Department of Energy – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Caribbean Transmission Development Co., LLC (the Applicant or CTDC) has filed an application requesting a new Presidential permit to allow for the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of facilities for transmission of electric energy at the international border between the United States Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico) and the Dominican Republic.

On February 9, 2024, EIA published a 60-day notice of an information collection proposed extension; request for comment in the Federal Register. EIA is withdrawing the February 9, 2024, notice of the information collection proposed extension. Accordingly, this notice supersedes the February 9, 2024, notice.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended (``EPCA''), prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including consumer clothes dryers. In this notice of proposed rulemaking (``NOPR''), the U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'') proposes amended energy conservation standards for consumer clothes dryers identical to those set forth in a direct final rule published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. If DOE receives adverse comment and determines that such comment may provide a reasonable basis for withdrawal of the direct final rule, DOE will publish a notice of withdrawal rule and will proceed with this proposed rule.

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-716, Good Faith Requests for Transmission Service and Good Faith Responses by Transmitting Utilities, OMB Control Number 1902-0170.

In light of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently granting a petition for review of a final rule published by the U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'') on January 19, 2022, and remanding the matter to DOE for further proceedings, DOE is initiating an information and data gathering effort on whether ``short- cycle'' product classes for dishwashers, residential clothes washers, and consumer clothes dryers are warranted under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. In this request for information, DOE solicits data and information from the public to help DOE in its rulemaking to evaluate whether: products with a ``short cycle'' as the normal cycle are available in the market; and products with a ``short cycle'' as the normal cycle should be subject to different standards than products without a ``short cycle'' as the normal cycle.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Department of Energy Activities in Support of Commercial Production of High-Assay Low- Enriched Uranium (HALEU) (Draft HALEU EIS) (DOE/EIS-0559). DOE is also announcing a public comment period and public hearings to receive comments on the Draft HALEU EIS. DOE prepared the Draft HALEU EIS to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of DOE's Proposed Action for the acquisition of HALEU produced by a commercial entity using enrichment technology and making it available for commercial use or demonstration projects.

The Department of Energy (DOE) invites public comment on a proposed collection of information that DOE is developing for submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The proposed collection will be used to accept applications and required supporting materials from applicants as required to receive payments for hydroelectric incentive programs.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has reviewed ANSI/ASHRAE/ IES Standard 90.1-2022: Energy Standard for Buildings, Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings (Standard 90.1-2022) and determined the updated edition would improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings. DOE analysis indicates that buildings meeting Standard 90.1-2022, as compared with buildings meeting the previous 2019 edition, would result in national average site energy savings of 9.8 percent of commercial building energy consumption. Under the Energy Conservation and Production Act, as amended (ECPA), upon publication of an affirmative determination, each State is required to review the provisions of their commercial building code regarding energy efficiency, and, as necessary, update their codes to meet or exceed Standard 90.1-2022. Additionally, this notice provides guidance on state code review processes and associated certifications.