[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 1, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37451-37453]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-14886]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Proposed Agency Information Collection

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice and Request for Comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) invites public comment on a 
proposed collection of information that DOE is developing for 
submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 
the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information shall have practical utility; (b) 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; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.

DATES: Comments must be filed by September 2, 2008. If you anticipate 
difficulty in submitting comments within that period, contact the 
person listed in Addresses as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Alice Lippert. Written comments may be sent 
to Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (Attn: 
Comments on Refinery Disruption and Incident Report), OE-30, Forrestal 
Building, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20585 or by fax at 
202-586-2623, or by e-mail at [email protected]. To ensure 
receipt of the comments by the due date, submission by FAX or e-mail to 
is recommended. Alternatively, Alice Lippert may be contacted by 
telephone at 202-586-9600.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Alice Lippert using the contact information 
listed above.

[[Page 37452]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request 
contains:
    (1) OMB No.: New.
    (2) Information Collection Request Title: Refinery Disruption and 
Incident Report.
    (3) Type of Review: New.
    (4) Purpose:
    (4)(I). Background;
    (4)(II). Current Actions;
    (4)(III). Request for Comments.

(4)(I). Background

    Section 202(b) of the Department of Energy Organization Act ((DOE 
Act), Pub. L. 95-91, 42 U.S.C. 7132(b)) and Secretary of Energy 
Delegation Orders 00-002.00 and 00-001.10 provides the Office of 
Electricity Delivery and Energy reliability the authority to:
    (1) Implement section 13 of the Federal Energy Administration Act 
of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-275) (15 U.S.C. 772), to collect, assemble, 
evaluate and analyze energy information;
    (2) Implement section 11 of the Energy Supply and Environmental 
Coordination Act of 1974 (ESECA) (Pub. L. 93-319, 15 U.S.C. 796), to 
request, acquire and collect such energy information as the Secretary 
of Energy determines to be necessary to assist in the formulation of 
energy policy or to carry out the purposes of ESECA, and to exercise 
all energy information reporting authorities provided in section 11;
    (3) Carry out the responsibilities assigned to the Secretary of 
Energy in Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-5 (Management 
of Domestic Incidents) and the National Response Framework adopted 
pursuant to HSPD-5 with respect to energy supply and distribution and 
related activities;
    (4) Carry out the responsibilities assigned to the Secretary of 
Energy in HSPD-7 (Critical Infrastructure Identification, 
Prioritization, and Protection) with respect to energy supply and 
distribution and related activities;
    (5) Carry out the responsibilities assigned to the Secretary of 
Energy in HSPD-8 (National Preparedness) with respect to energy supply 
and distribution and related activities; and
    (6) Formulate and establish enforcement policy, initiate and 
conduct investigations, conduct conferences, administrative hearings 
and public hearings, prepare required reports, issue orders, and take 
such other action as may be necessary or appropriate to perform any of 
the above functions.
    The DOE, as part of its effort to comply with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), provides 
the general public and other Federal agencies with opportunities to 
comment on collections of energy information. Any comments received 
help the DOE to prepare data requests that maximize the utility of the 
information collected, and to assess the impact of collection 
requirements on the public. Also, the DOE will later seek approval by 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under section 3507(a) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
    The purpose of the ``Refinery Disruption and Incident Report'' 
would be to provide the Department of Energy with the information 
necessary to alert it to the existence and severity of a problem with a 
refinery and its ability to supply the market with petroleum products; 
the report would also provide contact information should it be 
necessary for the Department to discuss and address the situation. The 
report would be filed during an emergency, when certain conditions were 
met, indicating that a serious problem were occurring at a refinery.
    OE proposes to collect information on refinery disruptions and 
