5870 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Notices 

February 18, 2025, will be provided to 

the board members prior to the meeting. 

Written comments will be accepted after 

the meeting until Friday, February 28, 

2025. Please submit written comments 

to nssab@emcbc.doe.gov. Individuals 

who wish to make oral comments 

during the meeting can do so in 2- 

minute segments for the 15 minutes 

allotted for public comments. The 

Deputy Designated Federal Officer 

(DDFO) is empowered to conduct the 

meeting in a fashion that will facilitate 

the orderly conduct of business. 

Questioning of committee members or 

participants by the public is not 

permitted except with the approval of 

the DDFO and chairperson. 

Minutes: Minutes will be available by 

writing or calling Barbara Ulmer, 

NSSAB Administrator, U.S. Department 

of Energy, EM Nevada Program, 100 

North City Parkway, Suite 1750, Las 

Vegas, NV 89106; Phone: (702) 523– 

0894. Minutes will also be available at 

the following website: https://

www.nnss.gov/nssab/nssab-meetings/. 

Signing Authority: This document of 

the Department of Energy was signed on 

January 14, 2025, by David Borak, 

Committee Management Officer, 

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 January 14, 

2025. 

Jennifer Hartzell, 

Alternate Federal Register Liaison Officer, 

U.S. Department of Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2025–01228 Filed 1–16–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

[Docket No. DOE–HQ–2023–0020] 

Notice of Availability of the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

Phase 1 of the Grain Belt Express 

Transmission Line Project (DOE/EIS– 

0554) 

AGENCY: Loan Programs Office, 

Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of availability, request 

for comments, notice of proposed 

floodplain action. 

SUMMARY: The Loan Programs Office 

(LPO), U.S. Department of Energy 

(DOE), announces the availability of the 

draft environmental impact statement 

(DEIS) for the proposed Phase 1 of the 

Grain Belt Express Transmission Project 

(Project), and a Notice of Proposed 

Floodplain Action. The DEIS analyzes 

the impacts associated with providing 

potential financial assistance (a Federal 

loan guarantee) to Grain Belt Express, 

LLC, for construction and energization 

of the Project. This notice of availability 

(NOA) announces the start of the public 

review and comment period, as well as 

the dates and times for public meetings 

on the DEIS. After DOE LPO holds the 

public meetings and addresses public 

comments submitted during the review 

period, DOE LPO will publish a final 

environmental impact statement. 

Because the Project may include 

activities within floodplains, this NOA 

also serves as a notice of proposed 

floodplain action. 

DATES: Comments must be received no 

later than March 3, 2025. LPO will hold 

six public meetings for the Project, four 

in-person and two virtual, at the 

following dates and times (Central 

Time): 

• Monday, February 10, 2025, 4–6 

p.m., Dodge City Public Library, 1001 N 

2nd Ave., Dodge City, KS 67801. 

• Tuesday, February 11, 2025, 4–6 

p.m., Holiday Inn Express, 2175 Lincoln 

St., Concordia, KS 66901. 

• Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 4– 

6 p.m. St. Joseph Museum, Jackie Lewin 

Conference Roon, 3406 Frederick Ave., 

St. Joseph, MO 64506. 

• Thursday, February 13, 2025, 4–6 

p.m., La Bella Casa Event Center, 5 

South Main St., Carrollton, MO 64633. 

• Virtual, Wednesday, February 19, 

2025, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. 

• Virtual, Wednesday, February 20, 

2025, 4–6 p.m. 

All meetings are open to the public 

and free to attend. Registration for in 

person meetings is not required. 

Registration for the virtual public 

meetings is required and may be 

completed at https://www.energy.gov/ 

lpo/eis-0554-grain-belt-expresstransmission-line. Meeting information 

will be sent to registrants via their email 

address provided during registration. 

ADDRESSES: The DEIS and detailed 

information about the Project can be 

found on DOE LPO’s website at: https:// 

www.energy.gov/lpo/eis-0554-grain-beltexpress-transmission-line. Comments 

can be submitted in any of the following 

ways: 

Online via DOE LPO’s website at 

https://www.energy.gov/lpo/eis-0554- 

grain-belt-express-transmission-line or 

email: LPO_GrainBelt_EIS@hq.doe.gov. 

Orally or in writing during any of the 

public meetings identified in this NOA. 

In writing submitted by mail or any 

other delivery service, enclosed in an 

envelope labeled ‘‘Grain Belt Express 

EIS’’ and addressed to Todd Stribley, 

NEPA Compliance Officer, U.S. 

Department of Energy, Loan Programs 

Office—LP30, 1000 Independence 

Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585. 

