[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 117 (Monday, June 20, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 35372-35375]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-12063]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Parts 34 and 131

[Docket No. RM05-11-000; Order No. 657]


Electronic Filing of the Application for Authorization for the 
Issuance of Securities or the Assumption of Liabilities

May 27, 2005.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is 
amending its regulations to provide for electronic filing of 
Applications for Authorization for the Issuance of Securities or the 
Assumption of Liabilities. The Commission is making these changes as 
part of its effort to modernize its reporting and filing requirements 
and to eliminate unnecessary filing burdens for those entities that 
file applications or reports with the Commission pursuant to 18 CFR 
part 34. The proposed revisions will reduce the Commission's and the 
respondent's costs by allowing the submission of financial information 
in electronic format in lieu of the present hard copy format; the type 
of financial data that jurisdictional entities submit in this 
application is already routinely stored in electronic format, making 
hard copy filing of such information burdensome. In this Final Rule the 
Commission continues to move toward electronic filing, as the 
Government Paperwork Elimination Act mandates.
    The modifications in this Final Rule are the result of a review 
conducted by the Commission's Information Assessment Team (FIAT), 
identifying the Commission's current information collections, 
evaluating their original purposes and current uses, and proposing ways 
to reduce the reporting burden on industry through the elimination, 
reduction, streamlining or reformatting of current collections.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The rule will become effective at the time of the next 
e-filing release during the Commission's next fiscal year, i.e., no 
earlier than October

[[Page 35373]]

1, 2005. The Commission will publish an announcement of the effective 
date in the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Patricia Morris (Technical Information), Office of Market Oversight and 
Investigation, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, 
NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-8730.
Michael Donnini (Technical Information), Office of Markets, Tariffs and 
Rates, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-8982.
Joseph C. Lynch (Legal Information), Office of the General Counsel, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-8497.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Before Commissioners: Pat Wood, III, Chairman; Nora Mead Brownell, 
Joseph T. Kelliher, and Suedeen G. Kelly.

I. Introduction

    1. This Final Rule revises the Commission's regulations found in 18 
CFR part 34 and part 131 to require the electronic filing of 
Applications for Authorization for the Issuance of Securities or the 
Assumption of Liabilities (FERC-523). The filing is now made entirely 
in paper format. Commencing with the Commission's next e-filing 
release, which is presently slated to occur in the Commission's next 
fiscal year, i.e., no earlier than October 1, 2005, there will be no 
further requirement for paper filings. Instead, jurisdictional entities 
will submit their filings in electronic format.
    2. This rulemaking yields significant benefits to the respondents 
and the Commission. These benefits include a reduction in filers' 
printing and handling costs and a reduction in the Commission's 
processing and maintenance costs. The move to electronic filing also 
helps achieve the Commission's goal of vigilant oversight by providing 
the Commission with more timely and usable information.

II. Background

    3. Under Federal Power Act (FPA) section 204, 16 U.S.C. 824c, no 
public utility or licensee shall issue any security, or assume any 
obligation or liability as guarantor, endorser, surety, or otherwise in 
respect of any security of another person, unless and until, upon 
application by the public utility, the Commission by order authorizes 
the issuance of the securities or the assumption of the liability. The 
Commission implements this statute through its regulations, which are 
found at 18 CFR part 34; sections 131.43 and 131.50 of 18 CFR part 131 
prescribe the required format for the filings.
    4. FERC-523 collects the following: a description of the securities 
that the company proposes to issue, the purpose of the securities, 
whether or not the company will file any part of the application with 
any state, a detailed statement of the facts upon which the applicant 
relies, a statement of the bond indentures or other limitations on 
interest and dividend coverage, the effects of such limitations on the 
issuance of additional debt or equity securities, and a brief statement 
of any rate changes made effective during the subject period. The 
Commission uses this information to determine whether to approve an 
application for authorization to issue securities or to assume an 
obligation or liability by the public utilities and their licensees who 
make these applications. The Commission receives about sixty 
applications annually.

III. Discussion

    5. In this Final Rule, the Commission is eliminating the 
requirement to make paper submissions of FERC-523, and to substitute a 
requirement to file FERC-523 electronically.
    6. Current filing regulations for FERC-523 require the respondents 
to make paper submissions, which the Commission then scans into its 
document management system (the Commission's Electronic Library 
(eLibrary)). The scanned filing is converted to PDF format. Those 
wishing to view the filed information can access and view it through 
eLibrary; all publicly-available documents are viewable in eLibrary. 
Currently, most of the FERC-523 submissions, while filed as hardcopy, 
are originally created by electronic means and are thus already in an 
electronic format. Allowing submitters to ``eFile'' reduces the burden 
of converting an electronic document into a paper submission which the 
Commission then converts back to an electronic document; and eliminates 
the cost of sending paper submissions, the Commission's elimination of 
the FERC-523 paper submissions should benefit those making such filings 
and should not have an adverse impact on information users.
    7. This Final Rule is part of the Commission's efforts to revise 
and streamline its existing reporting requirements, reduce the filing 
burden on reporting companies, and meet the requirements of the 
Government Paperwork Elimination Act of 1998, 44 U.S.C. 35.

