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[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 130 (Thursday, July 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39860-39862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-16996]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Proposed Agency Information Collection

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice and Request for Comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) invites public comment on a 

proposed collection of information for a National Evaluation of the 

State Energy Program that DOE is developing for submission to the 

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the 

proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 

information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 

used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 

automated collection techniques or other forms of information 

technology. Information about the outcomes of the program, including 

energy savings, the number of jobs created, increases in the production 

of renewable energy, and reductions in carbon emissions, are needed for 

a rigorous evaluation of the program.

DATES: Comments regarding this proposed information collection must be 

received on or before September 6, 2011. If you anticipate difficulty 

in submitting comments within that period, contact the person listed in 

ADDRESSES as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be sent to Martin Schweitzer, 

Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, One 

Bethel Valley Road, P.O. Box 2008, MS-6036, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6036; 

schweitzerm@ornl.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 

should be directed to: Martin Schweitzer, Environmental Sciences 

Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, One Bethel Valley Road, P.O. 

Box 2008, MS-6036, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6036; schweitzerm@ornl.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request 

contains:

    (1) OMB No. New.

    (2) Information Collection Request Title: National Evaluation of 

the United

[[Page 39861]]

States Department of Energy's State Energy Program.

    (3) Type of Request: New.

    (4) Purpose: The Department of Energy (DOE) is conducting an 

evaluation of the State Energy Program (SEP), a national program 

providing grants and technical support to the States, the District of 

Columbia and the U.S. territories to implement energy efficiency and 

renewable energy activities that meet their unique energy needs, while 

also addressing DOE's national goals, such as energy security. The SEP 

was created in 1996 by Congress, when the State Energy Conservation 

Program and the Institutional Conservation Programs were consolidated. 

In February 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) 

provided a substantial increase in the funding available to support SEP 

activities. The additional $3.1 billion of ARRA funds began to be 

disbursed in mid-2009 and are required to be expended by mid-2012. Due 

to the large differences in volume, scope, and relative priority of 

policy goals between the pre-ARRA and ARRA-funded activities, this 

evaluation will assess the outcomes of SEP programmatic activities for 

one program year (2008) prior to distribution of the ARRA funding as 

well as for the ARRA-funded program years of 2009-2011.

    The principal objective of the evaluation is to estimate four key 

program outcomes:

     Energy, cost, and demand savings;

     Increases in renewable energy capacity and generation;

     Carbon emissions reductions; and

     Direct and indirect job creation

    The evaluation will require information to be collected from SEP 

State program managers, SEP program implementation staff in selected 

States, participants in selected SEP programs, and equipment vendors 

familiar with participants' purchases of qualifying equipment.

Scale of the Information Collection

    The evaluation effort will focus on programmatic activities 

implemented in 2008 (prior to the ARRA funding) and in Program Years 

2009-2011 (with ARRA funding). Programmatic activities will be 

organized into ``Broad Program Area Categories'' (BPACs) for purposes 

of conducting the research. For each evaluation period, DOE has 

determined that those BPACs accounting for approximately 80 percent of 

the total SEP activity will be evaluated.

    A sampling frame consisting of all relevant programmatic activities 

for Program Year 2008 and program years 2009-2011 will be compiled, 

assigning each programmatic activity to a single BPAC. A probability 

sample of approximately 90 individual programmatic activities will be 

selected, using BPACs as strata, to represent the most heavily-funded 

activities in the portfolio of SEP's energy efficiency and renewable 

energy efforts. The total level of effort for the evaluation will be 

allocated to BPACs in proportion to their level of spending.

    To use resources efficiently, the programmatic activities within 

the various BPACs will be studied at different levels of rigor, 

reflecting their relative size and expected contribution towards 

overall energy savings. Rigor level corresponds to both the statistical 

analysis and the quality of data necessary to support the analysis. 

High Rigor evaluation approaches will yield the most reliable impact 

estimates, using methods recognized by the California Evaluation 

Protocols, DOE's Impact Evaluation Framework for Technology Deployment 

Programs, and the International Performance Measurement and 

Verification Protocol (IPMVP). The high-rigor evaluation methods will 

be applied to BPACs that (a) account for a large proportion of funds 

spent on State-level initiatives; (b) are believed to achieve 

substantial energy savings; (c) are considered important by the States; 

and (d) are expected to play a major role in future SEP efforts. 

Medium-high rigor methods will require verification of savings and 

outcomes with individual participants, but will use less intensive data 

collection methods than those prescribed for high-rigor. For example, 

data may be collected by telephone contact with participants, rather 

than a site visit. Sample sizes will also be smaller in the medium-high 

rigor evaluations. Medium-low rigor evaluation approaches will not 

include any data collection from individual program participants to 

estimate savings or outcomes. These evaluations will use data that can 

be obtained from program records and secondary sources, as well as 

engineering-based methods to produce energy savings and outcome 

estimates.

    A range of qualitative, quantitative (survey), on-site inspection 

and verification, and secondary data will be used to support the 

evaluation. Different types of data will be required for each of the 

four types of previously-identified outcomes.

