Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 177 / Tuesday, September 13, 2011 / Notices 56409 

click on ‘‘Download Attachments’’ to 

view. Written requests for information 

should be addressed to U.S. Department 

of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, 

SW., LBJ, Washington, DC 20202–4537. 

Requests may also be electronically 

mailed to ICDocketMgr@ed.gov or faxed 

to 202–401–0920. Please specify the 

complete title of the information 

collection and OMB Control Number 

when making your request. 

Individuals who use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877– 

8339. 

[FR Doc. 2011–23393 Filed 9–12–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Notice of Interim Approval 

AGENCY: Southeastern Power 

Administration, DOE. 

ACTION: Notice of rate order. 

SUMMARY: The Deputy Secretary of the 

Department of Energy confirmed and 

approved, on an interim basis, Rate 

Schedules JW–1–J and JW–2–F. The 

rates were approved on an interim basis 

up to September 19, 2016, and are 

subject to confirmation and approval by 

the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission (Commission) on a final 

basis. 

DATES: Approval of rates on an interim 

basis is effective September 20, 2011. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Virgil G. Hobbs III, Assistant 

Administrator, Finance and Marketing, 

Southeastern Power Administration, 

Department of Energy, 1166 Athens 

Tech Road, Elberton, Georgia 30635– 

6711, (706) 213–3800. Relevant 

documents and transcripts are available 

for inspection. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Commission, by Order issued April 15, 

2010, in Docket No. EF09–3031–000, 

confirmed and approved Wholesale 

Power Rate Schedules JW–1–I and JW– 

2–F. Rate schedule JW–1–J replaces rate 

schedule JW–1–I and rate schedule JW– 

2–F is extended up to September 19, 

2016. 

Dated: September 2, 2011. 

Daniel B. Poneman, 

Deputy Secretary. 

Department of Energy 

Deputy Secretary 

Rate Order No. SEPA–54 

In the Matter of: Southeastern Power 

Administration—Jim Woodruff Project 

Power Rates 

Order Confirming and Approving 

Power Rates on an Interim Basis 

Pursuant to Sections 302(a) of the 

Department of Energy Organization Act, 

Public Law 95–91, the functions of the 

Secretary of the Interior and the Federal 

Power Commission under Section 5 of 

the Flood Control Act of 1944, 16 U.S.C. 

825s, relating to the Southeastern Power 

Administration (‘‘Southeastern’’ or 

‘‘SEPA’’) were transferred to and vested 

in the Secretary of Energy. By 

Delegation Order No. 00–037.00, 

effective December 6, 2001, the 

Secretary of Energy delegated to 

Southeastern’s Administrator the 

authority to develop power and 

transmission rates, delegated to the 

Deputy Secretary of Energy the 

authority to confirm, approve, and place 

in effect such rates on an interim basis, 

and delegated to the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) the authority to 

confirm, approve, and place into effect 

on a final basis or to disapprove rates 

developed by the Administrator under 

the delegation. This rate order is issued 

by the Deputy Secretary pursuant to 

said delegation. 

Background 

Power from the Jim Woodruff Project 

is presently sold under Wholesale 

Power Rate Schedules JW–1–I and JW– 

2–F. These rate schedules were 

approved by the Commission on April 

15, 2010, for a period ending September 

19, 2014 (131 FERC ¶62,044). 

Public Notice and Comment 

Southeastern prepared a Power 

Repayment Study, dated January 2011, 

showing revenues at current rates were 

adequate to meet repayment criteria. 

However, the Jim Woodruff preference 

customers asked Southeastern to revise 

the rates to include a pass-through of 

purchased power expenses. The 

proposed capacity and energy charge 

reduction to the preference customers 

will be completely recovered through 

this separate, pass-through charge to the 

affected customers. This rate structure 

revision will result in no net loss of 

revenue and will fully meet system 

repayment criteria. On February 17, 

2011, by Federal Register notice (76 FR 

9349), Southeastern proposed a rate 

adjustment. The notice also announced 

a Public Information and Comment 

Forum to be held March 29, 2011, in 

Tallahassee, Florida. Three parties 

asked questions at the forum. Responses 

to the questions are part of the written 

record of the forum, and a transcript of 

the forum is available at Southeastern 

Power Administration (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section). The 

transcript of the forum is part of the 

record to be filed with the Commission 

and will be available on the 

Commission’s Web site at http:// 

www.ferc.gov. Written comments were 

accepted on or before May 18, 2011. 

