[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 215 (Tuesday, November 8, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Page 67459]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24291]



[[Page 67459]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability of a Notice of Intent and Request for 
Information Regarding the Establishment of a Program To Use the Defense 
Production Act

AGENCY: Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a notice of intent (NOI) and request 
for information (RFI).

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the notice of 
availability (NOA) of a notice of intent and request for information on 
DOE's support of domestic manufacturing of electric heat pumps using 
Title III of the Defense Production Act (DPA). DOE invites public 
comment on the RFI regarding the application process, examples of 
eligible projects, potential funding sizes required, and criteria for 
qualification and selection of eligible projects to participate in the 
electric heat pumps DPA program.

DATES: Responses will be reviewed and considered on a rolling basis but 
are due no later than 5 p.m. (ET) on December 2nd, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are to submit comments electronically to 
[email protected] and include ``NOI/RFI: Heat Pump Defense 
Production Act'' in the subject line. Email attachments can be provided 
as a Microsoft Word (.docx) file or an Adobe PDF (.pdf) file, prepared 
in accordance with the instructions in the RFI. Attachments with file 
sizes exceeding 25MB should be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure 
message delivery; however, no email shall exceed a total of 45MB, 
including all attachments. The complete RFI document is located at 
https://www.energy.gov/mesc/defense-production-act-request-information. 
Please refer to the Disclaimer and Important Note section at the end of 
the RFI on how to submit business sensitive and/or confidential 
information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
and questions about the NOI and RFI may be addressed to Tsisilile Igogo 
at (240) 278-5471 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In June 2022, President Biden issued five 
determinations under the DPA, including a presidential determination to 
allow DOE to use its delegated DPA authorities to expand the domestic 
production capability for electric heat pumps.\1\ In early October 
2022, DOE issued a RFI to determine how best to leverage the authority 
invoked by President Biden to accelerate domestic production of four of 
the five technologies that received Presidential Determinations under 
title III of DPA.\2\ This joint NOI and RFI focuses on electric heat 
pumps, the fifth technology that received a Presidential Determination.
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    \1\ www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/06/06/memorandum-on-presidential-determination-pursuant-to-section-303-of-the-defense-production-act-of-1950-as-amended-on-electric-heat-pumps/.
    \2\ www.energy.gov/mesc/defense-production-act-request-information.
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    U.S. manufacturing output of electric heat pumps, which include 
ground-source and air-source heat pumps as well as both space heating 
and water heating equipment, is not yet at the rate or volume needed to 
fully achieve U.S. climate and energy security goals. Buildings, homes, 
offices, schools, hospitals, military bases, and other critical 
facilities drive more than 40% of all U.S. energy consumption. U.S. 
energy supplies are largely dependent on fossil fuels that remain 
susceptible to geopolitical impacts from nations that are not U.S. 
strategic partners or allies.
    Section 30001 of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) appropriated 
$500 million to carry out the DPA, and $250 million of that amount was 
allocated to the Department of Energy for title III of the DPA to 
support the growth of manufacturing needed to meet the anticipated 
growing demand for electric heat pumps. DPA resources could help scale 
up U.S. heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) and water 
heating (WH) manufacturing, accelerate installation of high-efficiency 
electric heat pumps in homes, qualified buildings, and industrial 
settings, and complement investment coming through other BIL and IRA 
provisions.
    This NOI describes the proposed funding approach to eligible 
entities in the electric heat pump industry, including the proposed 
electric heat pump solicitation process, program structure and 
criteria. Through this RFI, DOE seeks comment on the application 
process, examples of eligible projects, potential funding sizes 
required, and criteria for qualification and selection of eligible 
projects to participate in the electric heat pumps DPA program. This 
NOI and RFI are available at: https://www.energy.gov/mesc/defense-production-act-request-information.
    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 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. DOE will make its own determination about the 
confidential status of the information and treat it according to its 
determination.
    Signing Authority: This document of the Department of Energy was 
signed on November 1, 2022, by Kathleen Hogan, Principal Deputy Under 
Secretary for Infrastructure, pursuant to delegated authority from the 
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 November 2, 2022.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2022-24291 Filed 11-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P