85180 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 207 / Friday, October 25, 2024 / Notices 

National Defense Authorization Act of 

2019 (Pub. L. 115–232) (2 CFR 200.216); 

(c) Providing a preference, to the 

extent permitted by law, to maximize 

use of goods, products, and materials 

produced in the United States (2 CFR 

200.322); and 

(d) Terminating agreements in whole 

or in part to the greatest extent 

authorized by law if an award no longer 

effectuates the program goals or agency 

priorities (2 CFR 200.340). 

VI. Award Administration Information 

1. Award Notices: If your application 

is successful, we notify your U.S. 

Representative and U.S. Senators and 

send you a Grant Award Notification 

(GAN); or we may send you an email 

containing a link to access an electronic 

version of your GAN. We also may 

notify you informally. 

If your application is not evaluated or 

not selected for funding, we notify you. 

2. Administrative and National Policy 

Requirements: We identify 

administrative and national policy 

requirements in the application package 

and reference these and other 

requirements in the Applicable 

Regulations section of this notice. 

We reference the regulations outlining 

the terms and conditions of an award in 

the Applicable Regulations section of 

this notice and include these and other 

specific conditions in the GAN. The 

GAN also incorporates your approved 

application as part of your binding 

commitments under the grant. 

3. Open Licensing Requirements: 

Unless an exception applies, if you are 

awarded a grant under this competition, 

you will be required to openly license 

to the public grant deliverables created 

in whole, or in part, with Department 

grant funds. When the deliverable 

consists of modifications to pre-existing 

works, the license extends only to those 

modifications that can be separately 

identified and only to the extent that 

open licensing is permitted under the 

terms of any licenses or other legal 

restrictions on the use of pre-existing 

works. Additionally, a grantee or 

subgrantee that is awarded competitive 

grant funds must have a plan to 

disseminate these public grant 

deliverables. This dissemination plan 

can be developed and submitted after 

your application has been reviewed and 

selected for funding. For additional 

information on the open licensing 

requirements please refer to 2 CFR 

3474.20. 

4. Reporting: (a) If you apply for a 

grant under this competition, you must 

ensure that you have in place the 

necessary processes and systems to 

comply with the reporting requirements 

in 2 CFR part 170 should you receive 

funding under the competition. This 

does not apply if you have an exception 

under 2 CFR 170.110(b). 

(b) At the end of your project period, 

you must submit a final performance 

report, including financial information, 

as directed by the Secretary. If you 

receive a multiyear award, you must 

submit an annual performance report 

that provides the most current 

performance and financial expenditure 

information as directed by the Secretary 

under 34 CFR 75.118. The Secretary 

may also require more frequent 

performance reports under 34 CFR 

75.720(c). For specific requirements on 

reporting, please go to https://

www.ed.gov/grants-and-programs/ 

apply-grant/grant-application-andother-forms. 

5. Performance Measures: For the 

purposes of Department reporting under 

34 CFR 75.110, the following measure 

will be used by the Department to 

evaluate the success of the GPA shortterm program: the percentage of GPA 

short-term project participants who 

disseminated information about or 

materials from their group project 

abroad through more than one outreach 

activity within 6 months of returning to 

their home institution. The following 

measure will be used by the Department 

to evaluate the success of the GPA longterm program: the percentage of GPA 

long-term project participants who 

increased their reading, writing, and/or 

listening/speaking foreign language 

scores by one proficiency level. The 

efficiency of the GPA long-term program 

will be measured by considering the 

cost per GPA participant who increased 

his/her foreign language score in 

reading, writing, and/or listening/ 

speaking by at least one proficiency 

level. 

The information provided by grantees 

in their performance reports submitted 

via the International Resource 

Information System (IRIS) will be the 

source of data for this measure. 

Reporting screens for institutions can be 

viewed at: http://iris.ed.gov/iris/pdfs/ 

gpa_director.pdf and http://iris.ed.gov/ 

iris/pdfs/gpa_participant.pdf. 

VII. Other Information 

Accessible Format: On request to the 

program contact person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, 

individuals with disabilities can obtain 

this document and a copy of the 

application package in an accessible 

format. The Department will provide the 

requestor with an accessible format that 

may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or 

text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 

file, braille, large print, audiotape, 

compact disc, or other accessible format. 

Electronic Access to This Document: 

The official version of this document is 

the document published in the Federal 

Register. You may access the official 

edition of the Federal Register and the 

Code of Federal Regulations at 

www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can 

view this document, as well as all other 

Department documents published in the 

Federal Register, in text or Portable 

Document Format (PDF). To use PDF 

you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, 

which is available free at the site. 