Written comments were received from 

one source the Southeastern Federal 

Power Customers. 

Staff Review of Comments 

Written comments received from the 

Southeastern Federal Power Customers 

are summarized below. Southeastern’s 

response follows each comment. 

Comment 1: The Jim Woodruff 

preference customers support the 

revised rate design SEPA has prepared. 

Response 1: The rate schedules 

Southeastern will propose to the Deputy 

Secretary will include the pass-through 

of purchased power expenses as 

discussed with the preference 

customers. 

Comment 2: While the preference 

customers of the Jim Woodruff support 

the overall rate structure, including the 

new pass through mechanism for 

purchased power expenses, they have 

concerns regarding the assumptions for 

the Operations and Maintenance 

(‘‘O&M’’) expenses. In materials 

provided by SEPA on April 25th, the 

Corps 2011 projections revealed 

projected expenses for joint activities 

not specific to a single business function 

had increased by more than three 

hundred percent for each year until 

2015. While preference customers 

throughout the Southeast have long 

questioned the practices of the U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers (‘‘Corps’’) in 

assigning various costs of the Corps 

program to this ‘‘catch-all’’ account, 

there appears to be no basis for a three 

hundred percent increase in joint use 

costs. 

Response 2: From fiscal year 2009 to 

fiscal year 2010, Joint O&M allocated to 

power increased from $664,000 to 

$1,653,000, primarily as a result of 

improvement projects funded by the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act. The estimated Joint O&M allocated 

to power included in the repayment 

study used to support the proposed 

rates, set forth below, are similar to the 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

56410 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 177 / Tuesday, September 13, 2011 / Notices 

Joint O&M amounts from fiscal year 

2009: 

2011........$627,731 

2012........$646,458 

2013........$665,746 

2014........$685,614 

2015........$685,614 

2016........$685,614 

These estimates have been used to 

develop the proposed rate schedules. 

Any variance of the actual costs 

incurred from these estimates will 

impact the repayment of the federal 

investment and will be accounted for in 

the next rate adjustment. Repayment is 

the residual of all variances. The 

expenses reported by the Corps are 

reviewed annually by Southeastern and 

are made available to the customers 

through the O&M Committee of the 

SeFPC. 

Comment 3: The full extent of 

SeFPC’s O&M Committee is important 

to note here because of statements that 

SEPA has made in the past when 

questions have been raised regarding the 

amount of O&M in a rate. On more than 

one occasion, SEPA has stated that 

questions regarding the level of O&M in 

a rate should be addressed in the 

meeting of the O&M committee, thereby 

indicating the SeFPC’s O&M committee 

has a quasi administrative review of the 

Corps operations. The record needs to 

be corrected and set clear on this point. 

Response 3: The activities of the O&M 

Committee of the SeFPC, in which both 

Southeastern and the Corps participate, 

provides customers an opportunity to 

review the Corps O&M Expenses. 

Participation in the O&M Committee 

does not require participants to sign off 

on the Corps’ projections or the actual 

costs incurred. Adjustments to the 

program are often made as a result of 

questions raised at the meetings. 

Questions regarding the level of Corps 

O&M in a rate may be raised at any time. 

If the questions are raised to 

Southeastern, Southeastern will usually 

forward the questions to the Corps for 

a response. The Corps provides 

representatives who participate and 

answer questions in the meetings of the 

O&M Committee. The SeFPC’s O&M 

committee does not conduct any 

administrative review of the Corps 

operations. 

Comment 4: The Corps has no 

authority to set the rates charged to the 

preference customers. This 

responsibility is solely vested with the 

Administrator pursuant to Section 5 of 

the Flood Control Act of 1944. Thus, 

when there is a question regarding the 

amount of O&M to be included in a 

proposed rate, the preference customers 

appropriately raise concerns with SEPA. 

