Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office March 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) of the U.S. Department of Energy hereby provides notice that on March 19, 2010, the Assistant Secretary for EERE granted nationwide limited waivers of the Buy American requirements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act; Pub. L. 111-5) under the authority of section 1605(b)(1) [application of the restrictions of section 1605 would be inconsistent with the public interest] for the purchase of light-emitting diode LED lighting (lamps, fixtures, and any supporting components) and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units. These nationwide limited waivers apply to projects using EERE Recovery Act funds for the construction, alteration, maintenance and repair of a public building or public work. These limited waivers only apply in circumstances where the recipient of EERE Recovery Act funds (``grantee'') has taken substantial steps to commit funds for the purchase of LED lights or HVAC units between February 17, 2009 and March 31, 2010. Substantial steps to commit funds would include, but are not limited to: (1) issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) on or before March 31, 2010 (applicable only where the grantee accepts a proposal received under that RFP); (2) in the case of a sole source selection: placing an order for the goods on or before March 31, 2010; (3) commencing a bidding process on or before March 31, 2010; (4) in circumstances where the grantee solicited quotes without an RFP: the grantee purchases the goods based on a quote dated on or before March 31, 2010 and the order for the goods is placed on or before March 31, 2010; and (5) grantee has executed a contract or purchase agreement with a supplier to acquire affected goods between February 17, 2009 and March 31, 2010.

In this notice, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is forecasting the representative average unit costs of five residential energy sources for the year 2010 pursuant to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. The five sources are electricity, natural gas, No. 2 heating oil, propane, and kerosene.

This notice announces receipt of and publishes a petition for waiver from Sanyo North America Corp. (Sanyo). The petition for waiver (hereafter ``petition'') requests a waiver from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) test procedure applicable to commercial package air-source and water-source central air conditioners and heat pumps. The petition is specific to the Sanyo variable capacity ECO-i (commercial) multi- split heat pumps. Through this document, DOE: (1) Solicits comments, data, and information with respect to the Sanyo petition; and (2) announces the grant of an interim waiver to Sanyo from the existing DOE test procedure for the subject commercial multi-split air conditioners and heat pumps.

The Fuel Cell Technologies Program, under the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, is inviting the fuel cell research community and other stakeholders to participate in a discussion of the most relevant research, development, and demonstration topics in fuel cells and fuel cell systems appropriate for government funding in stationary and transportation applications as well as cross-cutting stack and balance of plant component technology. Input from workshop participants will be used to assist in the development of a planned Fuel Cell Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) with awards anticipated in Fiscal Year (FY) 2011.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy of the U.S. Department of Energy hereby provides notice that on February 11, 2010, the Assistant Secretary for EERE granted nationwide categorical waivers of the Buy American requirements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5 (Recovery Act) under the authority of section 1605(b)(2) [iron, steel, and the relevant manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality] for the purchase of LED traffic lights, arrows, and crosswalk signals (excluding the metal or plastic fixtures); fluorescent electronic lighting ballasts (with the exception of electronic dimming ballasts for fluorescent lamps that are capable of operating the lamps below 50 percent of their rated light output); and screw-base and pin-base compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) (with the exception of plug-in CFLs longer than 10 inches). These nationwide categorical waivers apply to all projects using EERE Recovery Act funds for the construction, alteration, maintenance and repair of a public building or public work. EERE reserves the right to revisit and amend these nationwide categorical waivers based on new developments or changes in the domestic manufacturing capacity for these three technologies.