[Federal Register: February 11, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 28)]
[Notices]
[Page 7725-7726]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11fe08-44]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. IC08-561-000; FERC Form 561]
Commission Information Collection Activities, Proposed
Collection; Comment Request; Extension
February 1, 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 April 7, 2008.
ADDRESSES: An example of this information collection can be obtained
from the Commission's Documents & Filing Web site (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filings/elibrary.asp
) or by contacting 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. IC08-561-000.
Documents filed electronically via the Internet must be prepared in
an acceptable filing format and in compliance with the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission's submission guidelines. Complete filing
instructions and acceptable filing formats are available at (http://www.ferc.gov/help/submission-guide/electronic-media.asp
). To file the
document electronically, access the Commission's Web site and click on
Documents & Filing, E-Filing (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp
), 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 acknowledgement to the sender's e-
mail address upon receipt of comments.
All comments may be viewed, printed or downloaded remotely via the
Internet 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 Form 561 ``Annual Report of Interlocking
Positions'' (OMB No. 1902-0099) is used by the Commission to implement
the statutory provisions of section 305 of the Federal Power Act (FPA),
as amended by Title II, section 211 of the Public Utility Regulatory
Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) (16 U.S.C. 825d). FPA section 305--
Officials Dealing in Securities--Interlocking Directorates requires the
annual reporting by public utility officers and directors of similar
types of positions they hold with financial institutions, insurance
companies, utility equipment and fuel providers, and with any of an
electric utility's twenty largest purchasers of electric energy.\1\ The
FPA mandates the information that must be filed, the required filers,
the requirement to make the information available to the public, and
the filing deadline. The Commission is not empowered to amend or waive
these statutory requirements. Requirements the Commission has the
authority to amend, such as filing format and method, can be found in
18 CFR part 46 and section 131.31.
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\1\ Annual Report of a Utility's Twenty Largest Purchasers,
FERC-566, OMB No. 1902-0114, collects information from the twenty
largest purchasers.
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Without this information collection, the Commission and the public
would not be able to inquire into and determine whether public or
private interests will be adversely affected by the holding of such
positions.
Under the current OMB authorization, the Commission requires the
FERC Form 561 filings in hardcopy with an optional diskette containing
a spreadsheet of the interlocking directorate information. However, the
Commission has indicated under RM07-16-000,\2\ to allow for the
voluntary electronic submittal of many required filings, including the
FERC Form 561, by early 2008. Through eFiling 7.0, the form will be
filed in Adobe Acrobat with an optional electronic spreadsheet
attachment. Implementation of eFiling 7.0 will eliminate the current
burden of mailing and hand-delivering the filings in hardcopy.
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\2\ Filing Via the Internet, RM07-16-000, 72 FR 65659 (2007),
FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,259.
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Action: The Commission is requesting a three-year extension of the
current expiration date, and proposes to make the filing of the FERC
Form 561 more efficient during 2008 under RM07-16-000.
Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this collection is
estimated as:
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Number of
responses Average Total annual
Number of respondents annually per burden hours burden hours
respondent per response
(1) (2) (3) (1)x(2)x(3)
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1996.......................... 1 .25 499
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The estimated total cost to respondents is $21,516. [499 hours
divided by 2080 hours \3\ per year, times $126,384 \4\ equals $30,320].
The cost per respondent is $15 (rounded off).
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\3\ Number of hours an employee works each year.
\4\ Average annual salary per employee.
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[[Page 7726]]
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, using 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 filing 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 cost estimate 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) The accuracy of the agency's burden
estimate of the proposed information collection, including the validity
of the methodology and assumptions used to calculate the reporting
burden; (2) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (3) the proposal to provide the option
to collect FERC Form 561 electronically by late 2007, as proposed under
RM07-16-000 and any reduction in burden that option might allow filers.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-2410 Filed 2-8-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P