[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 179 (Tuesday, September 16, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54215-54218]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-23568]


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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: EIA is soliciting comments on the proposed new survey Form 
EIA-913, ``Monthly and Annual Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Storage 
Reports.''

[[Page 54216]]


DATES: Comments must be filed by November 17, 2003. If you anticipate 
difficulty in submitting comments within that period, contact the 
person listed below as soon as possible.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Send comments to Ms. Poonum Agrawal. 
To ensure receipt of the comments by the due date, submission by e-mail 
to [email protected] is recommended. Poonum Agrawal may be 
contacted by telephone at (202) 586-6048 or facsimile at (202) 586-
4420; however, submission by e-mail is the preferred medium for 
correspondence. The mailing address is: Natural Gas Division (Attn: 
EIA-913 Comments), EI-44, Forrestal Building, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Washington, DC 20585.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Please visit http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/survey_forms/nat_proposed_forms.html for additional 
information or copies of the form and instructions. Requests for this 
information may also be directed to Poonum Agrawal at the contact 
information listed above.

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 DOE Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91, 42 
U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) require 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 long-term 
domestic demands.
    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 EIA. Any comments received help EIA to prepare data requests that 
maximize the utility of the information collected, and to assess the 
impact of collection requirements on the industry. Based on review of 
the comments and field test results, EIA will seek approval by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under section 3507(a) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
    The purpose of Form EIA-913, ``Monthly and Annual Liquefied Natural 
Gas (LNG) Storage Report,'' is to collect data on the inventory levels 
of LNG and operational capacities of active LNG storage facilities in 
the United States.
    Survey respondents would include all operators of facilities that 
store LNG for baseload, seasonal, and peak demand delivery in the 
United States, or for delivery to United States customers for these 
purposes. This includes operators with LNG inventories such as 
distribution companies, pipeline companies, liquefaction facilities, 
LNG wholesalers (excluding retailers who sell LNG exclusively for 
ultimate vehicular fuel use), and marine terminals providing peaking 
storage services. The survey coverage does not include LNG inventories 
held by any industrial, residential, commercial, or power generation 
operations for ultimate consumption. The respondents for Form EIA-913 
will comprise operators of approximately 100 LNG storage facilities 
(the total estimated number of facilities currently active in the 
United States).
    Data would be collected pursuant to the Federal Energy 
Administration (FEA) Act of 1974, Public Law 93-275. The report will be 
mandatory under the FEA Act. The data would appear in the EIA 
publications, Monthly Energy Review, Natural Gas Annual, and Natural 
Gas Monthly.
    This collection is essential to the mission of the DOE in general 
and EIA in particular. This request for clearance was necessitated by 
the increasing role of LNG storage as a source of natural gas supply, 
especially during periods of peak demand, and the subsequent need to 
monitor its activity for a better understanding of the U.S. natural gas 
supply and demand balance. Much like the existing EIA underground 
natural gas storage survey, the new LNG survey is expected to be widely 
used by industry analysts and Federal and State agencies to monitor gas 
markets. Recognizing the importance of LNG storage activities to gas 
market information, DOE Secretary Spencer Abraham requested on June 26, 
2003, that EIA plan a new survey of LNG storage activities to collect 
better information and achieve better market efficiency.
    EIA may eventually consider the value of a weekly sample survey of 
LNG inventories after the monthly survey is operating in a stable 
manner and if evidence indicates that greater timeliness of data would 
enhance understanding of the overall natural gas supply situation.
    Respondents would be expected to complete the EIA-913 Annual 
Schedule at the start of the survey and subsequently once a year and 
whenever a new facility begins operation or a change in operator or 
storage capacity occurs. The completed EIA-913 Monthly Schedule would 
be due 20 days after the conclusion of the report month. Data would be 
submitted by e-mail, facsimile, or the secure file transfer (SFT) 
system to EIA. Please note that email and facsimile are not secure 
methods of file transfer. SFT is based on the secure hypertext transfer 
protocol (HTTPS), an industry standard method to send information over 
the web using a secure, encrypted process. All information is protected 
by 128-bit encryption to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of 
transmitted data.
    Data elements for the proposed survey are listed below. Please 
refer to http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/survey_forms/nat_proposed_forms.html for a copy of the proposed form and 
instructions.

Monthly Schedule

    1. Respondent identification data.
    2. Monthly LNG storage data:
    a. Facility name.
    b. Facility location.
    c. LNG storage additions, and Btu heat content of additions.
    d. LNG withdrawals, and Btu heat content of withdrawals.
    e. End-of-period LNG inventories, and Btu heat content of 
inventories.
    f. Peak day withdrawals.
    g. Peak day.
    3. Comments.

Annual Schedule

    1. Respondent identification data.
    2. Annual facility characteristics:
    a. Storage facility name.
    b. Location.
    c. Type of operation (distribution company, pipeline company, 
marine terminal with peaking service, LNG wholesaler, liquefaction 
facility, other).
    d. Storage facility capacity.
    e. Liquefaction capacity.
    f. Trailer unloading capacity.
    g. Vaporization capacity.
    h. Trailer loading capacity.
    i. Change in capacity.
    3. Comments.
    EIA is proposing to treat the information collected on Form EIA-913 
as confidential in accordance with existing EIA confidentiality 
provisions. Under these provisions, survey information is treated as 
confidential and is not publicly released. However, upon request for 
official uses the information may be shared with another component of 
the Department of Energy,

