[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 19 (Monday, January 30, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5870-5871]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-01820]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Request for Information (RFI) Regarding Grant Program 
To Facilitate the Siting of Interstate Electricity Transmission Lines

AGENCY: Grid Deployment Office, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Request for information.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) Grid Deployment Office (GDO) 
invites public input for its Request for Information (RFI) regarding 
issues related to the provision of grants to facilitate the siting of 
interstate and offshore electricity transmission lines, as authorized 
under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). This provision of the IRA 
authorizes the issuance of grants to siting authorities to facilitate 
the siting of interstate and offshore electricity transmission lines 
and to siting authorities and State, local, and Tribal governments to 
undertake economic development activities for communities impacted by 
such projects. Information collected from this RFI will be used by DOE 
for program planning purposes and the potential development of a 
Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA).

DATES: Responses to this RFI must be received by no later than 5:00 
p.m. EST on February 28, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are to submit comments electronically to 
[email protected]. RFI can be found at: https://www.energy.gov/gdo/transmission-siting-and-economic-development-grants-
program. Include ``RFI for Transmission Siting and Economic Development 
Grants'' in the subject line of the email. Responses must be provided 
as a Microsoft Word (.docx) or PDF attachment to the email, and no more 
than 15 pages in length, 12-point font, 1-inch margins. It is 
recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be 
compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. For ease of 
replying and to aid categorization of your responses, please copy and 
paste the RFI questions, including the question numbering, and use them 
as a template for your response. Respondents may answer as many or as 
few questions as they wish. Respondents are requested to provide the 
following information at the start of their response to this RFI:
     Company/institution name.
     Company/institution contact.
     Contact's address, phone number, and email address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions may be addressed by email to 
[email protected]. Questions about the RFI may be addressed 
to Jordan Meehan at (202) 586-2006. Further instructions can be found 
in the RFI document posted at https://www.energy.gov/gdo/transmission-siting-and-economic-development-grants-program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of this RFI is to solicit 
feedback from the public on siting authority and economic development 
activities that could be supported by grants under section 50152 of the 
IRA. DOE is also seeking feedback on the overall goals and programmatic 
objectives that DOE should consider when making grants under this 
section, including those related to environmental and energy justice, 
equity, job quality, and tribal cultural resources.
    Section 50152 of the IRA authorizes the Secretary of Energy 
(Secretary) to make grants to siting authorities to carry out certain 
eligible activities that will facilitate the siting and permitting of 
certain interstate onshore and offshore electricity transmission lines. 
Section 50152 also authorizes the Secretary to make grants to siting 
authorities, or other State, local, or Tribal governmental entities, 
for economic development activities in communities that may be affected 
by the construction and operation of these transmission projects. The 
IRA makes funding for such grants available through September 30, 2029.
    To help inform DOE's implementation of section 50152 of the IRA, 
this RFI seeks input on the following topics related to grants under 
this section:

A. Eligible Siting Activities With Respect to Covered Projects
B. Economic Development Activities for Affected Communities
C. Equity, Energy, and Environmental Justice

The complete RFI be found at: https://www.energy.gov/gdo/transmission-siting-and-economic-development-grants.

Proprietary and Confidential Information

    Because information received in response to this RFI may be used to 
structure future programs and grants and/or otherwise be made available 
to the public, respondents are strongly advised NOT to include any 
information in their responses that might be considered business 
sensitive, proprietary, or otherwise confidential. If, however, a 
respondent chooses to submit business sensitive, proprietary, or 
otherwise confidential information, it must be clearly and 
conspicuously marked as such in the response. Responses containing 
confidential, proprietary, or privileged information must be 
conspicuously marked as described below. Failure to comply with these 
marking requirements may result in the disclosure of the unmarked 
information under the Freedom of Information Act or otherwise. The U.S. 
Federal Government is not liable for the disclosure or use of unmarked 
information and may use or disclose such information for any purpose.
    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 Commercial and Financial Information'' including all the 
information believed to be confidential, and one copy of the document 
marked

[[Page 5871]]

``non-confidential'' with the information believed to be confidential 
deleted. DOE will make its own determination about the confidential 
status of the information and treat it according to its determination. 
The copy containing confidential commercial and financial information 
must include a cover sheet marked as follows: identifying the specific 
pages containing confidential, proprietary, or privileged information: 
``Notice of Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data: Pages [list 
applicable pages] of this response may contain confidential, 
commercial, or financial information that is exempt from public 
disclosure.'' The Government may use or disclose any information that 
is not appropriately marked or otherwise restricted, regardless of 
source. In addition, (1) the header and footer of every page that 
contains confidential, proprietary, or privileged information must be 
marked as follows: ``Contains Confidential, Commercial, or Financial 
Information Exempt from Public Disclosure'' and (2) every line and 
paragraph containing proprietary, privileged, or trade secret 
information must be clearly marked with [[double brackets]] or 
highlighting.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on January 24, 
2023, by Maria D. Robinson, Director of the Grid Deployment Office, 
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 on publication in the Federal 
Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on January 25, 2023.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2023-01820 Filed 1-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P