[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 14, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74506-74508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-27463]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC05-724-000, FERC-724]


Proposed Information Collection and Request for Comments

December 10, 2004.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Request for Office of Management and Budget emergency

[[Page 74507]]

processing of proposed information collection and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is 
providing notice of its request to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for emergency processing of a proposed collection of information 
in connection with the training of operators of the bulk power system, 
and is soliciting public comment on that information collection.

DATES: The Commission and OMB must receive comments on or before 
December 20, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to:
    (1) John Asalone, FERC Desk Officer, Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Asalone may be 
reached by telephone at (202) 395-4650 or by fax at (202) 395-7285 and
    (2) Michael Miller, Office of the Executive Director, ED-30, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426. Mr. Miller may be reached by telephone at (202) 
502-8415 and by e-mail at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christy Walsh, Office of the General 
Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Ms. Walsh may be reached 
by telephone at (202) 502-6523 and by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 14, 2003, an electric power 
blackout occurred over large portions of the Northeast and Midwest 
United States and Ontario, Canada. The power blackout lasted up to two 
days in some areas of the United States and for a longer period of time 
in some areas of Canada. It affected an area with over 50 million 
people and 61,800 megawatts of electric load. In the wake of the 
blackout, a joint U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force (Task 
Force) undertook a study of the causes of that blackout and possible 
solutions to avoid future such blackouts.
    On April 5, 2004, the Task Force issued the Final Report on the 
August 14, 2003 Blackout in the U.S. and Canada (Blackout Report). The 
report found that a major cause of the August 14, 2003 electric power 
blackout was that control area operators had not received adequate 
training in recognizing and responding to system emergencies. Most 
notable was the lack of realistic simulations and drills to train and 
verify the capabilities of operating personnel. Such simulations are 
essential if operators and other staff are to be able to respond 
adequately to emergencies. This training deficiency contributed to the 
lack of situational awareness and failure to declare an emergency on 
August 14, 2003 while operator intervention was still possible (before 
events began to occur at a peed beyond human control). This failure has 
been a common factor that has contributed to the August 14, 2003 
blackout and many previous regional electric system outages.
    The Commission intends to issue an order that requires surveys to 
be answered by power system operators, whether or not they are 
otherwise subject to the Commission's jurisdiction as a public utility, 
containing questions intended to evaluate the status of training 
throughout the industry, identify best practices and determine minimum 
requirements for operator training within the industry. The survey will 
be sent to no more than 160 transmission grid operators. The 
participants selected will include transmission providers and control 
area operators to identify training deficiencies and opportunities for 
improved training in the bulk power sector. The Commission will analyze 
the data and provide a timely report to Congress on the need for 
legislation to ensure the reliability of the U.S. bulk power system.
    Section 311 of the Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 825j (2000), 
authorizes the Commission to conduct investigations in order to secure 
information necessary or appropriate as a basis for recommending 
legislation. Section 311 makes clear that the Commission's authority in 
conducting an investigation extends to entities that are otherwise not 
subject to the Commission's jurisdiction ``including the generation, 
transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy by any agency, 
authority, or instrumentality of the United States, or of any State or 
municipality * * *.'' The information collected from this survey will 
be reflected in a Commission report to Congress on the need for 
legislation on the reliability of the nation's interstate bulk electric 
systems, consistent with section 311 of the FPA.
    In the Blackout Report, the Task Force noted severe limitations in 
training for operators, reliability, coordinators, and operator support 
staff. Due to the inadequacies of power system operator training that 
have contributed to multiple system outages, one of the recommendations 
of the Blackout Report is for greater near-term and long-term training 
and certification requirements for operators, reliability coordinators, 
and operator support staff (Recommendation 19c). The Task Force 
specifically recommended the commission of an advisory report by an 
independent panel to address a wide range of issues concerning 
reliability training programs and certification requirements. It 
concluded that the independent panel should delver the advisory report 
by March 31, 2005, ``under the oversight of FERC and appropriate 
Canadian authorities.'' The Commission and Canadian authorities, in 
consultation with the North American Electric Reliability Council 
(NERC) and other, should evaluate the report and consider its findings 
in evaluating minimum training and certification requirements for 
control areas and reliability coordinators.
    Since the release of the Blackout Report in April 2004, only 
limited action has been taken in addressing the issue of operator 
training. As a consequence, while it was initially contemplated that 
the Commission's role would be strictly one of oversight, the 
Commission has now stepped in to take a leadership role by 
commissioning and managing an industry survey to determine both 
minimally acceptable and best practices for operator training in the 
same time frame recommended by the Task Force. The Commission must act 
quickly to meet the target set out by the Task Force. The information 
the Commission is seeking in the operator training survey is an 
important facet in achieving the overarching goal of ensuring safe and 
reliable operation of the transmission system. In light of the urgency 
of moving forward with the survey, the ability to collect this 
information prior to the expiration of a normal OMB 60-day review time 
frame is essential to the mission of the Commission, and as such, the 
Commission has requested emergency processing of this proposed 
information collection. Because the Commission requires the survey 
results as soon as possible, the Commission will require completion of 
the survey by January 31, 2005.
    The Commission will refer to the reports being requested as FERC 
Form 724: Bulk Power System Operator Training Survey. Respondent would 
provide a one-time-only completed survey no later than January 31, 
2005. The survey, which is patterned after a survey prepared by the 
Department of Energy to address operator training standards in the 
nuclear industry, is designed to determine:
     Educational methods.
     Training and certification approaches.
     Re-certification procedures.
     Use of simulator-based training.
     Required hours of annual training for emergency and normal 
operations.

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     Staffing levels.
     Communication levels.

The Complete survey is available at http://www.ferc.gov.industries/electric/indus-act/reliability/2004-sys-op-survey.pdf.
    The Commission estimates that no more than 160 entities will be the 
subject of this reporting request with the survey going out to 
approximately eight different personnel at each chosen entity and that 
it would take each entity no more than 2 hours to complete the survey--
larger entities may require additional respondents while smaller 
entities will likely have fewer respondents. Therefore, the total 
number of hours it would take to comply with the reporting requirement 
would be 320. The Commission estimates a total cost of $18,720 to 
respondents at $58.50 per hour, based on salaries for professional and 
clerical staff, as well as direct and indirect overhead costs.
    The Commission has submitted this reporting requirement to OMB for 
approval. OMB's regulations describe the process that federal agencies 
must follow in order to obtain OMB approval of reporting requirements. 
See 5 CFR part 1320. The standards for emergency processing of 
information collections appear at 5 CFR 1320.13. If OMB approves a 
reporting requirement, then it will assign an information collection 
control number to that requirement. If a request for information 
subject to OMB review has not been given a valid control number, then 
the recipient is not required to respond.
    OMB required federal agencies seeking approval of reporting 
requirements to allow the public an opportunity to comment on the 
proposed reporting requirement. 5 CFR 1320.5(a)(1)(iv). Therefore, the 
Commission is soliciting comment on:
    (1) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the Commission's functions, including whether the 
information will have practical utility;
    (2) The accuracy of the Commission's estimate of the burden of the 
collection of this information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    (3) The quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be 
collected; and
    (4) How to minimize the burden of the collection of this 
information on respondents, including the use of appropriate automated 
electronic, mechanical, or other forms of information technology.

C.B. Spencer,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 04-27463 Filed 12-13-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P