[Federal Register: January 30, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 20)]
[Notices]
[Page 5529-5531]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30ja08-44]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. IC08-600-000; FERC-600]
Commission Information Collection Activities, Proposed
Collection; Comment Request; Extension
January 22, 2008.
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 (Pub. L. No. 104-13), 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 March 31,
2008.
ADDRESSES: Copies of sample filings of the proposed collection of
information can be obtained from the Commission's Web site (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filings/elibrary.asp
) or from the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, Attn: Michael Miller, Office of the Executive
Director, ED-34, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. Comments
may be filed either in paper format or electronically. Those parties
filing electronically do not need to make a paper filing. For paper
filing, the original and 14 copies of such comments should be submitted
to the Secretary of the Commission, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426 and refer to
Docket No. IC08-600-000.
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
, choose the Documents & Filings tab, click on eFiling,
then follow the instructions given. First time users will have to
establish a user name and password. The Commission will send an
automatic acknowledgement to the sender's e-mail address upon receipt
of comments.
All comments may be viewed, printed or downloaded remotely via the
Internet
[[Page 5530]]
through FERC's homepage using the eLibrary link. For user 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-600 ``Rules of Practice and Procedure: Complaint
Procedures'' (OMB No. 1902-0180) is used by the Commission to implement
the statutory provisions of the Federal Power Act (FPA), 16 U.S.C.
791a-825r; the Natural Gas Act (NGA), 15 U.S.C. 717-717w; the Natural
Gas Policy Act (NGPA), 15 U.S.C. 3301-3432, the Public Utility
Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA), 16 U.S.C. 2601-2645; the
Interstate Commerce Act, 49 U.S.C. App. Sec. 1, et seq., the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 1301-1356 and the Energy Policy
Act of 2005, (Pub. L. 109-58) 119 Stat. 594.
With respect to the natural gas industry, section 14(a) of the NGA
provides: The Commission may permit any person to file with it a
statement in writing, under oath or otherwise, as it shall determine,
as to any or all facts and circumstances concerning a matter which may
be the subject of an investigation.
For public utilities, section 205(e) of the FPA provides: Whenever
any such new schedule is filed, the Commission shall have the
authority, either upon complaint or upon its own initiative without
complaint at once, and, if it so orders, without answer or formal
pleading by the public utility, but upon reasonable notice to enter
upon hearing concerning the lawfulness of such rate, charge,
classification, or service; and pending such hearing and decision of
the Commission. * * *
Section 215(d)(5) of the FPA provides: The Commission, upon its own
motion or upon complaint, may order the Electric Reliability
Organization to submit to the Commission a proposed reliability
standard or a modification to a reliability standard that addresses a
specific matter if the Commission considers such a new or modified
reliability standard appropriate to carry out this section. * * *
Concerning hydropower projects, section 19 of the FPA provides: * *
* it is agreed as a condition of such license that jurisdiction is
hereby conferred upon the Commission, upon complaint of any person
aggrieved or upon its own initiative, to exercise such regulation and
control until such time as the State shall have provided a commission
or other authority for such regulation and control. * * *
For qualifying facilities, section 210(h)(2)(B) of PURPA provides:
Any electric utility, qualifying cogenerator, or qualifying small power
producer may petition the Commission to enforce the requirements of
subsection (f) as provided in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.
Likewise for oil pipelines, Part 1 of the Interstate Commerce Act
(ICA), sections 1, 6 and 15 (recodified by Pub. L. 95-473 and found as
an appendix to Title 49 U.S.C.) the Commission is authorized to
investigate the rates charged by oil pipeline companies subject to its
jurisdiction. If a proposed oil rate has been filed and allowed by the
Commission to go into effect without suspension and hearing, the
Commission can investigate the effective rate on its own motion or by
complaint filed with the Commission. Section 13 of the ICA provided
that: Any person, firm, corporation, company or association, or any
mercantile, agricultural, or manufacturing society or other
organization, or any common carrier subject to the provisions of this
chapter in contravention of the provisions thereof, may apply to the
Commission by petition which shall briefly state the facts: whereupon a
statement of the complaint thus made shall be forwarded by the
Commission to such common carrier, who shall be called upon to satisfy
the complaint, or to answer the same in writing, within a reasonable
time, to be specified by the Commission. * * *
In Order No. 602, 64 FR 17087 (April 8, 1999), the Commission
revised its regulations governing complaints filed with the Commission
under the above statutes. Order No. 602 was designed to encourage and
support consensual resolution of complaints, and to organize the
complaint procedures so that all complaints are handled in a timely and
fair manner. In order to achieve the latter, the Commission revised
Rule 206 of its Rules of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.206) to
require that a complaint satisfy certain informational requirements,
that answers be filed in a shorter, 20-day time frame, and that parties
may employ various types of alternative dispute resolution procedures
to resolve complaints.
In Order No. 647, 69FR 32436 (June 10, 2004), the Commission
revised its regulations to simplify the formats it requires for various
types of notices. These revisions provide for a more uniform formatting
and make it easier for the Commission to update the form of notice
formatting without the necessity of initiating a rulemaking for every
change. A new subsection 18 CFR 385.203(d) replaced the former format
requirements. Among the provisions that were affected by these
revisions was 18 CFR 385.206(b)(10).
On September 9, 2005, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
approved the reporting requirements contained in FERC-600 for a term of
three years, the maximum period permissible under the Paperwork
Reduction Act \1\ before an information collection must be resubmitted
for approval. As noted above this notice seeks public comments in order
for the Commission to submit a justification to OMB to approve and
extend the current expiration date of the FERC-600 reporting
requirements. The data in complaints filed by interested/affected
parties regarding oil and natural gas pipeline operations, electric and
hydropower facilities in their applications for rate changes, service,
licensing or reliability are used by the Commission in establishing a
basis for various investigations and to make an initial determination
regarding the merits of the complaint.
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\1\ Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, P.L. 104-13, October 1,
1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.
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Investigations may range from whether there is undue discrimination
in rates or service to questions regarding market power of regulated
entities to environmental concerns. In order to make a better
determination, it is important to know the specifics of any oil, gas,
electric, and hydropower complaint ``upfront'' in a timely manner and
in sufficient detail to allow the Commission to act swiftly. In
addition, such complaint data will help the Commission and interested
parties to monitor the market for exercises of market power or undue
discrimination. The information is voluntary but submitted with
prescribed information. The Commission implements these filing
requirements in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) under 18 CFR Part
385, Sec. Sec. 385.206, 385.203 and 385.213.
ACTION: The Commission is requesting a three-year extension of the
current expiration date, with no changes to the existing collection of
data.
[[Page 5531]]
Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this collection is
estimated as:
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Number of Number of Average burden
respondents responses per hours per Total annual
annually respondent response burden hours
(1) (2) (3) (1)x(2)x(3)
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81* 1 14 1,134
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* Represents three year averages (2005-2007) #Rounded off.
Estimated cost burden to respondents is $68,904. (1,134 hours/2080
hours per year times $126,384 per year average per employee = $68,904).
The cost per respondent is $861. There is a significant decrease in the
number of respondents and number of filings since the last renewal
request. However, the cost per respondent has increased to reflect
adjustments due to inflationary costs.
The reporting burden includes the total time, effort, or financial
resources expended to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide
the information including: (1) 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, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms
of information technology e.g. permitting electronic submission of
responses.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-1594 Filed 1-29-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P