[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 8, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6550-6551]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-2853]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RD11-3-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725A); Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Comment request.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D), the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (Commission or FERC) is submitting the information 
collection FERC-725A, Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-
Power System as contained in the Commission Order in Docket No. RD11-3-
000, 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. In compliance with section 3506 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Commission previously solicited 
comments on the information collection requirements associated with a 
modification to a Mandatory Reliability Standard, in an order published 
in the Federal Register (76 FR 72197, 11/22/2011). FERC received no 
comments in response to that notice and has made this notation in its 
submission to OMB.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due by March 9, 
2012.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by OMB Control No. 1902-
0244, should be sent via email to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs: [email protected]. Attention: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission Desk Officer. The Desk Officer may also be 
reached via telephone at (202) 395-4718.
    A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, identified by the Docket No. RD11-3-000, by 
either of the following methods:
     eFiling at Commission's Web Site: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp.
     Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426.
    Instructions: All submissions must be formatted and filed in 
accordance with submission guidelines at: http://www.ferc.gov/help/submission-guide.asp. For user assistance contact FERC Online Support 
by email at [email protected], or by phone at: (866) 208-3676 
(toll-free), or (202) 502-8659 for TTY.
    Docket: Users interested in receiving automatic notification of 
activity in this docket or in viewing/downloading comments and 
issuances in this docket may do so at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/docs-filing.asp.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: FERC-725A, Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-
Power System.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0244.
    Type of Request: Three-year approval of the FERC-725A information 
collection requirements associated with FERC Docket No. RD11-3-000.
    Abstract: This information collection relates to FERC-approved 
Reliability Standard FAC-013-2--Assessment of Transfer Capability for 
the Near-Term Transmission Planning Horizon. This modified Reliability 
Standard upgrades the existing planning requirements contained in FAC-
013-1, and specifically requires planning coordinators to have a 
methodology for and to perform an annual assessment identifying 
potential future transmission system weaknesses and limiting facilities 
that could impact the bulk

[[Page 6551]]

electric system's ability to reliably transfer energy in the near-term 
transmission planning horizon. FAC-013-2 imposes relatively minimal new 
requirements beyond the existing requirements of FAC-013-1, primarily 
limited to specification of information that must be included in the 
documented methodology for identifying potential future transmission 
system weaknesses, the frequency of the assessment required, and the 
number of days allocated to make the assessment results available to 
other entities.
    While the document retention requirements are being increased under 
the new Reliability Standard (from one to three years), the usual and 
customary practice currently is to retain documentation needed to 
demonstrate compliance for the period since the last audit, which is on 
a three year schedule. In addition, while planning coordinators must 
ensure that they perform an appropriate transfer capability assessment 
at least once per year, they are already required to establish transfer 
capabilities and disseminate information about those capabilities. 
Thus, there should be no increase in burden other than the one-time 
cost of (1) setting up a procedure to ensure that the assessment will 
be performed at least once per year, and (2) adjusting the methodology 
(if needed) to comply with the more specific requirements set out in 
the new Reliability Standard. The estimated burden of complying with 
these modified requirements is listed in the estimated annual burden 
section below.
    Type of Respondents: Planning Coordinators\1\
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    \1\ Planning Coordinators are as identified in NERC's compliance 
registry. See http://www.nerc.com/page.php?cid=3[square]25 for more 
information.
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    Estimate of Annual Burden: FAC-013-2 will require applicable 
entities to review their transfer capability methodologies and document 
compliance with the Reliability Standard's requirements. Those planning 
coordinators that do not already comply with FAC-013-2's requirement 
for having a documented methodology for assessing transfer capability 
in the Near-Term Transmission Planning Horizon will be required to 
update their methodology documents and compliance protocols. In 
addition, planning coordinators must ensure that the required 
assessment will be performed at least once per calendar year. The 
estimated burden \2\ is as follows:
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    \2\ Burden is defined as the total time, effort, or financial 
resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or 
disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. For a 
further explanation of what is included in the information 
collection burden, reference 5 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3.

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                                                                      No. of         Hours per
                 Data collection                      No. of       responses per  respondent per   Total  annual
                                                    respondents     respondent       response          hours
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                                                             (A)             (B)             (C)   ( A x B x C )
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
Review and possible revision of methodology (one-         \3\ 20               1              80           1,600
 time)..........................................
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Procedure to perform the Transfer Capability                  80               1              80           6,400
 Assessment annually (one-time).................
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    Total.......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............           8,000
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    The total estimated one-time cost resulting from this Reliability 
Standard is $960,000, representing 8,000 hours at $120 per hour.\4\
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    \3\ As of August 29, 2011, NERC listed 80 entities as registered 
planning authorities (synonymous with planning coordinator). The 
burden calculation is based on the expectation that 25% of all 
planning coordinators will have to update their methodology 
documents.
    \4\ The hourly reporting cost is based on the estimated cost of 
an engineer to implement the requirements of the rule.
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    Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) whether the 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 estimate of the burden and 
cost of the collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information collection; and (4) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.

    Dated: February 2, 2012.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-2853 Filed 2-7-12; 8:45 am]
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