[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 88 (Tuesday, May 8, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26086-26087]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-8701]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC07-555-000; FERC-555]


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

May 1, 2007.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

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. No. 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 July 13, 2007.

ADDRESSES: For more information on the records retention requirements, 
the public can view the Commission's regulations on the Commission's 
Web site (http://www.ferc.gov/legal/maj-ord-reg.asp) or contacting 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. IC07-555-000.
    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-555 ``Records Retention Requirements'' (OMB No. 
1902-0098) is used by the Commission to carry out its responsibilities 
in implementing the statutory provisions of sections 301, 304 and 309 
of the Federal Power Act (FPA) (16 U.S.C. 825, 825c and 825h), sections 
8, 10 and 16 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) (15 U.S.C. 717-717w), and 
section 20 of the Interstate Commerce Act (ICA, 49 U.S.C. 20).
    The regulations for preservation of records establish retention 
periods, necessary guidelines and requirements to sustain retention of 
applicable records for the regulated public utilities, natural gas and 
oil pipeline companies subject to the Commission's jurisdiction. These 
records will be used by the regulated companies as the basis for their 
required rate filings and reports for the Commission. In addition, the 
records will be used by the Commission's audit staff during compliance 
reviews, by enforcement staff during investigations and for special 
analyses as deemed necessary by the Commission. The records retained by 
jurisdictional companies as directed by the Commission are the result 
of a mandatory requirement.
    On January 8, 1999 the Commission issued AI99-2-000, an Accounting 
Issuance providing guidance on records storage media. Specifically, 
FERC gave each jurisdictional company the flexibility to select its own 
storage media. The storage media selected must have a life expectancy 
equal to the applicable record period unless the quality of the data 
transferred from one media to another with no loss of data would exceed 
the record period.
    On January 27, 2000, FERC issued a final rule amending its records 
retention regulations for public utilities and licensees, and natural 
gas and oil pipeline companies. These changes included revising the 
general instructions, and shortening various records retention periods. 
The final rule's objective was to reduce or eliminate burdensome and 
unnecessary regulatory requirements.
    It has been more than seven years since the issuance of the final 
rule and the accounting guidance, and jurisdictional companies have 
experienced more than sufficient time to implement these provisions. In 
responding to this notice, the Commission seeks information on whether 
jurisdictional companies have obtained substantial reductions in the 
recordkeeping burden for maintaining their records under the revised 
retention periods and the use of alternative storage media. Further, 
the Commission is interested in learning if and what savings were 
achieved by jurisdictional companies by freeing up storage space 
formerly used for retaining records. The Commission implements these 
filing requirements in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) under 18 
CFR parts 125, 225, and 356.
    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:

[[Page 26087]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Number of          Number of       Average burden
   respondents       responses  per      hours  per       Total annual
     annually          respondent         response        burden hours
(1)                            (2)                (3)       (1)x(2)x(3)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            515                  1              2,402         1,237,030
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated cost burden to respondents is $141,045. (1,237,030 hours/
2080 hours per year times $122,137 per year average per employee = $ 
72,638,045). The cost per respondent is $ 141,045).
    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.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-8701 Filed 5-7-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P