[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 20 (Monday, February 1, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5061-5063]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-1977]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket Nos. IC10-6-000 and IC10-6Q-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC Form Nos. 6 
and 6-Q); Comment Request; Extensions

January 25, 2010.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

[[Page 5062]]


ACTION: Notice of proposed information collections and request for 
comments.

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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. 104-13), the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public 
comment on the specific aspects of the information collections 
described below.

DATES: Comments in consideration of the collections of information are 
due April 5, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be filed either electronically or in paper 
format, and should refer to Docket Nos. IC10-6-000 and IC10-6Q-000. For 
comments that only pertain to one of the collections, specify the 
appropriate collection and related docket number. Documents must be 
prepared in an acceptable filing format and in compliance with the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission submission guidelines at http://www.ferc.gov/help/submission-guide.asp.
    Comments may be filed electronically via the eFiling link on the 
Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov. First time users will 
have to establish a user name and password (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/eregistration.asp) before eFiling. The Commission will send an 
automatic acknowledgement to the sender's e-mail address upon receipt 
of comments through eFiling. Commenters filing electronically should 
not make a paper filing.
    Commenters that are not able to file electronically must send their 
comments to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
    Users interested in receiving automatic notification of activity in 
Docket Number IC10-6 may do so through eSubscription at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp. However, due to a system 
issue, Docket Number IC10-6Q is not available at this time for 
eSubscription. In addition, all comments and FERC issuances may be 
viewed, printed or downloaded remotely through FERC's Web site using 
the ``eLibrary'' link and searching on Docket Numbers IC10-6 and IC10-
6Q. For user assistance, contact FERC Online Support at: 
[email protected], (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by 
telephone at (202) 502-8663, by fax at (202) 273-0873, or by e-mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For the purpose of publishing this notice 
and seeking public comment, FERC requests comments on the following 
information collections:
     FERC Form 6 (``FERC-6''), ``Annual Report of Oil Pipeline 
Companies,'' implemented in 18 CFR Sections 357.1, 357.2, and 385.2011; 
OMB Control No. 1902-0022 and
     FERC Form 6-Q (``FERC-6Q'' or ``FERC-6-Q''), ``Quarterly 
Financial Report of Oil Pipeline Companies,'' implemented in 18 CFR 
Section 357.4; OMB Control No. 1902-0206.
    The associated regulations, information collections, burdens, and 
OMB clearance numbers will continue to remain separate and distinct.
    Under the Interstate Commerce Act (ICA), (49 U.S.C. 1, 20, 54 Stat. 
916), the Commission is authorized and empowered to make investigations 
and to collect and record data to the extent FERC may consider to be 
necessary or useful for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of 
the ICA. FERC must ensure just and reasonable rates for transportation 
of crude oil and petroleum products by pipelines in interstate 
commerce.
    The information collected by FERC Form Nos. 6 and 6-Q are used by 
the Commission to carry out its responsibilities in implementing the 
statutory provisions of the ICA, including the authority to prescribe 
rules and regulations concerning accounts, records and memoranda, as 
necessary or appropriate. Financial accounting and reporting provides 
needed information concerning a company's past performance and its 
future prospects. Without reliable financial statements prepared in 
accordance with the Commission's Uniform System of Accounts and related 
regulations, the Commission would be unable to accurately determine the 
costs that relate to a particular time period, service or line of 
business.
    FERC uses data from the FERC Form Nos. 6 and 6-Q to assist in: (1) 
Implementation of its financial audits and programs, (2) continuous 
review of the financial condition of regulated companies, (3) 
assessment of energy markets, (4) rate proceedings and economic 
analyses, and (5) research for use in litigation.
    Financial information reported on the annual FERC Form 6 and 
quarterly FERC Form 6-Q provides FERC, as well as customers, investors 
and others, an important tool to help identify emerging trends and 
issues affecting jurisdictional entities within the energy industry. It 
also provides timely disclosures of the impacts that new accounting 
standards, or changes in existing standards, have on jurisdictional 
entities, as well as the economic effects of significant transactions, 
events, and circumstances. The reporting of this information by 
jurisdictional entities assists the Commission in its analysis of 
profitability, efficiency, risk and in its overall monitoring.
    Action: The Commission is requesting three-year extensions of the 
current expiration dates for the FERC-6 and FERC-6Q, with no change to 
the reporting requirements.
    Burden Statement: The estimated annual public reporting burdens and 
the associated public costs follow.1 2

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                                                                     Number of       Projected
                                                     Projected        annual      average burden   Total annual
              FERC Data Collection                   number of     responses per     hours per     burden hours
                                                    respondents     respondent       response           \1\
                                                             (1)             (2)             (3)     (1) x (2) x
                                                                                                             (3)
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FERC-6 (Complete form) \2\......................             142               1             186          26,412
FERC-6 (Pages 1, 301, and 700 only) \2\.........               1               1              15              15
FERC-6 (Pages 1 and 700 only) \2\...............              23               1              10             230
FERC-6Q.........................................             142               3             150          63,900
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    The total annual cost to respondents 1 2 3 is estimated 
as follows.
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    \1\ These figures may not be exact, due to rounding and/or 
truncating.
    \2\ Order 620 in Docket No. RM99-10 (issued 12/13/2000, 
available at http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/opennat.asp?fileID=8370177) established filing thresholds. The 
filing thresholds for filing all or part of the FERC-6 are based on 
the filer's annual jurisdictional operating revenues, for each of 
the three previous calendar years:
     File complete Form 6: Revenues $500,000 or more.
     File only Pages 1, 301, and 700: Revenues more than 
$350,000 but less than $500,000.
     File only Pages 1 and 700: Revenues of $350,000 or 
less.
    See the instructions at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/forms/form-6/form-6.pdf for more information.
    The estimated annual totals for all filers completing all or 
part of the FERC-6 are: 166 filers and 26,657 hours, for a cost of 
$1,767,092.
    \3\ Using 2,080 hours/year, the estimated cost for 1 full-time 
employee is $137,874/year. The estimated hourly cost is $66.29 (or 
$137,874/2,080).

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                                                                                                     Estimated
                                                                                     Estimated     total annual
                      FERC Data Collection                         Total annual     hourly cost       cost to
                                                                   burden hours       \3\ ($)       respondents
                                                                                                      ($) \1\
                                                                             (1)             (2)       (2) x (1)
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FERC-6 (Complete form) \2\......................................          26,412          $66.29      $1,750,851
FERC-6 (Pages 1, 301, and 700 only) \2\.........................              15           66.29             994
FERC-6 (Pages 1 and 700 only) \2\...............................             230           66.29          15,247
FERC-6Q.........................................................          63,900           66.29       4,235,931
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    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 collections of 
information are 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 estimates of the 
burden of the proposed collections 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 collections 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. 2010-1977 Filed 1-29-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P