchange to better reflect petroleum product acquisition operations as conducted by the Office of Petroleum Reserves; and increase the Department's flexibility in structuring acquisitions.

EIA submitted an information collection request for extension as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The information collection requests a three-year extension of its Form GC-859 ``Nuclear Fuel Data Survey,'' OMB Control Number 1901- 0287. Form GC-859 collects data on spent nuclear fuel from all utilities that operate commercial nuclear reactors and from all others that possess irradiated fuel from commercial nuclear reactors.

The U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'') is amending the test procedures for central air conditioners and heat pumps that will be required for certification of compliance with applicable energy conservation standards starting January 1, 2023, to address a limited number of specific issues, and making minor corrections to the current test procedures that are required for certification of compliance with applicable energy conservation standards prior to January 1, 2023. This rulemaking does not satisfy the 7-year lookback requirement prescribed by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (``EPCA'').

On September 28, 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published a notice of availability (NOA) on its Clean Hydrogen Production Standard (CHPS) Draft Guidance. The NOA provided an opportunity for submitting written comments on the draft guidance by October 20, 2022. DOE received requests to extend the comment period for an additional 60-90 days. DOE has reviewed these requests and is reopening the public comment period until November 14, 2022.