[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 14, 2014)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 2577-2580]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00708]



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Vol. 79

Tuesday,

No. 9

January 14, 2014

Part III





The President





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Memorandum of January 9, 2014--Establishing a Quadrennial Energy Review
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  Federal Register / Vol. 79 , No. 9 / Tuesday, January 14, 2014 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

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                Memorandum of January 9, 2014

                
Establishing a Quadrennial Energy Review

                Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and 
                Agencies

                Affordable, clean, and secure energy and energy 
                services are essential for improving U.S. economic 
                productivity, enhancing our quality of life, protecting 
                our environment, and ensuring our Nation's security. 
                Achieving these goals requires a comprehensive and 
                integrated energy strategy resulting from interagency 
                dialogue and active engagement of external 
                stakeholders. To help the Federal Government better 
                meet this responsibility, I am directing the 
                undertaking of a Quadrennial Energy Review.

                The initial focus for the Quadrennial Energy Review 
                will be our Nation's infrastructure for transporting, 
                transmitting, and delivering energy. Our current 
                infrastructure is increasingly challenged by 
                transformations in energy supply, markets, and patterns 
                of end use; issues of aging and capacity; impacts of 
                climate change; and cyber and physical threats. Any 
                vulnerability in this infrastructure may be exacerbated 
                by the increasing interdependencies of energy systems 
                with water, telecommunications, transportation, and 
                emergency response systems. The first Quadrennial 
                Energy Review Report will serve as a roadmap to help 
                address these challenges.

                The Department of Energy has a broad role in energy 
                policy development and the largest role in implementing 
                the Federal Government's energy research and 
                development portfolio. Many other executive departments 
                and agencies also play key roles in developing and 
                implementing policies governing energy resources and 
                consumption, as well as associated environmental 
                impacts. In addition, non-Federal actors are crucial 
                contributors to energy policies. Because most energy 
                and related infrastructure is owned by private 
                entities, investment by and engagement of the private 
                sector is necessary to develop and implement effective 
                policies. State and local policies; the views of 
                nongovernmental, environmental, faith-based, labor, and 
                other social organizations; and contributions from the 
                academic and non-profit sectors are also critical to 
                the development and implementation of effective energy 
                policies.

                An interagency Quadrennial Energy Review Task Force, 
                which includes members from all relevant executive 
                departments and agencies (agencies), will develop an 
                integrated review of energy policy that integrates all 
                of these perspectives. It will build on the foundation 
                provided in my Administration's Blueprint for a Secure 
                Energy Future of March 30, 2011, and Climate Action 
                Plan released on June 25, 2013. The Task Force will 
                offer recommendations on what additional actions it 
                believes would be appropriate. These may include 
                recommendations on additional executive or legislative 
                actions to address the energy challenges and 
                opportunities facing the Nation.

                Therefore, by the authority vested in me as President 
                by the Constitution and the laws of the United States 
                of America, I hereby direct the following:

                Section 1. Establishing the Quadrennial Energy Review 
                Task Force. (a) There is established the Quadrennial 
                Energy Review Task Force (Task Force), to be co-chaired 
                by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 
                Policy and the Director of the Domestic Policy Council, 
                which shall include the heads of each of the following, 
                or their designated representatives:

(i) the Department of State;

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(ii) the Department of the Treasury;

(iii) the Department of Defense;

(iv) the Department of the Interior;

(v) the Department of Agriculture;

(vi) the Department of Commerce;

(vii) the Department of Labor;

(viii) the Department of Health and Human Services;

(ix) the Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(x) the Department of Transportation;

(xi) the Department of Energy;

(xii) the Department of Veterans Affairs;

(xiii) the Department of Homeland Security;

(xiv) the Office of Management and Budget;

(xv) the National Economic Council;

(xvi) the National Security Staff;

(xvii) the Council on Environmental Quality;

(xviii) the Council of Economic Advisers;

(xix) the Environmental Protection Agency;

(xx) the Small Business Administration;

(xxi) the Army Corps of Engineers;

(xxii) the National Science Foundation; and

(xxiii) such agencies and offices as the President may designate.

                    (b) The Co-Chairs may invite independent regulatory 
                agencies with energy-related responsibilities, 
                including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and 
                the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to participate in 
                the Task Force, as determined to be appropriate by 
                those agencies.
                    (c) The Co-Chairs shall regularly convene and 
                preside at meetings of the Task Force and shall 
                determine its agenda. Under the direction of the Co-
                Chairs, the Task Force shall:

(i) gather ideas and advice from State and local governments, tribes, large 
and small businesses, universities, national laboratories, nongovernmental 
and labor organizations, consumers, and other stakeholders and interested 
parties; and

(ii) coordinate the efforts of agencies and offices related to the 
development of the Quadrennial Energy Review Report, as described in 
sections 1 and 2 of this memorandum.

                    (d) The Secretary of Energy shall provide support 
                to the Task Force, including support for coordination 
                activities related to the preparation of the 
                Quadrennial Energy Review Report, policy analysis and 
                modeling, and stakeholder engagement.
                    (e) The Task Force shall submit a Quadrennial 
                Energy Review Report to the President every 4 years 
                beginning with a report delivered by January 31, 2015. 
                Intermediate reports and other material may be prepared 
                by the Task Force as required by the President.
                    Sec. 2. The Quadrennial Energy Review Report. The 
                Task Force shall establish integrated guidance to 
                strengthen U.S. energy policy. Building on the 
                Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future and the Climate 
                Action Plan, and taking into consideration applicable 
                laws and regulations, the Task Force shall prepare a 
                Quadrennial Energy Review Report that:

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                    (a) provides an integrated view of, and 
                recommendations for, Federal energy policy in the 
                context of economic, environmental, occupational, 
                security, and health and safety priorities, with 
                attention in the first report given to the challenges 
                facing the Nation's energy infrastructures;
                    (b) reviews the adequacy, with respect to energy 
                policy, of existing executive and legislative actions, 
                and recommends additional executive and legislative 
                actions as appropriate;
                    (c) assesses and recommends priorities for 
                research, development, and demonstration programs to 
                support key energy-innovation goals; and
                    (d) identifies analytical tools and data needed to 
                support further policy development and implementation.

                Sec. 3. Outreach. In order to gather information and 
                recommendations and to provide for a transparent 
                process in developing the Quadrennial Energy Review 
                Report, the Task Force shall engage with State and 
                local governments, tribes, large and small businesses, 
                universities, national laboratories, nongovernmental 
                and labor organizations, and other stakeholders and 
                interested parties. The Task Force shall develop an 
                integrated outreach strategy that relies on both 
                traditional meetings and the use of information 
                technology.

                Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) This memorandum shall 
                be implemented consistent with applicable law and 
                subject to the availability of appropriations.

                    (b) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed 
                to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to any agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (c) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed 
                to require the disclosure of confidential business 
                information or trade secrets, classified information, 
                law enforcement sensitive information, or other 
                information that must be protected in the interest of 
                national security or public safety.
                    (d) This memorandum is not intended to, and does 
                not, create any right or benefit, substantive or 
                procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any 
                party against the United States, its departments, 
                agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or 
                agents, or any other person.

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                    (e) The Director of the Office of Science and 
                Technology Policy is authorized and directed to publish 
                this memorandum in the Federal Register.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    Washington, January 9, 2014.

[FR Doc. 2014-00708
Filed 1-13-14; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3170-WO