[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.
[[Page 8076]]
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?
[[Page 8077]]
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