[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 90 (Tuesday, May 9, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 26828]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-11487]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC99-715-001, FERC Form No. 715]


Information Collection Submitted for Review and Request for 
Comments

May 3, 2000.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION:  Notice of submission for review by the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) has 
submitted the energy information collection listed in this notice to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review under provisions 
of Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-
13). Any interested person may file comments on the collection of 
information directly with OMB and should address a copy of those 
comments to the Commission, as explained below. The Commission received 
comments from eleven entities in response to an earlier Federal 
Register notice of August 20, 1999 (64 FR 45522-23) and has responded 
to those comments in this submission.

DATES: Comments regarding this collection are best assured of having 
their full effect if received on or before June 8, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Address comments to Office of Management and Budget, Office 
of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission Desk Officer, 725 17th Street N.W., Washington, 
D.C. 20503. A copy of the comments should also be sent to Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
Attention: Mr. Michael Miller, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 
20426. Mr. Miller may be reached by telephone at (202) 208-1415 and by 
e-mail at [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   

Description

    The energy information collection submitted to OMB for review 
contains:
    1. Collection of Information: FERC Form 715, ``Annual Transmission 
Planning and Evaluation Report.''
    2. Sponsor: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
    3. Control No.: 1902-0171. The Commission is now requesting that 
OMB approve a three year extension of the current expiration date, with 
no changes to the existing collection. This is a mandatory collection 
requirement.
    4. Necessity of Collection of Information: Submission of the 
information is necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its 
responsibilities in implementing provisions of Section 213 of the 
Federal Power Act. Section 213(b) requires the Commission to collect 
annually from transmitting utilities sufficient information about their 
transmission systems to inform potential transmission customers, state 
regulatory authorities, and the public of available transmission 
capacity and constraints. This information collection also supports the 
Commission's expanded responsibilities under Sections 211, 212, 304, 
307(a), 309 and 311 of the Federal Power Act as amended, for reviewing 
reliability issues, market structure relationships, for rate and other 
regulatory proceedings.
    5. Respondent Description: The respondent universe currently 
comprises approximately 117 public utilities. There are 273 regulated 
transmitting utilities, however, many of these utilities submit some or 
all of the information through their North American Electric 
Reliability Council (NERC) regions. With three exceptions, power flow 
base cases are filed by each utility's NERC region, a total of nine 
regions. The descriptions of each utility's transmission planning 
assessment practices, including how reliability criteria are applied, 
the descriptions of the transmission planning reliability criteria used 
to evaluate system performance, system maps and diagrams are submitted 
separately by 117 respondents.
    6. Estimated Burden: 18,720 total burden hours, 117 respondents, 1 
response annually, 160 hours per response.

    Statutory Authority: Sections 213 of the FPA (16 U.S.C. 8241) 
and Sections 211, 212, 304, 307(a), 309, and 311 of the Federal 
Power Act (FPA). (16 U.S.C. 824j-825(i)).

David P. Boergers,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-11487 Filed 5-8-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M