Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 120 / Friday, June 21, 2013 / Notices 37533 

including optimal patterns of delivery 

in serving specific populations; 

determine how, and to what extent, 

State VR agencies work with partner 

agencies or programs to deliver services; 

and examine program outcomes and 

their associated costs, including 

identifying cost effective practices for 

serving specific target populations. 

Dated: June 17, 2013. 

Tomakie Washington, 

Acting Director, Information Collection 

Clearance Division, Privacy, Information and 

Records Management Services, Office of 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2013–14785 Filed 6–20–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Notice of Intent To Prepare a 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement for Engineered High Energy 

Crop Programs, Southeastern United 

States 

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE). 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement and 

conduct public scoping meetings. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE), Advanced Research 

Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA–E) 

announces its intent to prepare a 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement (PEIS) and conduct public 

scoping meetings to evaluate the 

potential environmental impacts of 

DOE’s proposed action to implement 

one or more programs to catalyze the 

development and demonstration of 

engineered high energy crops (EHECs). 

EHECs are agriculturally-viable 

photosynthetic species containing 

genetic material that has been 

intentionally introduced through 

biotechnology, interspecific 

hybridization, or other engineering 

processes (excluding processes that 

occur in nature without human 

intervention), and specifically 

engineered to produce more energy per 

acre by producing fuel molecules that 

can be introduced easily into existing 

energy infrastructure. 

EHECs include those being developed 

under the ARPA–E Plants Engineered to 

Replace Oil (PETRO) program. A main 

component of the proposed EHEC 

programs would be providing financial 

assistance for field trials to evaluate the 

performance of EHECs. Confined field 

trials may range in size and could 

include development-scale (up to 5 

acres), pilot-scale (up to 250 acres), or 

demonstration-scale (up to 15,000 

acres). All necessary permits, such as 

from the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service (APHIS), 

would be obtained before initiating 

confined field trials. This PEIS will 

assess the potential environmental 

impacts of such confined field trials in 

the southeastern United States. 

DATES: DOE invites comments on the 

proposed scope of this PEIS from all 

interested parties. The scoping period 

for this PEIS starts with the publication 

of this notice and continues through 

July 22, 2013. DOE will consider all 

comments submitted electronically or 

postmarked by July 22, 2013. Comments 

submitted after this date will be 

considered to the extent practicable. 

DOE will conduct scoping meetings to 

solicit input on the issues, concerns, 

and alternatives of the PEIS. Poster 

sessions will be hosted at each location 

from 5:00 to 6:45 p.m., followed by an 

open forum to receive comments from 

7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The scoping meetings 

will be held: 

• July 9, 2013—Lexington Convention 

Center, 430 West Vine Street, 

Lexington, KY 

• July 10, 2013—Mississippi e-Center at 

Jackson State University (Convention 

Hall), 1230 Raymond Road, Jackson, 

MS 

• July 11, 2013—Raleigh Convention 

Center, 500 S. Salisbury Street, 

Raleigh, NC 

DOE will also host one web-based 

meeting on July 17, 2013 from 3:00 to 

5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Details 

regarding the scoping meetings, 

including how to participate in the webbased meeting, are provided under 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION and on the 

PEIS Web site: http://engineeredhigh

energycropsPEIS.com. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be 

submitted by any of the following 

methods: 

• PEIS Web site: http://engineered

highenergycropsPEIS.com. 

• Email: comments@engineeredhigh

energycropsPEIS.com. 

• Mail: Dr. Jonathan Burbaum, 

Program Director, ARPA–E, U.S. 

Department of Energy, ATTN: EHEC 

PEIS, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., 

Mailstop-950–8043, Washington, DC 

20585. Note: Comments submitted by 

U.S. Postal Service may be delayed by 

mail screening. 

This Notice of Intent (NOI), the Draft 

PEIS, and the Final PEIS will be posted 

on the DOE National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA) Web site at http:// 

energy.gov/nepa. These documents and 

additional materials relating to this PEIS 

will also be available on the PEIS Web 

site at: http://engineeredhighenergy

cropsPEIS.com. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

more information on the PEIS or to be 

added to the PEIS distribution list, 

contact Dr. Jonathan Burbaum, Program 

Director, by one of the methods 

described in the ADDRESSES section, or 

by telephone at (202) 287–5453. 

