[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 31 (Thursday, February 14, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10614-10615]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-03399]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket Nos. RM07-16-000 and RM01-5-000]


Information Collection Activities and Request for Comments

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) invites 
public comment on a proposed collection of information that the 
Commission is developing for submission to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). 
This collection of information relates to the application to interstate 
and intrastate natural gas pipelines and interstate oil pipelines of 
the Commission's revised Company Registration procedures.\1\
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    \1\ Concurrent with this Notice, the Commission is issuing a 
separate order on ``Revisions to Company Registration and 
Establishing Technical Conference'' with additional details on the 
requirements.

DATES: Comments regarding this proposed information collection must be 
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received on or before April 15, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket Nos. RM07-16-
000 and RM01-5-000) 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.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This collection of information relates to 
the application to interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines and 
interstate oil pipelines of the Commission's revised Company 
Registration procedures.
    These procedures will replace the use of random-number generated 
passwords to authenticate access to a company registration account with 
a superior method of authentication. Under the revised procedures, a 
regulated natural gas and oil pipeline will be able to maintain a list 
of eRegistered agents whom the pipeline has authorized to submit a 
particular type of filing. Implementation of these changes will provide 
increased flexibility for regulated entities to manage their company 
registration accounts and to designate agents to make filings at the 
Commission. These changes also will reduce the need for pipelines to 
institute measures to protect password integrity, including the need to 
request new passwords if existing passwords are compromised.\2\ These 
revised procedures are expected to go into effect in October 2013.
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    \2\ A description of the procedures can be found in the 
Commission's order in Filing Via the Internet, Docket Nos. RM07-16-
000 and RM01-5-000, 142 FERC ] 61,097 (2013) (http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/OpenNat.asp?fileID=13174100).
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    OMB's regulations \3\ require approval of certain information 
collection requirements that impose identical reporting or 
recordkeeping requirements imposed on ten or more persons. Without 
consideration of potential cost savings in reduced password management 
and requests for new passwords, the one-time burden on interstate and 
intrastate natural gas and oil pipelines to transition to the revised 
system is estimated to be one hour per respondent at a cost of $35.99/
hour for support staff.\4\
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    \3\ 5 CFR 1320.
    \4\ The estimated burden on electric utilities for compliance 
with this requirement was included in Order No. 770, 77 FR 71,288 
(Nov. 30, 2012) and is incorporated in FERC-920, Electric Quarterly 
Report, OMB Control No. 1902-0255. Those reporting requirements will 
be submitted to OMB for review after OMB issues a decision on 
another pending item under that Control Number. (Only one item per 
OMB Control Number can be pending at OMB for PRA review at a time.)
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    Information Collection Costs: The Commission projects the average 
annual burden and cost of compliance with these regulations to be the 
following:

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                                                                     Hours per
                                                     Number of     response  (1
                 Data collection                    respondents    response  per    Total hours     Total cost
                                                                    respondent)
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FERC-545--NGA Pipelines.........................             161               1             161          $5,794
FERC-549--NGPA Pipelines........................             200               1             200           7,198
FERC-550--Oil Pipelines.........................             200               1             200           7,198
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[[Page 10615]]

    We estimate that pipelines will have the initial implementation 
burden of one hour and may annually review or make revisions to their 
list of designated agents. The total annual cost for all respondents 
is: $20,190.
    Title: FERC-545, Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Change (Non-Formal), OMB 
Control No. 1902-0154; FERC-549, Gas Pipeline Rates: NGPA Title III 
Transactions and Part 341, OMB Control No. 1902-0086; and FERC-550, Oil 
Pipeline Rates: Tariff Filings, OMB Control No. 1902-0089.
    Action: Revised company registration information requirements.
    Respondents: Interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines and 
interstate oil pipelines.
    Frequency of Responses: One-time initial implementation and 
periodic updates as needed.
    Need for Information: The changes are being implemented to enhance 
the security of natural gas and oil pipelines' company registration 
accounts and to provide pipelines with an enhanced ability to manage 
filing permissions.
    Internal Review: We have reviewed the changes and determined that 
the changes are necessary, conforming to the Commission's need for 
efficient information collection, communication, and management within 
the energy industry. We have assured ourselves, by means of internal 
review, that there is specific, objective support for the burden 
estimates associated with the information collection requirements.
    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 8, 2013.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-03399 Filed 2-13-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P