Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 197 / Wednesday, October 14, 2009 / Notices 52795 

1Additionally, the Department is developing a 

final rule to adopt similar certification and 

compliance regulations for the remaining types of 

covered commercial and industrial equipment 

covered by statute. See 64 FR 69598 (December 13, 

1999); 71 FR 25104 (April 28, 2006); 71 FR 42193 

(July 25, 2006); 71 FR 71341–42 (December 8, 2006). 

provisions for consumer products apply 

‘‘to the same extent and in the same 

manner’’ for covered commercial and 

industrial equipment). As with 

consumer products, the Department has 

promulgated certification and 

compliance regulations for certain 

equipment, including motors and 

transformers. See 10 CFR part 431, 

subparts B, K, U, and V; See, e.g., 10 

CFR 431.385(b) (‘‘If a basic model [of 

electric motor] is not properly certified 

in accordance with the requirements of 

this subpart, the Secretary may seek, 

among other remedies, injunctive action 

to prohibit distribution in commerce of 

such basic model.’’) 1 The Department 

interprets its certification regulations 

governing covered commercial and 

industrial equipment in the same way as 

its regulations governing consumer 

products. For the reasons set forth 

above, the failure to certify a covered 

piece of commercial or industrial 

equipment in accordance with DOE 

rules may be subject to enforcement 

action, including the imposition of civil 

penalties. 

Today, the Department also 

announces its intent to exercise its 

enforcement authority more rigorously 

in the future. In order for DOE’s 

efficiency standards to effectively 

promote the development and 

distribution of energy efficient products 

that will save energy and reduce costs 

for millions of Americans, DOE must 

ensure that these standards are 

aggressively and consistently enforced. 

Proper certification is a necessary 

prerequisite to achieving these goals. 

This fall, therefore, DOE will begin this 

effort by initiating a compliance review 

of certification reports for consumer 

products and commercial equipment 

covered by DOE regulations. Pursuant to 

its existing enforcement authority, the 

Department intends to randomly select 

previously filed certification reports for 

review, to request certification records 

from manufacturers as needed, and to 

hold manufacturers accountable for any 

failure to certify covered products in 

accordance with DOE rules. 

This guidance represents the 

Department’s interpretation of existing 

regulations and announcement of the 

agency’s general policy with respect to 

exercising its existing enforcement 

authority. It is not intended to create or 

remove any rights or duties, nor is it 

intended to affect any other aspect of 

EPCA or DOE regulations. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6299–6305; 6316. 

Approval of the Office of the Secretary 

The Secretary of Energy has approved 

publication of this notice. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on October 7, 

2009. 

Scott Harris, 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. E9–24666 Filed 10–13–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Guidance on Ex Parte 

Communications 

AGENCY: Office of the General Counsel, 

Department of Energy (DOE). 

ACTION: Notice of guidance on ex parte 

communications. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy 

sets forth guidance on ex parte 

communications during informal 

rulemaking proceedings. The guidance 

is intended to encourage the public to 

provide DOE with all information 

necessary to develop rules that advance 

the public interest, while ensuring that 

rulemaking proceedings are not subject 

to improper influence from off-therecord communications. As President 

Obama stated in a January 21, 2009 

memorandum, ‘‘Executive departments 

and agencies should offer Americans 

increased opportunities to participate in 

policymaking and to provide their 

Government with the benefits of their 

collective expertise and information.’’ 

(74 FR 4685) DOE intends this guidance 

to provide both increased public 

participation in the rulemaking process 

and additional transparency during that 

process. 

DATES: This guidance on ex parte 

communications is effective on October 

14, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Daniel Cohen, Assistant General 

Counsel for Legislation and Regulatory 

Law, Office of the General Counsel, 

Department of Energy, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121, e-mail: 

expartecommunications@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

following guidance, provided in the 

form of answers to ‘‘Frequently Asked 

Questions’’, is intended to encourage 

stakeholders to meet with, and provide 

information and advice to, DOE officials 

during the rulemaking process by 

setting forth simple and clear 

procedures governing meetings, or 

telephone or electronic contact, with 

DOE officials to discuss a pending 

rulemaking action. Informal stakeholder 

communications other than written 

comments on the proposed rule or 

presentations at a public hearing that 

occur during the public comment period 

are generally lawful under section 501 

of the Department of Energy 

Organization Act and the 

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 

553). Informal communications, 

however, must be disclosed properly to 

ensure fairness for all stakeholders, the 

integrity of the rulemaking process, and 

the adequacy of the record in support of 

the final rule. 