For general information on the DOE 

NEPA process, contact Carol Borgstrom, 

Director, Office of NEPA Policy and 

Compliance (GC–54), U.S. Department 

of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue 

SW., Washington, DC 20585, or 

telephone at (202) 586–4600, voicemail 

at (800) 472–2756, or email at 

askNEPA@hq.doe.gov. Persons with 

disabilities who require alternative 

means for communication (Braille, large 

print, audio tape, etc.) should contact 

(800) 877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EHEC 

PEIS (DOE/EIS–0481) is being prepared 

in accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 

requirements, the Council on 

Environmental Quality’s NEPA 

regulations (40 CFR parts 1500–1508), 

and DOE’s NEPA Implementing 

Procedures (10 CFR part 1021). 

DOE has prepared this NOI to inform 

interested parties of the planned PEIS 

and scoping meetings, and to invite 

public comments on the proposed 

action, reasonable alternatives for 

program implementation, and the range 

of environmental issues to be 

considered in the PEIS. DOE will 

consult with interested American Indian 

Tribes and federal, state, regional and 

local agencies during preparation of the 

PEIS. In addition, DOE invites agencies 

with jurisdiction by law or special 

expertise to participate as cooperating 

agencies in the preparation of this PEIS. 

Background 

DOE’s mission and strategic goals 

include promoting U.S. energy security 

by providing reliable, clean, and 

affordable energy and strengthening 

U.S. technological leadership and 

economic competitiveness through 

advancements in science and 

technology. ARPA–E’s goals include 

enhancing U.S. economic and energy 

security through the development of 

advanced energy technologies that 

reduce imports of foreign oil, reduce 

energy-related emissions, and ensure 

that the U.S. maintains a technological 

lead in developing and deploying 

advanced energy technologies. A core 

aspect of ARPA–E’s mission is to 

expedite the timeline for bringing 

technologies to market. The proposed 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
37534 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 120 / Friday, June 21, 2013 / Notices 

programs aim to deploy EHECs that 

produce more energy per acre and 

produce fuel molecules that require 

little or no processing prior to being 

introduced into existing energy 

infrastructure (e.g., refineries, pipelines, 

and vehicles), thus promoting 

agriculturally-derived fuels that are 

cost-competitive with petroleum-based 

fuels. Programs that catalyze the 

deployment of EHECs to market, 

including development and 

demonstration field trials, would further 

the mission and strategic goals of DOE. 

Purpose and Need for DOE Action 

Present day production of biofuels is 

limited by the relatively inefficient 

capture of solar energy and conversion 

of carbon dioxide that occurs during 

plant photosynthesis into a ready-to-use 

energy source. EHEC programs are 

experimenting with a variety of plants 

to create molecules similar to those 

found in petroleum-based fuels that will 

facilitate biofuel production. EHECs 

include those being developed under 

the ARPA–E PETRO program. 

Successful EHEC programs can advance 

the environmentally responsible 

deployment of biofuels produced by, or 

through the processing of, engineered 

plants to provide cost-effective, largescale, and renewable substitute fuels. 

The purpose and need for agency 

action is to facilitate the deployment of 

EHECs through funding programs that 

support research, development, and 

demonstration of EHECs up to 

commercial scale. In the absence of DOE 

funding and support for EHEC 

programs, scientific understanding and 

innovation in the responsible use of 

EHEC crops and, ultimately, commercial 

deployment of EHECs would develop 

more slowly or not at all. Accordingly, 

DOE needs to take action to catalyze the 

development and deployment of EHEC 

crops. 

Proposed Action 

DOE proposes to develop and 

implement one or more programs to 

catalyze the development and 

deployment of EHECs. A main 

component of these programs would be 

providing financial assistance to 

recipients, such as research institutions, 

independent contract growers, or 

commercial entities, for conducting 

confined field trials to test the 

effectiveness of EHECs. Confined field 

trials are experiments to evaluate the 

performance of a crop that are 

conducted under stringent terms and 

conditions designed to confine the 

experimental crop. Confined field trials 

may range in size and could include 

development-scale (up to 5 acres), pilotscale (up to 250 acres), or 

demonstration-scale (up to 15,000 

acres). Confined field trials are essential 

to test the viability of EHECs under real 

field conditions in local environments. 

