[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 34 (Monday, February 23, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8075-8077]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-3773]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of Energy 
(DOE).

ACTION: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request.

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SUMMARY: The EIA is soliciting comments on the proposed reinstatement 
and three-year approval of Form EIA-457A-G, ``Residential Energy 
Consumption Survey (RECS).''

DATES: Comments must be filed by April 24, 2009. If you anticipate 
difficulty in submitting comments within that period, contact the 
person listed below as soon as possible.

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ADDRESSES: Send comments to James R. Berry. To ensure receipt of the 
comments by the due date, submission by fax (202-586-0018) or e-mail 
([email protected]) is recommended. The mailing address is Office 
of Energy Markets and End-Use, Energy Consumption Division, EI-63, 
Forrestal Building, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20585. 
Alternatively, James Berry may be contacted by telephone at (202) 586-
5543.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of any forms and instructions should be directed to James Berry 
at the address listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
II. Current Actions
III. Request for Comments

I. Background

    The Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-275, 15 
U.S.C. 761 et seq.) and the DOE Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91, 42 
U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) require the EIA to carry out a centralized, 
comprehensive, and unified energy information program. This program 
collects, evaluates, assembles, analyzes, and disseminates information 
on energy resource reserves, production, demand, technology, and 
related economic and statistical information. This information is used 
to assess the adequacy of energy resources to meet near and longer-term 
domestic demands.
    The EIA, 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 conducted by or in 
conjunction with the EIA. Any comments received help the EIA 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 EIA will later seek approval by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) under Section 3507(a) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995.
    The Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) is a periodic 
survey of U.S. residential households to collect energy consumption and 
expenditures data and track changes over time. The data are widely used 
throughout the government and the private sector for policy analysis 
and are made available to the public via data tables, public-use data 
files, and detailed analysis papers and reports. Comprehensive data for 
the most recent survey, the 2005 RECS, are available in electronic 
format at the EIA's Residential Consumption web site home page at 
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/contents.html. Results from earlier 
surveys conducted in 1993, 1997, and 2001 are available in both printed 
and electronic format. Results from earlier RECS are available only in 
printed form.
    Please refer to the survey website for more information about the 
purpose of the survey and discussions of survey and data collection 
methodologies. For instructions on obtaining survey forms, see the FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

II. Current Actions

    This is a reinstatement of OMB No. 1905-0092 that expired May 31, 
2008. The reinstatement will be for a three-year period. No significant 
content or methodological changes are being implemented. The RECS is 
conducted on a quadrennial schedule, a schedule established with the 
1997 RECS. Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI), a technology 
used since the 1997 RECS will be used again for the 2009 iteration of 
the survey.
    The content of the 2009 survey questionnaires will remain 
relatively unchanged from the content in the 2005 RECS. Proposed 
changes include reinstatement of residential transportation items (last 
collecting in the 1993 RECS), revised wording in the interest of 
clarity, and additions and deletions of items due to changes in 
technology or changes in energy usage in the U.S. Questions regarding 
home electronics, for example, are updated to reflect increased number 
of high-definition televisions and television peripherals in U.S. 
homes. Some questions that yielded little useful data will be deleted. 
The 2005 RECS contained a series of questions included at the request 
of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These items related to 
household water usage have been deleted. All changes are made in the 
interest of collecting higher quality responses, to enhance the EIA's 
ability to accurately identify the end-uses for which energy is 
consumed in households, and to support end-use consumption and 
expenditure estimates.
    The 2009 RECS Household questionnaire will again contain a section 
of questions specifically for low-income household respondents. These 
questions are added at the request of the Department of Health and 
Human Services (HHS) and used in HHS' Low-Income Housing Energy 
Assistance Program (LIHEAP) formula calculations.
    The 2009 RECS will be conducted under the provisions of the 
Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act 
(CIPSEA) of 2002 (Title 5, Subtitle A, Pub. L. 107-347). As in the 
past, information provided by respondents will be used only for 
statistical purposes.
    Under the provisions of the law, every EIA employee, EIA contractor 
employee, and agents must keep confidential any individually 
identifiable information in his or her possession, and is subject to a 
jail term, a fine, or both, if he or she discloses or releases any 
identifiable information for nonstatistical purposes, without the 
informed consent of the respondent. The CIPSEA permits the EIA to 
obtain actual identifiers of survey respondents and process raw survey 
data on its physical premises while protecting information associated 
with individual respondents.

III. Request for Comments

    Prospective respondents and other interested parties should comment 
on the actions discussed in item II. The following guidelines are 
provided to assist in the preparation of comments. Please indicate to 
which form(s) your comments apply.
    As a Potential Respondent to the Request for Information:
    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?
    B. What actions could be taken to help ensure and maximize the 
quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the information to be 
collected?
    C. Are the instructions and definitions clear and sufficient? If 
not, which instructions need clarification?
    D. Can the information be submitted by the due date?
    E. Public reporting burden for this collection is estimated to 
average 45 minutes per response for Form EIA-457A, Household 
Questionnaire; 20 minutes per response for Form EIA-457B; 15 minutes 
per response for Form EIA-457C, Rental Agents, Landlords, and Apartment 
Managers; 30 minutes per response for Form EIA-457D, Household Bottle 
Gas (LPG or Propane) Usage; 30 minutes per response for Form EIA-457E, 
Household Electricity Usage; 30 minutes per response for Form EIA-457F, 
Household Natural Gas Usage; and 30 minutes per response for Form EIA-
457G, Household Fuel Oil or Kerosene Usage. The estimated burden 
includes the total time necessary to provide the requested information. 
In your opinion, how accurate is this estimate?

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    F. The agency estimates that the only cost to a respondent is for 
the time it will take to complete the collection. 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 collect similar 
information? If so, specify the agency, the data element(s), and the 
methods of collection.
    As a Potential User of the Information to be Collected:
    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?
    B. What actions could be taken to help ensure and maximize the 
quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the information 
disseminated?
    C. Is the information useful at the levels of detail to be 
collected?
    D. For what purpose(s) would the information be used? Be specific.
    E. Are there alternate sources for the information and are they 
useful? If so, what are their weaknesses and/or strengths?
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the form. They also 
will become a matter of public record.

    Statutory Authority: Section 3507(h)(1) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (15 
U.S.C. 761 et seq.), and the DOE Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et 
seq.).

    Issued in Washington, DC, February 17, 2009.
Stephanie Brown,
Director, Statistics and Methods Group, Energy Information 
Administration.
[FR Doc. E9-3773 Filed 2-20-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P