Frequently Asked Questions on Ex 

Parte Communications With DOE 

Employees 

(1) What is the purpose of DOE’s Ex 

Parte Guidance? 

The ex parte guidance governs the 

manner in which interested parties may 

communicate with DOE during its 

informal rulemaking proceedings, 

termed ‘‘permit-but disclose’’ 

proceedings for purposes of this 

guidance. It is designed to encourage 

additional public participation in the 

rulemaking process, while ensuring that 

all such participation is open and 

transparent. 

(2) What types of proceedings are 

considered ‘‘permit-but-disclose’’ 

proceedings? 

Permit-but-disclose proceedings are 

comprised of: (i) Proceedings in 

response to petitions for rulemaking; (ii) 

informal rulemaking proceedings upon 

release of an advanced notice of 

proposed rulemaking, a notice of public 

meeting or, if neither of those 

documents are utilized, the notice of 

proposed rulemaking; (iii) proceedings 

involving an interim final rule. 

(3) Does the ex parte guidance apply 

to me? 

The ex parte guidance applies to 

anyone who engages in the kind of 

communications covered by the 

guidance. 

(4) What types of communications are 

covered by the ex parte guidance? 

The guidance governs ex parte 

presentations to DOE decision makers 

during its ‘‘permit-but-disclose’’ 

proceedings. 

(5) What is an ex parte presentation? 

An ex parte presentation is a 

communication directed to the merits or 

outcome of a proceeding that, if written 

(including e-mail), is not provided to all 

interested parties or, if oral, is made 

without advance notice to all interested 

parties and without opportunity for 

such parties to be present. 

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52796 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 197 / Wednesday, October 14, 2009 / Notices 

1These requirements were promulgated by Order 

689, issued November 16, 2006, in Docket No. 

RM06–12, in accordance with section 1221 of the 

Energy Policy Act of 2005: (a) To establish filing 

requirements and procedures for entities seeking to 

construct or to modify electric transmission 

facilities, and (b) to coordinate the processing of 

Federal authorizations and the environmental 

review of electric transmission facilities in 

designated national interest electric transmission 

corridors. (Order 689 is available in FERC’s eLibrary 

at http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/search/ 

intermediate.asp?link_file=yes&doclist=4455911.) 

(6) Who are DOE decision making 

personnel? 

Decision-making personnel are those 

DOE employees who are or may 

reasonably be expected to be involved 

in formulating a rulemaking. 

(7) What are the disclosure 

requirements applicable in ‘‘permit-butdisclose’’ proceedings? 

For the proceedings listed above, inperson meetings or telephone calls 

between DOE and an interested party or 

parties will require a memorandum 

memorializing the meeting to be placed 

in the public docket. The memorandum 

should include a summary of the issues 

discussed as well as a list of attendees 

and date of the meeting. The interested 

party or parties must complete the 

memorandum and submit it to DOE for 

inclusion in the public docket within 

one week of the meeting. The DOE 

reserves the right to supplement these 

public filings with additional 

information as necessary or to demand 

that the party making the filing do so 

(i.e., if DOE believes that important 

information was omitted or 

characterized incorrectly). 

If outside parties bring documents to 

give DOE employees, the employees 

should inform the outside parties that 

those documents will be put in the 

record. If the outside parties do not 

want DOE employees to put their 

documents in the record, they should 

not, except as specified in this response, 

provide the documents to or leave the 

documents with DOE. Interested parties 

may submit documents under a request 

for confidential treatment; however, a 

public version of these documents must 

be provided for the record for DOE to 

rely on the information as part of a 

rulemaking. In addition, DOE will make 

its own determination on whether 

documents should be released in 

response to a request for the documents 

under the Freedom of Information Act. 

