Regulatory Activity
NEPA
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is considering making significant changes that would affect the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). CEQ is publishing draft guidance intending to clarify “different planning scenarios under which an agency may prepare a programmatic, broad-scale, review.” This effort is expected to expedite NEPA reviews that may have backlogged significant projects in the U.S. Comments are due October 9.
Waters of the U.S.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is hosting a meeting to seek local government input on EPA’s “Waters of the U.S.” proposed rule clarifying which waters are subject to the Clean Water Act. The meeting will take place in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 22 from 10:00 am to 1:00pm. Comments may also be submitted in writing.
Renewable Fuels Standard
The EPA has extended two reporting deadlines for the 2013 compliance period for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. According to EPA, affected entities would include those involved with the “production, distribution, and sale of transportation fuels, including gasoline and diesel fuel or renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.” EPA does not expect to receive comments and has made the rule effective September 29.
Wind
The Department of Energy (DOE) Wind and Water Power Technologies Office, located within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, is seeking responses to a request for information (RFI) concerning distributed wind systems, which will inform future activities for the office. Specifically, the office is interested in information concerning defining distributed wind by technology application, rather than size, and anticipates that comments will affect DOE’s current research areas including: Wind Resource Characterization and Assessment; Turbine Technology; Distributed Grid Integration; and Soft Cost Reduction. Comments are due September 25.
