[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9874-9876]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03201]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Grid Deployment Office Draft Guidance on Implementing the 
Maintaining and Enhancing Hydroelectricity Incentives

AGENCY: Grid Deployment Office, Office of the Under Secretary for 
Infrastructure, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notification of availability of Draft Guidance and request for 
comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of 
availability of a Draft Guidance and requests comment on the Draft 
Guidance to inform its implementation of hydroelectric incentives in 
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA). The Draft 
Guidance describes the application process and the information 
necessary for the Secretary of Energy to make incentive payments to 
owners and authorized operators of qualified hydroelectric facilities 
pursuant to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), Maintaining and 
Enhancing Hydroelectricity Incentives.

DATES: DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding this 
Draft Guidance no later than 5:00 p.m. ET on February 28, 2023. See 
``Public participation'' under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, sections for 
details.
    DOE will hold a public meeting via webinar on Thursday, February 
16, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. ET, see ``Public Participation'' under 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, sections for webinar registration 
information, participant instructions, and information about the 
capabilities available to webinar participants.
    DOE is also offering an opportunity to submit an individual verbal 
response in lieu of or in addition to providing written responses to 
the Draft Guidance.

[[Page 9875]]

Respondents may request a 30-minute individual unrecorded opportunity 
to provide a verbal response to DOE staff. Requests for an individual 
verbal response must be requested no later than 5:00 p.m. (ET) on 
Thursday, February 16, 2023. See ``Public participation'' under 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, sections for details.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are to submit written comments 
electronically to [email protected]. DOE's Draft 
Guidance is available at: https://www.energy.gov/gdo/hydroelectric-247-draft-guidance.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions may be addressed to Ms. 
Luciana Ciocci, U.S. Department of Energy, Grid Deployment Office, 1000 
Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20585, (202) 480-5768 or by email 
at [email protected]. Further instruction can be found 
in the Draft Guidance posted at https://www.energy.gov/gdo/hydroelectric-247-draft-guidance. Electronic communications are 
recommended for correspondence and required for submission of comments.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Through section 40333 of the IIJA, Public 
Law 117-58, Congress amended EPAct 2005, Public Law 109-58, to 
establish Section 247, Maintaining and Enhancing Hydroelectricity 
Incentives. See 42 U.S.C. 15883. The provision requires the Secretary 
to make incentive payments to the owner or authorized operator of a 
qualified hydroelectric facility, subject to the availability of 
appropriations, for capital improvements directly related to improving 
grid resilience, improving dam safety, and environmental 
improvements.\1\ Incentive payments may be made upon receipt by the 
Secretary of an incentive payment application that demonstrates that 
the applicant is eligible to receive such payment and satisfies the 
other requirements as deemed necessary.
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    \1\ See 42 U.S.C. 15883(b).
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    Under the statute, the incentive payments include the following 
limitations: an incentive payment shall not exceed 30 percent of the 
costs of the applicable capital improvement(s); and no more than one 
incentive payment may be made to a single qualified hydroelectric 
facility in any fiscal year that shall not exceed $5,000,000.\2\
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    \2\ See 42 U.S.C. 15883(c).
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    On June 30, 2022, DOE released a Request for Information (RFI) to 
provide interested parties the opportunity to provide preliminary 
feedback on the design of the section 247 of EPAct 2005 incentive 
program.\3\ Based on the RFI responses, the DOE Grid Deployment 
Office's (GDO) Hydroelectric Incentives Program has developed the Draft 
Guidance and now seeks public comment on this draft.
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    \3\ See 87 FR 40515 (Jul 7, 2022).
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    The Draft Guidance describes the application process and the 
information necessary for the Secretary of Energy to make incentive 
payments to owners and authorized operators of qualified hydroelectric 
facilities pursuant to section 247 of EPAct 2005, Maintaining and 
Enhancing Hydroelectricity Incentives.
    The Draft Guidance consists of fourteen sections.

I. Purpose and Scope
II. Authority
III. List of Definitions
IV. Who may apply?
V. What is a qualified hydroelectric facility?
VI. How will the Program allocate funding for eligible capital 
improvement projects?
VII. At what stage in the development process would a capital 
improvement project be eligible to apply for an incentive payment?
VIII. What are the general application requirements?
IX. What types of capital improvement projects qualify for incentive 
payments and what information does DOE need to determine whether a 
project is eligible?
    [cir] Grid Resiliency
    [cir] Dam Safety
    [cir] Environmental Improvements
X. What is the timing of incentive payments?
XI. What are the procedures for processing applications?
XII. FAQ (this section will include questions that don't easily fit 
within the above categories)
XIII. Funding Restrictions
XIV. Administrative Appeals