However, SEPA does have a 

relationship with the Corps as defined 

in a Memorandum of Understanding 

setting forth the responsibilities 

between the two agencies. Moreover, the 

Administrator has the responsibility 

under the Flood Control Act of 1944 to 

set the rates. Therefore, in the context of 

a rate increase which involves questions 

regarding O&M, the Administrator has 

the final say and all questions regarding 

the ultimate level of O&M recovery are 

appropriately resolved by SEPA rather 

than the SeFPC O&M committee. 

Response 4: There is a Memorandum 

of Understanding between the South 

Atlantic Division of the U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers and the 

Administrator of Southeastern Power 

Administration (MOU) established June 

20, 1991. The MOU is available at 

Southeastern Power Administration 

(See FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

Section). This MOU recognizes the 

respective roles these two federal 

entities play in the Southeastern Federal 

Power Program. 

Section 4 (c.) of the MOU states, ‘‘It 

is recognized that the preference 

customers of the Southeastern Federal 

Power Program have an interest in the 

maintenance, operation and 

maintenance expense, and funding. It is 

the intent of the parties to develop a 

relationship of mutual respect and trust 

between the parties and the preference 

customers to resolve controversial 

issues through discussion rather than 

confrontation. The parties, therefore, 

agree to meet as needed with the 

customers, or their designated 

representatives, to discuss maintenance, 

expense and funding procedures.’’ 

The MOU also provides that the Corps 

will provide Southeastern with 

summarized financial statements and 

the statements will be audited 

periodically by an independent auditing 

firm. 

Section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 

1944 states, ‘‘Rate schedules shall be 

drawn having regard to the recovery 

(upon the basis of the application of 

such rate schedules to the capacity of 

the electric facilities of the projects) of 

the cost of producing and transmitting 

such electric energy, including the 

amortization of the capital investment 

allocated to power over a reasonable 

period of years.’’ 

The Corps does not submit its budget 

to Southeastern, and Southeastern has 

no authority over the Corps’ spending of 

Congressional appropriations. 

Southeastern is legally responsible for 

the recovery of costs properly allocated 

to the power function. While the 

Administrator is responsible for 

formulating rate schedules for the 

recovery of these costs, the rate 

schedules are required to be submitted 

to the Deputy Secretary of the 

Department of Energy for interim 

approval and to the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission for final 

approval. 

The O&M Committee of the SeFPC 

also has no authority over the Corps 

O&M expense. 

Discussion 

System Repayment 

An examination of Southeastern’s 

revised system power repayment study, 

prepared in July 2011, for the Jim 

Woodruff Project, shows the proposed 

rates will pay all system power costs 

within the 50-year repayment period 

required by existing law and DOE Order 

RA 6120.2. The Administrator of 

Southeastern has certified the rates are 

consistent with applicable law and are 

the lowest possible rates to preference 

customers consistent with sound 

business principles. 

Environmental Impact 

Southeastern has reviewed the 

possible environmental impacts of the 

rate adjustment under consideration and 

has concluded the adjusted rates would 

not significantly affect the quality of the 

human environment within the meaning 

of the National Environmental Policy 

Act of 1969. The proposed action is not 

a major Federal action for which 

preparation of an Environmental Impact 

Statement is required. 

Availability of Information 

Information regarding these rates, 

including studies, and other supporting 

materials, is available for public review 

in the offices of Southeastern Power 

Administration, 1166 Athens Tech 

Road, Elberton, Georgia 30635–6711. 

Submission to the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission 

The rates hereinafter confirmed and 

approved on an interim basis, together 

with supporting documents, will be 

submitted promptly to the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission for 

confirmation and approval on a final 

basis for a period beginning September 

20, 2011, and ending no later than 

September 19, 2016. 

Order 

In view of the foregoing and pursuant 

to the authority delegated to me by the 

Secretary of Energy, I hereby confirm 

and approve on an interim basis, 

effective September 20, 2011, attached 

Wholesale Power Rate Schedules JW–1– 

J and JW–2–F. The rate schedules shall 

remain in effect on an interim basis 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 177 / Tuesday, September 13, 2011 / Notices 56411 

through September 19, 2016, unless 

such period is extended or until the 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

confirms and approves them or 

substitute rate schedules on a final 

basis. 

Dated: September 2, 2011. 

Daniel B. Poneman, 

Deputy Secretary. 