Engineered crops within confined field 

trials are grown only after obtaining 

regulatory permits that identify 

procedures to limit or prevent the 

unintentional spread and establishment 

of the crop. Specifically, funding 

recipients would need to acquire a 

permit from the USDA APHIS before 

initiating each confined field trial. To 

acquire an APHIS permit, a funding 

recipient would need to prepare a 

permit application that provides 

detailed information about the nature of 

the crops to be introduced and the 

conditions that would be used to 

prevent the spread and establishment of 

the crop in the environment. Following 

a careful review of the permit 

application and a project-specific 

review of the proposed permitting 

action under NEPA, APHIS may 

determine to issue a permit for the 

proposed confined field trial. The 

funding recipients could then carry out 

the confined field trial in accordance 

with the terms and conditions of the 

APHIS permit and applicable federal, 

state, and local laws and regulations. 

Additionally, the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA), under the 

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 

Rodenticide Act, regulates the planting, 

food, and feed use of transgenic plants 

into which genetic material has been 

inserted that imparts pesticidal 

properties. The Food and Drug 

Administration, under the Federal Food, 

Drug, and Cosmetic Act, regulates 

transgenic food and feed crops or 

products from transgenic crops that may 

come in contact with food. Analyses 

from this PEIS would inform these 

permit applications as well. 

Examples of EHECs that may be used 

in confined field trials include, but are 

not limited to, crops being investigated 

under ARPA–E’s PETRO program such 

as genetically engineered varieties of 

camelina, loblolly pine, tobacco, giant 

cane, sugarcane, miscanthus, sorghum, 

and switchgrass. For additional 

information regarding ARPA–E’s PETRO 

program and the specific technologies 

being investigated in PETRO projects, 

visit the PETRO program Web site at: 

http://arpa-e.energy.gov/?q=arpa-eprograms/petro. 

This PEIS will assess the potential 

environmental impacts of confined field 

trials in the southeastern United States. 

DOE’s proposed action under this PEIS 

will be limited to the states of Alabama, 

Florida (excluding the Everglades/ 

Southern Florida coastal plain 

ecoregion), Georgia, Kentucky, 

Mississippi, North Carolina, South 

Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. 

These states offer climate and 

agricultural conditions that favor 

cultivation of EHECs. If experience in 

these states indicates expansion of the 

EHEC program is warranted, additional 

states may be assessed in subsequent 

environmental reviews. DOE is 

proposing to use the EPA’s Level II 

ecoregions (also known as ‘‘ecological 

regions’’) to assess common and 

different potential environmental 

impacts of the proposed action. 

Ecoregions are determined based on the 

presence or absence of common flora, 

fauna, and non-living ecosystems 

characteristics. The EPA Level II 

ecoregions are presented on the EPA’s 

‘‘Ecoregions Maps and GIS Resources’’ 

Web page at: http://www.epa.gov/wed/

pages/ecoregions/na_eco.htm#Level II. 

Alternatives 

The PEIS will evaluate the range of 

reasonable implementation alternatives. 

DOE will consider a range of plant 

characteristics and engineered 

modifications when analyzing the 

potential environmental impacts of each 

alternative at the ecoregion level. The 

plant characteristics to be considered 

include, but are not limited to, potential 

for existing compatible relatives in the 

region, means of pollination, level of 

domestication, weediness and 

competitiveness, toxicity, alternative 

commercial uses, nativity and range, 

persistence in the environment, 

agricultural planting cycles and inputs 

(water, fertilizers, pesticides), and fire 

hazard potential. DOE is considering the 

following alternatives: 

• Development-scale Confined Field 

Trials (up to 5 acres). This scale is small 

in size and common for testing whether 

a plant will grow under agricultural 

conditions. 

• Pilot-scale Confined Field Trials 

(up to 250 acres). Pilot-scale field trials 

begin to experiment with an engineered 

plant in a larger sized area and inform 

decisions of whether to proceed to 

demonstration-scale. Pilot-scale field 

trials could involve multiple growers at 

multiple smaller non-contiguous 

locations. 

• Demonstration-scale Confined Field 

Trials (up to 15,000 acres). 

Demonstration-scale field trials test 

whether crops are commercially viable. 

This is the estimated acreage of EHECs 

necessary to demonstrate a hypothetical, 

small-scale, commercial ethanol plant. 