    While reviewers are welcome to provide comments on all aspects of 
this Draft Guidance, DOE is particularly interested in receiving 
comments with respect to the following five questions.
    (1) The DOE proposes to use a scoring criteria rubric to prioritize 
which capital improvement applications are awarded funding in the event 
the program is oversubscribed (i.e., more eligible applications than 
available funding). DOE seeks feedback on this approach. (See Section 
IX of the Draft Guidance).
    (2) The DOE proposes to distribute funds in an equitable manner in 
the event the program is oversubscribed. To do so, the DOE plans to 
fund applications in all three of the categories of capital 
improvements (i.e., improving grid resiliency, improving dam safety, 
and environmental improvements) by selecting the top scoring 
application in each category for small projects and remaining eligible 
projects. DOE seeks feedback on this approach. (See Section XI of the 
Draft Guidance).
    (3) Recognizing that small hydropower facilities make up 75 percent 
of the nation's hydropower fleet, the DOE intends to allocate up to 25 
percent of the program funding to support capital improvements made at 
small hydropower projects (nameplate capacity of 10 MW or less that is 
owned or operated by a small business, Indian tribe, municipality, or 
electric cooperative.) DOE seeks feedback on this approach. (See 
Section IV of the Draft Guidance).
    (4) To balance risk while incentivizing hydropower owners and 
operators to make qualified capital improvements, DOE is proposing to 
provide a portion of the funding (up to 10 percent) up front and the 
remainder upon completion of the capital improvement(s). DOE seeks 
feedback on this approach. (See Section X of the Draft Guidance).
    (5) DOE estimates eight (8) hours of preparation time for the EPAct 
2005 Section 247 application. DOE seeks comment on this estimate.
    Public Participation: DOE is offering three response options to the 
request for comment on Draft Guidance.
    Public Informational Webinar: On Thursday, February 16, 2023, at 
1:00 p.m. ET, an informal Public Informational Webinar will be held to 
discuss general feedback from interested parties regarding the content 
of Draft Guidance. To register for this informational webinar, please 
sign up at: https://nrel.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItce-srj4tHat8gC1lnCcPw5PvjSVDogo. Participants are responsible for ensuring 
their systems are compatible with the webinar software. The webinar is 
open to all members of the public. Any person who has an interest in 
the topics addressed in the Draft Guidance or identified in this 
request for comment, or who is representative of a group or class of 
persons that has an interest in these issues, may request an 
opportunity to make an oral presentation at the webinar within the 
webinar registration page. A DOE designated official will preside over 
the webinar and may also use a professional facilitator to aid 
discussion. The webinar will not be a judicial or evidentiary-type 
public hearing. The webinar will be recorded, and a transcript of the 
proceedings will be made available on DOE's website. DOE reserves the 
right to schedule the order of presentations and to establish the 
procedures governing the conduct of the webinar. There shall not be 
discussion of proprietary information, costs or prices, market share, 
or other

[[Page 9876]]

commercial matters regulated by U.S. anti-trust laws.
    Written Response: Interested parties are to submit written comments 
electronically to [email protected] no later than 5:00 
p.m. (ET) on Tuesday, February 28, 2023. Responses must be provided as 
attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file 
sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message 
delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) or 
Adobe PDF (.pdf) attachment to the email, and no more than 15 pages in 
length, 12-point font, 1-inch margins. Only electronic responses will 
be accepted.
    For ease of replying and to aid categorization of your responses, 
please copy and paste the questions from this request for comment or 
the relevant section of the Draft Guidance as a template for your 
response. Respondents may answer as many or as few questions as they 
wish. DOE GDO will not respond to individual submissions or publish 
publicly a compendium of responses. A response to this request for 
comment will not be viewed as a binding commitment to develop or pursue 
the project or ideas discussed.
    Respondents are requested to provide the following information at 
the start of their written response to this request for comment:
     Company/institution name;
     Company/institution contact;
     Contact's address, phone number, and email address.
    Individual Verbal Response: DOE is also offering an opportunity to 
submit an individual verbal response in lieu of or in addition to 
providing written responses to the Draft Guidance, respondents may 
request a 30-minute individual unrecorded opportunity to provide a 
verbal response to a DOE staff member. The discussion with a DOE staff 
member will be limited to the topics presented in the Draft Guidance. 
Please submit your request to [email protected] and 
you will be contacted by a GDO staff member to schedule a time. 
Requests for an individual verbal response must be submitted no later 
than 5:00 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, February 16, 2023.
    Respondents will be asked to provide the following information at 
the start of the verbal response to this request for comment:
    A. Company/institution name;
    B. Company/institution contact;
    C. Contact's address, phone number, and email address.

Disclaimer and Important Notes

    This request for comment is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement 
(FOA); therefore, GDO is not accepting applications at this time. 
Responding to this request does not provide any advantage or 
disadvantage to potential applicants if GDO chooses to issue a 
solicitation regarding the subject matter in the future. Final details, 
including the anticipated size, quantity, and timing of GDO funded 
incentives, will be subject to Congressional appropriations and 
direction.
    Any information obtained as a result of this request for comment is 
intended to be used by the Government on a non-attribution basis for 
planning and strategy development; this request for comment does not 
constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts. Your 
response to this request for comment will be treated as information 
only. GDO will review and consider all responses in its formulation of 
program strategies for the identified materials of interest that are 
the subject of this request. GDO will not provide reimbursement for 
costs incurred in responding to this request for comment. Respondents 
are advised that GDO is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of 
the information received or provide feedback to respondents with 
respect to any information submitted under this request for comment. 
Responses to this request for comment do not bind GDO to any further 
actions related to this topic.

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 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.
    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).

Evaluation and Administration by Federal and Non-Federal Personnel

    Federal employees are subject to the non-disclosure requirements of 
a criminal statute, the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1905. The 
Government may seek the advice of qualified non-Federal personnel. The 
Government may also use non-Federal personnel to conduct routine, 
nondiscretionary administrative activities. The respondents, by 
submitting their response, consent to GDO providing their response to 
non-Federal parties. Non-Federal parties given access to responses must 
be subject to an appropriate obligation of confidentiality prior to 
being given the access. Submissions may be reviewed by support 
contractors and private consultants.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on February 8, 
2023, by Maria Duaime Robinson, 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 February 10, 2023.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2023-03201 Filed 2-14-23; 8:45 am]
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