### 58114 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 182 / Wednesday, September 19, 2012 / Notices

(ii) Research and Development—such as scientific research, software, data security, computation, energy, environmental, or biotechnology;

(iii) Technology Manufacturing—such as defense manufacturing, sensor manufacturing, or medical devices;

(iv) Food/Agriculture—such as wine, food processing, or agricultural products;

(v) ‘‘Back Office’’ (i.e. business services)—such as call centers, administrative processing, or data processing.

DOE’s analysis of the Proposed Action Alternative will also assume that future uses would be developed in accordance with local zoning and current City of Richland (2008) and Benton County (2006) comprehensive land use plans that were developed to comply with the Washington State Growth Management Act. In order to identify environmental effects that could result from implementation of the proposed action, DOE intends to use analytical assumptions in the EA that would tend to maximize estimates of reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts associated with footprint, infrastructure, utilities, emissions, construction of buildings, projected workforce and traffic, water usage, and similar requirements. Preliminary Identification of Environmental Issues

Issues tentatively identified for analysis in the EA include the reasonably foreseeable effects associated with: land use; ecological resources; cultural and historic resources; geology and soils; water resources; climate and air quality; noise; transportation; accidents and intentional destructive acts; socioeconomics; environmental justice; visual resources; waste management; infrastructure; and human health and safety. The proposed action may affect floodplains and wetlands. This NOI serves as a notice of proposed floodplain or wetland action in accordance with DOE floodplain and wetland environmental review requirements (10 CFR part 1022). The EA will include an assessment of potential impacts to floodplains and wetlands, and if required, a statement of findings following DOE regulations for compliance with floodplain and wetlands environmental review (10 CFR part 1022). The analyses will identify the environmental effects that are reasonably foreseeable to the local region as well as to ongoing DOE missions and activities at the Hanford Site. The analysis will also consider cumulative environmental effects. The EA will also explore potential mitigation measures that could result in imposing deed restrictions aimed at precluding or minimizing environmental consequences.

National Historic Preservation Act

Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) requires Federal agencies to take into account the effects of their undertakings on historic properties. Federal agencies are encouraged to coordinate compliance with Section 106 of the NHPA with any steps taken to meet the requirements of NEPA. In the interest of being comprehensive and less duplicative, DOE plans to coordinate the NEPA review and Section 106 compliance processes for the preparation of this EA to the greatest extent possible.
Scoping Process

DOE has established a 30-day scoping period during which Federal agencies, State, Tribal and local governments, special interest groups, concerned citizens and any other interested parties are invited to comment on the scope of the EA, including specific issues that should be addressed in the EA. In keeping with DOE’s plans to coordinate the NEPA and NHPA Section 106 requirements, DOE also invites comments regarding the identification of historic properties governed by the NHPA, and any potential adverse effects that may result from the proposed action, along with suggested actions DOE might take to mitigate any such adverse effects. A public meeting will be held during the scoping period. At the public meeting, DOE will provide an overview of the proposed action, an informal question-and-answer period to clarify the information presented, and an opportunity for individuals to provide formal written or oral statements. DOE will consider all comments received during the scoping period in preparing the draft EA.

If at any time during preparation of the EA DOE determines that an environmental impact statement (EIS) is needed, DOE will issue a revised Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS in the Federal Register . In that case, the current scoping process will serve as the scoping process that normally would follow an NOI to prepare an EIS. Accordingly, DOE will consider any comments on the scope of the EA received during this scoping process in preparing the EIS. Issued in Richland, WA on September 12,
2012. Matt McCormick, Manager, Richland Operations Office.
[FR Doc. 2012–23099 Filed 9–18–12; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 6450–01–P**

**DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY**

**Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy** 

**SunShot Prize: Race to the Rooftop**

**AGENCY :**  Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy.

**ACTION :**  Notice; Release of competition rules and processes to compete.

**SUMMARY :**  This notice announces the release of the SunShot Prize: Race to the Rooftop competition. This competition offers $10 million in prizes to those who can lower the non-hardware installation cost of rooftop solar energy systems.

**DATES :**  Registration opened on September 12, 2012, and will run through October 31, 2014. Participants can submit Phase I materials through December 31, 2014, and Phase II materials through December 31, 2015.

**ADDRESSES :**  Interested persons are encouraged to learn about the SunShot Prize: Race to the Rooftop competition rules at eere.energy.gov/solar/sunshot/ prize.html. Teams that wish to enter the competition can register at eere.energy.gov/solar/sunshot/ prize.html. Questions about the prize competition can be sent to:

Email: SunShot.Prize@ee.doe.gov

. Mail: Solar Energy Technologies Program, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave. SW., Washington, DC 20585.