You may also access Department 

documents published in the Federal 

Register by using the article search 

feature at www.federalregister.gov. 

Specifically, through the advanced 

search feature at this site, you can limit 

your search to documents published by 

the Department. 

Nasser H. Paydar, 

Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary 

Education. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24900 Filed 10–24–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Notice of Availability: Opportunity for 

Public Feedback on the GovernmentCreditor Agreement 

AGENCY: Office of Infrastructure, 

Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy 

(DOE or the Department) Office of 

Infrastructure is providing notice to the 

public of an informal opportunity to 

comment on DOE’s GovernmentCreditor Agreement (GCA), which is a 

proposed agreement setting forth the 

relative rights and responsibilities 

between DOE and entities having a 

secured interest in DOE-funded tangible 

property or property provided as cost 

share in a DOE financial assistance 

award. The Department seeks input 

from interested stakeholders but 

especially encourages lenders and their 

counsels to provide feedback, 

particularly on whether there are 

aspects of the GCA that may prevent 

lenders from participating in a financing 

that includes a DOE financial assistance 

award. This is an informal opportunity 

to comment on the GCA, but DOE 

intends to make public a summary of 

comments received by general topic area 

as well as the finalized version of the 

GCA. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 207 / Friday, October 25, 2024 / Notices 85181 

1www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/ 

Office%20of%20Infrastructure%20

Commercialization%20and%20Financing%

20Memo%20052324.pdf. 

2https://www.energy.gov/infrastructure/ 

government-creditor-agreement. 

3www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-10/ 

User’s%20Guide%20to%20DOE’s%20Property%

20Interest%20in%20DOE%20Financial%

20Assistance%20Awards.pdf. 

4www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-10/ 

User’s%20Guide%20to%20DOE’s%20Property%

20Interest%20in%20DOE%20Financial%

20Assistance%20Awards.pdf. 

DATES: Written comments on the GCA 

are requested no later than 11:59 p.m. 

(ET) on November 26, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may 

submit comments electronically to 

GCA@hq.doe.gov in accordance with the 

Response Guidelines in section IV of 

this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Questions may be addressed to Rachel 

Gould, GCA@hq.doe.gov or (202) 586– 

6116. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Overview 

In May 2024, Under Secretary for 

Infrastructure David Crane issued a 

commercialization and financing 

memorandum,1 affirming the imperative 

to mobilize private sector investment in 

DOE-funded projects. One issue 

discussed in the memorandum is DOE’s 

tangible property interest in connection 

with its financial assistance awards. The 

memorandum notes the following: 

‘‘DOE will enter into one or more 

standardized Consent Agreement(s) 

with recipients and third-party lenders 

clarifying that DOE’s interest in the 

property will not be senior to that of the 

lender but is expected to be on a pari 

passu basis.’’ Currently, many DOE 

Federal financial assistance recipients 

have terms in their cooperative 

agreements or grants that are consistent 

with this memorandum. 

DOE has developed a standardized 

Consent Agreement (currently referred 

to as the ‘‘Government-Creditor 

Agreement’’ (GCA)) which, among other 

things, provides clarification on lenders 

rights and remedies with respect to 

DOE’s interest in the property, and 

expectations and other reasonable 

protections in a DOE-funded project. 

DOE is providing an opportunity for 

informal public comment on the GCA. 

The GCA and additional context for 

comment is available on the 

Government-Creditor Agreement web 

page.2

Prior to reviewing the GCA, it is 

important to understand the basis of 

DOE’s tangible property interest, which 

is not a typical security interest. DOE 

has prepared a ‘‘User’s Guide to DOE’s 

Property Interest in DOE Financial 

Assistance Awards’’ 3 to assist in 

understanding DOE’s approach to the 

relevant financial assistance regulations 

and policies regarding DOE’s property 

interest, and DOE also encourages 

commenters to review this User’s Guide 

prior to providing comments. 

II. Government-Creditor Agreement 

Overview 

The GCA open for public comment is 

primarily targeted at nonrecourse or 

limited-recourse project financings with 

a single lender. DOE recognizes that 

there may be other financing structures 

and that technical adjustments will 

need to be made to accommodate these 

different forms of financing. Following 

the finalization of this document after 

the public comment, DOE will develop 

subsequent versions that account for 

other potential financing structures, 

such as multiple lenders with collateral 

agents, new or existing corporate level 

debt, etc. 

