[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 230 (Wednesday, December 1, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74696-74697]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-30255]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC10-555-001]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-555); Comment 
Request; Submitted for OMB Review

November 24, 2010.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of section 3507 of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507, the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) has submitted the 
information collection described below to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review of the information collection requirements. Any 
interested person may file comments directly with OMB and should 
address a copy of those comments to the Commission as explained below. 
The Commission issued a Notice in the Federal Register (75 FR 57744, 
09/22/2010) requesting public comments. FERC received no comments on 
the FERC-555 and has made this notation in its submission to OMB.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due by January 3, 
2011.

ADDRESSES: Address comments on the collection of information to the 
Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Desk Officer. 
Comments to OMB should be filed electronically, c/o [email protected] and include OMB Control Number 1902-0098 for 
reference. The Desk Officer may be reached by telephone at 202-395-
4638.
    A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission and should refer to Docket No. IC10-555-001. 
Comments may be filed either electronically or in paper format. Those 
persons filing electronically do not need to make a paper filing. 
Documents filed electronically via the Internet must be prepared in an 
acceptable filing format and in compliance with the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission submission guidelines. Complete filing 
instructions and acceptable filing formats are available at http://www.ferc.gov/help/submission-guide.asp. To file the document 
electronically, access the Commission's Web site and click on Documents 
& Filing, E-Filing (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp), and 
then follow the instructions for each screen. First time users will 
have to establish a user name and password. The Commission will send an 
automatic acknowledgement to the sender's e-mail address upon receipt 
of comments.
    For paper filings, the comments should be submitted to the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First 
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, and should refer to Docket No. IC10-
555-001.
    Users interested in receiving automatic notification of activity in 
FERC Docket Number IC10-555 may do so through eSubscription at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp. All comments may be viewed, 
printed or downloaded remotely via the Internet through FERC's homepage 
using the ``eLibrary'' link. For user assistance, contact 
[email protected] or toll-free at (866) 208-3676, or for TTY, 
contact (202) 502-8659.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The information collected under the 
requirements of FERC-555, ``Records Retention Requirements'' (OMB No. 
1902-0098), is used by the Commission to carry out its responsibilities 
in implementing the statutory provisions of sections 301, 304 and 309 
of the Federal Power Act (FPA) (16 U.S.C. 825, 825c and 825h), sections 
8, 10 and 16 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) (15 U.S.C. 717-717w), and 
section 20 of the Interstate Commerce Act (ICA, 49 U.S.C. 20).
    The regulations for preservation of records establish retention 
periods, necessary guidelines, and requirements for retention of 
applicable records for the regulated public utilities, natural gas and 
oil pipeline companies subject to the Commission's jurisdiction. These 
records will be used by the regulated companies as the basis for their 
required rate filings and reports for the Commission. In addition, the 
records will be used by the Commission's audit staff during compliance 
reviews, by enforcement staff during investigations, and for special 
analyses as deemed necessary by the Commission.
    Action: The Commission is requesting a three-year extension of the 
current expiration date, with no changes to the record keeping 
requirements.
    Burden Statement: In order to obtain a more accurate burden figure, 
Commission staff asked a small number of FERC-555 respondents to 
estimate the burden imposed by this data collection. The results show 
that the record retention requirements under FERC-555 were 
underestimated in the previous renewal of this information 
collection.\1\ The following table portrays the updated burden estimate 
based on industry responses:
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    \1\ The previous estimate reported average burden hours per 
response and total burden hours as 2,402 and 1,237,030 respectively. 
Further, the previous estimate reported the average annual cost per 
respondent and total annual cost as $141,045 and $72,638,045 
respectively. Finally, the estimate for the number of respondents 
has decreased from 515 to 475.

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                                                 Number of      Average Number  Average  burden
            FERC data collection                respondents      of responses      hours per       Total annual
                                                  annually      per respondent    response \2\     burden hours
                                                         (1)              (2)              (3)   (1) x (2) x (3)
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FERC-555....................................             475                1            4,968        2,359,800
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    The \2\ estimated total annual cost burden to respondents includes 
labor costs associated with record retention ($65,597,025 or $152,423 
per company) and both electronic and non-electronic record storage 
costs ($72,400,925 or $138,099 per company). The estimated total annual 
cost is $137,997,950; the

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total annual cost per respondent is $290,522.\3\
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    \2\ Record retention burden differs greatly by the size of the 
company and this figure captures an average across all 
jurisdictional companies. Thus a small company may require fewer 
than 1,000 hours per year to comply while a large company may 
require more than 10,000 hours per year to comply.
    \3\ These cost estimates are based on the information received 
from contacting actual companies and asking for estimates of record 
retention costs. There is no specific rate used in these cost 
estimates.
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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 collection of 
information is 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 collection 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. 2010-30255 Filed 11-30-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P