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any Committee of Congress, the General Accounting Office, and other 
Federal agencies authorized by law to receive such information. A court 
of competent jurisdiction may obtain the information in response to an 
order.
    EIA will publish monthly inventory estimates and net withdrawals 
estimates (withdrawals minus additions) as well as annual information 
on LNG storage capacities for the United States and several multi-state 
regions to the extent that confidentiality for company-specific 
information allows. In order to preserve the confidentiality of 
company-specific information, EIA Standard 2002-22, ``Non-disclosure of 
Company Identifiable Data in Aggregate Cells,'' would be used. A copy 
of this standard may be obtained at http://www.eia.doe.gov/smg/standard.pdf. Under these rules, EIA-913 information would be published 
at an aggregate multi-state level based on the current EIA underground 
storage regions. Such primary suppression of confidential data may 
result in further complementary suppression of data in publications in 
which this data may be incorporated. Thus, confidentiality of company-
specific information would be maintained at the loss of geographic 
detail. However this rule could be waived if the affected respondents 
agree.
    The operators of LNG storage facilities will be asked to submit 
monthly reports of inventories, additions and withdrawals, and annual 
reports of facility characteristics. EIA will publish monthly inventory 
estimates and net withdrawals estimates (withdrawals minus additions) 
for the United States and several multi-state regions to the extent 
that confidentiality for company-specific information allows. These 
regions are chosen based on the current EIA underground natural gas 
storage regions, which reflect the major natural gas production and 
distribution regions, familiarity to both respondents and data users 
and current EIA disclosure restrictions. The following is an example of 
the monthly data format and regions:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      Total                  Percent change from
                      Region                         storage     Inventory     same period last         Net
                                                     capacity                        year           withdrawals
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
East.............................................  ...........  ...........  ...................  ..............
  New England and Mid-Atlantic...................  ...........  ...........  ...................  ..............
  Other..........................................  ...........  ...........  ...................  ..............
West & Producing.................................  ...........  ...........  ...................  ..............
                                                  --------------
    USA Total....................................  ...........  ...........  ...................  ..............
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Similarly annual summaries of facility characteristics will be 
provided at the United States level and the same multi-state regions to 
the extent that confidentiality for company-specific information 
allows.
    As an alternative to collecting the data under the confidentiality 
arrangements outlined above, EIA has the option of collecting the Form 
EIA-913 information as confidential in accordance with the Confidential 
Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA) 
(Title 5 of Pub. L. 107-347). If the Form EIA-913 information is 
collected under CIPSEA, the information could not be disclosed by EIA 
in identifiable form, for any use other than an exclusively statistical 
purpose, except with the informed consent of the respondent. As defined 
in CIPSEA, the term ``statistical purpose'' (A) means the description, 
estimation, or analysis of the characteristics of groups, without 
identifying the individuals or organizations that comprise such groups; 
and (B) includes the development, implementation, or maintenance of 
methods, technical or administrative procedures, or information 
resources that support the purposes described in subparagraph (A).
    The requirement that information collected under CIPSEA be used 
exclusively for statistical purposes has both advantages and 
disadvantages. A primary advantage of collecting information in 
accordance with CIPSEA is that the information could not be used for 
any non-statistical purpose including any administrative, regulatory, 
law enforcement, adjudicatory, or other purpose that affects the 
rights, privileges, or benefits of a particular identifiable 
respondent. A primary disadvantage in collecting information in 
accordance with CIPSEA is that, without a respondent's informed 
consent, the information could not be shared with other Federal non-EIA 
personnel for non-statistical purposes in the event of a major energy 
supply situation. This restriction on sharing could severely hamper any 
timely U.S. government actions in the event of significant supply 
problems.

II. Current Actions

    EIA will be requesting approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) to conduct a monthly and annual information collection 
program via Form EIA-913, ``Monthly and Annual Liquefied Natural Gas 
(LNG) Storage Report.'' The respondents for the EIA-913 will comprise 
operators of approximately 100 LNG storage facilities (the total 
estimated number of facilities currently active in the United States).

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.

1. 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?
    C. Should the proposed collection of information be conducted under 
EIA's existing confidentiality provisions, or under the provisions of 
the Confidential Information and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002?

2. As a Potential Respondent to the Request for Information

    A. What actions could be taken to help ensure and maximize the 
quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the information to be 
collected?
    B. Are the instructions and definitions clear and sufficient? If 
not, which instructions or definitions need clarification?
    C. Can the information be submitted by the due date?

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    D. Public reporting burden for this collection is estimated to 
average 1 hour for the Monthly Schedule and 3 hours for the Annual 
Schedule. The estimated burden includes the total time necessary to 
provide the requested information. In your opinion, how accurate is 
this estimate?
    E. The agency estimates that the only cost to a respondent is for 
the time it will take to complete the survey form. 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?
    F. 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.
    G. 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. Do you consider the EIA-913 information (additions, withdrawals, 
inventory, and facility characteristics) to be sensitive proprietary 
company information that should be treated as confidential? If so and 
the EIA-913 survey was conducted under CIPSEA, would your company sign 
an informed consent agreement for release of its EIA-913 information to 
other Federal agencies for use in preparing for and/or responding to 
defined emergency situations such as terrorist attacks, regional 
pipeline breaks, or LNG shipping disruptions? Any Federal agency with 
access to EIA-913 information would be required to sign a document 
agreeing to maintain the confidentiality of the information.

3. As a Potential User of the Information to be Collected

    A. What actions could be taken to help ensure and maximize the 
quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the information 
disseminated?
    B. Is the information useful at the levels of detail to be 
reported?
    C. For what purpose(s) would the information be used? Be specific.
    D. Are there alternative 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, DC, September 10, 2003.
Jay H. Casselberry,
Agency Clearance Officer, Statistics and Methods Group, Energy 
Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 03-23568 Filed 9-15-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P