[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 176 (Tuesday, September 11, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47189-47192]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-22700]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of Energy 
(DOE).

ACTION: Agency information collection activities: proposed collection; 
comment request.

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SUMMARY: The EIA is soliciting comments on the proposed revisions and 
three-year extension to Form EIA-417R, ``Electric Power System 
Emergency Report.''

DATES: Comments must be filed on or before November 13, 2001. If you 
anticipate difficulty in submitting comments within that period, 
contact the person listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to John W. Makens, Electric Power Division 
(EI-53.1), Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of 
Energy, 1000 Independence Ave. SW., Washington, D.C. 20585-0690. 
Alternatively, Mr. Makens may be contacted by telephone at (202) 287-
1749, FAX at (202) 586-1934, or e-mail at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of forms and instructions should be directed to Mr. Makens at 
the address listed above. Any comments will also be shared with the DOE 
Program Office and reviewed by Mr. James P. Mackey, Office of Emergency 
Operations (SO-413), Forrestal Building, U.S.

[[Page 47190]]

Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20585. Alternatively, Mr. Mackey 
may be contacted by FAX at (202) 586-3859, or e-mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
II. Current Actions
III. Request for Comments

I. Background

    The Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-275, 15 
U.S.C. 761 et seq.) and the Department of Energy Organization Act (Pub. 
L. 95-91, 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) require the EIA to carry out a 
centralized, comprehensive, and unified energy information program. 
This program collects, evaluates, assembles, analyzes, and disseminates 
information on energy resource reserves, production, demand, 
technology, and related economic and statistical information. This 
information is used to assess the adequacy of energy resources to meet 
near and longer term domestic demands.
    The Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.) authorizes the DOE 
to collect information on the generation, distribution, and 
transmission of electric energy. The DOE collects information on 
emergency situations in electric energy supply systems so that 
appropriate Federal emergency response measures can be implemented in a 
timely and effective manner.
    The EIA, as part of its effort to comply with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), provides 
the general public and other Federal agencies with opportunities to 
comment on collections of energy information conducted by or in 
conjunction with the EIA. Any comments received help the EIA to prepare 
data requests that maximize the utility of the information collected, 
and to assess the impact of collection requirements on the public. 
Also, the EIA will later seek approval by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) under Section 3507(a) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995.
    The purpose of this Notice is to seek public comment on the revised 
Form EIA-417R used for reporting to DOE by the electric industry on 
electric emergency incidents and disturbances. The Department's Office 
of Emergency Operations (OEO) will use this form to obtain current 
information regarding emergency situations on the electric energy 
supply systems in the United States \1\ so that appropriate Federal 
emergency response and national security measures can be implemented in 
a timely and effective manner. EIA will also use the form to 
consolidate monthly statistical information about electric power 
emergency incidents and disturbances. Other potential data uses include 
the development of legislative recommendations; reports to the 
Congress; and coordination of Federal efforts regarding activities such 
as incidents/disturbances in critical infrastructure protection; 
continuity of electric industry operations; and the continuity of 
operations of the government.
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    \1\ This includes all 50 States, District of Columbia, Puerto 
Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Trust Territories.
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    The information submitted may also be used by the Department's 
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Office of Policy 
and International Affairs, Energy Information Administration, and 
Office of Emergency Operations to conduct after-action investigations 
on significant interruptions to the reliability of electric power. This 
would be in accordance with Departmental authorities for such 
investigations in the Federal Power Act.
    The Form EIA-417R was initially developed in the 1980's. Since that 
time many changes have occurred in the electric power industry and 
Government. Today's trends in the electric power industry include 
deregulation, competition, open markets and enterprise management 
systems. The Nation's role in the world's digital economy demands 
improved power reliability and quality that Government has a 
responsibility to assure. This is substantially different from 5 or 10 
years ago. Information technology has (1) changed the way the Nation's 
business is transacted, (2) the way government operates, and (3) the 
way national defense is conducted. These three functions now depend on 
interdependent networks of physical and information infrastructures, 
the key one of which is reliable electric power. The Form EIA-417R 
reports will enable the Department to monitor electric emergency 
incidents and disturbances so Government may help prevent the physical 
or virtual disruption of the operation of any critical infrastructure.
    Currently, DOE uses Form EIA-417R, ``Electric Power System 
Emergency Report,'' to monitor major system incidents on electric power 
systems. The information is used to meet DOE national security 
responsibilities and requirements contained in the Federal Response 
Plan. The information may also be used in developing legislative 
recommendations and reports to Congress.
    The existing Form EIA-417R was codified under 10 CFR part 205.350-
353. Upon completion of the approval process for the new form, these 
regulations will no longer be necessary and it is the U.S. Department 
of Energy's intention to rescind the regulations at that time. The 
authority to conduct special investigations still applies under the 
Federal Power Act and allows such investigations. The Department of 
Energy Organization Act of 1977 and the Federal Energy Administration 
Act of 1974 also allow such investigations.

