Department of Energy 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) is issuing this Notice to document emergency actions that it has taken pursuant to the Federal Power Act. DOE issued an emergency order to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) to operate certain power generating facilities under limited circumstances as described further in this section. ERCOT is the independent system operator for over 26 million people in Texas (ERCOT Region). The State of Texas experienced a sustained heat wave that resulted in abnormally high electric demand. Because the additional generation required to serve the ERCOT Region was anticipated to result in a conflict with environmental standards and requirements, DOE authorized only the necessary additional generation for ERCOT to sufficiently supply the amount of energy needed to prevent electrical disruption. However, because no facilities operated above permitted levels during the emergency as authorized by the DOE order, no environmental impacts resulted from DOE issuing the order. Consequently, DOE has decided not to prepare a special environmental analysis.

The Administrator, Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern), has approved and placed into effect Rate Order No. SWPA-82, which provides a temporary extension of Southwestern's current Sam Rayburn Dam rate schedule (SRD-15) through September 30, 2024, unless superseded.

The Administrator, Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern), has approved and placed into effect Rate Order No. SWPA-83, which provides a temporary extension of Southwestern's current Robert D. Willis Hydropower Project rate schedule (RDW-15) through September 30, 2024, unless superseded.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended (``EPCA''), prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including dedicated purpose pool pump motors. When DOE is considering adopting energy conservation standards, EPCA requires that the standards be designed to achieve the maximum improvement in energy efficiency, which DOE determines is technologically feasible and economically justified. In this final rule, DOE is adopting amended energy conservation standards for dedicated purpose pool pump motors. It has determined that the new energy conservation standards for these products would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and Code of Federal Regulations, and following consultation with the Committee Management Secretariat, General Services Administration, notice is hereby given that the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has been renewed for a two-year period.

This notice announces an in-person/virtual hybrid 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.

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-516H, (Electric Rate Schedules and Tariff Filings, Pro Forma Open Access Transmission Tariff).

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) intends to extend for three years with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Certification Reports, Compliance Statements, Application for a Test Procedure Waiver, and Recordkeeping for Consumer Products and Commercial/Industrial Equipment subject to Energy or Water Conservation Standards Package under OMB No. 1910-1400.

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

On May 11, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'') published a notice of proposed rulemaking (``NOPR''), in which DOE proposed new and amended energy conservation standards for automatic commercial ice makers. In this notification of data availability (``NODA''), DOE is updating its analysis for automatic commercial ice makers based on information DOE received related to harvest rate cutoffs in response to DOE's May 11, 2023 NOPR. DOE requests comments, data, and information regarding the updated analysis.