[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 137 (Monday, July 19, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41838-41840]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-17522]


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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 proposed revisions and 
three-year extensions to the Forms:

EIA-1, ``Weekly Coal Monitoring Report--General Industries and Blast 
Furnaces'' (Standby);
EIA-3, ``Quarterly Coal Consumption and Quality Report--Manufacturing 
and Transformation/Processing Coal Plants and Commercial and 
Institutional Coal Users;''
EIA-4, ``Weekly Coal Monitoring Report--Coke Plants'' (Standby);
EIA-5, ``Quarterly Coal Consumption and Quality Report--Coke Plants;''
EIA-6Q (Schedule Q), ``Quarterly Coal Report'' (Standby);
EIA-7A, ``Coal Production Report;''
EIA-8A, ``Coal Stocks Report;'' and
EIA-20, ``Weekly Coal Monitoring Report--Coal Burning Utilities and 
Independent Power Producers'' (Standby).

    The Standby forms are designed to be utilized under certain 
emergency conditions.

DATES: Comments must be filed by September 17, 2010. If you anticipate 
difficulty in submitting comments within that period, contact the 
person listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to William Watson or George Warholic. To 
ensure receipt of the comments by the due date, submission by FAX (202-
287-1944) or e-mail ([email protected] or 
[email protected]) is recommended. The mailing address is the 
Coal, Nuclear, and Renewables Division, EI-52, Forrestal Building, U.S. 
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 
20585. Alternatively, William Watson may be contacted by telephone at 
(202) 586-1707 and George Warholic at 202-586-2307.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of any forms and instructions should be directed to George 
Warholic at the address listed above. Forms and Instructions are also 
available on the internet at: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/page/surveys/coal_survey_auth.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The 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.) 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 and to promote 
sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of 
energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.
    The EIA, as part of its effort to comply with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.), 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. Also, the EIA will later seek approval for this collection by 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Section 3507(a) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
    EIA conducts coal surveys to collect information on coal 
production, receipts, consumption, quality, stocks, and prices. This 
information is used to support public policy analyses of the coal 
industry and is published in various EIA publications, including the 
Annual Coal Report, the Annual Energy Review, the Monthly Energy 
Review, and the Quarterly Coal Report. Respondents to the coal surveys 
include

[[Page 41839]]

coal producers, coal brokers, coal traders, and coal consumers.
    Please refer to the proposed forms and instructions for more 
information about the purpose, who must report, when to report, where 
to submit, the elements to be reported, detailed instructions, 
provisions for confidentiality, and uses (including possible 
nonstatistical uses) of the information. For instructions on obtaining 
materials, see the For Further Information Contact section.

II. Current Actions

    EIA will be requesting a three-year extension of approval for all 
its coal surveys with the following survey changes proposed to Forms 
EIA-3, EIA-5, EIA-7A, and EIA-8A. EIA will not propose any changes to 
Forms EIA-1, EIA-4, EIA-6Q (Schedule Q), and EIA-20 (all standby 
forms). The proposed changes to Forms EIA-3, EIA-5, EIA-7A, and EIA-8A 
are described below:

Form EIA-3 (Quarterly Coal Consumption and Quality Report--
Manufacturing and Transformation/Processing Coal Plants and Commercial 
and Institutional Coal Users)

    EIA proposes to make several changes to the Form EIA-3 survey form 
and instructions. The proposed changes are to obtain additional 
information about the details of the coal plants and the specific 
origin and costs of the coal receipts.
    EIA proposes to make the data on the survey form publicly available 
except for the data element ``Total Cost of Coal Received During 
Quarter on a C.I.F. Basis (dollars)'' in Section II.
    EIA proposes to make additional minor revisions to the EIA-3 
instructions and definitions to provide respondents detailed 
information on the additional data elements.