**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT :**  Minh Le, Solar Energy Technologies Program, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave. SW., Washington, DC 20585. Email: SunShot.Prize@ee.doe.gov

**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION :**  The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, Public Law 111–358, enacted January 4, 2011, authorizes, among other things, Federal agencies to issue competitions to stimulate innovations in technology, education, and science. The $10 million SunShot Prize: Race to the Rooftop competition challenges the ingenuity of America’s businesses and communities to make it faster, easier, and cheaper to install rooftop solar energy systems. Successful competitors will deploy domestically and in two phases, at least 6,000 new rooftop photovoltaic (PV) installations


### 58115 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 182 / Wednesday, September 19, 2012 / Notices

1 Hinshaw pipelines are those that receive all outof-state gas from entities within or at the boundary of a state if all the natural gas so received is ultimately consumed within the state in which it is received, 15 U.S.C. 717(c). Congress concluded that Hinshaw pipelines are ‘‘matters primarily of local concern,’’ and so are more appropriately regulated by pertinent state agencies rather than by FERC. The Natural Gas Act section 1(c) exempts Hinshaw pipelines from FERC jurisdiction. A Hinshaw pipeline, however, may apply for a FERC certificate to transport gas outside of state lines.

2 Burden is defined as the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. For further explanation of what is included in the information collection burden, reference 5 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3. at an average pre-subsidy non-hardware cost of $1 per watt. Winners will break this significant price barrier, considered to be unachievable a decade ago, and prove that they can repeatedly achieve a $1 per watt non-hardware cost using innovative, verifiable processes and business practices.

As required by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, the Secretary of Energy has approved this competition.

Today’s notice announces the SunShot Prize and the release of prize rules.

Issued in Washington DC, on September 12, 2012. Rachel Tronstein, Deputy Director, SunShot Initiative, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy .
[FR Doc. 2012–23098 Filed 9–18–12; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 6450–01–P**

**DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY**

**Federal Energy Regulatory Commission** 

**[Docket No. IC12–15–000]**

**Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC–546); Comment**  **Request**

**AGENCY :**  Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

**ACTION :**  Comment request.

**SUMMARY :**  In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is submitting the information collection FERC–546 (Certificated Filings: Gas Pipeline Rates) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review of the information collection requirements. Any interested person may file comments directly with OMB and should address a copy of those comments to the Commission as explained below. The Commission issued a Notice in the Federal Register (77 FR 40438, 7/9/2012) requesting public comments. FERC received no comments on the FERC–546 and is making this notation in its submittal to OMB.

**DATES :**  Comments on the collection of information are due by October 19,
2012.

**ADDRESSES :**  Comments filed with OMB, identified by the OMB Control No. 1902–0155, should be sent via email to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs: oira

_submission@omb.gov. Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Desk Officer. The Desk Officer may also be reached via telephone at 202–395–4718.

A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, identified by the Docket No. IC12–15–000, by either of the following methods:

• eFiling at Commission’s Web site: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ efiling.asp

.

• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.

Instructions: All submissions must be formatted and filed in accordance with submission guidelines at: http://www.ferc.gov/help/submissionguide.asp . For user assistance contact FERC Online Support by email at ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or by phone at: (866) 208–3676 (toll-free), or (202) 502–8659 for TTY.

Docket: Users interested in receiving automatic notification of activity in this docket or in viewing/downloading comments and issuances in this docket may do so at http://www.ferc.gov/docsfiling/docs-filing.asp

. **FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT :**  Ellen Brown may be reached by email
at DataClearance@FERC.gov, by telephone at (202) 502–8663, and by fax at (202) 273–0873.

**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION :** 

Title: FERC–546, Certificated Filings: Gas Pipeline Rates. OMB Control No.: 1902–0155. Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC–546 information collection requirements with no changes to the reporting requirements.

Abstract: The Commission reviews the FERC–546 materials to decide whether to determine an initial rate associated with an application for a certificate under NGA Section 7(c). It reviews FERC–546 materials in 4(f) storage applications to evaluate market power and decide whether to grant, deny, or condition market based rate authority for the applicant. The Commission uses the FERC–546 information to monitor jurisdictional transportation, natural gas storage, and unbundled sales activities of interstate natural gas pipelines and Hinshaw 1 pipelines. In addition to fulfilling the Commission’s obligations under the NGA, the FERC–546 enables the Commission to monitor the activities and evaluate transactions of the natural gas industry, ensure competitiveness, and improved efficiency of the industry’s operations. In summary, the Commission uses the FERC–546 information to:

• Ensure adequate customer protections under section 4(f) of the NGA;

• Review rate and tariff changes by natural gas companies for the transportation of gas, natural gas storage services;

• Provide general industry oversight;

• And supplement documentation during its audits process.

Failure to collect this information would prevent the Commission from being able to monitor and evaluate transactions and operations of interstate pipelines and perform its regulatory functions.

Type of Respondents: Pipeline companies and storage operators.

Estimate of Annual Burden: 2 The Commission estimates the total Public Reporting Burden for this information collection as:


### FERC–546 (IC12–15–000): C ERTIFICATED 

### RATE 

### F ILINGS 

### (G AS 

### P IPELINE 

### RATES

### )

Number of respondents Number of responses per

respondent Total number of responses Average burden hours per response Estimated total annual burden

(A) (B) (A) × (B) = (C) (D) (C) × (D)

Pipeline Companies ............................................................. 11 1 11 40 440