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Following the Arab oil embargo of 1973-74, support grew rapidly in the United States to replace imported oil with domestic coal wherever possible. Many believed this would not occur fast enough without formal government programs to promote fuel-switching -- switching from oil to coal. The Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 (FUA) grew out of this public desire to mandate fuel-switching at the federal level. This report describes the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) efforts during the Carter Administration to fashion a coherent and effective federal fuel-switching program in the FUA rulemakings. These rulemakings were exceptional in many ways, and the lessons that emerged from them should make future rulemaking easier, whether to implement regulation or deregulation. DOE's Economic Regulatory Administration (ERA) ran the rulemakings through its Coal and Alternative Fuels Regulations Division (Regulations Division). It was assisted by other offices in ERA, the General Counsel (GC), the Policy and Evaluation Office (PE), and a number of other offices throughout DOE. The FUA rulemakings were conducted as model rulemakings and received special attention from groups concerned with the use of formal analysis to improve regulation. This report uses the FUA rulemakings as a case study with which to examine three fundamental issues of policy implementation in general: (1) How does an agency transform Congressional intent into viable and effective concrete policies?, (2) What role can formal analysis play in designing such policies?, and (3) What budgeting concepts can be used to control and manage the regulatory rulemaking process?

An amazing allegorical story about the journey to Heaven, using the image of a journey across the water in a ship named The Pax. St. Benedict's Rule helps to keep the travelers faithful to their goal. They encounter storms, monsters, and enticing islands along the way... if you were in the ship, would you stay the course through all the temptations? (Summary by Mozartjr)