II. Current Actions

    The DOE is proposing to revise the Form EIA-417R reporting 
requirements. The revisions include the following changes: (1) The name 
and number of the form; (2) what electric emergency incidents must be 
reported; (3) who must report incidents; (4) the entities with whom the 
form must be filed; (5) how soon after an incident must the form be 
submitted; and (6), the data to be reported. Each revision is discussed 
below.
    (1) The ``Form EIA-417R'' report number will be changed to Form 
EIA-417. The new designation will clearly indicated that the Form is 
independent of the regulations and the title will change from, 
``Electric Power System Emergency Report,'' to ``Electric Emergency 
Incident and Disturbance Report.'' The report will still monitor major 
incidents on electric power systems. The title change reflects that 
this report represents the initial notification to the Federal 
Government about potential impacts of incidents on electrical system 
operations. In addition, the form provides for reporting an alert 
describing actual events that have had an impact on electrical 
operations. The form will be divided into Parts A and B.
    (2) The proposed Form EIA-417 will shift most reporting to a simple 
check-off that identifies known information about an incident. In the 
existing form, check-off boxes are not categorized. For the proposed 
form, the check-off boxes are now grouped by events that describe: Type 
of Emergency, Cause of Incident, and Actions Taken. The respondent will 
mark the form to indicate all known or suspected causes. In addition, a 
check-off box has been added to indicate the location of a disturbance, 
and another box was added for the respondent to provide its tracking 
identification number for the incident.
    (3) The Department is also proposing to reduce the number of 
reporting entities from over 3,300 to approximately 200 reporting 
entities--NERC established Control Area

[[Page 47191]]

Operators \2\ (CAOs) or replacement entities, the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission established Independent System Operators (ISOs) 
and Regional Transmission Organizations \3\ (RTOs) and the NERC 
established Security Coordinators \4\. However, there are special 
investigations of incidents affecting the electric power industry that 
will be initiated by DOE, which will involve more that just CAOs, ISOs/
RTOs and Security Coordinators. Any utility, business entity, or energy 
concern that participates in the electric power industry could be 
notified by DOE that it needs to provide technical information 
concerning a particular incident.\5\ These special investigations are 
infrequent and reports are released to the public.\6\ Reporting 
coverage for the Form EIA-417 includes all 50 States, District of 
Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Trust 
Territories.
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    \2\ There are less than 150 CAOs and with the restructuring of 
the Electric Power Industry the count is expected to drop. Their 
responsibilities for the various operations will be reassigned to a 
smaller count of scheduling centers and dispatch centers in the 
future under proposed new industry practices. This form will address 
these changes and the smaller number of future respondents.
    \3\ There are currently 5 operational ISOs and 1 approved for 
operations. These will become RTOs under FERC Order 2000. At this 
time the FERC has also taken jurisdictional actions to establish the 
number of future RTOs at 4. (These proposed RTOs will cover the 
Northeast, West, South, and Midwest of the contiguous U.S.)
    \4\ There are 23 Security Coordinators spread across the U.S. 
Many of the physical facility sites that operate or will operate the 
electric power industry, will handle one or more of the NERC 
established operational activities; so the total count of 
respondents will be lower.
    \5\ Current authority is 10 CFR part 205.350-353. However, this 
is under the Federal Power Act. The Federal Energy Administration 
Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-275) and the DOE Organization Act (Pub. L. 
No. 95-91) provide additional authorities.
    \6\ the Department of Energy has initiated three special studies 
about incidents that happened in the 1990s and none in the 1980s. 
The three studies are: The Cold Weather Snap of 1992; The Electric 
Power Outages in the Western United States, July 2-3, 1996 (DOE/PO-
0050); and the Report of the U.S. Department of Energy's Power 
Outage Study Team (DOE/PO--March 2000 Final Report).
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    (4) The data will still be filed with the U.S. Department of 
Energy's Emergency Operations Center. This DOE facility operates 24 
hours a-day, 7-days a week. Electronic submission is the preferred 
method of notification. Fax, e-mail, and telephone contract are also 
accepted. The information will be shared in a timely fashion with the 
U.S. Department of Justice (cyber threat--sabotage) and the North 
American Electric Reliability Council (real-time reliability 
operations). The proposed report is intended to reduce duplicative 
reporting and establish a common reporting format.
    (5) For routine events and/or expectations of a problem, the timing 
for filing the initial report is up to 1 hour after occurrence of the 
event. The time estimated to complete Part A of Form EIA-417 (the alert 
notice) should be less than 10 minutes. When the event is having a 
critical impact on operational events, industry must balance its 
operational requirements during the incident with this mandatory 1 hour 
reporting requirement to the DOE. In such instances, telephonic 
notification to the DOE 24x7 Emergency Operations Center within 1 hour 
is acceptable (202 586-8100) pending submission of the written Part A 
notification. In light of the DOE national security and emergency 
responsibilities, this one hour window to report such incidents will 
give a timely alert notice and allow DOE to start tracking this event.
    (6) In Part A, the events in the Type of Emergency check-off box 
categories have been expanded to include major transmission system and 
distribution system interruption and inadequate generation supply. For 
the Cause category, boxes for weather or natural disaster, inadequate 
electric resources to serve load, equipment failure, malicious or 
intentional disruption of communications and/or computer support 
systems, system operator action, and unknown causes have been added. 
The Actions Taken category has added check-off boxes to identify: (1) 
If interruptible load was shed; (2) if a warning alert has been 
released or if the respondent has implemented its contingency plan; and 
(3) if the electrical system has been repaired or restored. In 
addition, the check-off box, ``Other'' was added to allow the 
respondent to identify that something is uncertain and is also intended 
to cover all other events, which are too unusual, abnormal, or 
unforeseeable to be listed as separate items. The use of the ``Other'' 
category provides an option to address uncertainties; thereby not 
delaying the report. The narrative filing submitted under the Form EIA-
417, Part B provides the opportunity to clarify the meaning of the mark 
in the ``Other'' check-off box.

