[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 160 (Friday, August 17, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 49701-49702]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-20122]
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Rules and Regulations
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 160 / Friday, August 17, 2012 / Rules
and Regulations
[[Page 49701]]
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
10 CFR Parts 430 and 431
[Docket Number EERE-2010-BT-NOA-0028]
RIN 1904-AC24
Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products and Certain
Commercial and Industrial Equipment: Notice of Policy Amendment
Regarding Full-Fuel-Cycle Analyses
AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of
Energy.
ACTION: Notice of policy amendment.
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SUMMARY: On August 18, 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
announced its intention to use full-fuel-cycle (FFC) measures of energy
use and greenhouse gas and other emissions in the national impact
analyses and environmental assessments included in future energy
conservation standards rulemakings. While DOE stated in that notice
that it intended to use the Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and
Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model to conduct the analyses, the
Department also said that it would review alternative methods,
including the use of the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS)
developed by DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). After
evaluating both NEMS and GREET, DOE has determined that NEMS is
ultimately a more appropriate tool to calculate FFC measures of energy
use and greenhouse gas and other emissions. Therefore, DOE intends to
use the NEMS model, rather than the GREET model, as the basis for
deriving the energy and emission multipliers used to conduct FFC
analyses in support of future energy conservation standards
rulemakings. The public is free to send in comments on this policy
amendment at any time. DOE will address comments on this policy
amendment in the first notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) to utilize
the NEMS-based approach for the FFC.
DATES: August 17, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are encouraged to submit comments using
the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments. Alternatively, interested
persons may submit comments, identified by docket number EERE-2011-BT-
NOA-0028, by any of the following methods:
Email: To FFC-2010-NOA-0028-ee.doe.gov. Include EERE-2011-
BT-NOA-0028 in the subject line of the message.
Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. Department of Energy,
Building Technologies Program, Mailstop EE-2J, Notice of Policy
Amendment to Full Fuel Cycle Analyses, EERE-2011-BT- NOA-0028, 1000
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585- 0121. Phone: (202) 586-
2945. If possible, please submit all items on a CD. It is not necessary
to include printed copies. Hand Delivery/Courier: Ms. Brenda Edwards,
U.S. Department of Energy, Building Technologies Program, 6th Floor,
950 L'Enfant Plaza SW., Washington, DC 20024. Phone: (202) 586-2945. If
possible, please submit all items on a CD. It is not necessary to
include printed copies. Instructions: All submissions received must
include the agency name and docket number or RIN for this rulemaking.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents, or
comments received, go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. Jeremy Dommu, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building Technologies Program, EE-2J,
1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone:
(202) 586-9870. Email: Jeremy.Dommu@ee.doe.gov.
Ms. Ami Grace-Tardy, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General
Counsel, GC-71, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-
0121. Telephone: (202) 586-5709. Email: Ami.Grace-Tardy@hq.doe.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction and Discussion
On August 18, 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published a
policy statement announcing its intention to use full-fuel-cycle (FFC)
measures of energy use and greenhouse gas and other emissions in the
national impact analyses and environmental assessments included in
future energy conservation standards rulemakings. (76 FR 51281) While
DOE stated in that notice that it intended to use the Greenhouse Gases,
Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model to
conduct the analysis, the Department also said that it would, from time
to time, review alternative approaches to estimating these factors,
including use of the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) developed
by DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). (76 FR 51287) As
indicated in the FFC policy statement notice, NEMS would continue to be
utilized by DOE to estimate primary (or site) energy consumption for
national impact analyses and environmental assessments, while GREET
would be used to develop the energy and emission multipliers necessary
to convert the NEMS-based primary energy and emission impacts into FFC
values. Because of concerns about the potential effects of certain
inconsistencies in the underlying assumptions and forecasts used by
GREET and NEMS, subsequent to publication of the policy statement, DOE
initiated a further review to determine whether NEMS (rather than
GREET) might be used to develop the necessary FFC multipliers.