Wholesale Power Rate Schedule JW–1–J 

Availability: 

This rate schedule shall be available to 

public bodies and cooperatives served by the 

Progress Energy Florida and having points of 

delivery within 150 miles of the Jim 

Woodruff Project (hereinafter called the 

Project). 

Applicability: 

This rate schedule shall be applicable to 

firm power and accompanying energy made 

available by the Government from the Project 

and sold in wholesale quantities. 

Character of Service: 

The electric capacity and energy supplied 

hereunder will be three-phase alternating 

current at a nominal frequency of 60 cycles 

per second delivered at the delivery points of 

the customer. 

Monthly Rate: 

The monthly rate for capacity and energy 

made available or delivered under this rate 

schedule shall be: 

Demand Charge: 

$10.29 per kilowatt of monthly contract 

demand. 

Energy Charge: 

26.51 mills per kilowatt-hour. 

Purchased Power Pass-Through: 

In addition to the capacity and energy 

charges, each preference customer will be 

charged for power purchased by 

Southeastern on behalf of the preference 

customer. This pass-through will be 

computed as follows: 

On or about the 20th of each month, 

Progress Energy provides Southeastern with 

the meter readings for preference customer’s 

delivery points that have an allocation of 

capacity from Southeastern. Subsequently, 

Progress Energy provides Southeastern with 

reports of purchased power and support 

capacity requirements around the 10th of the 

succeeding month. Southeastern will 

compute its purchased power obligation for 

each delivery point monthly. Southeastern 

will compute any revenue from sales to 

Progress Energy for each delivery point 

monthly. Southeastern will sum the 

purchased power obligation and any revenue 

from sales to Progress Energy for each 

preference customer monthly. The purchased 

power obligation minus any revenue from 

sales to Progress Energy for each customer 

will be called the Net Purchased Power Cost. 

Southeastern will charge each customer its 

respective monthly Net Purchased Power 

Cost in equal portions over the next eleven 

billing months. This computation of the passthrough is to begin 11 months before the 

pass-through is implemented. The first bill 

prepared using this method is to include the 

computations for the previous 11 months. 

Billing Demand: 

The monthly billing demand for any billing 

month shall be the lower of (a) the 

Customer’s contract demand or (b) the sum 

of the maximum 30-minute integrated 

demands for the month at each of the 

Customer’s points of delivery; provided, that, 

if an allocation of contract demand to 

delivery points has become effective, the 30- 

minute maximum integrated demand for any 

point of delivery shall not be considered to 

be greater than the portion of the Customer’s 

contract demand allocated to that point of 

delivery. 

Contract Demand: 

The contract demand is the amount of 

capacity in kilowatts stated in the contract 

which the Government is obligated to supply 

and the Customer is entitled to receive. 

Energy Made Available: 

During any billing month in which the 

Government supplies all the Customer’s 

capacity requirements for a particular 

delivery point, the Government will make 

available the total energy requirement of said 

point. When both the Government and the 

Progress Energy Florida are supplying 

capacity to a delivery point, each kilowatt of 

capacity supplied to such point during such 

month will be considered to be accompanied 

by an equal quantity of energy. 

Billing Month: 

The billing month for power sold under 

this schedule shall end at 12:00 midnight on 

the 20th day of each calendar month. 

Conditions of Service: 

The customer shall, at its own expense, 

provide, install, and maintain on its side of 

each delivery point the equipment necessary 

to protect and control its own system. In so 

doing, the installation, adjustment, and 

setting of all such control and protective 

equipment at or near the point of delivery 

shall be coordinated with that which is 

installed by and at the expense of the 

Progress Energy Florida on its side of the 

delivery point. 

Service Interruption: 

When energy delivered to the Customer’s 

system for the account of the Government is 

reduced or interrupted for one hour or 

longer, and such reduction or interruption is 

not due to conditions on the Customer’s 

system or has not been planned and agreed 

to in advance, the demand charge for the 

month shall be appropriately reduced. 

Wholesale Power Rate Schedule JW–2–F 

Availability: 

This rate schedule shall be available to the 

Florida Power Corporation (or Progress 

Energy Florida, hereinafter called the 

Company). 

