[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.
[[Page 74508]]
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