Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 12 / Tuesday, January 20, 2015 / Notices 2685 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

[Docket No.: ED–2015–ICCD–0005] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Comment Request; Race to 

the Top-Early Learning Challenge: 

Descriptive Study of Tiered Quality 

Rating and Improvement Systems in 

Nine Round 1 States 

AGENCY: Institute of Education Sciences 

(IES), Department of Education (ED). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. chapter 3501 et seq.), ED is 

proposing a new information collection. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before March 

23, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Comments submitted in 

response to this notice should be 

submitted electronically through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov by selecting 

Docket ID number ED–2015–ICCD–0005 

or via postal mail, commercial delivery, 

or hand delivery. If the regulations.gov 

site is not available to the public for any 

reason, ED will temporarily accept 

comments at ICDocketMgr@ed.gov. 

Please note that comments submitted by 

fax or email and those submitted after 

the comment period will not be 

accepted; ED will only accept comments 

during the comment period in this 

mailbox when the regulations.gov site is 

not available. Written requests for 

information or comments submitted by 

postal mail or delivery should be 

addressed to the Director of the 

Information Collection Clearance 

Division, U.S. Department of Education, 

400 Maryland Avenue SW., LBJ, 

Mailstop L–OM–2–2E319, Room 2E115, 

Washington, DC 20202. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

specific questions related to collection 

activities, please contact Tracy 

Rimdzius, 202–208–7154. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Department of Education (ED), in 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general 

public and Federal agencies with an 

opportunity to comment on proposed, 

revised, and continuing collections of 

information. This helps the Department 

assess the impact of its information 

collection requirements and minimize 

the public’s reporting burden. It also 

helps the public understand the 

Department’s information collection 

requirements and provide the requested 

data in the desired format. ED is 

soliciting comments on the proposed 

information collection request (ICR) that 

is described below. The Department of 

Education is especially interested in 

public comment addressing the 

following issues: (1) Is this collection 

necessary to the proper functions of the 

Department; (2) will this information be 

processed and used in a timely manner; 

(3) is the estimate of burden accurate; 

(4) how might the Department enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (5) how 

might the Department minimize the 

burden of this collection on the 

respondents, including through the use 

of information technology. Please note 

that written comments received in 

response to this notice will be 

considered public records. 

Title of Collection: Race to the TopEarly Learning Challenge: Descriptive 

Study of Tiered Quality Rating and 

Improvement Systems in Nine Round 1 

States. 

OMB Control Number: 1850–NEW. 

Type of Review: A new information 

collection. 

Respondents/Affected Public: State, 

Local or Tribal Government. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Responses: 70. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Burden Hours: 259. 

Abstract: The Study of Race to the 

Top-Early Learning Challenge Tiered 

Quality Rating and Improvement 

Systems (RTT–ELC TQRIS) will collect 

data from two to three RTT–ELC states 

on TQRIS ratings, component-level 

ratings, indicator-level ratings, and 

kindergarten entry assessments. In the 

event that the kindergarten entry 

assessment data are not available from 

state databases, the study will reach out 

to selected districts in the RTT–ELC 

states to collect such data. If this step 

proves necessary, the study will reach 

out to up to 42 districts in order to 

ultimately recruit 14 districts from 

which to collect assessment data. The 

study will use these data to conduct 

analyses of the relationship between 

TQRIS ratings and child outcome 

measures to inform ongoing 

development and improvement of 

TQRIS systems at the state level. 

Dated: January 13, 2015. 

Tomakie Washington, 

Acting Director, Information Collection 

Clearance Division, Privacy, Information and 

Records Management Services, Office of 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00688 Filed 1–16–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Wind and Water Power Program: 

Guidance and Application for 

Hydroelectric Incentive Payments 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of 

guidance and open application period. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE) is publishing Guidance 

for the EPAct 2005 Section 242 Program. 

The guidance describes the 

hydroelectric incentive payment 

requirements and explains the type of 

information that owners or authorized 

operators of qualified hydroelectric 

facilities can provide DOE when 

applying for hydroelectric incentive 

payments. This incentive is available for 

electric energy generated and sold for a 

specified 10-year period as authorized 

under section 242 of the Energy Policy 

Act of 2005. In Congressional 

appropriations for Federal fiscal year 

2014, DOE received funds to support 

this hydroelectric incentive program for 

the first time. At this time, DOE is only 

accepting applications from owners and 

authorized operators of qualified 

hydroelectric facilities for 

hydroelectricity generated and sold in 

calendar year 2013. 

DATES: DOE is currently accepting 

applications from January 20, 2015 

through February 19, 2015. Applications 

information must be sent to 

hydroincentive@ee.doe.gov by midnight 

EDT, February 19, 2015, or they will not 

be considered timely filed for calendar 

year 2013 incentive payments. 

ADDRESSES: Written correspondence 

may be sent to the Office of Energy 

Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EE– 

4), by email at hydroincentive@

ee.doe.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information 

should be directed to Mr. Steven 

Lindenberg, Office of Energy Efficiency 

and Renewable Energy (EE–4), U.S. 

Department of Energy, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121, (202) 586– 

2783, hydroincentive@ee.doe.gov. 

Electronic communications are 

recommended for correspondence and 

required for submission of application 

information. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005; 

Pub. L. 109–58), Congress established a 

new program to support the expansion 

of hydropower energy development at 

existing dams and impoundments 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
2686 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 12 / Tuesday, January 20, 2015 / Notices 

through an incentive payment 

procedure. Under section 242 of EPAct 

2005, the Secretary of Energy is directed 

to provide incentive payments to the 

owner or authorized operator of 

qualified hydroelectric facilities for 

electric energy generated and sold by a 

qualified hydroelectric facility for a 

specified 10-year period (See 42 U.S.C. 