Applicability: 

This rate schedule shall be applicable to 

electric energy generated at the Jim Woodruff 

Project (hereinafter called the Project) and 

sold to the Company in wholesale quantities. 

Points of Delivery: 

Power sold to the Company by the 

Government will be delivered at the 

connection of the Company’s transmission 

system with the Project bus. 

Character of Service: 

Electric power delivered to the Company 

will be three-phase alternating current at a 

nominal frequency of 60 cycles per second. 

Monthly Rate: 

The monthly rate for energy sold under 

this schedule shall be equal to 100 percent 

of the calculated saving in the cost of fuel per 

kWh to the Company determined as follows: 

[Computed to the nearest $0.00001 (1/ 

100mill) per kWh] 

Where: 

Fm = Company fuel cost in the current 

period as defined in Federal Power 

Commission Order 517 issued November 

13, 1974, Docket No. R–479. 

Sm = Company sales in the current period 

reflecting only losses associated with 

wholesale sales for resale. Sale shall be 

equated to the sum of (a) generation, (b) 

purchases, (c) interchange-in, less (d) 

inter-system sales, less estimated 

wholesale losses (based on average 

transmission loss percentage for 

preceding calendar year). 

Determination of Energy Sold: 

Energy will be furnished by the Company 

to supply any excess of Project use over 

Project generation. Energy so supplied by the 

Company will be deducted from the actual 

deliveries to the Company’s system to 

determine the net deliveries for energy 

accounting and billing purposes. Energy for 

Project use shall consist of energy used for 

station service, lock operation, switchyard, 

village lighting, and similar uses. 

The on-peak hours shall be the hours 

between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., Monday 

through Sunday, inclusive. Off-peak hours 

shall be all other hours. 

All energy made available to the Company 

shall, to the extent required, be classified as 

energy transmitted to the Government’s 

preference customers served from the 

Company’s system. All energy made 

available to the Company from the Project 

shall be separated on the basis of the metered 


mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICESEN13SE11.009</GPH>
56412 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 177 / Tuesday, September 13, 2011 / Notices 

deliveries to it at the Project during on-peak 

and off-peak hours, respectively. Deliveries 

to preference customers of the Government 

shall be divided on the basis (with allowance 

for losses) of 77 percent being considered as 

on-peak energy and 23 percent being off-peak 

energy. Such percentages may by mutual 

consent be changed from time to time as 

further studies show to be appropriate. In the 

event that in classifying energy there is more 

than enough on-peak energy available to 

supply on-peak requirements of the 

Government’s preference customers but less 

than enough off-peak energy available to 

supply such customers off-peak 

requirements, such excess on-peak energy 

may be applied to the extent necessary to 

meet off-peak requirements of such 

customers in lieu of purchasing deficiency 

energy to meet such off-peak requirements. 

Billing Month: 

The billing month under this schedule 

shall end at 12:00 midnight on the 20th day 

of each calendar month. 

Power Factor: 

The purchaser and seller under this rate 

schedule agree that they will both so operate 

their respective systems that neither party 

will impose an undue reactive burden on the 

other. 

[FR Doc. 2011–23356 Filed 9–12–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional 

Natural Gas and Other Petroleum 

Resources Research and Development 

Program 2011 Annual Plan 

AGENCY: Office of Fossil Energy, 

Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of report availability. 

SUMMARY: The Office of Fossil Energy 

announces the availability of the 2011 

Annual Plan for the Ultra-Deepwater 

and Unconventional Natural Gas and 

Other Petroleum Resources Research 

and Development Program on the DOE 

Web site at http:// 

www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/oilgas/ 

ultra_and_unconventional/2011– 

2012_Committees/ 

2011_annual_plan.pdf or in print form 

(see ‘‘Contact’’ below). The 2011 Annual 

Plan is in compliance with the Energy 

Policy Act of 2005, Subtitle J, Section 

999B(e)(3) which requires the 

publication of this plan and all written 

comments in the Federal Register. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Elena Melchert, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of Oil and Natural Gas, 

Mail Stop FE–30, 1000 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585 or 

phone: (202) 586–5600 or e-mail to 

UltraDeepwater@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Summary [Excerpted From 

the 2011 Annual Plan p. iii] 

As the Nation transitions to the clean 

energy economy of the future, we must 

also ensure that we effectively mitigate 

the risks of our current energy portfolio. 

