[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 6, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19067-19069]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-8159]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Agency Information Collection Extension

AGENCY: Western Area Power Administration, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Western Area Power Administration (Western), an agency of the 
Department of Energy (DOE), pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, intends to extend for three years without change, an information 
collection request with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 
Western's current OMB control number 1910-5136 for its Applicant 
Profile Data form (APD) expires on September 30, 2011. Comments are 
invited on: (1) Whether the extended collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information shall have practical utility; (2) the 
accuracy of the agency's estimate 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 collection of information on respondents, including 
the use of automated electronic, mechanical or other collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.

DATES: Comments regarding this proposed information collection must be 
received on or before the end of the comment period that closes on June 
6, 2011. Western must receive comments by the end of the comment period 
to ensure consideration.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be sent to Mr. Ronald Klinefelter, 
Corporate Service Office, Western Area Power Administration, 12155 W. 
Alameda Parkway, Lakewood, CO 80228 or by e-mail at 
[email protected]. Please refer to ``Paperwork Reduction Act 
Information Collection'' as the subject of your comments.

[[Page 19068]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ronald Klinefelter, Corporate 
Service Office, Western Area Power Administration, 12155 W. Alameda 
Parkway, Lakewood, CO 80228, telephone (720) 962-7010, or e-mail 
[email protected]. Western's existing collection instrument, the 
Applicant Profile Data form (APD), can be viewed in the Invitation for 
Public Comments on Western's Web page http://www.wapa.gov/documents/APDcomments.pdf.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request relates 
to: (1) OMB No. 1910-5136; (2) Information Collection Request Title: 
Western Area Power Administration Applicant Profile Data; (3) Type of 
Review: Renewal; (4) Purpose: The proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of Western's functions. Western 
markets a limited amount of Federal power. Western has discretion to 
determine who will receive an allocation of Federal power. Due to the 
high demand for Western's power and limited amount of available power 
under established marketing plans, Western needs to be able to collect 
information to evaluate who will receive an allocation of Federal 
power. As a result, the information Western collects is necessary and 
useful; (5) Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: 33.3; (6) Annual 
Estimated Number of Total Responses: 33.3; (7) Annual Estimated Number 
of Burden Hours: 266.7; (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and 
Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 0.

I. Statutory Authority

    Reclamation Laws are a series of laws arising from the Desert Land 
Act of 1872 and include but are not limited to: The Desert Land Act of 
1872, Reclamation Act of 1902, Reclamation Project Act of 1939, and the 
Acts authorizing each individual project such as the Central Valley 
Project Authorizing Act of 1937.\1\ The Reclamation Act of 1902 
established the Federal reclamation program.\2\ The basic principle of 
the Reclamation Act of 1902 was that the United States, through the 
Secretary of the Interior, would build and operate irrigation works 
from the proceeds of public land sales in the sixteen arid Western 
states (a seventeenth was later added). The Reclamation Project Act of 
1939 expanded the purposes of the reclamation program and specified 
certain terms for contracts that the Secretary of the Interior enters 
into to furnish water and power.\3\ Congress enacted the Reclamation 
Laws for purposes that include enhancing navigation, protection from 
floods, reclaiming the arid lands in the Western United States, and for 
fish and wildlife.\4\ Congress intended the production of power would 
be a supplemental feature of the multi-purpose water projects 
authorized under the Reclamation Laws.\5\ No contract entered into by 
the United States for power may impair the efficiency of the project 
for irrigation purposes.\6\ Section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 1944 
is read in pari materia with Reclamation Laws.\7\ In 1977 the 
Department of Energy Organization Act transferred the power marketing 
functions of the Department of the Interior to Western.\8\ Pursuant to 
this authority, Western markets Federal hydropower. As part of 
Western's marketing authority, Western needs to obtain information from 
interested entities who desire an allocation of Federal power. The 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 requires Western to obtain a clearance 
from OMB before collecting this information.\9\
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    \1\ See, Ch. 107, 19 stat. 377 (1872), Ch. 1093, 32 Stat. 388 
(1902), Ch. 418, 53 Stat. 1187 (1939), ch. 832, 50 Stat. 844, 850 
(1937), all as amended and supplemented.
    \2\ See, Ch. 1093, 32 Stat. 388, as amended and supplemented.
    \3\ See, Ch. 418, 53 Stat. 1187 (1939), as amended and 
supplemented.
    \4\ See, e.g., ch. 832, 50 Stat. 844, 850 (1937), as amended and 
supplemented.
    \5\ Id.
    \6\ See, 43 U.S.C. 485h(c).
    \7\ See Act of December 22, 1944, ch. 665, 58 Stat. 887, as 
amended and supplemented.
    \8\ See, 42 U.S.C. 7152(a)(1)(E).
    \9\ See, 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.
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II. This Process Determines the Format of the APD and Is Not a Call for 
Applications

    This public process and the associated Federal Register Notice only 
determine the information that Western will collect from an entity 
desiring to apply for a Federal power allocation. It is a legal 
requirement with which Western must comply before Western can request 
information from potential preference customers. This public process is 
not the process whereby interested parties request an allocation of 
Federal power. The actual allocation of power is outside the scope of 
this proceeding. Please do not submit a request for Federal power in 
this process. At a later time, through a separate process, Western will 
issue a call for applications, as part of its project-specific 
marketing plans. When Western issues a call for applications, the 
information Western proposes to collect is voluntary. Western will use 
the information collected, in conjunction with its project-specific 
marketing plans, to determine an entity's eligibility and ultimately 
who will receive an allocation of Federal power.

III. Purpose of Proposed Collection

    Western proposes to continue to collect the information in its 
existing APD. Western's current OMB control number 1910-5136 for its 
APD will expire on September 30, 2011. There will be no changes in the 
content, format, and directions. There are some ministerial errors that 
have been corrected on the APD; however, such corrections have no 
impact on the content, format, directions or paperwork burden. The 
content, format, directions and paperwork burden for the existing APD 
are discussed in more detail in that Federal Register Notice.\10\ This 
information also is included as part of the administrative record for 
this proceeding. In that process, Western identified what it believes 
is the minimum amount of collective information, as well as the need 
for collecting this information and the burden it creates. Western 
stated due to the variations that may be developed in each of Western's 
Regions, each Region through its project-specific marketing plans may 
determine that it does not need all of the information. Each Region 
will identify the subset of the data that it will require in its 
application through its call for applications. The APD, as well as 
administrative record for the proposal justifying its continued use, is 
available for inspection and copying at Western's Corporate Service 
Office and the ministerial changes as well as the invitation for 
comments may be viewed at http://www.wapa.gov/documents/APDcomments.pdf. As part of this process, Western has updated the 
annual cost burdens. From 2008 to 2011, Western has increased its 
estimate of the cost burden for preparing the APD from $100 to $104 per 
hour and for recordkeeping from $50 to $52 per hour.
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    \10\ 73 FR 5555 (2008), 73 FR 31463 (2008).
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IV. Invitation for Comments

    Western invites public comment on its existing collection of 
information as set forth above. Comments are invited on: (1) Whether 
the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information shall have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate 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

[[Page 19069]]

collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on respondents, including through the use of automated, 
electronic, mechanical or other collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology. As required under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 
after evaluating comments, Western will make a final determination on 
this information collection extension and publish a second notice in 
the Federal Register.

    Dated: March 28, 2011.
Timothy J. Meeks,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2011-8159 Filed 4-5-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P