incidents when there is (1) an emergency shutdown of a refinery; or (2) 
an emergency shutdown of a major unit, processes, or system at a 
refinery with potential for significant production disruption; or (3) a 
physical or cyber attack that causes major interruptions to critical 
refinery facilities, systems or operations. OE proposes to collect 
``Emergency Alert'' information within one hour that indicates when the 
disruption or incident began, and if it is over, when it ended. In 
addition, OE proposes to collect information within one hour on the 
type of disruption or incident and whether the there is any anticipated 
loss of production of transportation fuels or heating oil as a result 
of the problem. If there is no production impact, then the one hour 
Emergency Alert filing is all that is required of a refinery.
    OE proposes to collect more information on the disruption or 
incident within six hours of the occurrence, if there is a projected 
production impact. OE proposes to collect detailed data on the actions 
taken as a result of the problem, including the units or processed 
affected by the disruption or incident and the estimated loss of 
production in barrels per day of gasoline, gasoline blending stocks, 
jet fuel, and distillate fuel, including heating oil. OE also proposes 
to collect detailed information (in a narrative format) regarding: Why 
the refinery reduced runs or shut down, supply impacts, feedstock 
deficiencies, storage issues, and distribution problems.
    The frame for the report would include operators of all petroleum 
refineries with a crude distillation capacity of at least 50,000 
barrels per day that are located in the 50 States, District of 
Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and other U.S. 
possessions. Filing of the report would be mandatory pursuant to 
Section 13 of the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 
93-275) (15 U.S.C. 772), Section 202(b) of the Department of Energy 
Organization Act ((DOE Act), Pub. L. 95-91, 42 U.S.C. 7132(b)) and 
Secretary of Energy Delegation Orders 00-002.00 and 00-001.10, when a 
disruption or incident meets certain criteria or conditions indicating 
the situation is significant. This is an emergency report, without any 
set schedule, that will only be filed when criteria for filing are met. 
When the criteria are met, it is critical that the report is filed in a 
timely manner, so the Department of Energy, if necessary, can make 
policy decisions and take actions to quickly address a petroleum 
product supply emergency.
    The information collected on the report would be used by the 
Department to perform due diligence on policy recommendations 
concerning emergency actions. The Department needs accurate information 
and assessments of impacts and the expected duration of emergency 
disruptions and incidents at refineries to provide the most effective 
regulatory relief and restoration assistance.
    Information collected on refinery disruptions and incidents will be 
shared with DOE policy-makers and may be shared with relevant federal 
and state officials who have emergency authorities to waive certain 
regulations in order to expedite recovery or mitigate the adverse 
effects of the disruption. Information that is not protected on 
Schedule 1 may also be published in OE's Emergency Situation Reports, 
which provide public information on the status of the energy 
infrastructure in the United States. All information collected related 
to actions taken, units or processes affected by the disruption or 
incident, the estimated losses of production, and any additional 
information provided in the narrative will be considered protected 
data. The protected data will be kept confidential and not disclosed to 
the public to the extent that it satisfies the criteria for exemption 
under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, the DOE 
regulations, 10 CFR 1004.11, implementing the FOIA, and the Trade 
Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1905. The

[[Page 37453]]

Department of Energy (DOE) will protect the information in accordance 
with its confidentiality and security policies and procedures.
    Information on refinery disruptions and incidents and the possible 
effects on petroleum product supplies are essential to the mission of 
the DOE in general and to Energy Information Administration and OE, in 
particular. Data on refinery outages are limited from commercial 
sources.
    Consideration of a proposal for OE to collect information on 
refinery disruptions and incidents was necessitated by requesters 
citing the important roles that petroleum product supplies and prices 
have in the U.S. economy and the potential significant effects of 
refinery disruptions and incidents. The survey will not collect 
information on planned, scheduled outages. Public and private analysts 
must rely on commercially available sources of information for such 
information, to the extent that it is available.

