[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 167 (Wednesday, August 28, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53135-53137]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20978]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Extension

AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of 
Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Information collection extension with change, comment request.

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SUMMARY: The EIA, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 
intends to extend for three years with the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) the Coal Markets Reporting System. Comments are invited 
on: (a) 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; (b) 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; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.

DATES: Comments must be filed by October 28, 2013. If you anticipate 
that you will be submitting comments, but find it difficult to do so 
within the period of time allowed by this notice, please advise the 
EIA-3 Survey Manager at EIA of your intention to make a submission as 
soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to: Attn: Tejasvi Raghuveer, 
EIA-3 Survey Manager, U.S. Energy Information Administration, EI-24, 
1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585.
    To ensure receipt of the comments by the due date, submission by 
email ([email protected]) is recommended. Alternatively, Ms. 
Raghuveer may be contacted by telephone at 202-586-8926.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of any forms and instructions should be directed to Ms. Tejasvi 
Raghuveer at the contact information listed above. The proposed forms 
and instructions are available on the Internet at: http://www.eia.gov/survey/#coal.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    This information collection request contains: (1) OMB No. 1905-
0167; (2) Information Collection Request Title: Coal Markets Reporting 
System. The survey forms included in this system are: EIA-3 ``Quarterly 
Coal Consumption and Quality Report, Manufacturing and Transformation/
Processing Coal Plants and Commercial and Institutional Coal Users; 
''EIA-6Q '' Quarterly Coal Report (Standby);'' EIA-7A ``Coal Production 
and Preparation Report;'' EIA-8A ``Coal Stocks Report;'' EIA-20 
``Weekly Coal Monitoring Report, Coal Burning Utilities and Independent 
Power Producers (Standby);'' (3) Type of Request: Three-year extension 
with changes; (4) Purpose: 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,

[[Page 53136]]

and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy 
and the environment.
    EIA surveys are conducted to collect coal market data. The data 
elements include production, consumption, receipts, stocks, and prices. 
Information pertaining to the quality of the coal is also collected. 
Aggregates of this collection are used to support public policy 
analyses of the coal industry, economic modeling, forecasting, coal 
supply and demand studies, and in guiding research and development 
programs. EIA publications, including the Monthly Energy Review, 
Quarterly Coal Report, Quarterly Coal Distribution Report, Annual Coal 
Report, and Annual Coal Distribution Report, each contain data 
collected through the coal production and consumption surveys listed 
above. The EIA uses the data in short-term and long-term models such as 
the Short-Term Integrated Forecasting System (STIFS) and the National 
Energy Modeling System (NEMS) Coal Market Module. The forecast data 
also appear in the Short-Term Energy Outlook and the Annual Energy 
Outlook publications.
    (4a) Proposed Changes: The EIA proposes to make changes to Forms 
EIA-3, EIA-6Q, EIA-7A, EIA-8A, and EIA-20. The EIA proposes to 
discontinue standby Forms EIA-1 and EIA-4. Together, these two standby 
forms were intended to collect data from non-electric sector 
respondents in the event of a coal supply disruption. To date, these 
forms have never been deployed. Also, the possibility of such a 
disruption to non-electric sector respondents seems minimal. In 
addition, coal and coke data collected on Form EIA-5 in Schedules II, 
III, and IV will now be collected on Form EIA-3. Hence, the EIA 
proposes to discontinue the Form EIA-5. Detailed descriptions of 
proposed changes to individual forms follow.

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

     Change the title of the survey to ``Quarterly Survey of 
Non-Electric Sector Coal Data''
     Modify the scope of the survey, as defined under the 
purpose section, to include coke plants
     Remove Secure File Transfer from Communication Method
     Re-categorize mail as an Unsecured Communication Method
     Change Site County to Site City
     Request EIA-923 ID in the Company Contact Information 
Section
     Create ``Part 5: Coking Plants Only'' to accommodate 
respondents of discontinued Form EIA-5 and collect data regarding coke 
production. Disclosure limitation procedures will continue to be 
applied to all cost and revenue data reported in Part V.
     No longer collect Synfuel data
     Minor revisions to instructions and definitions

Form EIA-7A: Coal Production and Preparation Report

     Change title of survey to ``Annual Survey of Coal 
Production and Preparation''
     Modify questions, response options, and instructions to 
provide respondents with more detail and to improve navigation
     Update Unsecured Communication Method(s) to include email, 
fax, and mail
     Create a field for adjustment to coal stocks to account 
for stocks held on- and off-site at the end of the reporting year
     Add new fields for metallurgical and non-metallurgical 
coal under sections on Open and Captive Market Sales to gather more 
accurate revenue data from each type of sale. Disclosure limitation 
procedures will be applied to protect the data elements from being 
attributed to any specific company.
    EIA proposes adding the following questions to Form EIA-7A:
     Did the company that owns the mining operation cease 
operations during the reporting year? This question will be used to 
help maintain the EIA-7A frame and review data discrepancies as 
reported by respondents that answered ``yes'' to the question.
     Report the county, state, and mining dates of the surface 
mining activity. The Mine Safety and Health Administration assigns this 
location every quarter. Adding this question would track production by 
county more accurately.
     What is the average heat content for all coal mined at 
this mine during the reporting year? EIA's State Energy Data System 
publishes heat content of coal produced by state. Currently, this 
production heat content data is estimated by EIA staff using coal-
quality data collected, in relation to coal receipts, at end-use 
sectors as a proxy. This question would provide the actual production-
based quality data needed to replace the estimation.
     For any Captive Market Sales or transfer of coal to the 
parent company or a subsidiary of the parent company, what are their 
contact name, company name, email address, and telephone number? This 
question helps verify the accuracy of captive market sales vs. open 
market sales data. This will also allow for improved frame maintenance 
on the EIA-8A, which covers coal traders, brokers, and terminals.
     For any Export Coal Sales to coal brokers, coal traders, 
or coal terminals, what are their contact name, company name, email 
address, and telephone number? This question will be used to run a 
cross-survey comparison with the EIA-8A in hopes of eliminating double-
counting of export coal sales and improving export-related data.

Form EIA-8A: Coal Stocks Report

     Change title of survey to ``Annual Survey of Coal Stocks 
and Coal Exports''
     Simplify questions, response options, and instructions to 
provide respondents with more detail and to improve navigation
     Update Secure Communication Method to include the Internet 
Data Collections (IDC) System
     Modify Unsecured Communication Method(s) to include email, 
fax, and mail
     Require additional contact information when a company is 
sold or merges during the reporting year
     Amend the Required Respondents section of the survey to 
require respondents to report coal exported since prior reporting year
     Revise list of locations where U.S. originated stocks are 
held to include ``OT--Other''
     Add new fields for metallurgical and non-metallurgical 
coal to various sections of the survey to gather more accurate revenue 
data about the metallurgical coal market
    EIA proposes adding the following questions to Form EIA-8A:
     Did the company for which you are reporting export coal 
that originated in the United States during the reporting year? This is 
a screening question that will help ensure an accurate accounting of 
all coal brokers that also act as exporters.
     What was the operational status of your company during the 
reporting year? This question will be used to help maintain the EIA-8A 
frame and review data discrepancies as reported by respondents that 
answered ``yes'' to the question.

Standby Forms EIA-6Q: Quarterly Coal Report (Standby) and EIA-20: 
Weekly Coal Monitoring Report, Coal Burning Utilities and Independent 
Power Producers (Standby)

     Change standby form titles to Form EIA-6: ``Emergency Coal 
Supply Survey'' and Form EIA-20: ``Emergency Weekly Coal Monitoring 
Survey for Coal Burning Power Producers.''

[[Page 53137]]

     Make minor revisions to instructions and definitions

Eliminating Form EIA-5: Quarterly Coal Consumption and Quality Report--
Coke Plants

    Eliminating Form EIA-5 and the proposed changes to Form EIA-3 will 
result in the absorption of all 19 EIA-5 respondents into the EIA-3 
frame, reduce quarterly maintenance of two separate internet data 
collection systems with nearly identical layouts and edits, and create 
a single survey for all non-electric sector coal users.

Eliminating Standby Forms EIA-1: Weekly Coal Monitoring Report--General 
Industries and Blast Furnaces and EIA-4: Weekly Coal Monitoring 
Report--Coke Plants

    Standby Forms EIA-1 and EIA-4 were intended to collect data from 
non-electric sector respondents in the event of a coal supply 
disruption. To date, these forms have never been deployed. Also, the 
possibility of such a disruption to non-electric sector respondents 
seems minimal. Eliminating these two survey forms would be optimal.
    (5) Estimated Number of Survey Respondents:
     Form EIA-3 will consist of 508 respondents; the increase 
from the current 489 respondents is because of the additional 19 EIA-5 
respondents that will begin reporting on Form EIA-3.
     EIA-7A will consist of 1,208 respondents.
     EIA-8A will consist of 86 respondents.
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: 3326.
     Form EIA-3, 2,032 responses.
     EIA-7A, 1,208 respondents.
     EIA-8A, 86 respondents.
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: Total annual burden 
hours for all three surveys: 3834.
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: EIA 
estimates that there are no additional costs to respondents associated 
with the surveys other than the costs associated with the burden hours.

    Statutory Authority: Section 13(b) of the Federal Energy 
Administration Act of 1974, Pub. L. 93-275, codified at 15 U.S.C. 
772(b), and the DOE Organization Act of 1977, Pub. L. 95-91, 
codified at 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on August 22, 2013.
Stephanie Brown,
Director, Office of Survey Development and Statistical Integration, 
U.S. Energy Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2013-20978 Filed 8-27-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P