The GCA contains three articles: 

Article 1 outlines the rights and 

remedies between the parties, Article 2 

outlines notices, and Article 3 outlines 

other miscellaneous items. DOE 

acknowledges that lenders look to 

protect themselves in a downside 

scenario. In a similar way, DOE looks to 

protect itself and the taxpayer’s interests 

in both the property itself and the 

performance of the award which may 

depend on the continued use of the 

property. Accordingly, DOE is including 

provisions in the GCA designed to 

preserve the lender’s ability to protect 

its collateral, exercise its fundamental 

rights under its security document, and 

provide clarity on any sharing of 

proceeds, if applicable, within the 

confines of the applicable regulatory 

framework for financial assistance 

awards and DOE policy. 

III. Requested Information From 

Respondents 

DOE is opening the GCA for public 

comment to gather input in the 

development of a standard GCA 

template. DOE aims to release a 

standard GCA template by end of Q4 

2024 or beginning Q1 2025. DOE may 

host a webinar to explain the GCA and 

address commonly asked questions 

approximately 15 days into this public 

comment period. Commenters will not 

receive individual responses. DOE has 

sole discretion over any changes made 

to the GCA prior to finalizing the GCA. 

DOE intends to provide a summary of 

comments by general topic as well as 

publishing the final standardized GCA 

template. 

In reviewing the GCA, DOE 

encourages commenters to recognize 

that DOE is not a creditor in the 

traditional commercial sense, which is 

reflected in the GCA. DOE is familiar 

with long-form intercreditor and similar 

agreements and has carefully considered 

relevant provisions to include in this 

GCA in the context of financial 

assistance awards. Accordingly, 

comments that request significant 

portions of a standard intercreditor 

agreement be incorporated in the GCA 

without taking into account the nature 

of the DOE-lender relationship or 

without considering the restrictions 

contained in the financial assistance 

regulatory framework, will not be 

incorporated. DOE is particularly 

interested in feedback regarding any 

specific provisions that may not have 

been incorporated in the GCA, or 

additions or variations to any of the 

included provisions that, without 

change, would likely prevent lenders 

from participating in a financing that 

includes a DOE financial assistance 

award. The GCA should be reviewed 

with this in mind as well as a thorough 

understanding of DOE’s undivided 

reversionary interest.4

IV. Response Guidelines 

Interested parties may submit 

comments electronically to GCA@

hq.doe.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. (ET) 

on November 26, 2024. Comments 

received after this date or submitted 

anonymously will not be considered. 

Responses must be provided as 

attachments to an email. 

Responses must include respondent 

name and organization and, if possible, 

include the specific connection(s) to 

DOE-funded projects. DOE recommends 

that attachments with file sizes 

exceeding 25 MB be compressed (i.e., 

zipped) to ensure message delivery. 

Responses must be provided as a 

Microsoft Word (*.docx) or Adobe 

Acrobat (*.pdf) attachment to the email, 

and no more than 10 pages in length, 

12-point font, 1-inch margins. Only 

electronic responses will be accepted. 

DOE strongly prefers that commenters 

provide narrative comments organized 

by topic area, and not a suggested 

redline of the GCA. 

Responses including confidential 

business information should not be 

submitted but will be handled per the 

following guidance in section V of this 

document. 

V. Confidential Business Information 

Because comments are sought for the 

development of a standard GCA 

template intended for use in a variety of 

different DOE financial assistance 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
85182 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 207 / Friday, October 25, 2024 / Notices 

awards, respondents are strongly 

advised NOT to include any information 

in their responses that might be 

considered business sensitive, 

proprietary, or otherwise confidential. 

DOE may reject any submissions 

containing confidential business 

information. 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any 

person submitting information that he 

or she believes to be confidential and 

exempt by law from public disclosure 

should submit via email two wellmarked copies: One copy of the 

document marked ‘‘confidential’’ 

including all the information believed to 

be confidential, and one copy of the 

document marked ‘‘non-confidential’’ 

with the information believed to be 

confidential deleted. Failure to comply 

with these marking requirements may 

result in the disclosure of the unmarked 

information under the Freedom of 

Information Act or otherwise. The U.S. 

Government is not liable for the 

disclosure or use of unmarked 

information and may use or disclose 

such information for any purpose. 

If your response contains confidential, 

proprietary, or privileged information, 

you must include a cover sheet marked 

as follows identifying the specific pages 

containing confidential, proprietary, or 

privileged information: 

Notice of Restriction on Disclosure and Use 

of Data: Pages [list applicable pages] of this 

response may contain confidential, 

proprietary, or privileged information that is 

exempt from public disclosure. Such 

information shall be used or disclosed only 

for the purposes described in this RFI. The 

Government may use or disclose any 

information that is not appropriately marked 

or otherwise restricted, regardless of source. 