15881). The conference report to the 

Fiscal Year 2014 Omnibus 

Appropriations bill includes $3,600,000 

for conventional hydropower under 

section 242 of EPAct 2005. 

In response, DOE developed and 

announced draft guidance intended to 

describe the application process and the 

information necessary for DOE to make 

a determination of eligibility under 

section 242. See 79 FR 37733 (July 2, 

2014). The final guidance is available at: 

http://energy.gov/eere/water/waterpower-program. 

DOE accepted public comments on 

the guidance on two separate occasions 

in July and October 2014. In response to 

these comments, DOE developed a 

summary of comments and DOE’s 

response which can be found with the 

final guidance, which is available at: 

http://energy.gov/eere/water/waterpower-program. 

When submitting information to DOE 

for the Section 242 program, it is 

recommended that applicants carefully 

read and review the complete content of 

the Guidance for this process. The terms 

defined in the Guidance shall apply 

without regard to the hydroelectric 

kilowatt capacity of the facility 

concerned, without regard to whether 

the facility uses a dam owned by a 

governmental or non-governmental 

entity, and without regard to whether 

the facility began operation on or after 

October 1, 2005. 

As an aid to supporting the 

hydropower industry, DOE has 

developed the following checklist for 

application related to calendar year 

2013 power production. This checklist 

is provided to aid the applicant and 

does not necessarily include all 

requirements stated in the Guidance. 

Applicant Checklist 

Administrative Requirements 

—The application must be received by 

DOE between January 20, 2015 and 

February 19, 2015. The application 

must be sent to hydroincentive@

ee.doe.gov by midnight, February 19, 

2015, or it will not be considered for 

calendar year 2013 incentive 

payments. 

—The application must include all 

information required in the 

Application Requirements, ‘‘Sec. V’’, 

in the Guidance. 

—An owner or authorized operator must 

be applying on behalf of: (a) A FERCjurisdictional hydroelectric facility as 

the holder of a license or exemption 

issued by FERC, or (b) a non-FERC 

jurisdictional hydroelectric facility as 

the holder of exclusive rights to 

beneficial use of a facility, including 

legal title. 

—The application for an incentive 

payment must be signed by an 

authorized executive official of the 

owner or operator claiming the 

payment. 

—In the event that DOE has clarification 

questions on the application and DOE 

requests additional information, such 

information must be received at 

hydroincentive@ee.doe.gov within 10 

business days after the DOE request. 

—DOE strongly encourages applicants 

to apply early for the Federal System 

for Award Management (SAM) 

account required for submitting 

request for payment to the Federal 

Government. This process can take 10 

days or more and the information 

must be included in the application. 

Equipment Requirements 

—The new turbine or other generating 

device must be owned or solely 

operated by a non-federal entity. 

—Operation of the new turbine or other 

generating device must have been 

initiated on or after October 1, 2005. 

—The new turbine and other electric 

generation devices must include 

conventional or new and innovative 

technologies capable of continuous 

operation. 

Facility Requirements 

—The new turbine or other generating 

device must have been added to an 

existing dam or conduit, the 

construction of which was completed 

before August 8, 2005. 

—Construction of the new turbine or 

other generating device must have 

involved only modifications with no 

construction or enlargement of 

impoundment or diversion structures 

(other than repair or reconstruction). 

Construction should not require any 

permanent enlargement of 

impoundment or diversion structure 

when installed. 

Power Production (energy requirements) 

—The claimed electricity production 

and sale must be net electric energy 

and must have occurred in the 

calendar year January 1 through 

December 31, 2013, inclusive. 

Applicants for the production 

incentive will be considered only for 

the energy produced during this 

timeframe; no payments for previous 

years of generation will be awarded. 

—A metering device should have been 

used to measure net electric energy 

generated and sold. 

—The metering device must meet 

generally accepted industry 

standards, be maintained in proper 

working order according to 

instructions of its manufacturer, and 

be calibrated to generally accepted 

industry standards. 

—In the event that a project’s eligible 

production is not specifically 

metered, a project must submit a 

reasonable, reliable, alternative 

method to document eligible 

production. Alternative 

methodologies must be reviewed, 

confirmed, and documented by a 

third party with valid and relevant 

industry experience and credentials 

and be submitted along with the 

application to DOE. DOE reserves the 

right to determine whether the 

alternative methodology sufficiently 

identifies the net electric energy 

generated to qualify under this 

program. 

—Metered energy data must match the 

amount of energy claimed in the 

application. 

—The claimed energy must have been 

sold, where sale means a transfer of 

currency between two unrelated 

parties in exchange for delivered 

electrical current, except that not-forprofit electric cooperatives or 

municipal utilities and their members 

shall be considered unrelated parties 

for purposes of hydroelectric 

production incentive payments. 

Each application will be reviewed 

based on the Guidance at (http://

energy.gov/eere/water/water-powerprogram). DOE may corroborate the 

information provided with information 

that DOE finds through FERC e-filings, 

contact with power off-taker, and other 

due diligence measures carried out by 

reviewing officials. DOE may require the 

applicant to conduct and submit an 

independent audit at its own expense, 

or DOE may conduct an audit to verify 

the number of kilowatt-hours claimed to 

have been generated and sold by the 

qualified hydroelectric facility and for 

which an incentive payment has been 

requested or made. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 14, 

2015. 

Doug Hollett, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Renewable 

Power. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00781 Filed 1–16–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES