Energy.gov

The Department of Energy today proposed to revise its rules to standardize how private parties applying for DOE assistance should submit trade secrets and other confidential business information.  Currently, different DOE programs have different rules for how to submit such information.  The confusion caused has made it difficult for the Department to respond promptly to Freedom of Information Act requests while meeting its obligations to protect confidential information.  The proposed rules, modeled on procedures used by the Department’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing  program

The Department has withdrawn as unwarranted the draft interpretative rule setting out the Department's views on the definition of a "showerhead" for purposes of the water conservation standard enacted by Congress in 1992. To provide certainty going forward, however, the Department today provides a brief enforcement guidance, which balances the Department’s obligation to enforce the congressional standard with its determination to avoid needless economic dislocation.

The Department of Energy today announced that,  in response to requests from a number of parties, it has re-opened the public comment period on its proposed revisions to the Department’s NEPA rules.  The public comment period will be extended three weeks and will now close on March 7, 2011. 

The Department of Energy today announced it has now settled two civil penalty actions against companies for violations of DOE regulations requiring that they certify products as compliant with federal efficiency standards.  In the first case, DOE cited Perlick Residential & Hospitality Products (Perlick) for failure to certify properly its residential refrigerators and refrigerator-freezers.  DOE agreed to accept a civil penalty of $5,000 for the certification violations to settle the case, after considering factors set forth in DOE’s penalty guidance.  Perli

The Department of Energy today announced that its Office of the General Counsel has joined the Board of Directors of the International Trade Data System, and now has access to the U.S.

Today, the Department of Energy adopted final rules to improve the enforcement of DOE’s efficiency requirements for appliances, lighting and other products.

Today, the Office of the General Counsel issued guidance on the federal prohibition against contractors performing inherently governmental functions.  The guidance sets out the basic rules for what contactors can and cannot do and provides best practices for federal DOE employees when using contractor services.  Since 2009, the General Counsel’s office has made available on its websitenon-priv

The Department of Energy today announced two immediate steps to implement the Obama Administration's Executive Order on Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review, which directs federal agencies to review existing regulations and determine whether they are still necessary and crafted effectively to solve current problems.

Yesterday, the Department of Energy’s Office of Enforcement issued a subpoena to Richard Graham of Long Beach, California seeking water efficiency information and sales records for the “Super Power Shower” in response to a complaint that it violates federal water conservation standards.  The Super Power Shower is sold by Mr.

Today, the DOE General Counsel’s Office is launching a new Smart Gird web portal.  In October, the General Counsel’s office released two reports exploring technological and legal issues critical for the continued development of the Smart Grid.  Drawing upon significant public participation, the reports recommended several next steps to assist utilities and other stakeholders in the rollout of Smart Grid technologies and applications.  One of these recommendations was to provide a public portal for information on a variety of issues, including data access and privacy, priority of service, w