Form EIA-5 (Quarterly Coal Consumption and Quality Report--Coke Plants)

    EIA proposes to make changes to the Form EIA-5 survey form and 
instructions. The proposed changes are to obtain additional information 
about the details of the coal plants and the specific origin and costs 
of the coal receipts.
    EIA proposes to make the data on the survey form publicly available 
except for the data element ``Total Cost of Coal Received During 
Quarter on a C.I.F. Basis (dollars)'' in Section II and ``Total 
Revenues from Commercial Sales'' of coke and breeze in Section III.
    EIA proposes to make additional minor revisions to the EIA-5 
instructions and definitions to provide respondents detailed 
information on the additional data elements.

Form EIA-7A (Coal Production and Preparation Report)

    EIA proposes to make changes to the Form EIA-7A survey form and 
instructions. The proposed changes are to obtain additional information 
about the coal preparation. EIA also proposes to raise the threshold on 
the amount of coal mined during the year that is the basis of the 
requirement for a mine to complete the survey.
    EIA proposes to make the data on the survey form publicly available 
except for the data element ``Total Revenue or Value (dollars)'' in 
Section V.
    EIA proposes to add to the survey a data item to collect 
information on the amount of coal stocks held at remote off-site 
locations.
    EIA proposes to make additional minor revisions to the EIA-7A 
instructions and definitions to provide respondents detailed 
information on the additional data elements.

Form EIA-8A (Coal Stocks Report)

    EIA proposes to make changes to the Form EIA-8A survey form and 
instructions. The proposed changes are to obtain additional detailed 
information on the specific origin(s) of the coal stocks. EIA also 
proposes to collect data on the coal exported by coal brokers including 
the amount of coal exports; the State of origin of the coal exports; 
the rank of the coal exports; and the total revenue associated with the 
coal exports.
    EIA proposes to make the data on the survey form publicly 
available.
    EIA proposes to make additional minor revisions to the EIA-8A 
instructions and definitions to provide respondents detailed 
information on the additional data elements.

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. (If the notice 
covers more than one form, add ``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 respondent by the due 
date?
    E. Public reporting burden for this collection is estimated to 
average

--Form EIA-1, ``Weekly Coal Monitoring Report--General Industries and 
Blast Furnaces'' (Standby); 1.0 hour per response (no change from 
existing estimate of 1.0 hour)
--Form EIA-3, ``Quarterly Coal Consumption and Quality Report--
Manufacturing and Transformation/Processing Coal Plants and Commercial 
and Institutional Coal Users;'' 1.25 hours per response, manufacturing 
plants (change from existing estimate of 0.9 hour)
--Form EIA-4, ``Weekly Coal Monitoring Report--Coke Plants'' (Standby); 
1.0 hour per response (no change from existing estimate of 1.0 hour)
--Form EIA-5, ``Quarterly Coal Consumption and Quality Report--Coke 
Plants;'' 1.5 hours per response (change from existing estimate of 1.4 
hours)
--Form EIA-6Q (Schedule Q), ``Quarterly Coal Report'' (Standby); 0.5 
hour per response (no change from existing estimate of 0.5 hour)
--Form EIA-7A, ``Coal Production and Preparation Report;'' 1.8 hours 
per response (change from existing estimate of 1.6 hours)
--Form EIA-8A, ``Coal Stocks Report;'' 1.0 hour per response (change 
from existing estimate of 0.95 hour)

--Form EIA-20, ``Weekly Coal Monitoring Report--Coal Burning Utilities 
and Independent Power Producers;'' (Standby) 1.0 hour per response (no 
change from existing estimate of 1.0 hour)

    The estimated burden includes the total time necessary to provide 
the requested information. In your opinion, how accurate is this 
estimate?
    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.

[[Page 41840]]

    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 13(b) of the Federal Energy 
Administration Act of 1974, P.L. 93-275, codified at 15 U.S.C. 
772(b).

    Issued in Washington, DC, July 12, 2010.
Stephanie Brown,
Director, Statistics and Methods Group, Energy Information 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-17522 Filed 7-16-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P