IV. Information Collection Statement

    8. The Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) regulations require 
OMB to approve certain information collection requirements imposed by 
agency rule.\1\ Comments are solicited on the Commission's need for 
this information, whether the information will have practical utility, 
the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, ways to enhance the 
quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected, and 
any suggested methods for minimizing respondents' burden, including the 
use of automated information techniques.
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    \1\ 5 CFR 1320.11.
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V. Estimated Annual Burden

    9. The current reporting burden for this information collection is 
as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Number of
                 Data collection                     Number of       Number of       hours per     Total annual
                                                    respondents      responses       response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FERC-523........................................              60               1             110           6,600
                                                 -----------------
    Totals......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............           6,600
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    The Commission expects a burden reduction of 22 hours per response 
as a result of the electronic filing implementation. This reduces total 
annual hours to 5,280, a reduction of 1320 hours annually.
    Title: Application for Authorization of the Issuance of Securities 
or the Assumption of Liabilities (FERC-523).

[[Page 35374]]

    Action: Electronic Filing of Information.
    OMB Control No. 1902-0043.
    Respondents: Businesses or other for profit.
    Frequency of Responses: Occasional.
    Necessity of the information: This Final Rule will revise the 
filing requirements for applications for Commission authorization to 
issues securities or to assume liabilities, to require the electronic 
filing of this information and thus reducing the burden on respondents 
and allowing more expeditious analysis by the Commission (and others). 
The information filed with the Commission is used to make a 
determination to grant or deny authorization to issue securities or to 
assume a liability. By assessing this information, the Commission can 
evaluate the financial health of the company and the potential impact 
on current and future ratepayers.
    Internal Review: The Commission has reviewed the proposed 
amendments to its regulations to modify the filing method and 
standardize the format. The revisions to the regulations will provide 
more effective and efficient information by providing current data by 
electronic submission. This method of filing will reduce data errors 
and thus preserve the integrity of the data. The Commission will be 
able to conduct further analysis of filed data in a more timely fashion 
and provide a more timely response. The Commission has assured itself, 
by means of internal review, that there is specific, objective support 
for the burden estimates associated with the information collection 
requirements.
    10. Interested persons may obtain information on the information 
requirements by contacting the following: The Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426 [Attention: 
Michael Miller, Office of the Executive Director, ED-33, Phone (202) 
502-8415, Fax: (202) 273-0873, e-mail: [email protected].]
    11. To submit comments concerning the collection of information(s) 
and the associated burden estimate(s), please send your comments to the 
contact listed above and to the Office of Management and Budget, Office 
of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Washington, DC 20503, 
[Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
phone: (202) 395-4650, fax: (202) 395-7285].

VI. Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    12. The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires rulemakings to 
contain either a description and analysis of the effect that the rule 
will have on small entities or to contain a certification that the rule 
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities.\2\
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    \2\ 5 U.S.C. 601-12.
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    13. The Commission concludes that this rule would not have such an 
impact on small entities. Most public utilities to which the Final Rule 
would apply do not fall within the RFA's definition of a small 
entity.\3\ Further, electronic filing would not be a significant burden 
since the filing is typically prepared in an electronic format in the 
first place. Consequently, the Commission certifies that this Final 
Rule will not have ``a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities.''
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    \3\ 5 U.S.C. 601(3), citing to section 3 of the Small Business 
Act, 15 U.S.C. 632. Section 3 of the Small Business Act defines a 
``small-business concern'' as a business which is independently 
owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of 
operation. In addition, the RFA definition of ``small entity'' 
refers to the definition provided in the Small Business Act, which 
defines a ``small business concern'' as a business that is 
independently owned and operated and that is not dominant in its 
field of operation. 15 U.S.C. 632. The Small Business Size Standards 
component of the North American Industry Classification System 
defines a small electric utility as one that, including its 
affiliates, is primarily engaged in the generation, transmission, 
and/or distribution of electric energy for sale and whose total 
electric output for the preceding fiscal year did not exceed 4 
million MWh. 13 CFR 121.201.
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VII. Environmental Analysis

    14. The Commission is required to prepare an Environmental 
Assessment or an Environmental Impact Statement for any action that may 
have a significant adverse effect on the human environment.\4\ The 
Commission has categorically excluded certain actions from these 
requirements as not having a significant effect on the human 
environment.\5\ The actions proposed to be taken here fall within the 
categorical exclusions in the Commission's regulations for rules that 
involve information gathering, analysis, and dissemination \6\ and that 
involve issuances of securities and assumptions of liabilities. 
Therefore, an environmental assessment is unnecessary and has not been 
prepared for this rulemaking.
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    \4\ Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy 
Act, Order No. 486, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & Regs. 
] 30,783 (1987).
    \5\ 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii).
    \6\ 18 CFR 380.4(a)(5).
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VIII. Document Availability