This 2011 Annual Plan, the fifth such 

plan to be produced since the launch of 

the Ultra-Deepwater and 

Unconventional Natural Gas and Other 

Petroleum Resources Research Program, 

reflects an important shift in priorities 

towards safety and environmental 

sustainability. This shift is based on the 

recognition that a critical element in 

prudently developing our domestic 

resource base is a scientific assessment 

of the risks which exploration and 

production activities entail, and the 

development of appropriate 

technologies and processes to mitigate 

these risks. 

Domestic deepwater and ultradeepwater oil and gas resources, and 

domestic unconventional natural gas 

resources, are important contributors to 

our Nation’s energy supply portfolio. 

Recent events, the Macondo well 

blowout and the Deepwater Horizon 

explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, and 

growing public opposition to the rapid 

pace of shale gas development onshore 

are stark reminders of the 

environmental risks of our current 

energy portfolio. The 2011 Annual Plan 

proposes scientific research that will 

quantify and mitigate risks associated 

with oil and gas exploration and 

production onshore and offshore, 

thereby improving safety and 

minimizing environmental impacts. 

The Department will ensure that the 

federal government’s understanding of 

the risks associated with these 

operations keeps pace. This will be 

accomplished through scientific 

assessment of the risks, potential 

impacts, and adequacy of current 

response and mitigation technologies. 

The research discussed in this Annual 

Report will be administered by the 

Research Partnership to Secure Energy 

for America (RPSEA), which operates 

under the guidance of the Secretary of 

Energy. RPSEA is a consortium which 

includes representatives from industry, 

academia and research institutions. 

RPSEA’s expertise in all areas of the 

exploration and production value chain 

ensure that the Department of Energy’s 

research program has access to relevant 

emerging technologies and processes, 

and that projects are designed in a way 

that have a direct impact on practices in 

the field. 

Background 

Offshore and onshore research 

activities are administered pursuant to 

an annual plan in compliance with Title 

IX, Subtitle J of EPACT, which directs 

that $50 million per year of federal 

royalties, rents and bonus payments be 

used to fund an oil and natural gas 

research and development (R&D) effort, 

the Ultra-Deepwater and 

Unconventional Natural Gas and Other 

Petroleum Resources Research Program 

(Program). 

The Secretary of Energy approves all 

awards to research performers, and the 

planned R&D activities support the 

goals and objectives of the annual plan. 

The research activities are administered 

by a Program Consortium that has been 

selected by the Secretary, as detailed in 

the Program Consortium section below. 

The National Energy Technology 

Laboratory (NETL) is responsible for 

implementation of the Program. Within 

NETL, the responsibility for overall 

program implementation, including 

oversight of the Program Consortium 

contract, has been assigned to the 

Strategic Center for Natural Gas and Oil. 

Complementary research prescribed 

under Section 999A(d) is carried out by 

NETL’s Office of Research and 

Development. 

Program Consortium 

In 2006, DOE selected the Research 

Partnership to Secure Energy for 

America (RPSEA) through a competitive 

solicitation to serve as the Program 

Consortium and administer the research 

activities pursuant to Section 999B(c). 

RPSEA has a broad membership base 

that includes representatives from all 

levels and sectors of both the oil and 

natural gas exploration and production 

(E&P) and oil and natural gas R&D 

communities. The breadth of 

membership helps to ensure that R&D 

funds leverage existing industry efforts 

in accomplishing the Program’s 

objectives. 

Administration funds provided to 

RPSEA cannot exceed 10 percent 

pursuant to Section 999G(3). The 

private companies, universities, and 

other organizations that are awarded 

contracts through this program provide 

cost-share contributions of at least 20 

percent. 

The Annual Plan Development Process 

Pursuant to Section 999B(e)(2)(A), the 

Program Consortium prepared its 2011 

Draft Annual Plan (DAP) which it 

delivered to the Secretary July 2010. 

The Department of Energy prepared a 

Draft 2011 Annual Plan. Subsequently, 

the Draft 2011 Annual Plan and the DAP 

were reviewed by the Unconventional 

Resources Technology Advisory 

Committee (URTAC) which presented 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES