[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 59 (Tuesday, March 28, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15399-15401]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-4460]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC06-505-000; FERC-505]


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

March 21, 2006.
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 (Pub. L. 104-13), the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is soliciting public comment 
on the specific aspects of the information collection described below.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due May 21, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Copies of sample filings of the proposed collection of 
information can be obtained from the Commission's Web site (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibrary.asp) or from the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, Attn: Michael Miller, Office of the Executive 
Director, ED-34, 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 
filing, the original and 14 copies of such comments should be submitted 
to the Secretary of the Commission, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426 and refer to 
Docket No. IC06-505-000.
    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 
acknowledgement 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-505 ``Application for License for Water Projects 
with less than 5MW capacity'' (OMB No. 1902-0115) is used by the 
Commission to implement the statutory provisions of Part I of the 
Federal Power Act (FPA), 16 U.S.C. sections 791a et seq. & 3301-3432, 
as amended by the Electric Consumers Protections Act (ECPA)

[[Page 15400]]

(Pub. L. 99-495, 100 Stat. 1234 (1986). The FPA as amended by ECPA 
provides the Commission with the responsibility of issuing licenses for 
nonfederal hydroelectric power plants, plus requiring the Commission in 
its licensing activities to give equal consideration to preserving 
environmental quality. ECPA also amended sections 10(a) and 10(j) of 
the FPA to specify the conditions on which hydropower licenses are 
issued, to direct that the project be adopted in accordance with a 
comprehensive plan that improves waterways for interstate/foreign 
commerce and for the protection, enhancement and mitigation of damages 
to fish and wildlife.
    Submission of the information is necessary to fulfill the 
requirements of Sections 9 and 10(a) of the Act in order for the 
Commission to make the required finding that the proposal is 
economically, technically, and environmentally sound, and is best 
adapted to the comprehensive plan of development of the water resources 
of the region. Under section 405(c) of the Public Utilities Regulatory 
Policies Act of 1978, the Commission may in its discretion (by rule or 
order) grant an exemption in whole or in part from the requirements of 
Part I of the FPA to small hydroelectric power projects having a 
proposed installed capacity of 5,000 kilowatts or less. The information 
collected under designation FERC-505 is in the form of a written 
application for a license and is used by Commission staff to determine 
the broad impact of the license application.
    In Order No. 2002 (68 FR 51070, August 25, 2003; FERC Statutes and 
Regulations ] 31,150 at p. 30,688) the Commission revised in 
regulations to create a new licensing process in which a potential 
license applicant's pre-filing consultation and the Commission's 
scoping pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) are 
conducted concurrently rather than sequentially. The Commission 
estimated that if an applicant chooses to use the new licensing 
process, this could result in a reduction of 30% from the traditional 
licensing process. The reporting burden related to Order No. 2002 would 
on average be 7,000 hours per respondent as opposed to 10,000 hours per 
respondent in the traditional licensing process and 8,600 hours in the 
alternative licensing process. It has been nearly three years since 
Order No. 2002 was issued and applicants have experienced the 
opportunity to gain the benefits from the revised licensing process. In 
particular, applicants have benefited from (a) increased public 
participation in pre-filing consultation; (b) increased assistance from 
Commission staff to the potential applicant and stakeholders during the 
development of a license application; (c) development by the potential 
applicant of a Commission-approved study plan; (d) elimination of the 
need for post-application study requests; (e) issuance of public 
schedules and enforcement of deadlines, (f) better coordination between 
the Commission's processes, including the NEPA document preparation, 
and those of Federal and state agencies and Indian tribes with 
authority to require conditions for Commission-issued licenses. It is 
for these reasons, that the Commission will use the estimates projected 
in the table below.
    The information collected is needed to evaluate the license 
application pursuant to the comprehensive development standard of FPA 
sections 4(e) and 10(a)(1), to consider the comprehensive development 
analysis certain factors with respect to new license set forth in 
section 15, and to comply with NEPA, Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 
531 et seq.) and the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 
et seq.).
    Commission staff conducts a systematic review of the prepared 
application with supplemental documentation provided by the 
solicitation of comments from other agencies and the public. The 
Commission implements these filing requirements in the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) under 18 CFR 4.61; 4.71; 4.93; 4.107; 4.108; 4.201; 
4.202, 292.203 and 292.208.
    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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5...............................................................               1          6,959*         34,795
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* Rounded off.

    Estimated cost burden to respondents is $ 8,675,000. ($1,500,000 
(traditional process) + $2,975,000 (alternative process) + $4,200,000 
(integrated process). These costs were determined by the percentage of 
applicants that would be using each of these processes. Annualized 
costs per project $500,000 (traditional); $425,000 (alternative 
licensing), and $350,000 (integrated licensing).
    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)

[[Page 15401]]

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.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E6-4460 Filed 3-27-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P