Demonstration-scale field trials could 

involve multiple growers at multiple 

smaller non-contiguous locations. 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 120 / Friday, June 21, 2013 / Notices 37535 

• No Action Alternative. Under the 

No Action Alternative, DOE would not 

provide financial assistance for the 

development and implementation of 

EHEC programs. Although some privatesector field trials involving EHEC crops 

may be undertaken under permits 

issued by APHIS, for purposes of the noaction analysis DOE assumes that 

development of EHEC crops would 

occur slowly or in an uncoordinated 

fashion, and that wide-scale commercial 

deployment would not occur. 

Preliminary Environmental Issues for 

Consideration 

DOE issued a public Request for 

Information (RFI) (DE–FOA–0000908) 

on April 12, 2013 soliciting input 

regarding concerns about and barriers to 

the development of EHECs (including 

potential environmental impacts), such 

as those crops being investigated under 

the ARPA–E PETRO program and 

potential future DOE programs. 

Responses were submitted by 

individuals, academic/research 

institutions and laboratories, 

environmental and health organizations, 

and industry groups. Responses focused 

on potential environmental issues such 

as: invasiveness, lifecycle greenhouse 

gas emissions, agricultural runoff; the 

potential for EHECs to compete with 

food and feed crops; specific plants to 

consider for EHEC programs; issues 

with the location, duration, and scale of 

field trials; the desirable environmental 

and commercial traits of EHECs; and 

specific agencies and organizations DOE 

should engage while developing EHEC 

programs. DOE considered the 

comments received from the RFI in 

developing this NOI. 

DOE proposes to address the 

environmental issues listed below. This 

list is not intended to be comprehensive 

or to provide a predetermined set of 

potential impacts. DOE invites 

comments on whether the following 

resource areas and impacts are 

appropriate to be addressed in this PEIS. 

The preliminary list of potentially 

affected resources or activities and their 

related environmental issues includes: 

• Biological resources: including 

potential impacts to vegetation, wildlife, 

threatened or endangered species, 

migratory birds, ecologically sensitive 

habitats, alteration in weediness 

characteristics (invasiveness), 

biodiversity, and susceptibility to 

disease or insects; 

• Water resources: including surface 

water, groundwater, soil hydrology, 

sedimentation, runoff, and erosion; 

• Cultural and historic resources; 

• Floodplains and wetlands; 

• Socioeconomic resources: including 

food and feed crop supplies and prices, 

schools, housing, public services, 

employment, and local revenues; 

• Transportation; 

• Air quality: including regional air 

quality; 

• Greenhouse gas emissions and 

climate change; 

• Land use: including agriculture, 

farmland availability, recreation, timber 

harvesting, grazing, and soils; 

• Environmental justice: including 

potential for disproportionately high 

and adverse impacts on minority and 

low-income populations; 

• Noise; 

• Wilderness areas; 

• Wild and scenic rivers; 

• Wildfires; 

• Visual resources; 

• Human health and safety; 

• Terrorism and accidents; and 

• Cumulative impacts: for each 

alternative, DOE will assess potential 

effects that could result from the 

incremental impacts of the action when 

added to other past, present, and 

reasonably foreseeable future actions, 

including potential impacts from 

commercial deployment and use of 

EHECs. 

Public Scoping Process and Invitation 

To Comment 

Scoping Process: This NOI initiates 

the scoping process under NEPA, which 

helps guide the development of the 

Draft PEIS. To ensure that all issues 

related to the proposed action are 

addressed, DOE requests comments to 

further delineate the scope, including 

alternatives and potential 

environmental issues. Interested 

government agencies, American Indian 

tribes, private-sector organizations, and 

the general public are encouraged to 

submit comments or suggestions on the 

scope of the PEIS. DOE is particularly 

interested in receiving comments on the 

proposed action, such as: suggestions 

for reasonable alternatives; the 

environmental issues to be considered 

in the PEIS; methods for assessing the 

common and unique impacts of 

confined field trials in different 

ecoregions; and comments concerning 

the proposed scale of confined field 

trials. DOE encourages the submission 

of scientific data, studies, or research to 

support comments. 