Through the regulations.gov web 

portal: Navigate to https://

www.regulations.gov and search for 

Docket No. DOE–HQ–2023–0020. Click 

on the ‘‘Comment’’ button below the 

document link. Enter your information 

and comment, then click ‘‘Submit 

Comment.’’ 

For more information about 

submitting comments, please see 

‘‘Information on Submitting Comments’’ 

under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

heading below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Todd Stribley, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Loan Programs Office, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20585. Email: LPO_GrainBelt_EIS@

hq.doe.gov. Phone: 301–525–5944. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Grain Belt Express LLC (the 

‘‘Applicant’’), applied for Federal 

financial assistance via a loan guarantee 

from the DOE LPO under title XVII of 

the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S. 

Code [U.S.C.] 16511–16517), as 

amended. Section 1703 of title XVII (the 

Clean Energy Financing Program) 

defines eligible projects as those that, 

‘‘avoid, reduce, or sequester air 

pollutants or anthropogenic emissions 

of greenhouse gases; and employ new or 

significantly improved technologies as 

compared to commercial technologies in 

service in the United States at the time 

the guarantee is issued’’ (Pub. L. 109– 

58, sec. 1703(a)). Because the Project 

may include activities within 

floodplains, this NOA also serves as a 

notice of proposed floodplain action, in 

accordance with 10 Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) part 1022. 

Proposed Action. The Federal 

financing provided by DOE LPO will 

apply to eligible project costs that 

include the design, engineering, 

financing, construction, startup, 

commissioning, and shakedown of the 

Project, which includes the following 

elements: 

• A 542-mile, overhead 600-kilovolt 

(kV) high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) 

transmission line that would extend 

between Ford County in southwestern 


KHAMMOND on DSK9W7S144PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Notices 5871 

Kansas and Monroe County in 

northeastern Missouri (HVDC Line); 

• The Tiger Connector, an 

approximately 36-mile, overhead 345- 

kV alternating-current (AC) 

transmission line that would extend 

from the HVDC converter station in 

Monroe County, Missouri, to the 

existing McCredie Substation, owned 

and operated by Associated Electric 

Cooperative Incorporated, and the 

existing Burns Substation, owned and 

operated by Ameren, in Callaway 

County, Missouri; 

• The Ford County Interconnect, an 

approximately 0.2-mile, overhead 345- 

kV AC transmission line located in Ford 

County, Kansas that would extend from 

the HVDC converter station to the 

existing Saddle Substation, owned and 

operated by ITC Great Plains; 

• Two HVDC converter stations and 

associated infrastructure, one located in 

Ford County, Kansas and one located in 

Monroe County, Missouri; 

• Optical regeneration facilities in 

support of the HVDC Line and 

associated access driveways; and 

• Temporary workspaces needed for 

construction, including temporary 

access routes, workspaces around 

transmission structures, pull or tension 

sites, multi-use construction yards, 

concrete batch plants, and fly yards and 

helipads. 

No Action Alternative. Under the No 

Action Alternative, DOE LPO would not 

provide Federal financial support (a 

loan guarantee) to the Applicant, with 

the assumption for the purpose of the 

environmental analysis that the project 

would not be constructed. 

Availability of the DEIS: The DEIS 

and associated information are available 

on DOE LPO’s website at: https://

www.energy.gov/lpo/eis-0554-grain-beltexpress-transmission-line. If you require 

a digital copy on a flash drive or paper 

copy, LPO will provide one upon 

request, if supplies are available. You 

may request a flash drive or paper copy 

of the DEIS by contacting DOE LPO at 

LPO_GrainBElt_EIS@hq.doe.gov. Hard 

copies of the DEIS are available for 

review at the following libraries: 

• Dodge City Public Library, 1001 N 

2nd Ave, Dodge City, KS 67801 

• Southwest Kansas Library System, 

100 Military Ave Suite 210, Dodge City, 

KS 67801 

• Frank Carlson Library, 702 

Broadway, Concordia, KS 66901 

• Learning Resource Center, 2221 

Campus Dr., Concordia, KS 66901 

• Great Bend Public Library, 1409 

Williams St., Great Bend, KS 67530 

• Hays Public Library 1205 Main St., 

Hays, KS 67601 

• Manhattan Public Library, 629 

Poyntz Ave., Manhattan, KS 66502 

• Kansas City Public Library, 6242 

Swope Pkwy, Kansas City, MO 64130 

• Mid-Continent Woodneath, 8900 

NE Flintlock Rd., Kansas City, MO 

64157 

• Little Dixie Regional Library, 111 N. 