During this review process, DOE examined a new methodology to
develop FFC multipliers using the data and projections generated by
NEMS and published in EIA's Annual Energy Outlook (AEO). While the AEO
does not provide direct calculations of FFC metrics, it does provide
extensive information about the energy system, including projections of
future oil, natural gas and coal supply, energy use for oil and gas
field and refinery operations, and fuel consumption and emissions
related to electric power production. This information is used to
define a set of parameters representing the amount of energy used in
the fuel production chain. For example, the petroleum fuel production
chain consists of extraction, separation, refining and distribution of
final
[[Page 49702]]
products to the end user. Each of these process steps consumes energy
in the form of diesel or fuel oil, natural gas, or grid electricity.
The data are used to estimate an intensity parameter for each fuel
type, which is equal to the total amount of that fuel needed to produce
one unit of the final product. The FFC energy and emissions factors are
defined as a function of these parameters, using a formula that is
described in detail in: ``A Mathematical Analysis of Full Fuel Cycle
Energy Use''; [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544211006803] \1\ Energy, Volume 37, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages
698-708;
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\1\ Coughlin, Katie (2012). A Mathematical Analysis of Full Fuel
Cycle Energy Use. Energy, Volume 37, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages
698-708.
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By using the FFC multipliers derived from NEMS, DOE would be able
to ensure that the assumptions and inputs used in FFC analyses are
consistent with the assumptions and inputs used to estimate primary
energy savings and emissions impacts. In addition, this approach would
make it easier for DOE to update the multipliers with each new edition
of the AEO. The GREET model, in contrast, uses a representation of the
energy production system to develop its own internal projections, which
inevitably will differ some from those in the AEO.
Based on this assessment, DOE is proposing to use this NEMS-based
approach to estimating the FFC energy and emission impacts of
alternative energy conservation standards levels in energy conservation
standards rulemakings that reach the notice of proposed rulemaking
(NOPR) stage after August 17, 2012. Rulemakings that do not reach the
NOPR stage before August 17, 2012 will continue to use the estimates of
primary energy and emission impacts described in the notices of
proposed rulemaking. DOE has not used the GREET model to estimate FFC
energy and emission impacts in any past or current rulemakings but has
started to use the NEMS-based approach to estimating these impacts in
several energy conservation standards preliminary analyses.
II. Public Participation
DOE invites all interested parties to submit comments on this issue
in writing at any time. In addition, interested parties will have an
opportunity to review and comment on the specific methodologies
employed by DOE to calculate FFC energy and emission impacts in NOPRs.
See the ADDRESSES section of this notice for more information on how to
submit a comment.
III. Procedural Issues and Regulatory Review
A. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act 1969
DOE has determined that this policy amendment falls into a class of
actions that are categorically excluded from review under the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and DOE's
implementing regulations at 10 CFR part 1021. Specifically, this policy
amendment describes methods for data analysis and how DOE plans to
incorporate such data analysis into future energy conservation
standards. For this reason, and because the policy amendment does not
establish an energy conservation standard or take any action that might
have an impact on the environment, it is covered by the Categorical
Exclusion A9 under 10 CFR part 1021, subpart D. Accordingly, neither an
environmental assessment nor an environmental impact statement is
required.
B. Review Under the Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review
In consultation with the Office of Science and Technology Policy
(OSTP), OMB issued on December 16, 2004, its ``Final Information
Quality Bulletin for Peer Review'' (the Bulletin). 70 FR 2664 (Jan. 14,
2005). The Bulletin establishes that certain scientific information
shall be peer reviewed by qualified specialists before it is
disseminated by the Federal government, including influential
scientific information related to agency regulatory actions. The
purpose of the Bulletin is to enhance the quality and credibility of
the government's scientific information. Under the Bulletin, NEMS is
``influential scientific information,'' which the Bulletin defines as
``scientific information that the agency reasonably can determine will
have or does have a clear and substantial impact on important public
policies or private sector decisions.'' 70 FR 2664, 2667 (Jan. 14,
2005). The NEMS model, which is in the public domain, has been reviewed
through its development and applications over the past 18 years.
IV. Approval of the Office of the Assistant Secretary
The Assistant Secretary of DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy has approved publication of this final policy.
Issued in Washington, DC, on August 9, 2012.
Kathleen B. Hogan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2012-20122 Filed 8-16-12; 8:45 am]
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