DOE will conduct in-person and webbased scoping meetings to solicit input 

on the potential issues, concerns, and 

alternatives of the PEIS: 

• July 9, 2013—Lexington Convention 

Center, 430 West Vine Street, 

Lexington, KY 

• July 10, 2013—Mississippi e-Center at 

Jackson State University (Convention 

Hall), 1230 Raymond Road, Jackson, 

MS 

• July 11, 2013—Raleigh Convention 

Center, 500 S. Salisbury Street, 

Raleigh, NC 

DOE will also host one web-based 

scoping meeting on July 17, 2013 from 

3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. 

Information about the web-based 

meeting, how to register, and to sign up 

to provide comments, as well as 

information about the scoping meetings 

and comment instructions are provided 

on the PEIS Web site: http://engineere

dhighenergycropsPEIS.com. 

The in-person scoping meetings will 

include a poster session from 5:00 to 

6:45 p.m. for the public to view exhibits 

related to the project and to talk with 

subject matter experts, followed by an 

open forum to provide oral comments 

from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The open forum 

will begin with a presentation that will 

provide an overview of the project and 

the NEPA process and then the formal 

commenting session will begin. All oral 

comments will be transcribed by a court 

reporter to ensure that all comments are 

available to DOE for consideration 

during preparation of the Draft PEIS. 

Comments will be accepted at the 

scoping meetings, by mail, by email, 

and electronically through the online 

comment form on the PEIS Web site: 

http://engineeredhighenergycrops

PEIS.com (see ADDRESSES). DOE will 

give equal consideration to oral and 

written comments. 

The scoping period will end July 22, 

2013. Comments should be submitted 

by that date to ensure consideration (see 

ADDRESSES). DOE will consider 

comments emailed or postmarked after 

that date to the extent practicable. 

Personally Identifiable Information: 

Personally identifiable information, 

such as address, telephone number, 

email address, or other personal 

identifying information submitted in 

comments may become publicly 

available during the PEIS process. 

Individual commenters may choose to 

withhold personally identifiable 

information from their comments on the 

PEIS. 

PEIS Schedule and Availability: DOE 

will consider public scoping comments 

in preparing the Draft PEIS. After 

consideration of comments, DOE will 

issue the Draft PEIS for public review. 

The EPA will publish a notice of 

availability of the Draft PEIS in the 

Federal Register, which will begin a 

public comment period of at least 45 

days. DOE will announce the methods 

for commenting on the Draft PEIS, and 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
37536 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 120 / Friday, June 21, 2013 / Notices 

will hold at least one public hearing. 

DOE will consider public comments on 

the Draft PEIS and respond as 

appropriate in the Final PEIS. No sooner 

than 30 days following publication in 

the Federal Register of the EPA’s notice 

of availability of the Final PEIS, DOE 

will issue a Record of Decision 

regarding the proposed action. 

Signed in Washington, DC, this 14th day of 

June, 2013. 

Cheryl Martin, 

Deputy Director for Commercialization, 

Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2013–14724 Filed 6–20–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Environmental Management SiteSpecific Advisory Board, Northern New 

Mexico 

AGENCY: Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of open meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces a 

combined meeting of the Environmental 

Monitoring and Remediation 

Committee, Waste Management 

Committee, and Waste Isolation Pilot 

Plant Ad Hoc Committee of the 

Environmental Management SiteSpecific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), 

Northern New Mexico (known locally as 

the Northern New Mexico Citizens’ 

Advisory Board [NNMCAB]). The 

Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. 

L. 92–463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that 

public notice of this meeting be 

announced in the Federal Register. 

DATES: Wednesday, July 10, 2013 2:00 

p.m.–4:00 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: NNMCAB Conference 

Room, 94 Cities of Gold Road, Pojoaque, 

NM 87506. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Menice Santistevan, Northern New 

Mexico Citizens’ Advisory Board, 94 

Cities of Gold Road, Santa Fe, NM 

87506. Phone (505) 995–0393; Fax (505) 

989–1752 or Email: 

menice.santistevan@nnsa.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose of the Board: The purpose of 

the Board is to make recommendations 

to DOE–EM and site management in the 

areas of environmental restoration, 

waste management, and related 

activities. 

