[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 72 (Wednesday, April 14, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19829-19830]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-816]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC04-582-000, FERC-582]


Commission Information Collection Activities, Proposed 
Collection; Comment Request; Extension

April 6, 2004.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(a) 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is soliciting public 
comment on the specifics of the information collection described below.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due by June 7, 
2004.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the proposed collection of information can be 
obtained from Michael Miller, Office of the Executive Director, ED-30, 
888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. Comments may be filed 
either in paper format or electronically. Those parties filing 
electronically do not need to make a paper filing. For paper filings, 
the original and 14 copies of such comments should be submitted to the 
Office of the Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426 and refer to Docket No. IC04-
582-000.
    Documents filed electronically via the Internet must be prepared in 
WordPerfect, MS Word, Portable Document Format, or ASCII format. To 
file the document, access the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov and click on ``Make an E-filing,'' 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 
acknowledgment to the sender's e-mail address upon receipt of comments.
    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: Michael Miller may be reached by 
telephone at (202) 502-8415, by fax at (202) 273-0873, and by e-mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The information collected under the 
requirements of FERC-582 ``Electric Fees and Annual Charges'' (OMB 
Control No. 1902-0132) is used by the Commission to implement the 
statutory provisions of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act of 
1952 (IOAA) (31 U.S.C. 9701) which authorizes the Commission to 
establish fees for its services. In addition, the Omnibus Budget 
Reconciliation Act of 1986 (OBRA) (42 U.S.C. 7178) authorizes the 
Commission ``to assess and collect fees and annual charges in any 
fiscal year in amounts equal to all the costs incurred by the 
Commission in that fiscal year.'' In calculating annual charges, the 
Commission first determines the total costs of its electric regulatory 
program and then subtracts all electric regulatory program filing fee 
collections to determine the total collectible electric regulatory 
program costs. It then uses the data submitted under FERC information 
collection requirement FERC-582 to determine the total megawatt-hours 
of transmission of electric energy in interstate commerce. This is 
measured by the sum of the megawatt-hours of all unbundled transmission 
(including MWh delivered in wheeling transactions and MWh delivered in 
exchange transactions) and the megawatt-hours of all bundled wholesale 
power sales (to the extent these later megawatt-hours were not 
separately reported as unbundled transmission). This information must 
be reported to three (3) decimal places. Public utilities and power 
marketers subject to these annual charges must

[[Page 19830]]

submit FERC-582 to the Commission's Office of the Secretary by April 30 
of each year. The Commission issues bills for annual charges, and 
public utilities and power marketers then must pay the charges within 
45 days of the Commission's issuance of the bill.
    The Commission's staff uses companies' financial information filed 
under waiver provisions to evaluate requests for a waiver or exemption 
of the obligation to pay a fee for an annual charge. The Commission 
implements these filing requirements in the Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR) under 18 CFR part 381, sections 381.108 and 381.302 and part 382, 
section 382.201(c).
    Action: The Commission is requesting a three-year extension of the 
current expiration date, with no changes to the existing collection of 
data.
    Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this collection is 
estimated as:

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                                                                  Number of      Average burden    Total annual
             Number of respondents annually  (1)                responses per      hours per       burden hours
                                                               respondent  (2)   response  (3)   (1) x (2) x (3)
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192..........................................................               1                4              768
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    Estimated Cost Burden to Respondents: 768 hours / 2,080 hours per 
year x $107,185 per year = $39,576. The cost per respondent is equal to 
$206.
    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; (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 estimate 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 collection 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.

Linda Mitry,
Acting Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E4-816 Filed 4-13-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P