4th St., Moberly, MO 65270 

• Little Dixie Regional Library, 102 E 

Library St., Huntsville, MO 65259 

• St. Joseph Public Library, 927 Felix 

Street, St., Joseph, MO 64501 

• East Hills Library, 502 N Woodbine 

Rd., St., Joseph, MO 64506 

• Carnegie Branch Library, 316 

Massachusetts St., St. Joseph, MO 64504 

• Carrollton Public Library, 1 North 

Folger St., Carrollton, MO 64633 

• Trails Regional Library, 203 E 

Kelling Ave., Waverly, MO 64096 

Cooperating Agencies: The following 

4 Federal agencies participated as 

cooperating agencies in the preparation 

of the DEIS: U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

National Park Service, and U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency. The 

Advisory Council on Historic 

Preservation was a participating agency. 

Information on Submitting 

Comments: LPO requests data, 

comments, information, analysis, or 

suggestions relevant to the 

environmental analysis in the DEIS from 

the public; affected Federal, tribal, state, 

and local governments, agencies and 

offices; the scientific community; 

industry; or any other interested party. 

DOE LPO does not consider anonymous 

comments. To promote informed 

decision-making, comments should be 

as specific as possible and should 

provide as much detail as necessary to 

meaningfully and fully inform DOE LPO 

on why the issues raised are important 

to the consideration of potential 

environmental effects and/or the 

alternatives to the proposed action. 

Please include your name and address 

as part of your comment. DOE LPO 

makes your comments, including your 

name and address, available for public 

review. You may request that DOE LPO 

withhold your name, address, or any 

other personally identifiable 

information (PII) included in your 

comment from the public record; 

however, DOE LPO cannot guarantee 

that it will be able to do so. If you wish 

your name, address, or other PII to be 

withheld, you must state your request 

prominently in a cover letter and 

explain the harm that you fear from its 

disclosure, such as unwarranted privacy 

invasion, embarrassment, or injury. 

Even if LPO withholds your information 

in the context of this notice, your 

comment is subject to the Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA) and any 

relevant court orders. If your comment 

is requested under FOIA or relevant 

court order, your information will only 

be withheld if a determination is made 

that one of the FOIA exemptions to 

disclosure applies or if the relevant 

court order is challenged. Such a 

determination will be made in 

accordance with DOE’s FOIA 

regulations and applicable law. 

Please label privileged or confidential 

information as ‘‘Contains Confidential 

Information,’’ and consider submitting 

such information as a separate 

attachment. Information that is not 

labeled as privileged or confidential 

may be regarded by DOE LPO as 

suitable for public release. Consistent 

with Section 304 of the National 

Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (54 

U.S.C. 307103(a)), DOE LPO is required 

to withhold the location, character, or 

ownership of historic resources if it 

determines that disclosure may, among 

other things, risk harm to the historic 

resources or impede the use of a 

traditional religious site by 

practitioners. Tribal entities should 

designate information that falls under 

Section 304 of NHPA as confidential. 

All submissions from organizations or 

businesses and from individuals 

identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses will be 

made available for public inspection in 

their entirety. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4231 et seq. 

(National Environmental Policy Act, as 

amended) and 40 CFR 1501.9 and 

1503.1. 

Signing Authority 

This document of the Department of 

Energy was signed on January 8, 2025, 

by Todd Stribley, NEPA Compliance 

Officer, Loan Programs Office, 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 

DOE. This administrative process in no 

way alters the legal effect of this 

document upon publication in the 

Federal Register. 


KHAMMOND on DSK9W7S144PROD with NOTICES
5872 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Notices 

1https://www.mgi.gov/2024-materials-genomeinitiative-mgi-challenges. 

2https://www.mgi.gov/sites/default/files/ 

documents/MGI_Autonomous_Materials_

Innovation_Infrastructure_Workshop_Report.pdf. 

3https://www.mgi.gov/2024-materials-genomeinitiative-mgi-challenges. 

4https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/ 

2024/10/30/CHIPS%20CARISSMA%20NOFO.pdf. 

5https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/ 

nsf25508.pdf?VersionId=m260vPkM22sx

SgrP2Kawqho5qTCDdHYD. 

6https://arpa-e.energy.gov/technologies/ 

programs/catalchem-e. 

7https://www.mgi.gov/2024-materials-genomeinitiative-mgi-challenges. 

Signed in Washington, DC, on January 10, 

2025. 

Treena V. Garrett, 

Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. 

Department of Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2025–00736 Filed 1–16–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Notice of Request for Information (RFI) 

on Autonomous Experimentation 

Platforms from Material Genome 

Initiative 

AGENCY: Office of Critical and Emerging 

Technologies, Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Request for information (RFI). 

SUMMARY: On behalf of the Material 

Genome Initiative (MGI), the 

Department of Energy (DOE) seeks 

public comment on autonomous 

experimentation platforms to inform 

implementation of the MGI Challenges 

and Autonomous Materials Innovation 

Infrastructure (AMII). 

