[Federal Register: May 13, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 93)]
[Notices]
[Page 26561-26562]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13my04-39]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[IC04-555-000, FERC-555]
Commission Information Collection Activities, Proposed
Collection; Comment Request; Extension
May 4, 2004.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DoE.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of Section 3506(c)(2)(a)
of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is soliciting public
comment on the specific aspects of the information collection described
below.
DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due by July 6,
2004.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the proposed collection of information can be
obtained from Michael Miller, Office of the Executive Director, ED-30,
888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426. Comments may be filed
either in paper format or electronically. Those persons filing
electronically do not need to make a paper filing. For paper filings,
the original and 14 copies of such comments should be submitted to the
Office of the Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426 and should refer to Docket No.
IC04-555-000.
Documents filed electronically via the Internet must be prepared in
WordPerfect, MS Word, Portable Document Format, or ASCII format. To
file the document, access the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov
and click on ``Make an E-filing,'' and then follow the
instructions for each screen. First time users will have to establish a
user name and password. The Commission will send an automatic
acknowledgment to the sender's E-mail address upon receipt of comments.
User assistance for electronic filings is available at 202-502-8258 or
by e-mail to efiling@ferc.gov. Comments should not be submitted to the
e-mail address.
All comments are available for review at the Commission or may be
viewed on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov, using the
`eLibrary' link. Enter the docket number excluding the last three
digits in the docket number field to access the document. For
assistance, contact FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or toll-free at (866)
208-3676 or for TTY, contact (202) 502-8659.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Miller may be reached by
telephone at (202) 502-8415, by fax at (202) 273-0873, and by e-mail at
michael.miller@ferc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The information collected under the
requirements of FERC-555 ``Records Retention Requirements'' (OMB No.
1902-00098) is used by the Commission to implement the statutory
provisions of Sections 301, 304 and 309 of the Federal Power Act (FPA)
(16 U.S.C. 825, 825c and 825h), Sections 8, 10 and 16 of the Natural
Gas Act (NGA) (15 U.S.C. 717-
[[Page 26562]]
717w), and Section 20 of the Interstate Commerce Act (ICA, 49 U.S.C.
20).
The regulations for preservation of records establish retention
periods, necessary guidelines and requirements to sustain retention of
applicable records for the regulated public utilities, natural gas and
oil pipeline companies subject to FERC's jurisdiction. These records
will be used by the regulated companies as the basis for their required
rate filings and reports for the Commission. In addition, the records
will be used by the Commission's audit staff during compliance reviews,
by enforcement staff during investigations and for special analyses as
deemed necessary by the Commission. The records retained by
jurisdictional companies as directed by the Commission are the result
of a mandatory requirement.
On January 8, 1999 the Commission issued AI99-2-000, an Accounting
Issuance providing guidance on records storage media. Specifically,
FERC gave each jurisdictional company the flexibility to select its own
storage media. The storage media selected must have a life expectancy
equal to the applicable record period unless the quality of the data
transferred from one media to another with no loss of data would exceed
the record period.
On January 27, 2000, FERC issued a final rule amending its records
retention regulations for public utilities and licensees, natural gas
and oil pipeline companies. These changes included revising the general
instructions, shortening various records retention periods. The final
rule's objective was to reduce or eliminate burdensome and unnecessary
regulatory requirements. FERC anticipated a reduction of 679,800 hours.
OMB questioned FERC's estimates of the anticipated reduction and so the
existing estimates 1,236,000 for 515 respondents remained on OMB's
inventory. (Using these existing figures, the total hours per
respondent for recordkeeping purposes equals 2,400 hours.)
It has been over three years since Order No. 617 took effect on
January 1, 2001 and there has been sufficient time for jurisdictional
companies to implement the final rule's provisions. Therefore, in
responding to this notice, FERC is interested in knowing if the
jurisdictional companies have obtained substantial reductions in the
recordkeeping burden for maintaining their records under the revised
retention periods. In addition, the Commission is interested in
learning if and what savings were achieved by jurisdictional companies
by freeing up storage space formerly used for retaining records. The
Commission implements these filing requirements in the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) under 18 CFR Parts 125, 225 and 356.
Action: The Commission is requesting a three-year approval of these
recordkeeping requirements, with no changes to the existing collection
of data.
Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this collection is
estimated as:
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Number of Average burden
Number of respondents annually responses per hours per Total annual
respondent * response burden hours
(1) (2) (3) (1)x(2)x(3)
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515.......................................................... 1 \1\ 2,402 \2\ 1,236,896
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\1\ Rounded off.
\2\ includes documentation recordkeeping requirements of Order No. 634.
Estimated cost burden to respondents: 1,236,896 hours/2,080 hours
per year x $107,185 per year = $63,738,797. The cost per respondent is
equal to $123,765.
The reporting burden includes the total time, effort, or financial
resources expended to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide
the information including:
Reviewing instructions; (2) developing, acquiring, installing,
and utilizing technology and systems for the purposes of collecting,
validating, verifying, processing, maintaining, disclosing and
providing information; (3) adjusting the existing ways to comply
with any previously applicable instructions and requirements;
(4) training personnel to respond to a collection of
information; (5) searching data sources; (6) completing and
reviewing the collection of information; and (7) transmitting, or
otherwise disclosing the information.
The estimate of cost for respondents is based upon salaries for
professional and clerical support, as well as direct and indirect
overhead costs. Direct costs include all costs directly attributable to
providing this information, such as administrative costs and the cost
for information technology. Indirect or overhead costs are costs
incurred by an organization in support of its mission. These costs
apply to activities which benefit the whole organization rather than
any one particular function or activity.
Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the Commission, including whether the information will have practical
utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality,
utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are
to respond.
Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E4-1108 Filed 5-12-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P