In addition, (1) the header and footer 

of every page that contains confidential, 

proprietary, or privileged information 

must be marked as follows: ‘‘Contains 

Confidential, Proprietary, or Privileged 

Information Exempt from Public 

Disclosure’’ and (2) every line and 

paragraph containing proprietary, 

privileged, or trade secret information 

must be clearly marked with [[double 

brackets]] or highlighting. 

Signing Authority 

This document of the Department of 

Energy was signed on October 18, 2024, 

by David Crane, Under Secretary for 

Infrastructure, Office of Infrastructure, 

pursuant to delegated authority from the 

Secretary of Energy. That document 

with the original signature and date is 

maintained by DOE. For administrative 

purposes only, and in compliance with 

requirements of the Office of the Federal 

Register, the undersigned DOE Federal 

Register Liaison Officer has been 

authorized to sign and submit the 

document in electronic format for 

publication, as an official document of 

the Department of Energy. This 

administrative process in no way alters 

the legal effect of this document upon 

publication in the Federal Register. 

Signed in Washington, DC, on October 22, 

2024. 

Treena V. Garrett, 

Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. 

Department of Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24848 Filed 10–24–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Proposed North Plains Connector 

Project, Colstrip, Montana to Center/St. 

Anthony, North Dakota 

AGENCY: Grid Deployment Office, 

Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement and 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969, as amended (NEPA), the Federal 

Land Policy and Management Act of 

1976, as amended, and the Federal 

Power Act (FPA), as amended, the Grid 

Deployment Office (GDO), Department 

of Energy (DOE), in coordination with 

Federal cooperating agencies—the 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

Miles City Field Office, Miles City, MT; 

the United States Forest Service (USFS), 

an agency of the Department of 

Agriculture (USDA), Dakota Prairie 

Grasslands, Bismarck, ND; and the 

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) 

Fort Keogh Livestock and Range 

Research Laboratory, Miles City, MT— 

intends to prepare jointly, with the 

Montana Department of Environmental 

Quality (Montana DEQ), an 

environmental impact statement (EIS; 

DOE/EIS–0568) to analyze the potential 

environmental impacts of granting 

authorizations to North Plains 

Connector LLC for siting, constructing, 

operating, and maintaining the North 

Plains Connector Project (‘‘the proposed 

Project’’), an up to 525-kilovolt (kV) 

high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) 

electrical transmission line connecting 

the Eastern and Western 

Interconnections (also referred to as the 

eastern and western grids). By this 

notice, GDO is announcing the 

beginning of the scoping process to 

solicit public comments and identify 

issues, impacts, and possible need for 

mitigation. 

DATES: This notice initiates the publicscoping process for the EIS. GDO 

requests that the public submit 

comments concerning the scope of the 

analysis, potential alternatives and 

impacts, and identification of relevant 

information, analyses, and studies by 

December 9, 2024. GDO will hold five 

scoping meetings on the following dates 

at the following locations: 

Date Time Location/format 

Wednesday, November 6, 2024 ..... 4–7 p.m. CT ..... Venue Twenty5, 3796 ND Hwy. 25, Mandan, ND 58554. 

Thursday, November 7, 2024 ......... 6–9 p.m. MT ..... Astoria Event Center, 363 15 St. W, Dickinson, ND 58601. 

Tuesday, November 12, 2024 ........ 4–7 p.m. MT ..... Custer County Event Center, 42 Garryowen Road RC, Miles City, MT 59301. 

Wednesday, November 13, 2024 ... 6–9 p.m. MT ..... Colstrip City Hall, 12 Cherry Street, Colstrip, MT 59323. 

Tuesday, November 19, 2024 ........ 12–3 p.m. MT ... VIRTUAL via Webex, register here: https://bit.ly/NorthPlainsVirtual. 

If any additional scoping meetings are 

scheduled, the date(s) and location(s) of 

those meetings will be announced at 

least 15 days in advance through the 

GDO North Plains Connector Project 

website: https://www.energy.gov/nepa/ 

doeeis-0568-north-plains-connectormultiple-locations. 

ADDRESSES: You can comment on the 

proposed Project by contacting Rebecca 

‘‘RJ’’ Boyle, NEPA Document Manager, 

by any of the following methods: 

• Email: northplainsconnector@

hq.doe.gov. 

• Mail: Rebecca ‘‘RJ’’ Boyle, NPC 

NEPA Document Manager, U.S. 

Department of Energy, Grid Deployment 

Office, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, 

Washington, DC 20585. 

Documents pertinent to this NOI may 

be examined online at https://

www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0568- 

north-plains-connector-multiplelocations. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rebecca ‘‘RJ’’ Boyle, GDO NEPA 


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