50000 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 165 / Monday, August 25, 2008 / Notices 

[FR Doc. E8–19500 Filed 8–22–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–C 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

[OMB Control No. 9000–0144] 

Federal Acquisition Regulation; 

Submission for OMB Review; Payment 

by Electronic Funds Transfer 

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DOD), 

General Services Administration (GSA), 

and National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA). 

ACTION: Notice of request for public 

comments regarding an extension to an 

existing OMB clearance (9000–0144). 

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal 

Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 

Secretariat will be submitting to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) a request to review and approve 

an extension of a currently approved 

information collection requirement 

concerning payment by electronic funds 

transfer. A request for public comments 

was published in the Federal Register at 

73 FR 30611, May 28, 2008. No 

comments were received. 

Public comments are particularly 

invited on: Whether this collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of functions of the FAR, 

and whether it will have practical 

utility; whether our estimate of the 

public burden of this collection of 

information is accurate, and based on 

valid assumptions and methodology; 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and ways in which we can 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on those who are to 

respond, through the use of appropriate 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

September 24, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments regarding 

this burden estimate or any other aspect 

of this collection of information, 

including suggestions for reducing this 

burden to the General Services 

Administration, FAR Secretariat (VPR), 

1800 F Street, NW., Room 4041, 

Washington, DC 20405. Please cite OMB 

Control No. 9000–0144, Payment by 

Electronic Funds Transfer, in all 

correspondence. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT Ms. 

Meredith Murphy, Contract Policy 

Division, GSA, (202) 208–6925. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Purpose 

The FAR requires certain information 

to be provided by contractors which 

would enable the Government to make 

payments under the contract by 

electronic funds transfer (EFT). The 

information necessary to make the EFT 

transaction is specified in clause 

52.232–33, Payment by Electronic 

Funds Transfer—Central Contractor 

Registration, which the contractor is 

required to provide prior to award, and 

clause 52.232–34, Payment by 

Electronic Funds Transfer—Other than 

Central Contractor Registration, which 

requires EFT information to be provided 

as specified by the agency to enable 

payment by EFT. 

B. Annual Reporting Burden 

Respondents: 14,000. 

Responses Per Respondent: 10. 

Annual Responses: 140,000. 

Hours Per Response: .5. 

Total Burden Hours: 70,000. 

Obtaining Copies of Proposals: 

Requesters may obtain a copy of the 


ebenthall on PRODPC60 with NOTICESEN25AU08.021</GPH>
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 165 / Monday, August 25, 2008 / Notices 50001 

information collection documents from 

the General Services Administration, 

FAR Secretariat (VPR), Room 4041, 1800 

F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20405, 

telephone (202) 501–4755. Please cite 

OMB Control No. 9000–0144, Payment 

by Electronic Funds Transfer, in all 

correspondence. 

Dated: August 15, 2008. 

Al Matera, 

Director, Office of Acquisition Policy. 

[FR Doc. E8–19669 Filed 8–22–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–S 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement and 

Notice of Wetlands Involvement for the 

Abengoa Biorefinery Project Near 

Hugoton, KS (DOE/EIS 0407) 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy (DOE). 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement, 

conduct a public scoping meeting, and 

opportunity for public comment; Notice 

of Wetlands Involvement. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE) announces its intent to 

prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the 

Council on Environmental Quality 

NEPA regulations (40 Code of Federal 

Regulations [CFR] Parts 1500–1508), 

and the DOE NEPA regulations (10 CFR 

Part 1021) to assess the potential 

environmental impacts of a project 

proposed by Abengoa Bioenergy 

Biomass of Kansas, LLC (ABBK), to 

construct and operate a biomass-toethanol and energy facility near 

Hugoton, Kansas (hereinafter termed 

‘‘Abengoa Biorefinery Project’’ or the 

‘‘Project’’). DOE’s proposed action is to 

provide cost-share Federal funding to 

ABBK to construct and operate the 

Project. DOE is issuing this Notice of 

Intent to inform the public about the 

proposed action; announce plans to 

conduct a public scoping meeting; 

invite public participation in the 

scoping process; and solicit public 

comments for consideration in 

establishing the scope of the EIS, 

including the range of reasonable 

alternatives and the potential 

environmental impacts to be analyzed. 

DATES: The public scoping period begins 

on August 25, 2008, and will continue 

through October 9, 2008. DOE will 

consider all comments received or 

postmarked by October 9, 2008, in 

defining the scope of this EIS. 