DATES: Responses to the RFI are 

requested by March 21, 2025. 

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may 

submit comments electronically to 

info@mgi.gov and include ‘‘MGI RFI’’ in 

the subject line of the email. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Further questions may be addressed to 

Charles Yang through info@mgi.gov or 

(202) 586–6116. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

This is an RFI issued by DOE in 

support of the Material Genome 

Initiative (MGI) that seeks public input 

to inform interagency coordination 

around Autonomous Experimentation 

(AE) platform research, development, 

capabilities, and infrastructure. This 

input will support the efforts of the 

recently announced MGI Challenges 

that aim to help unify and promote 

adoption of the Materials Innovation 

Infrastructure—through the expansion 

and integration of capabilities including 

autonomy, artificial intelligence, and 

robotics—to realize solutions to 

challenges of national interest.1 MGI is 

a Federal multi-agency initiative for 

discovering, manufacturing, and 

deploying advanced materials and 

supporting U.S. institutions in the 

adoption of methods for accelerating 

materials development, with over 15 

agency participants. 

For this RFI, MGI seeks input from 

stakeholders across the entire materials 

innovation ecosystem including but not 

limited to: 

• Academic and federally funded 

research and development centers 

• For-profit and non-profit AI 

developers 

• Consortia, public/private 

partnerships, and industry groups 

interested in AE 

• Scientific equipment manufacturers 

• Robotics/automation manufacturers 

and developers 

• Startups and investors 

• Scientific workforce and education 

organizations 

• Think tanks and science policy 

organizations 

• And other interested entities 

II. Purpose 

Autonomous experimentation (AE) is 

defined in the MGI Workshop Report on 

Autonomous Materials Innovation 

Infrastructure 2 as ‘‘the coupling of 

automated experimentation and in situ 

or in line analysis of results, with 

artificial intelligence (AI) to direct 

experiments in rapid, closed-loops.’’ 

The report identifies several 

technological advances coupled to 

existing techniques that need to be 

integrated to realize AE: 

(1) Laboratory automation, enabling 

robots to carry out the autonomous 

experimental tasks (Including transfer 

between instruments/experimental 

stations) prescribed by the decision 

algorithms. 

(2) Automated in-line & in situ 

sensing, characterization, and analysis 

capabilities to enable closed-loop 

autonomous experimentation. 

(3) Improved AI and autonomous 

experimentation decision methods for 

materials that enable faster and better 

R&D. 

(4) Improved software for hardware 

automation, sensing and autonomous 

experimentation. 

MGI announced five challenges to 

help unify and accelerate adoption of 

Materials Innovation Infrastructure to 

build scientific infrastructure to address 

issues national interest.3 These 

challenges build off several recent 

announcements from across the U.S. 

Government in support of AE systems, 

including funding for AE for 

semiconductor materials 4 from the 

CHIPS office in NIST, a National 

Science Foundation (NSF) solicitation 

for material discovery,5 and an ARPA– 

E funding opportunity for catalyst 

discovery with AE.6 This RFI is not a 

Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) 

or Funding Opportunity Announcement 

(FOA). 

This RFI seeks public input on 

existing research infrastructure as well 

as opportunities and challenges to 

leverage autonomous experimentation 

systems to realize the MGI Challenges. 

This RFI also seeks input on steps the 

MGI and the U.S. Government can take 

to support a broader research and 

development (R&D) ecosystem for 

autonomous experimentation systems. 

III. Questions 

1. MGI Challenges 

For any of the following MGI 

challenges, respondents may provide 

input on any number or all of the 

following topics: 

• Identify and map existing 

autonomous experimentation 

infrastructure suitable to addressing the 

MGI challenges; 

• Describe how autonomous 

experimentation systems should be 

designed and integrated to accomplish 

MGI challenges; 

• Describe promising technical 

approaches to addressing a particular 

challenge and how AE systems can be 

designed to accelerate progress in those 

approaches; 

• Describe obstacles to leveraging 

autonomous experimentation systems 

specific to a given MGI challenge that 

will need to be addressed. 

Clearly indicate which challenge is 

being responded to. Further details on 

the challenges can be found here.7 One 

response may respond to multiple 

challenges. 

(a) MGI Challenge: Point of Care TissueMimetic Materials for Biomedical 

Devices and Implants 

(b) MGI Challenge: Agile Manufacturing 

of Affordable Multi-Functional 

Composites 

(c) MGI Challenge: Quantum Position, 

Navigation, and Timing on a Chip 

(d) MGI Challenge: High Performance, 

Low Carbon Cementitious Materials 

(e) MGI Challenge: Sustainable 

Materials Design for Semiconductor 

Applications 

2. Partnerships and Consortium 

(a) How should the Material Genome 

Initiative (MGI) and the U.S. 


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