Purpose of the Environmental 

Monitoring and Remediation Committee 

(EM&R): The EM&R Committee provides 

a citizens’ perspective to NNMCAB on 

current and future environmental 

remediation activities resulting from 

historical Los Alamos National 

Laboratory operations and, in particular, 

issues pertaining to groundwater, 

surface water and work required under 

the New Mexico Environment 

Department Order on Consent. The 

EM&R Committee will keep abreast of 

DOE–EM and site programs and plans. 

The committee will work with the 

NNMCAB to provide assistance in 

determining priorities and the best use 

of limited funds and time. Formal 

recommendations will be proposed 

when needed and, after consideration 

and approval by the full NNMCAB, may 

be sent to DOE–EM for action. 

Purpose of the Waste Management 

(WM) Committee: The WM Committee 

reviews policies, practices and 

procedures, existing and proposed, so as 

to provide recommendations, advice, 

suggestions and opinions to the 

NNMCAB regarding waste management 

operations at the Los Alamos site. 

Purpose of the Waste Isolation Pilot 

Plant (WIPP) Ad Hoc Committee: The 

WIPP Ad Hoc Committee is preparing a 

recommendation on priorities at WIPP. 

The committee will be disbanded upon 

completion of the draft 

recommendation. 

Tentative Agenda 

1. 2:00 p.m. Approval of Agenda 

2. 2:05 p.m. Approval of Minutes of 

June 12, 2013 

3. 2:10 p.m. Old Business 

• Consideration and Action on Draft 

Recommendation 2013–06 for Los 

Alamos National Laboratory 

Cleanup 

4. 2:15 p.m. New Business 

• Update on Draft Recommendation 

2013–08 for Space Concerns at the 

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant—Ad Hoc 

Committee Members: Gerard 

Martinez, Carlos Valdez, Stephen 

Schmelling 

• Discussion of Committee Work 

Plans for Fiscal Year 2014 

5. 2:40 p.m. Update from Executive 

Committee—Carlos Valdez, Chair 

6. 2:50 p.m. Update from DOE—Lee 

Bishop, Deputy Designated Federal 

Officer 

7. 3:00 p.m. Presentation by Menice 

Santistevan, NNMCAB Executive 

Director 

• NNMCAB Processes and Procedures 

8. 3:45 p.m. Public Comment Period 

9. 4:00 p.m. Adjourn 

Public Participation: The NNMCAB’s 

Committees welcome the attendance of 

the public at their combined committee 

meeting and will make every effort to 

accommodate persons with physical 

disabilities or special needs. If you 

require special accommodations due to 

a disability, please contact Menice 

Santistevan at least seven days in 

advance of the meeting at the telephone 

number listed above. Written statements 

may be filed with the Committees either 

before or after the meeting. Individuals 

who wish to make oral statements 

pertaining to agenda items should 

contact Menice Santistevan at the 

address or telephone number listed 

above. Requests must be received five 

days prior to the meeting and reasonable 

provision will be made to include the 

presentation in the agenda. The Deputy 

Designated Federal Officer is 

empowered to conduct the meeting in a 

fashion that will facilitate the orderly 

conduct of business. Individuals 

wishing to make public comments will 

be provided a maximum of five minutes 

to present their comments. 

Minutes: Minutes will be available by 

writing or calling Menice Santistevan at 

the address or phone number listed 

above. Minutes and other Board 

documents are on the Internet at: 

http://www.nnmcab.energy.gov/. 

Issued at Washington, DC, on June 17, 

2013. 

LaTanya R. Butler, 

Deputy Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2013–14860 Filed 6–20–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6405–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Methane Hydrate Advisory Committee 

AGENCY: Office of Fossil Energy, 

Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of open meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces a 

meeting of the Methane Hydrate 

Advisory Committee. The Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92– 

463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that notice of 

these meetings be announced in the 

Federal Register. 

DATES: Tuesday, July 16, 2013, 12:45 

p.m. to 1:00 p.m. (EDT)—Registration, 

1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EDT)—Meeting. 

ADDRESSES: U.S. Department of Energy, 

Forrestal Building, Room 3G–043, 1000 

Independence Ave. SW., Washington, 

DC 20585. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lou 

Capitanio, U.S. Department of Energy, 

Office of Oil and Natural Gas, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585. Phone: (202) 

586–5098. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose of the Committee: The 

purpose of the Methane Hydrate 

Advisory Committee is to provide 

advice on potential applications of 

methane hydrate to the Secretary of 

Energy, and assist in developing 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES