[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 44 (Monday, March 7, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11686-11687]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04986]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Part 900

RIN 1901-AB36


Coordination of Federal Authorizations for Electric Transmission 
Facilities; Notice of Public Meeting

AGENCY: Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, 
Department of Energy.

[[Page 11687]]


ACTION: Proposed rulemaking; notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: This document announces that the U.S. Department of Energy 
(DOE) will hold a public workshop to discuss the proposed rule for the 
coordination of federal authorizations for electric transmission 
facilities for the Integrated Interagency Pre-application (IIP) 
process. The public workshop will include a presentation describing the 
proposed rule and will allow for questions and comments about and on 
the rule.

DATES: The public workshop will be held on March 22, 2016, beginning at 
1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Written comments are welcome before or after 
the workshop and should be submitted prior to the end of the public 
comment period for the proposed rule (April 4, 2016).

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held via webinar and conference call. 
The webinar invitation, phone number, and instructions on how to 
register and log in to the webinar will be available at: http://energy.gov/oe/downloads/notice-proposed-rulemaking-integrated-interagency-pre-application-process-iip-electric.
    You may submit comments, identified by RIN 1901-AB36, by any of the 
following methods:
    1. Follow the instructions for submitting comments on the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov.
    2. Send email to [email protected]. Include RIN 1901-AB36 in the 
subject line of the email. Please include the full body of your 
comments in the text of the message or as an attachment.
    3. Address postal mail to U.S. Department of Energy, Office of 
Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Mailstop OE-20, Room 8G-
017, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585.
    Due to potential delays in the delivery of postal mail, we 
encourage respondents to submit comments electronically to ensure 
timely receipt.
    This notice, a transcript of the public workshop, and any comments 
that DOE receives on the proposed rulemaking will be made available on 
the DOE Web site at http://energy.gov/oe/downloads/notice-proposed-rulemaking-integrated-interagency-pre-application-process-iip-electric. 
You may request a hardcopy of the workshop transcript or comments be 
sent to you via postal mail by contacting the DOE's Office of 
Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie A. Smith, Ph.D., U.S. Department 
of Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, 
Mailstop OE-20, Room 8G-017, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, 
DC 20585; or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 2, 2016, DOE published a 
proposed rule in the Federal Register (81 FR 5383) to provide a process 
for the timely coordination of Federal authorizations for proposed 
transmission facilities pursuant to section 216(h) of the FPA (16 
U.S.C. 824p(h)). The rule would establish an early pre-application 
process (the Integrated Interagency Pre-application (IIP) process) in 
support of this coordination and the selection of a NEPA lead agency. 
The proposed regulations provide a framework for DOE to facilitate 
early cooperation and exchange of environmental information required to 
site qualified electric transmission facilities. These activities would 
occur prior to an applicant filing a request for authorization with 
Federal permitting agencies. The proposed regulations also provide an 
opportunity for non-Federal agencies (tribal, state, or local 
governments) to coordinate separate non-Federal permitting and 
environmental reviews with those of the Federal permitting agencies. 
This document announces the public workshop described in the proposed 
rule.
    Members of the public are welcome to pre-register for the webinar 
if they would like to make oral statements during the specified period 
for public comment. To pre-register to provide public comments, please 
email [email protected]. In the email, please indicate your name, 
organization (if appropriate), citizenship, and contact information. If 
you would like to receive further information on the proposed rule or 
IIP process, please include your email address in your pre-registration 
email.
    An audio recording and written transcript of the public workshop, 
and any comments that DOE receives during the workshop, will be made 
available after the webinar on the DOE Web site at http://energy.gov/oe/downloads/notice-proposed-rulemaking-integrated-interagency-pre-application-process-iip-electric. You may request a hardcopy of the 
workshop transcript or comments be sent to you via postal mail by 
contacting DOE's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on February 29, 2016.
Meghan Conklin,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy 
Reliability.
[FR Doc. 2016-04986 Filed 3-4-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P