The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed less ambitious requirements for ethanol in gasoline. The EPA’s three-year proposed ethanol mandate, which is retroactive to 2014, increases the amount of biofuel it wants mixed into the gasoline supply but at levels below those set in a 2007 law.

Gasoline refiners said the proposal still moves more quickly than the market can support. The ethanol industry, which is dominated by corn-producing states, wanted more aggressive targets to get their product into the fuel supply.

Biofuel regulations were put in place in an effort to reduce dependence on imported petroleum. But a boom in domestic oil and natural gas has eased the country’s dependence on foreign oil, and motor fuel consumption has fallen as newer, more efficient vehicles have replaced older guzzlers. The agency said the relaxed ethanol requirements recognize that biofuel production is lower than expected and that the domestic gasoline market is unable to absorb larger amounts of ethanol.

More: Wall Street Journal (subscription required); The Hill

FERC Approves Final Settlement from 2011 Blackout in California

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Enforcement approved the final settlement related to the 2011 power outage in Southern California, which left customers in California, Arizona, Baja California and Mexico without power for nearly 12 hours.

The Western Electricity Coordination Council (WECC), which acted as reliability coordinator for the portion of the grid where the blackout originated, agreed to pay $16 million as part of the settlement. The settlement calls for WECC to spend $13 million on reliability enhancements and pay a $3 million penalty.

WECC said the loss of a single 500-kV line initiated the cascading event.

More: Fierce Energy

NRC Asked to Review Ruling on Uranium Recovery Operation

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is being asked to review decisions by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board on a proposed South Dakota uranium recovery operation. The developers of the project and members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe asked the NRC to intervene.

The developers are protesting the board’s finding that NRC failed to properly consult with the tribe and identify and safeguard cultural and historic sites.

The Oglala Sioux are protesting the proposed uranium recovery method, which involves injecting oxygen-enriched water into the ground to dissolve the uranium and bring it to the surface.

More: Rapid City Journal

Los Alamos National Laboratory Still Evaluating New Windmill Design

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico are running computer tests on a new type of wind turbine that operates closer to the ground and at lower speeds than tower-mounted turbines.

Johan Steinlechner of Palm Springs came up with the new design, which involves building the turbine just 30 to 40 feet off the ground rather than hundreds of feet in the air. The lower-profile turbines would be easier and cheaper to construct and maintain.

Federal researchers recently announced plans to build a 1-MW prototype in Melrose, N.M., this summer.

More: Desert Sun

NRC Says Watts Bar 2 Operating License Close

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has delegated authority to its Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation to issue an operating license for the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar 2 reactor, which is under construction. The vote, taken last week, would allow the regulators to issue a license if all necessary requirements are met.

“The delegation of this authority signifies confidence that NRC inspections show Watts Bar Unit 2 is being built according to rigorous regulatory requirements and industry standards,” TVA’s Chief Nuclear Officer Joe Grimes said. TVA has said it believes the plant will be in commercial operation by June 2016.

More: Knoxville News Sentinel

DOE Kicking in $32 Million to Train Solar Workforce

The Department of Energy said it is providing $32 million to help drive down the cost of solar production and to train the workers needed to install solar systems.

The department said it will earmark up to $13 million for solar workforce training, which would include positions not just in the construction field, but for professionals in the insurance, real estate and utility businesses as well. About $15 million would fund design work on concentrating solar power collectors. About $5 million would be allocated to develop solar data sets and market studies.

More: Department of Energy

NTSB Says Shell Performed ‘Inadequate Assessment’ of Risks

The National Transportation Safety Board said Shell had inadequately assessed the risk of towing the oil rig Kulluk off the coast of Alaska in 2012. The offshore rig ran aground during a storm. The rig, which contained thousands of gallons of fuel oil, averted an oil spill in pristine waters.

“The probable cause of the grounding of the mobile offshore drilling unit Kulluk was Shell’s inadequate assessment of the risk for its planned tow,” the NTSB report states.

Shell said it intends to return to the same area to conduct exploratory drilling, pending permit approvals. The government in May approved its proposal to conduct Arctic drilling.

More: ABC News

Virginia Residents Protest Pipeline Route in Front of FERC Headquarters

A group of Central Virginia residents, opposed to a proposed 550-mile natural gas pipeline, protested in front of the headquarters of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week. Friends of Nelson, from Nelson County, one of the rural counties through which the Atlantic Coast Pipeline would be built, denounced what they called FERC’s disregard for the public in routing the pipeline.

“We want FERC and its commissioners to know that we are here this week because their complicity to route the ACP through our home deeply violates so many of our personal and community values,” said Joanna Salidis, president of Friends of Nelson. “Nelson County property owners want FERC to uphold their claim that eminent domain is a method of last resort — not a gift from the government to maximize profit on the backs of unwilling private property owners and communities.”

Dominion Resources, one of the project’s partners, said that it will release an alternative route in the coming weeks. FERC has not yet given final approval to the project.

More: August Free Press