(4)(II). Current Actions

    OE is considering collecting refinery disruption and incident 
information only during an emergency which meets certain defined 
conditions. The conditions are:
    A. Emergency shutdown of refinery; or
    B. Emergency shutdown of a major unit, process, or system at the 
refinery with potential for significant production disruption; or
    C. Physical or cyber attack that causes major interruptions or 
impacts to critical refinery facilities, systems, or operations.
    The information to be reported would include: The date and time of 
the disruption or incident, its duration, the type of incident, actions 
taken by the refinery, units or processes affected, and the estimated 
production impact. The report also asks the respondent to provide a 
narrative description of the disruption or incident and details on 
supply impacts, feedstock deficiencies, storage issues or distribution 
problems, including pipeline, waterborne transport, railroad, or truck 
loading issues to or from the refinery.
    At this time, OE is soliciting public comments on this proposal. OE 
then plans to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for the new emergency report to collect data on refinery 
disruptions and incidents.

(4)(III). Request for Comments

    A. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency and does the 
information have practical utility? Practical utility is defined as the 
actual usefulness of information, taking into account its accuracy, 
adequacy, reliability, timeliness, and the agency's ability to process 
the information it collects.
    B. What enhancements can be made to the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected and disseminated?
    C. How soon after a disruption or incident would one expect 
refiners to be able to provide a meaningful estimate of a potential 
loss in production of transportation fuels and heating oil?
    D. Given the availability of public and subscription information 
regarding refinery disruptions and incidents, please provide detailed 
reasons why actions taken by a refinery, unit- and process-level 
information, and estimates of production impacts collected from a 
refinery should not be considered as public information and releasable 
to the public in identifiable form. Put another way, why should OE 
treat such information as protected from public release and consider 
the information as trade secrets?
    E. What, if any, issues or potential questions should OE address in 
this proposed emergency report and instructions for collecting 
information on significant disruptions and incidents affecting refinery 
operations?
    F. The ``Refinery Disruption and Incident Report'' is expected to 
take one hour to fill out per response. The estimated burden includes 
the total time necessary to provide the requested information. In your 
opinion, how accurate is this estimate? Will a respondent incur any 
start-up costs for reporting, or any recurring annual costs for 
operation, maintenance, and purchase of services associated with the 
information collection?
    G. What additional actions could be taken to minimize the burden of 
this collection of information? Such actions may involve the use of 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    H. Does any other Federal, State, or local agency or any private 
organization collect similar information? If so, specify the agency/
organization, the data element(s), the methods of collection, and what 
additional value would be derived from OE undertaking a collection of 
that information.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the collection of 
the information on refinery disruptions and incidents. They also will 
become a matter of public record.
    (5) Respondents: 100 Respondents--100 refinery operators (number 
not expected to change over the next three years);
    (6) Estimated Number of Burden Hours: OE estimates the annual 
reporting burden to be 485 hours. OE estimates the respondent burden on 
the Emergency Report for Schedule 1 to be about six minutes. OE 
estimates the respondent burden on the Status Report (Schedule 1 & 
Schedule 2) to be about 1 hour per response. OE estimates the 
respondent burden on the Final Report (Schedule 1 & Schedule 2) to be 
about 1 hour per response. OE estimates 150 Emergency Report filings 
with no production impact and 200 Emergency Report filing with a 
production impact. The 200 Emergency Report filings with production 
impact will require Status Reports and Final Reports to be filed. OE 
assumes about 50 respondents will file two Status Reports.

    Statutory Authority: Section 3507(h)(1) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), 
Section 202(b) of the Department of Energy Organization Act ((DOE 
Act), Pub. L. 95-91, 42 U.S.C. 7132(b)), Secretary of Energy 
Delegation Orders 00-002.00 and 00-001.10, Section 13 of the Federal 
Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-275) (15 U.S.C. 772), 
and Section 11 of the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination 
Act of 1974 (ESECA) (Pub. L. 93-319, 15 U.S.C. 796)

    Issued in Washington, DC on June 25th, 2008.
Kevin M. Kolevar,
Assistant Secretary of Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and 
Energy Reliability, Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration 
Division.
[FR Doc. E8-14886 Filed 6-30-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P