    15. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this document via the 
Internet through the Commission's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov) and 
in the Commission's Public Reference Room during normal business hours 
(8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. eastern time) at 888 First Street, NE., Room 2A, 
Washington DC 20426.
    16. From the Commission's Home Page on the Internet, this 
information is available in eLibrary. The full text of this document is 
available in the eLibrary both in PDF and Microsoft Word format for 
viewing, printing, and/or downloading. To access this document in 
eLibrary, type the docket number, excluding the last three digits of 
this document, in the docket number field.
    17. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the Commission's 
Web site during normal business hours. For assistance contact FERC 
Online Support at [email protected] or toll-free at (866) 208-
3676, or for TTY, contact (202) 502-8659. E-Mail the Public Reference 
Room at [email protected] or (202) 502-8371.

IX. Effective Date And Congressional Notification

    18. This Final Rule will take effect commencing with the 
Commission's next e-filing release, which is presently slated to occur 
in the Commission's next fiscal year, i.e., no earlier than October 1, 
2005. The Commission has determined, with the concurrence of the 
Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of 
the Office of the Management and Budget that this rule is not a major 
rule within the meaning of section 251 of the Small Business Regulatory 
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.\7\ The Commission will submit the 
Final Rule to both Houses of Congress and the General Accountability 
Office.\8\
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    \7\ See 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
    \8\ See 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
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List of Subjects

18 CFR Part 34

    Statements, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

List of Subjects

18 CFR Part 131

    Forms, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    By the Commission.
Linda Mitry,
Deputy Secretary.

0
In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission amends Parts 34 and 
131, Chapter I, Title 18 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as 
follows:

[[Page 35375]]

PART 34--APPLICATION FOR AUTHORIZATION OF THE ISSUANCE OF 
SECURITIES OR THE ASSUMPTION OF LIABILITIES

0
1. The authority citation for Part 34 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 791a-825r, 2601-2645; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 42 
U.S.C. 7101-7352.


0
2. Section 34.7 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  34.7  Filing requirements.

    Each applicant shall submit to this Commission an electronic 
version of each application pursuant to this part 34. The electronic 
version shall be considered a ``qualified document'' in accordance with 
Sec.  385.2003(c)(1) and (2) of this chapter. As a qualified document, 
no paper copy version of the filing is required unless there is a 
request for privileged or protected treatment or the document is 
combined with another document as provided in Sec.  385.2003(c)(3) or 
(4). Submit each application in electronic format in accordance with 
Sec.  385.2003.

0
3. Section 34.8 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  34.8  Verification.

    An application verification shall be signed under oath by an 
authorized representative of the applicant, who has knowledge of the 
matters set forth therein and as provided in Sec.  385.2005 of this 
chapter, and retained at the applicant's business location until the 
relevant proceeding has been concluded.

0
4. Section 34.9 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  34.9  Filing fee.

    Each application shall be accompanied by the submission of a filing 
fee if one is prescribed in part 381 of this chapter.

PART 131--FORMS

0
5. The authority citation for Part 131 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 791a-825r, 2601-2645; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 42 
U.S.C. 7101-7352.

0
6. Section 131.43 introductory text is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  131.43  Report of securities issued.

    (See Sec.  34.10 of this chapter)
    (Submit in electronic format in accordance with Sec.  385.2003 of 
this chapter.)
* * * * *

0
7. Section 131.50(a) and (b) is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  131.50  Report of proposals received.

    (a) No later than 30 days after the sale or placement of long-term 
debt or equity securities or the entry into guarantees or assumptions 
of liabilities (collectively referred to as ``placement'') pursuant to 
authority granted under Part 34 of this chapter, the applicant must 
file, in electronic format, a summary of each proposal or proposals 
received for the placement. The proposal or proposals accepted must be 
indicated. The information to be filed must include:
    (1) Par or stated value of securities;
    (2) Number of units (shares of stock, number of bonds) issued;
    (3) Total dollar value of the issue;
    (4) Life of the securities, including maximum life and average life 
of sinking fund issue;
    (5) Dividend or interest rate;
    (6) Call provisions;
    (7) Sinking fund provisions;
    (8) Offering price;
    (9) Discount or premium;
    (10) Commission or underwriter's spread;
    (11) Net proceeds to company for each unit of security and for the 
total issue;
    (12) Net cost to the company for securities with a stated interest 
or dividend rate.
    (b) This report must be filed with the Commission as prescribed in 
Sec.  385.2003 of this chapter and as indicated in the instructions set 
out in this report. This report is an electronic file that is 
classified as a ``qualified document'' in accordance with Sec.  
385.2003(c)(1) and (2). As a qualified document, no paper copy version 
of the filing is required unless there is a request for privileged or 
protected treatment or the document is combined with another document 
as provided in Sec.  385.2003(c)(3) or (4).
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 05-12063 Filed 6-17-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P