Comments received or postmarked after 

that date will be considered to the 

extent practicable. A public scoping 

meeting will be held in Memorial Hall 

at the Stevens County Courthouse, 

Hugoton, Kansas, on September 10, 

2008 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Written and 

oral comments will be given equal 

weight. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the 

scope of the EIS should be directed to 

Kristin Kerwin at the U.S. Department 

of Energy Golden Field Office, 1617 

Cole Boulevard, Golden, Colorado 

80401. You may also contact Ms. 

Kerwin by telephone at 303–275–4968, 

fascimilie at 303–275–4790, or e-mail: 

kristin.kerwin@go.doe.gov. Envelopes 

and the subject line of e-mails should be 

labeled ‘‘Abengoa EIS Scoping 

Comments.’’

The public scoping meeting will be 

held on September 10, 2008 from 6 p.m. 

to 8 p.m. at the following location: 

Memorial Hall, Stevens County 

Courthouse, 200 East 6th St., Hugoton, 

Kansas 67951–2606. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on the proposed project, 

information on how to comment, or to 

receive a copy of the draft EIS when it 

is issued, contact Kristin Kerwin by any 

of the means described in the 

ADDRESSES section above. 

For further information on the DOE 

Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy Integrated 

Biorefinery Program, contact Jacques 

Beaudry-Losique, Biomass Program 

Manager, U.S. Department of Energy, 

1000 Independence Avenue, SW., EE–

2E, 5H–021, Washington, DC 20585, 

telephone: 202–586–5188, facsimile: 

202–586–1640, e-mail: 

eere_biomass@ee.doe.gov. 

For general information on the DOE 

NEPA process, please contact: Carol M. 

Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA 

Policy and Compliance (GC–20), U.S. 

Department of Energy, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0103; e-mail: 

AskNEPA@hq.doe.gov; telephone: 202–

586–4600; leave a message at 1–800–

472–2756; or facsimile: 202–586–7031. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background and Need for Agency 

Action: The Energy Policy Act of 2005 

(EPAct 2005), Section 932, directs the 

Secretary of Energy to conduct a 

program of research, development, 

demonstration, and commercial 

application for bioenergy, including, 

integrated biorefineries that may 

produce biopower, biofuels, and 

bioproducts. Section 932 provides that 

‘‘the goals of the biofuels and 

bioproducts programs shall be to 

develop, in partnership with industry 

and institutes of higher education—

(1) Advanced biochemical and 

thermochemical conversion 

technologies capable of making fuels 

from lignocellulosic feedstocks that are 

price-competitive with gasoline or 

diesel in either internal combustion 

engines or fuel cell-powered vehicles; 

(2) Advanced biotechnology processes 

capable of making biofuels and 

bioproducts with emphasis on 

development of biorefinery technologies 

using enzyme-based processing systems; 

(3) Advanced biotechnology processes 

capable of increasing energy production 

from lignocellulosic feedstocks, with 

emphasis on reducing the dependence 

of industry on fossil fuels in 

manufacturing facilities; and 

(4) Other advanced processes that will 

enable the development of cost-effective 

bioproducts, including biofuels.’’

Section 932(d) provides that ‘‘the 

Secretary shall carry out a program to 

demonstrate the commercial application 

of integrated biorefineries. The 

Secretary shall ensure geographical 

distribution of biorefinery 

demonstration under this subsection. 

The Secretary shall not provide more 

than $100,000,000 under this subsection 

for any single biorefinery 

demonstration. In making awards under 

this subsection, the Secretary shall 

encourage—

(A) The demonstration of a wide 

variety of lignocellulosic feedstocks; 

(B) The commercial application of 

biomass technologies for a variety of 

uses, including—

i. Liquid transportation fuels; 

ii. High-value biobased chemicals; 

iii. Substitutes for petroleum-based 

feedstocks and products; and 

iv. Energy in the form of electricity or 

useful heat; and 

(C) The demonstration of the 

collection of treatment of a variety of 

biomass feedstocks.’’

Section 932(d) further directs the 

Secretary to solicit proposals for 

demonstration of advanced biorefineries 

and to select only proposals that 

demonstrate economic viability without 

Federal subsidy after initial 

construction costs are paid and for 

projects that are replicable. 

In implementing section 932, DOE’s 

goal is to demonstrate that commercialscale integrated biorefineries that use a 

wide variety of lignocellulosic 

feedstocks (biomass), can operate 

profitably once constructed, and can be 

replicated. Lignocellulosic feedstock 

includes energy crops, corn fiber, wood 

wastes, agricultural wastes such as corn 


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