(8) What communications are not 

covered by the ex parte guidance? 

Phone calls that DOE employees or 

contractors initiate to gather information 

as part of the rulemaking process need 

not be memorialized. If new data is 

obtained as a result of such contacts 

after issuance of the notice of proposed 

rulemaking, it may be necessary to seek 

public comment on the data for DOE to 

rely on the data in the final rule. 

(9) What is DOE’s role in ex parte 

communications? 

To safeguard the integrity of DOE’s 

rulemaking process, the primary goal of 

DOE employees in ex parte 

communications is to listen and ask 

clarifying questions. The DOE will not 

engage in negotiation or reveal 

substantive aspects of the forthcoming 

rulemakings. The DOE is the receiver of 

information. If meetings are held with 

an outside party while the rulemaking is 

pending, every reasonable effort will be 

made to meet with any other outside 

party who requests a similar 

opportunity. 

(10) Where should memoranda 

memorializing ex parte communications 

be sent? 

Memorandums memorializing ex 

parte communications should be 

provided to the e-mail address listed 

above, 

expartecommunications@hq.doe.gov. 

(11) How does DOE give notice of ex 

parte communications? 

DOE is currently developing a link on 

the homepage of the Office of the 

General Counsel where ex parte 

communications will be posted. Further 

information on the Web site will be 

provided in a future Federal Register 

notice. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on October 7, 

2009. 

Scott Blake Harris, 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. E9–24717 Filed 10–13–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. IC10–729–000] 

Commission Information Collection 

Activities (FERC–729); Comment 

Request; Extension 

October 6, 2009. 

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, DOE. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed information 

collection and request for comments. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(a) of 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(Pub. L. 104–13), the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (Commission or 

FERC) is soliciting public comment on 

the specific aspects of the information 

collection described below. 

DATES: Comments in consideration of 

the collection of information are due 

December 15, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be filed 

either electronically or in paper format, 

and should refer to Docket No. IC10– 

729–000. Documents must be prepared 

in an acceptable filing format and in 

compliance with the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission submission 

guidelines at http://www.ferc.gov/help/ 

submission-guide.asp. 

Comments may be filed electronically 

via the eFiling link on the Commission’s 

Web site at http://www.ferc.gov. First 

time users will have to establish a user 

name and password (http:// 

www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ 

eregistration.asp) before eFiling. The 

Commission will send an automatic 

acknowledgement to the sender’s e-mail 

address upon receipt of comments 

through eFiling. 

Commenters filing electronically 

should not make a paper filing. 

Commenters that are not able to file 

electronically must send an original and 

two (2) copies of their comments to: 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

Secretary of the Commission, 888 First 

Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. 

Users interested in receiving 

automatic notification of activity in this 

docket may do so through eSubscription 

(at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ 

esubscription.asp). In addition, all 

comments and FERC issuances may be 

viewed, printed or downloaded 

remotely through FERC’s Web site using 

the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link and searching on 

Docket Number IC10–729. For user 

assistance, contact FERC Online 

Support (e-mail at 

ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or call tollfree at (866) 208–3676, or for TTY, 

contact (202) 502–8659). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ellen Brown may be reached by 

telephone at (202) 502–8663, by fax at 

(202) 273–0873, and by e-mail at 

ellen.brown@ferc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FERC–729 

(‘‘Electric Transmission Facilities,’’ 

OMB Control No. 1902–0238) covers the 

reporting requirements 1 of 18 CFR part 

50, and, as relates to transmission 

facilities, 18 CFR 380.3(c)(3), 

380.5(b)(14), 380.6(a)(5), 380.15(d), and 

380.16. 

The purpose of these regulations is to 

implement the Commission’s mandates 

under EPAct 2005 section 1221 which 

authorizes the Commission to issue 

permits under FPA section 216(b) for 

electric transmission facilities and the 

Commission’s delegated responsibility 

to coordinate all other Federal 

authorizations under FPA section 

216(h). The related FERC regulations 

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