The U.S. Trade Representative rescinded the October 2019 withdrawal of the exclusion of bifacial solar panels from application of the safeguard measure on imports of certain solar products pursuant to a Section 201 investigation; the withdrawal is superseded by the Representative's April 2020 withdrawal determination that the bifacial solar panel exclusion is undermining the objectives of the safeguard measure. 

The Federal Trade Commission seeks comment on the overall costs, benefits, and regulatory and economic impact of its Prohibition of Energy Market Manipulation Rule prohibiting fraud or deceit in wholesale petroleum markets, and omissions of material information that are likely to distort petroleum markets, as part of the Commission's systematic review of all its current rules and guides. 

The Small Business Administration issued an interim final rule regarding the implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to provide guidance on additional Paycheck Protection Program eligibility requirements for certain electric cooperatives. 

The Internal Revenue Service published the 2020 inflation adjustment factors and reference prices used in determining the availability of the credit for renewable electricity production, refined coal production, and Indian coal production under §45 of the Internal Revenue Code. 

DOE announced the availability of updated guidance for the hydroelectric incentive program under the Energy Policy Act of 2005; the guidance describes the hydroelectric incentive payment requirements and explains the type of information that owners or authorized operators of qualified hydroelectric facilities must provide DOE when applying for hydroelectric incentive payments.

FERC announced that the period for filing interventions and protests to filings submitted pursuant to §204 of the Federal Power Act will be shortened from 21 to 5 business days to expedite the Commission's review of filings that may be necessary to ensure the regulated entities' liquidity in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic; the shortened comment period will be in effect up to and including September 1, 2020. 

In re Fansteel, Inc., No. 16-01823-als11 (Bankr. S.D. Iowa, Apr. 1, 2020). A settling Atomic Energy Act and CERCLA defendant must transfer a parcel of the property it owns in Muskogee, Oklahoma, to the operator of the property, transfer to the operator any and all causes of action it may have against potentially responsible parties at the property under CERCLA and Oklahoma law, and allocate between itself and environmental authorities (NRC, EPA, and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality) any net proceeds received from the sale of the parcel such that the environmental authorities will receive 100% of any net insurance proceeds for losses related to environmental liabilities and the environmental authorities and the operator will share on a 50%/50% basis the proceeds from any settlement or adjudication of the third-party environmental claims transferred from the defendant to the operator; the consent decree also requires the operator to use funds received from the decommissioning trust, defendant's reorganization plan, or other sources for activities necessary to maintain health and safety, fulfill obligations mandated by the property's NRC license and amended decommissioning plan, or conduct response actions pursuant to CERCLA or state law at the property.

FERC issued a policy statement that it will expeditiously review and act on requests for relief in response to the national emergency caused by COVID-19 and that it will give its highest priority to processing filings made for the purpose of assuring the business continuity of regulated entities' energy infrastructure during the pandemic. 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced the availability of and seeks comment on its draft interim staff guidance, Environmental Considerations Associated with Micro-Reactors, which modifies existing guidance and provides supplemental guidance to assist Commission staff in determining the scope and scale of environmental reviews of micro-reactor applications.

BLM adjusted for inflation the level of civil monetary penalties governing onshore oil and gas operations as required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015.