[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 28 (Monday, February 11, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7725-7726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-2410]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC08-561-000; FERC Form 561]


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

February 1, 2008.
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 April 7, 2008.

ADDRESSES: An example of this information collection can be obtained 
from the Commission's Documents & Filing Web site (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filings/elibrary.asp) or by 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. IC08-561-000.
    Documents filed electronically via the Internet must be prepared in 
an acceptable filing format and in compliance with the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission's submission guidelines. Complete filing 
instructions and acceptable filing formats are available at (http://www.ferc.gov/help/submission-guide/electronic-media.asp). To file the 
document electronically, access the Commission's Web site and click on 
Documents & Filing, E-Filing (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp), 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 Form 561 ``Annual Report of Interlocking 
Positions'' (OMB No. 1902-0099) is used by the Commission to implement 
the statutory provisions of section 305 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), 
as amended by Title II, section 211 of the Public Utility Regulatory 
Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) (16 U.S.C. 825d). FPA section 305--
Officials Dealing in Securities--Interlocking Directorates requires the 
annual reporting by public utility officers and directors of similar 
types of positions they hold with financial institutions, insurance 
companies, utility equipment and fuel providers, and with any of an 
electric utility's twenty largest purchasers of electric energy.\1\ The 
FPA mandates the information that must be filed, the required filers, 
the requirement to make the information available to the public, and 
the filing deadline. The Commission is not empowered to amend or waive 
these statutory requirements. Requirements the Commission has the 
authority to amend, such as filing format and method, can be found in 
18 CFR part 46 and section 131.31.
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    \1\ Annual Report of a Utility's Twenty Largest Purchasers, 
FERC-566, OMB No. 1902-0114, collects information from the twenty 
largest purchasers.
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    Without this information collection, the Commission and the public 
would not be able to inquire into and determine whether public or 
private interests will be adversely affected by the holding of such 
positions.
    Under the current OMB authorization, the Commission requires the 
FERC Form 561 filings in hardcopy with an optional diskette containing 
a spreadsheet of the interlocking directorate information. However, the 
Commission has indicated under RM07-16-000,\2\ to allow for the 
voluntary electronic submittal of many required filings, including the 
FERC Form 561, by early 2008. Through eFiling 7.0, the form will be 
filed in Adobe Acrobat with an optional electronic spreadsheet 
attachment. Implementation of eFiling 7.0 will eliminate the current 
burden of mailing and hand-delivering the filings in hardcopy.
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    \2\ Filing Via the Internet, RM07-16-000, 72 FR 65659 (2007), 
FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,259.
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    Action: The Commission is requesting a three-year extension of the 
current expiration date, and proposes to make the filing of the FERC 
Form 561 more efficient during 2008 under RM07-16-000.
    Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this collection is 
estimated as:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Number of
                                  responses      Average    Total annual
Number of respondents annually       per      burden hours  burden hours
                                 respondent   per response
(1)                                     (2)           (3)   (1)x(2)x(3)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1996..........................            1           .25           499
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    The estimated total cost to respondents is $21,516. [499 hours 
divided by 2080 hours \3\ per year, times $126,384 \4\ equals $30,320]. 
The cost per respondent is $15 (rounded off).
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    \3\ Number of hours an employee works each year.
    \4\ Average annual salary per employee.

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[[Page 7726]]

    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, using 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 filing 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 cost estimate 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) The accuracy of the agency's burden 
estimate of the proposed information collection, including the validity 
of the methodology and assumptions used to calculate the reporting 
burden; (2) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (3) the proposal to provide the option 
to collect FERC Form 561 electronically by late 2007, as proposed under 
RM07-16-000 and any reduction in burden that option might allow filers.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-2410 Filed 2-8-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P