[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 61 (Thursday, March 30, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16132-16133]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-4591]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC06-500-000; FERC-500]


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

March 23, 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 30, 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 
filings, 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. IC06-500-000.
    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-500 ``Application for License/Relicense for Water 
Projects With More Than 5 MW Capacity'' (OMB No. 1902-0058) consists of 
the filing requirements as defined in 18 CFR Sections 4.32, 4.38, 4.40-
41, 4.50-51, 4.61, 4.71, 4.93, 4.107-108, 4.201-202, 16.1, 16.10, 
16.20, 292.203 and 292.208. The information collected under the 
requirements of FERC-500 is used by the Commission to determine the 
broad impact of a hydropower license application. In deciding whether 
to issue a license, the Commission gives equal consideration to full 
range of licensing purposes related to the potential value of a stream 
or river. Among these purposes are: Hydroelectric development; energy 
conservation; fish and wildlife resources; including their spawning 
grounds and habitat; visual resources; cultural resources; recreational 
opportunities; other aspects of environmental quality; irrigation; 
flood control and water supply.
    Submission of the information is necessary to fulfill the 
requirements of the Federal Power Act in order for the Commission to 
make the required finding that the proposal is economically sound and 
is best adapted to a comprehensive plan for improving/developing a 
waterway or waterways. Under Part I of the Federal Power Act (FPA), (16 
U.S.C. sections 791a et seq.), the Commission has the authority to 
issue licenses for hydroelectric projects on the waters over which 
Congress has jurisdiction. The Electric Consumers Protection Act (Pub. 
L. 99-495, 100 Stat. 1243) provides the Commission with the 
responsibility of issuing licenses for nonfederal hydroelectric plants. 
ECPA also amended the language of the FPA concerning environmental 
issues to ensure environmental quality.
    In Order No. 2002 (68 FR 51070, August 25, 2003; FERC Statutes and 
Regulations ]31,150 at p. 30,688) the Commission revised its 
regulations to create a new licensing process in which a potential 
license applicant's pre-filing consultation and the Commission's 
scoping process pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (42 
U.S.C. 4321) 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 be on average 32,200 hours as opposed to 46,000 hours 
per respondent in the traditional licensing process or 39,000 hours for 
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 license application 
pursuant to the comprehensive development standard of FPA sections 4(e) 
and 10(a)(1), to consider the comprehensive development analysis of 
certain factors with respect to the new license set forth in section 
15, and to comply with NEPA, Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. section 
1531 et seq.) and the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 
section 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.
    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          Number of       Average burden     Total annual
   respondents       responses per        hours per     burden hours (1)
   annually (1)      respondent (2)     response (3)       x (2) x (3)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
13                               1             35,620        15,744,040
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated cost burden to respondents is $62,430,000. ($7,800,000 
(traditional process) + $17,600,000 (alternative process) + $37,030,000 
(integrated process). These costs were determined by the percentage of 
applicants that would be using each of these processes. Annualized 
costs per project $2,600,000 (traditional); $2,200,000 (alternative 
licensing) and $1,610,000 (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) 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. E6-4591 Filed 3-29-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P