[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 18 (Thursday, January 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4888-4890]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-1715]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. IC11-537-001]
Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-537); Comment
Request; Submitted for OMB Review
January 20, 2011.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of section 3507 of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507, the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) has submitted the
information collection described below to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for review of the information collection requirements. Any
interested person may file comments directly with OMB and should
address a copy of those comments to the Commission as explained below.
The Commission issued a Notice in the Federal Register (75 FR 64301,
10/19/2010) requesting public comments. FERC received no comments on
the FERC-537 and has made this notation in its submission to OMB.\1\
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\1\ OMB will not make a decision on this proceeding until after
30 days from the time it is received.
DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due by February
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28, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Address comments on the collection of information to the
Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Desk Officer.
Comments to Created by OMB should be filed electronically, c/o [email protected] and include OMB Control Number 1902-0060 for
reference. The Desk Officer may be reached by telephone at 202-395-
4638.
A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission and should refer to Docket No. IC11-537-001.
Comments may be filed either electronically or in paper format. Those
persons filing electronically do not need to make a paper filing.
Documents filed electronically via the Internet must be prepared in an
acceptable filing format and in compliance with the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission submission guidelines. Complete filing
instructions and acceptable filing formats are available at http://www.ferc.gov/help/submission-guide.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.
For paper filings, the comments should be submitted to the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, and should refer to Docket No. IC11-
537-001.
Users interested in receiving automatic notification of activity in
FERC Docket Number IC11-537 may do so through eSubscription at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp. All comments may be viewed,
printed or downloaded remotely via the Internet through FERC's homepage
using the ``eLibrary'' link. For user assistance, contact
[email protected] or toll-free at (866) 208-3676, or for TTY,
contact (202) 502-8659.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by e-mail
at [email protected], by telephone at (202) 502-8663, and by fax
at (202) 273-0873.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The information collected under the
requirements of FERC-537, ``Gas Pipeline Certificates: Construction,
Acquisition, and Abandonment'' (OMB Control No. 1902-0060), is used by
the Commission to implement the statutory provisions of the Natural Gas
Policy Act of 1978 (NGPA), 15 U.S.C. 3301-3432, and the Natural Gas Act
(NGA) (15 U.S.C. 717-717w). Under the NGA, natural gas pipeline
companies must obtain Commission authorization to undertake the
construction or extension of any facilities, or to acquire or operate
any such facilities or extensions in accordance with Section 7(c) of
the NGA. A natural gas company must also obtain Commission approval
under Section 7(b) of the NGA prior to
[[Page 4889]]
abandoning any jurisdictional facility or service. Under the NGA and
the NGPA, interstate and intrastate pipelines must also obtain
authorization for certain transportation and storage services and
arrangements, particularly a Part 284, Subpart G--Blanket Certificate
(18 CFR 284.8).
The information collected is necessary to certificate interstate
pipelines engaged in the transportation and sale of natural gas, and
the construction, acquisition, and operation of facilities to be used
in those activities, to authorize the abandonment of facilities and
services, and to authorize certain NGPA transactions. If a certificate
is granted, the natural gas company can construct, acquire, or operate
facilities, plus engage in interstate transportation or sale of natural
gas. Conversely, approval of an abandonment application permits the
pipeline to cease service and/or discontinue the operation of such
facilities. Authorization under NGPA Section 311(a) allows the
interstate or intrastate pipeline applicants to render certain
transportation services.
The data required to be submitted consists of identification of the
company and responsible officials, factors considered in the location
of the facilities and the detailed impact on the project area for
environmental considerations. Also to be submitted are the following:
Flow diagrams showing proposed design capacity for
engineering design verification and safety determination;
Commercial and economic data presenting the basis for the
proposed action; and
Cost of the proposed facilities, plans for financing, and
estimated revenues and expenses related to the proposed facility for
accounting and financial evaluation.
The Commission implements these filing requirements in the Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) under 18 CFR 157.5-.11; 157.13-.20; 157.53;
157.201-.209; 157.211; 157.214-.218; 284.8; 284.11; 284.126; 284.221;
284.224.\2\
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\2\ Sections 284.223 and 284.227 have been removed from this
Notice since they have no reporting or records burden.
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Action: The Commission is requesting a three-year extension of the
FERC-537 reporting requirements.
Burden Statement: The first table shows a summary of the burden for
this collection. Because the nature of the various filings that are
covered by FERC-537 are so varied, another table has been included to
give a more detailed description of the various elements of this burden
estimate:
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\3\ From detailed table: No. of Filings/No. of Respondents, or
775/225 = 3.44
\4\ A weighted average based on the information provided in the
detailed table.
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Average number
Number of of responses Average burden Total annual
FERC data collection respondents per respondent hours per burden hours
\3\ response \4\
(1) (2) (3) (1)x(2)x(3)
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FERC-537.................................... 225 3.44 133 102,942
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Details for FERC-537, ``Gas Pipeline Certificates: Construction,
Acquisition, and Abandonment,'' based on Fiscal Year 2010 information
and records:
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Avg. hours to
Regulation section 18 CFR * * * Regulation topic Number of Number of filings prepare a filing
respondents or responses or application
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157.5-.11; & 157.13-.20........ Interstate certificate 82 500
and abandonment
applications.
157.53......................... Exemptions............ 75 companies (25 10 100
different).
157.201-.209; 157.211; 157.214- Blanket Certificates 45 200
.218. prior notice filings.
157.201-.209; 157.211; 157.214- Blanket Certificates-- 145 companies 336 50
.218. annual reports. (145 different).
284.11......................... NGPA Sec. 311
Construction--annual
reports.
284.8.......................... Capacity Release-- 168.............. 168 75
recordkeeping.
284.126 (a)&(c)................ Intrastate bypass, 50 companies ( 50 100 30
semi annual different).
transportation &
storage--reports.
284.221........................ Blanket Certificates-- 20............... 20 100
one time filing, inc.
new tariff and rate
design proposal.
284.224........................ Hinshaw Blanket 2 ( 2 different). 2 75
Certificates.
157.5-.11; & 157.13-.20........ Non-facility 9 ( 3 different). 12 75
certificate or
abandonment
applications.
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TOTALS..................... ...................... 225 different.... 775 \1\ 133
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\1\ Average, weighted.
The total estimated annual cost burden to respondents is $6,823,570
(102,942 hours/2,080 hours \5\ per year, times $137,874 \6\).
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\5\ Estimated number of hours an employee works each year.
\6\ Estimated average annual cost per employee.
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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;
[[Page 4890]]
(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 estimates 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 collections 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. 2011-1715 Filed 1-26-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P