[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 21, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2923-2924]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00893]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Quadrennial Technology Review Framing Document

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary for Science and Energy, 
Quadrennial Technology Review Task Force, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or Department) has 
initiated the second Quadrennial Technology Review (QTR). The DOE-QTR-
2015 Framing Document has been developed as a principle means of 
facilitating stakeholder engagement in the QTR process. The framing 
document describes the Nation's energy landscape and challenges, 
important research, development, demonstration and deployment (RDD&D) 
opportunities across energy supply and end-uses in working towards 
addressing U.S. energy-linked economic, environmental, and national 
security challenges. The insight gained from QTR process will provide 
essential information for decision-makers as they develop funding 
decisions, approaches to public-private partnerships, and other 
strategic actions over the next five years.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted on or before February 20, 
2015.

ADDRESSES: A copy of the framing document can be found at http://www.energy.gov/qtr.
    Comments may be submitted electronically to: [email protected] 
or by U.S. mail to the Office of the Under Secretary of Science and 
Energy, S-4, QTR Meeting Comments, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Sam Baldwin, S-4, U.S. Department 
of Energy, Office of the Under Secretary for Science and Energy, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 
586-0927. Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The nation faces serious energy-linked 
economic, environmental, and security challenges. Addressing these 
challenges requires an aggressive plan for our science and energy 
enterprise while ensuring that America maintains its leadership in a 
broad range of science and technology activities. These activities 
include basic and applied research in the physical sciences, developing 
the next generation of computational technology and developing and 
maintaining world class scientific user facilities. The output of the 
QTR process will be coordinated with the Quadrennial Energy Review 
(QER). These planning products will build and extend existing 
strategic, program and budget planning activities within the Science 
and Energy offices and are expected to inform ongoing budget 
discussions.
    The QTR 2015, focusing on DOE energy technology RDD&D activities, 
builds upon the first QTR in 2011, and complements the work of the QER, 
which focuses on government-wide energy policy. The 2011 QTR was 
developed in response to the Report to the President on ``Accelerating 
the Pace of Change in Energy Technologies through an Integrated Federal 
Energy Policy'' by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and 
Technology. The first QTR defined a framework for understanding and 
discussing energy system challenges, established a set of priorities 
for the Department, and explained to stakeholders the roles of DOE and 
the national laboratories, the broader government, the private sector, 
academia, and innovation in energy transformation.
    QTR 2015 will describe the nation's energy landscape and the 
dramatic changes that have taken place in the last four years. 
Specifically, it will begin by building on the first QTR and 
identifying what has changed in the technologies reviewed within it 
since 2011. It will then identify the RDD&D activities, opportunities, 
and pathways forward to help address our national energy challenges. 
QTR 2015 will approach the analysis from a strong systems perspective, 
it will explore the integration of science and energy technology RDD&D, 
it will examine cross-cutting technology RDD&D, and it

[[Page 2924]]

will conduct an integrated analysis of RDD&D opportunities.
    The Department of Energy has the largest role in the Federal 
Government in conducting energy RDD&D. Many other executive departments 
and agencies also play important roles in developing and implementing 
energy RDD&D. In addition, non-Federal actors are crucial contributors 
to energy RDD&D.
    Submitting comments via email. Any contact information provided in 
your email submission will not be publicly viewable except for your 
first and last names, organization name (if any), and submitter 
representative name (if any). Your contact information will be publicly 
viewable if you include it in the comment itself or in any documents 
attached to your comment. Any information that you do not want to be 
publicly viewable should not be included in your comment, nor in any 
document attached to your comment. Otherwise, persons viewing comments 
will see only first and last names, organization names, correspondence 
containing comments, and any documents submitted with the comments.
    If you do not want your personal contact information to be publicly 
viewable, do not include it in your comment or any accompanying 
documents. Instead, provide your contact information in a cover letter. 
Include your first and last names, email address, telephone number, and 
optional mailing address. The cover letter will not be publicly 
viewable as long as it does not include any comments.
    Include contact information each time you submit comments, data, 
documents, and other information to DOE. If you submit via mail or hand 
delivery/courier, please provide all items on a CD, if feasible, in 
which case it is not necessary to submit printed copies. No 
telefacsimiles (faxes) will be accepted.
    Comments, data, and other information submitted to DOE 
electronically should be provided in PDF (preferred), Microsoft Word or 
Excel, WordPerfect, or text (ASCII) file format. Provide documents that 
are not secured, written in English, and are free of any defects or 
viruses. Documents should not contain special characters or any form of 
encryption and, if possible, they should carry the electronic signature 
of the author.
    Confidential Business Information. Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any 
person submitting information that he or she believes to be 
confidential and exempt by law from public disclosure should submit via 
email, postal mail, or hand delivery/courier two well-marked copies: 
One copy of the document marked ``confidential'' including all the 
information believed to be confidential, and one copy of the document 
marked ``non-confidential'' with the information believed to be 
confidential deleted. Submit these documents via email or on a CD, if 
feasible. DOE will make its own determination about the confidential 
status of the information and treat it according to its determination. 
Confidential information should be submitted to the Confidential QTR 
email address: [email protected].
    Factors of interest to DOE when evaluating requests to treat 
submitted information as confidential include: (1) A description of the 
items; (2) whether and why such items are customarily treated as 
confidential within the industry; (3) whether the information is 
generally known by or available from other sources; (4) whether the 
information has previously been made available to others without 
obligation concerning its confidentiality; (5) an explanation of the 
competitive injury to the submitting person which would result from 
public disclosure; (6) when such information might lose its 
confidential character due to the passage of time; and (7) why 
disclosure of the information would be contrary to the public interest. 
It is DOE's policy that all comments may be included in the public 
docket, without change and as received, including any personal 
information provided in the comments (except information deemed to be 
exempt from public disclosure).

    Issued in Washington, DC on January 13, 2015.
Michael L. Knotek,
Deputy Under Secretary for Science and Energy, Office of the Under 
Secretary for Science and Energy.
[FR Doc. 2015-00893 Filed 1-20-15; 8:45 am]
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