    For estimating energy, cost, and demand savings, the high and 

medium-high rigor evaluations require data such as pre- and post-

participation energy use and demand, surveys of measure implementation 

or participation, and verification of installation of energy efficient 

equipment and operating conditions and schedule by interview and/or on-

site inspection. The calculation of energy impacts will follow the 

IPMVP methods and will include estimation of gross and net savings, 

annualizing and normalizing results to post-participation levels to 

calculate impacts. Medium-high rigor evaluations will utilize telephone 

interview data, combined with engineering data and secondary data, such 

as published reports and program statistics to calculate energy 

impacts.

    The high and medium-high rigor evaluation of increases in renewable 

energy capacity and generation will require collection of meter data 

(where available from participants), on-site inspection and review of 

the system design and equipment used, interviews with project owners 

and operators, and review of project files. Medium-low rigor 

evaluations will utilize secondary data, such as published reports and 

statistics.

    The high and medium-high rigor evaluations of carbon emissions 

reductions will require an assessment of annualized carbon dioxide 

reductions achieved as a result of SEP-funded activities. This 

assessment will require calculation of reductions in consumption of 

fossil fuel and replacement of fossil fuel generation with renewable 

energy generation. The data required for these assessments will include 

the types of data identified above for energy savings and for increases 

in renewable generation.

    The high and medium-high rigor evaluations of direct and indirect 

job impacts will use a 51-region (State) REMI Policy Insight simulation 

model. Data required for the job creation analysis will include the 

types of data identified above for energy, cost, and demand savings to 

calculate the dollar savings to households and businesses resulting 

from energy and electric demand plus surveys of additional expenditures 

on new energy-efficient equipment and systems. State economic data on 

patterns of spending and business sales among key sectors affecting the 

flow of dollars into, out of and within the State will also be 

required.

    The evaluation will utilize three distinct data collection methods. 

First, the evaluation will employ a total of six computer-assisted 

telephone interviewing (CATI) survey instruments. With an average of 

approximately 670 respondents per telephone survey, 4,000 telephone 

survey respondents will be targeted for participation in the 

evaluation. Second, the study will

[[Page 39862]]

utilize 28 individual in-depth interview guides targeting an average of 

approximately 30 respondents each, with a total target population of 

approximately 880 interviewees. Third, a total of 152 on-site data 

collections will be conducted as part of the evaluation. Together, 

these three methods will involve approximately 5,050 respondents and 

entail a total burden of approximately 5,090 hours. (This calculation 

is based on assumptions that telephone surveys require 45 minutes on 

average, in-depth interviews--90 minutes, and on-site data 

collections--300 minutes.)

    The above-described data collection methods will be supplemented by 

additional records research and database review activities applicable 

to all three methods across all participant categories. These general 

recordkeeping activities will require an estimated 1,070 hours. 

Combining the burden hours associated with telephone surveys, in-depth 

interviews, and on-site data collections (5,090 hours) with the burden 

hours associated with general records review (1,070 hours) produces a 

total estimated burden of 6,160 hours.

    The evaluation protocols will provide BPAC-level estimates for each 

of the outcome measures. The results of the evaluations for all the 

BPACs studied will be expanded to produce cumulative estimates. Outcome 

measures will be calculated for the 2008 (pre-ARRA) and the 2009-2011 

(ARRA funding) evaluation periods.

    A number of steps are being taken to avoid duplicating the efforts 

of any concurrent evaluations of SEP activities sponsored by individual 

States. These include: (1) Coordinating with the National Association 

of State Energy Officials to share information on the programmatic 

activities being examined by specific States; (2) coordinating with 

regional DOE project officers to identify any State evaluation efforts 

with which they are associated; (3) meeting with selected State program 

managers to keep informed of ongoing evaluation efforts and the 

research approaches being employed; and (4) coordinating with 

evaluation contractors to learn of State evaluation efforts with which 

they are involved. These efforts will keep the national SEP evaluation 

informed of what States are doing so that the programmatic activities 

sampled for this study do not overlap with any independent State 

evaluations. In addition to these efforts to avoid duplication, DOE has 

provided a set of evaluation guidelines to the States to help inform 

their evaluation efforts and ensure that the results are reliable 

enough to allow them to be used to support the national SEP evaluation 

without the need to study the same activities again.

    The sample selection of BPACs and specific programmatic activities 

within each BPAC is scheduled to be completed in May 2011. Data 

collection and calculation of outcomes is scheduled to be completed by 

July 2012.

    The detailed study design and work plan for the SEP evaluation will 

be available for public review in May, 2011 at http://weatherization.ornl.gov/evaluation_sep.shtml.

    (5) Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: 5,050.

    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: 5,050.

    (7) Annual Estimated Total Number of Burden Hours: 6,160.

    Statutory Authority: Title III of the Energy Policy and 

Conservation Act of 1975, (42 U.S.C. 6321 et seq.) as amended, 

authorizes DOE to administer the State Energy Program (SEP).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on June 13, 2011.

Henry C. Kelly,

Acting Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

[FR Doc. 2011-16996 Filed 7-6-11; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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