[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 187 (Wednesday, September 26, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49170-49171]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-24016]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC01-721-001, FERC-721]


Public Information Collection Approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget

September 20, 2001.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) has 
received Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for the 
following public information collection

[[Page 49171]]

pursuant to the requirements of Section 3507(j)(1)of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. No.104-13), and 5 CFR 1320.13 of OMB's 
regulations. An agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not 
required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid control number.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jack Silverman, Office of the General 
Counsel, (legal), (202)208-2078; Joseph Cholka, Office of Markets 
Tariffs and Rates, (technical), (202)208-2414; Michael Miller, Office 
of the Chief Information Officer, (information policy), (202)208-1415; 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, 
DC 20426.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0187.
    Expiration Date: 01/31/2002.
    Title: Reporting of Natural Gas Sales to California.
    Respondents: Businesses or other for -profit.
    Estimated annual burden: 89 Respondents; 208 hours per response 
(avg.); 534 responses; 19,847 total hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and/or Recordkeeping cost: $2,2334,570.
    Frequency of Response: Monthly.
    Obligation to Respond: Mandatory.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 25, 2001, (66 FR 40245-81, August 2, 
2001) the Commission issued an Order in Docket No. RM01-09-000 imposing 
reporting requirements for natural gas sales to and in the California 
market. The reporting requirements are being implemented as a result of 
comments in response to an earlier order of May 18, 2001 (66 FR29121-
24, May 29, 2001) issued after the filing of several complaints with 
the Commission on the price increases of natural gas in California. The 
prices in California rose dramatically and exceeded the increases in 
other markets. FERC-721 is intended to provide the Commission with the 
necessary information to determine what action if any, it should take 
within its jurisdiction, with respect to the price of natural gas sold 
in the California market. The Commission intends to collect information 
on the volumes, and prices of sales to the California market including 
transportation rates, the daily operational capacity of pipelines to, 
and in the California market, and the actual volumes flowing to, and in 
California, plus gas sales and transportation requirements of local 
distribution companies.
    The information is to assist the Commission in carrying out its 
regulatory responsibilities. First, it will help the Commission 
determine what part of the problem, if any, is within the scope of its 
jurisdiction. The information proposed to be collected will give the 
Commission an accurate picture of overall average gas costs being 
incurred by all purchasers of natural gas moving into the California 
market. The information to be collected will also enable the Commission 
to determine the extent to which the cost of interstate transportation, 
which is subject to the Commission's jurisdiction, affects the price 
for the gas commodity at the California border.
    Accordingly, because the Commission requires the information as 
soon as possible, the Commission will require submission of the 
information on a monthly basis, to be submitted 30 days after the end 
of each month, for the six months commencing August 1, 2001 and ending 
January 31, 2002. The first report will be due October 1, 2001.
    As indicated in both the July 25 order and in its request for 
emergency processing and OMB approval, the Commission stated that it 
would undertake a separate action to request OMB approval to extend the 
reporting period to September 30, 2002, to coincide with the 
termination of the Commission's June 19, 2001 California electric power 
mitigation order. In its approval of the Commission's request for 
emergency processing, OMB stated several conditions that would have to 
be met before a submission was made to extend the reporting 
requirements. These conditions have been listed below to inform the 
public. They are as follows:

Terms of Clearance

    The FERC Information Collection Request, titled ``Reporting of 
Natural Gas Sales to the California Market,'' is approved through 1/31/
02. Should FERC decide to resubmit the ICR for renewal, it must address 
the practical utility and burden issues described below. FERC should 
include an explicit discussion of the way in which it addresses these 
issues as part of its supporting statement.
    (1) Practical Utility: The order requires detailed transaction 
information on gas sales to California--that is, a daily reporting of 
price and quantity for each component of gas sold to the California 
market. Several commenters have reported that they do not maintain the 
data in a way that allows them to disaggregate price/quantity 
information in this way. Based on the comments, we are concerned that 
this data collection would require significant data manipulation by the 
industry in order to respond to the request. The resulting 
disaggregation is likely to be artificial--and therefore not reliable 
for individual transactions--and respondents are likely to vary in 
their choice of method for disaggregating transactions * * * Given the 
potential data quality problems associated with disaggregated reporting 
and the questionable need for the disaggregated data, we are concerned 
that such data may have little practical utility. Should FERC decide to 
resubmit the ICR for renewal, it should justify its decision to 
continue to require reporting at a disaggregated level.
    (2) Burden: Commenters also believe FERC has significantly 
underestimated the burden. In particular, the commenters indicated that 
they would likely have to hire additional staff in order to respond to 
the data request because of the significant manipulation required to 
provide data in the format FERC is requesting. After consulting with 
respondents, FERC should evaluate its burden estimates for reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements. FERC should provide a list of the 
names, affiliations, and phone numbers of the respondents it contacted.

Document Availability

    The data templates for FERC-721 are available as Excel spreadsheets 
on the Commission's website under ``Bulk Power Markets'', ``Order 
Imposing Reporting Requirements on Natural Gas Sales to California 
Market, RM01-9, issued 7/25/01'', http://www.ferc.gov/electric/bulkpower.htm.

David P. Boergers,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-24016 Filed 9-25-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P