All Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI) office and partnership websites must use domains and URLs that have been approved by the Department of Energy (DOE)’s Chief Information Office, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and CMEI's domain policies.
Please contact the CMEI Digital Team for additional guidance on domains and redirect requests.
Energy.gov URLs
The CMEI website is hosted on the energy.gov domain. All CMEI websites will use an energy.gov/cmei/ URL unless the CMEI Digital Team approves it to be hosted outside of the Energy.gov content management system (CMS).
New websites are usually created in their own nested group. A nested group is a sub-section of the CMEI website with unique URL and navigation.
Example nested group website URLs:
- Bioenergy: energy.gov/cmei/bioenergy/
- Communication Standards: energy.gov/cmei/communicationstandards/
Example content page URL:
- energy.gov/cmei/communicationstandards/cmei-website-and-digital-media-standards-and-guidelines
Contact the CMEI Digital Team to request a new nested group.
Requesting Redirects
CMEI can create redirects at the Energy.gov or CMEI levels. These short URLs will automatically redirect to the full-length URL of another web page. These are typically used in marketing materials where the team needs a short, easy-to-use URL.
Example URLs:
- Energy.gov-level redirect: energy.gov/femp/ (Redirects to https://energy.gov/femp/federal-energy-management-program)
- CMEI-level redirect: energy.gov/cmei/wind/ (Redirects to https://energy.gov/cmei/wind/wind-energy-technologies-office)
For a redirect at the energy.gov/cmei/ level, contact DOE PA and CMEI communications for approval.
For a redirect at the energy.gov level, contact the CMEI Digital Team. DOE Public Affairs must approve any redirects at the Energy.gov level.
Non-Standard CMEI URLs
Websites hosted outside of the Energy.gov CMS often have URLs at eere.energy.gov or at (name).energy.gov.
If you believe your site requires a URL outside of the Energy.gov CMS, contact the CMEI Digital Team. Once it is determined that the website needs to be hosted outside of Energy.gov, the team will send the request to DOE Public Affairs for formal approval. DOE Public Affairs will approve the hosting location and the URL.
Example URLs:
- Better Buildings Initiative: https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/
- Alternative Fuels Data Center: https://afdc.energy.gov/
CMEI previously created "marketing URL" redirects at websitename.energy.gov. All of CMEI's research offices, except the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office and the Industrial Technologies Office, have a URL in this format that redirects to their office home page.
CMEI will no longer create new redirects in this format, but the old redirects have been grandfathered in and may still be used by the technology offices to promote their websites. There are no plans to retire the old URLs.
Top-Level .gov Domains
Top-level .gov domains are reserved for federal agencies. Agencies can establish .gov domain names for any legitimate purpose, and are encouraged to register domains as needed to most effectively meet their mission. However, .gov domain names are a shared resource across all U.S.-based government organizations and agencies have a responsibility to carefully consider how potential domain names might impact the public and how they interact with government information and services.
As of the publication of M-23-22, "Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience," federal offices are required to host public-facing websites and digital services that are used for official communication on a .gov domain. Exceptions include some third-party social media tools, such as Facebook or LinkedIn.
At DOE, unique .gov domains are only approved for high-level, cross-cutting initiatives, and they are very rarely approved.
Learn more about the U.S. Department of Energy's .gov approval process on the DNS Policies and Procedures page, as well as Powerpedia's entry on requesting new domains.
- Example URL:
- energycodes.gov (CMEI Building Energy Codes Program)
To request a new top-level .gov, contact the CMEI Digital Team.
Federal executive branch agency requests for new .gov domains will be reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as required by M-23-10, "The Registration and Use of .gov Domains in the Federal Government."
When submitting a request, you must describe:
- What the domain will be used for
- Who the intended audience is for the domain, including primary users
- Why the specific domain name is needed and how it follows the naming requirements.
All domain requests must have the approval of the DOE Chief Information Officer, or the head of the agency.
In areas of domain name conflict, OMB will seek resolution with the agencies involved. OMB may deny a domain name request or a domain name renewal, or may request that an agency transfer ownership of an existing domain to another agency to remediate potential conflict or confusion. Agencies that do not follow the requirements and prohibitions below may have the relevant domain name transferred, terminated, or not renewed.
Best practices for agencies requesting domains include:
- Agencies should be careful when establishing domain names, as not all agency work warrants a separate brand or product identity.
- Generic names may not be approved when an agency lacks significant or singular authority over a thematic topic; or if the requested domain name could be ambiguous or likely to mislead or confuse the general public.
- Agencies should avoid requesting unnecessary domain name variants unless there is a compelling need.
- Agencies should strive to keep their domain name under 15 characters, and include only letters, numbers, or a hyphen
- As required by the DOTGOV Act, agencies must ensure that any website or digital service that uses a .gov domain name is in compliance with the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act.
More information on requirements for domain requests can be found on Get.gov.
- Agencies should be careful when establishing domain names, as not all agency work warrants a separate brand or product identity.
.Org Domains
.Org domains are available only for websites that are not part of a federal agency, are not funded by the DOE, or are developed through significant partnership arrangements with non-federal agencies. Special approval is required for these sites.
To request a new .org domain, contact the CMEI Digital Team. Note that CMEI does not approve websites on .com, .net, or other domains.
Additional Guidance
- OMB Memorandum 23-22, updating guidance to federal agencies on website branding and Internet domain use
- OMB Memorandum 23-10, updating guidance to federal agencies on the acceptable use and registration of Internet domain names, as required by the DOTGOV Online Trust in Government Act of 2020
- Executive Branch Agency Domain Requirements from Get.gov
- Powerpedia entry for requesting new .gov domains