Confidentiality

    DOE will consider the entire narrative on Form EIA-417, Part B, as 
confidential. The requested information will provide a brief 
description of the incident or expected system problem and actions 
taken to resolve it. If released, this could affect the economic 
operations of various electricity markets; cause competitive harm; and/
or identify concerns that could be or are being reviewed by law 
enforcement agencies. It is proposed that the release of any narrative 
information be subject to a 6-month delay to mitigate market concerns. 
Other portions of the narrative description will be reviewed and may be 
released later as part of a national summary, in which the information 
provided does not disclose the identity of the respondent or 
geographical location.
    The following is the provision for confidentiality of information 
for data in the possession of DOE that will be applied to the data 
submitted in the narrative in Part B. The information contained on this 
form may also be made available, upon request, to another component of 
the Department of Energy (DOE), to any Committee of Congress, the 
General Accounting Office, or other Congressional agencies authorized 
by law to receive such information. A court of competent jurisdiction 
may obtain this information in response to an order.
    The information contained on this form will be kept confidential 
and not disclosed to the public to the extent that it satisfies the 
criteria for exemption in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 
U.S.C. 552, the DOE regulations 10 CFR 1004.11, implementing the FOIA, 
and the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1905.
    Upon receipt of a request for this information under the FOIA, the 
DOE shall make a final determination whether the information is exempt 
from disclosure in accordance with the procedures and criteria provided 
in the regulations. To assist us in this determination, respondents 
will be asked by DOE to demonstrate to the DOE that, for example, their 
information contains trade secrets or commercial or financial 
information, whose release would be likely to cause substantial harm to 
their company's competitive position. A respondent's letter 
accompanying the submission that explains (on an element-by-element 
basis) the reasons why the information would be likely to cause the 
respondent substantial competitive harm, if released to the public, 
would aid in this determination. A new justification does not need to 
be provided each time information is submitted on the form, if the 
company has previously submitted a justification for that information 
and the justification has not changed.

III. Request for Comments

    Prospective respondents and other interested parties should comment 
on the actions discussed in item II. The following guidelines are 
provided to assist in the preparation of comments.

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General Issues

    A. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency and does the 
information have practical utility? Practical utility is defined as the 
actual usefulness of information to or for an agency, taking into 
account its accuracy, adequacy, reliability, timeliness, and the 
agency's ability to process the information it collects.
    B. What enhancements can be made to the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected?

As a Potential Respondent to the Request for Information

    A. Are the instructions and definitions clear and sufficient? If 
not, which instructions need clarification?
    B. Can the information be submitted by the due date?
    C. Public reporting burden for this collection is estimated to 
average 10 minutes for the initial report (Part A) and 2 hours to cover 
any detailed reporting (Part B) that would be filed later (up to 48 
hours), if required because of the on-going tracking of a significant 
incident. In your opinion, how accurate is this estimate?
    D. The agency estimates that the only cost to a respondent is for 
the time it will take to complete the collection. Will a respondent 
incur any start-up costs for reporting, or any recurring annual costs 
for operation, maintenance, and purchase of services associated with 
the information collection?
    E. What additional actions could be taken to minimize the burden of 
this collection of information? Such actions may involve the use of 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    F. Does any other Federal, State, or local agency collect similar 
information? If so, specify the agency, the data element(s), and the 
methods of collection.
    H. Is the proposed treatment for narrative information as 
confidential appropriate? Is it appropriate for another data element? 
If so, then specify the data element(s) and provide an explanation for 
the proposed confidential status. Is the delayed release of information 
effective in addressing competitive market concerns?

As a Potential User of the Information to be Collected

    A. Is the information useful at the levels of detail to be 
collected?
    B. For what purpose(s) would the information be used? Be specific.
    C. Are there alternate sources for the information and are they 
useful? If so, what are their weaknesses and/or strengths?
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the form. They also 
will become a matter of public record.

    Statutory Authority: Section 3507(h)(1) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

    Issued in Washington, D.C., September 5, 2001.
Jay H. Casselberry,
Agency Clearance Officer, Statistics and Methods Group, Energy 
Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 01-22700 Filed 9-10-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P