[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 76 (Thursday, April 22, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21308-21309]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-08483]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Revocation of Prohibition Order Securing Critical Defense 
Facilities

AGENCY: Office of Electricity, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Revocation of prohibition order.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or Department) gives notice 
that the Prohibition Order Securing Critical Defense Facilities, dated 
December 17, 2020 (December 2020 Prohibition Order), is revoked.

DATES: The effective date of the revocation of the December 2020 
Prohibition Order is April 20, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia A. Hoffman, Acting Assistant 
Secretary, Office of Electricity, U.S. Department of Energy, Mailstop 
OE-20, Room 8G-042, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585; 
(202) 586-1411, or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Nation's energy infrastructure supports 
our national defense, critical infrastructure, economy, and way of 
life. Adversarial nation-state actors are targeting our critical 
infrastructure, with increasing focus on the energy sector. The 
Department is engaged in partnership with the electricity subsector and 
other Federal agencies, in a comprehensive set of actions to strengthen 
supply chain risk management and recognizes the threat our foreign 
adversaries pose to our critical infrastructure.
    In order to build on the work the Department has already completed 
in securing the electric system, the Department is developing 
recommendations to strengthen requirements and capabilities for supply 
chain risk management practices by the Nation's electric utilities. 
These recommendations are intended to enable an approach that builds 
on, clarifies, and, where appropriate, modifies prior executive and 
agency actions.

[[Page 21309]]

    Executive Order 13920, Securing the United States Bulk-Power 
System, (E.O. 13920),\1\ issued on May 1, 2020, declared an emergency 
that authorized the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) to, among other 
actions, prohibit the acquisition, transfer, or installation of certain 
BPS electric equipment sourced from foreign adversary countries for one 
year.\2\ On December 17, 2020, the Secretary issued the December 2020 
Prohibition Order, which took effect January 16, 2021, invoking the 
authority of E.O. 13920.\3\ Pursuant to the December 2020 Prohibition 
Order, a limited number of utilities \4\ were prohibited from 
acquiring, importing, transferring, or installing certain BPS electric 
equipment.\5\ That order targeted select equipment manufactured or 
supplied by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the 
jurisdiction or direction of the People's Republic of China.\6\
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    \1\ Executive Order 13920, Securing the United States Bulk-Power 
System: Request for Information, 85 FR 26595 (May 4, 2020).
    \2\ Id. at 26595-26596.
    \3\ Prohibition Order Securing Critical Defense Facilities, 86 
FR 533 (Jan. 6, 2021).
    \4\ The December 2020 Prohibition Order defined ``Responsible 
Utility'' as ``an electric utility that owns or operates Defense 
Critical Electric Infrastructure (DCEI), as defined by section 
215A(a)(4) of the Federal Power Act (FPA), that actively serves a 
CDF, as designated by the Secretary under section 215A(c) of the 
FPA.'' Id. at 534.
    \5\ Id.
    \6\ Id.
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    On January 20, 2021, Executive Order 13990, Protecting Public 
Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate 
Crisis (E.O. 13990), was issued, which suspended E.O. 13920 for 90 days 
and directed the Secretary of Energy and the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget jointly to ``consider whether to recommend that a 
replacement order be issued.'' \7\ As the December 2020 Prohibition 
Order is predicated on the authorities delegated to DOE by E.O. 13920, 
the December 2020 Prohibition Order was also suspended during the same 
time period.
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    \7\ Executive Order 13990, Protecting Public Health and the 
Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis, 
Sec.  7(c), 86 FR 7037, 7042 (Jan. 25, 2021).
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    The Department is revoking the December 2020 Prohibition Order 
effective April 20, 2021, in order to create a stable policy 
environment before the emergency declaration made by E.O. 13920 expires 
on May 1, 2021, and while the Department conducts a Request for 
Information to develop a strengthened and administrable strategy to 
address the security of the U.S. energy sector.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on April 19, 
2021, by Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Energy. That document with the 
original signature and date is maintained by DOE. For administrative 
purposes only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the 
Federal Register, the undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer 
has been authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic 
format for publication, as an official document of the Department of 
Energy. This administrative process in no way alters the legal effect 
of this document upon publication in the Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on April 20, 2021.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2021-08483 Filed 4-21-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P