[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14356-14357]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04760]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Civil Nuclear Credit Program: Guidance for the Second Award 
Period

AGENCY: Grid Deployment Office, U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability of guidance for the second award cycle 
of the civil nuclear credit program.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) 
announces the availability of the Guidance for the Second Award Cycle 
of the Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) Program authorized under of the 
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The Department is 
providing notification of the issuance of the U.S. Department of Energy 
Guidance for the Second Award Cycle of the Civil Nuclear Credit Program 
on SAM.gov. The Guidance describes the timelines, deliverables, and 
other requirements for owners or operators of eligible nuclear reactors 
that are projected to cease operations due to economic factors to 
submit certification applications to become certified nuclear reactors, 
and instructions on formulating and submitting sealed bids to receive 
credit allocations.

DATES: DOE invites eligible nuclear reactors to submit certification 
applications and sealed bids for credits starting on March 2, 2023 at 
SAM.gov. The last date for which certification applications and sealed 
bids will be received is May 31, 2023. DOE will announce conditional 
awards thereafter in accordance with the guidance. Application 
information and Bid submissions must be submitted at https://proposalscnc.inl.gov by 23:59 MT on May 31, 2023, or they will not be 
considered timely filed for the current Award Period and will not be 
evaluated.

ADDRESSES: Please see the Guidance posting at https://sam.gov/opp/c89f5456c69c46e99535558222ed53a1/view for contact information relating 
to certification applications and sealed bids. For information relating 
to the CNC Program, please see https://www.energy.gov/gdo/civil-nuclear-credit-program.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For more information regarding the CNC 
Program or Guidance please contact Theodore Taylor, (202) 586-4316, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Section 40323 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), 
Public Law 117-58, codified at 42 U.S.C. 18753, directs the Secretary 
of Energy to establish a CNC Program to evaluate and certify nuclear 
reactors that are projected to cease operations due to economic factors 
and to allocate credits to selected certified nuclear reactors via a 
sealed bid process. DOE published in the Federal Register, a Notice of 
Availability and Request for Comments regarding the Second Award Cycle 
of the Civil Nuclear Credit Program on October 6, 2022, to solicit 
public input into the CNC Program design (87 FR 60665). The Department 
used the responses to help inform its approach in creating the 
Guidance. The Guidance describes the CNC Program, program eligibility, 
certification criteria (including a Community Benefits Plan to advance 
environmental justice objectives) and bid submissions requirements for 
the second certification and bidding process.

Business Proprietary Information

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any person submitting information 
believed to be business proprietary and exempt by law from public 
disclosure should submit via email two well-marked copies: One copy of 
the document marked ``Business Proprietary'' including all the 
information believed to be proprietary, and one copy of the document 
marked ``non-Proprietary'' deleting all information believed to be 
business proprietary. DOE will make its own determination about the 
business proprietary status of the information and treat it 
accordingly. Factors of interest to DOE when evaluating requests to 
treat submitted information as business proprietary include: (1) A 
description of the items; (2) whether and why such items are 
customarily treated as business proprietary within the industry; (3) 
whether the information is generally known by or available from other 
sources; (4) whether the information has previously been made available 
to others without obligation concerning its business proprietary 
nature; (5) an explanation of the competitive injury to the submitting 
person which would result from public disclosure; (6) when such 
information might lose its business proprietary character due to the 
passage of time; and (7) why disclosure of the information would be 
contrary to the public interest.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on March 3, 
2023, by Maria D. Robinson, Director, 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 upon publication in the 
Federal Register.


[[Page 14357]]


    Signed in Washington, DC, on March 3, 2023.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2023-04760 Filed 3-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P