[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 173 (Friday, September 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54880-54881]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-21669]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC13-17-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-551); 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-551, Reporting of Flow Volume and Capacity by 
Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines, 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 (78 FR 36176, 6/
17/2013) requesting public comments. FERC received no comments on the 
FERC-551 and is making this notation in its submittal to OMB.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due by October 7, 
2013.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by the OMB Control No. 
1902-0243, 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. IC13-17-000, 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: Reporting of Flow Volume and Capacity by Interstate Natural 
Gas Pipelines.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0243.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-551 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the reporting requirements.
    Abstract: Interstate pipelines are required to post on their Web 
sites the volumes of no-notice service flows \1\ at each receipt and 
delivery point before 11:30 a.m. central clock time three days after 
the day of gas flow.
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    \1\ See 18 CFR 284.7(a)(4) (requiring pipelines to provide no-
notice service).
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    FERC implemented Order Nos. 720 and 720-A to comply with the Energy 
Policy Act of 2005 (``EPAct 2005'') and specifically Section 23 of 
EPAct 2005, which amended the NGA to direct FERC to ``facilitate price 
transparency in markets for the sale or transportation of physical 
natural gas in interstate commerce.'' On October 24, 2011, the United 
States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision 
granting the Texas Pipeline Association and the Railroad Commission's 
petition for review and vacating FERC's Order Nos. 720 and 720-A. In 
its order, the 5th Circuit held that Order Nos. 720 and 720-A exceeded 
the scope of FERC' authority under the Natural Gas Act of 1938 and FERC 
could not require intrastate natural gas pipelines to post the 
information. However, the court's decision did not disrupt the 
reporting and posting obligations of interstate natural gas 
pipelines.\2\
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    \2\ Order Granting Motion to Clarify Opinion, Texas Pipelines 
Ass'n v. FERC, 661 F.3d 258 (Dec. 20. 2011).
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    Type of Respondents: Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \3\ The Commission estimates the total 
Public Reporting Burden for this information collection as:
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    \3\ 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 
further explanation of what is included in the information 
collection burden, reference 5 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3.

               FERC-551: Reporting of Flow Volume and Capacity by Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines
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                                       Number of annual     Total number     Estimated burden   Estimated total
      Number of respondents (A)         responses per        responses          hours per        annual burden
                                        respondent (B)      (A)x(B)=(C)        response (D)         (C)x(D)
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101.................................               366             36,966            \4\ 0.5             18,483
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    The total estimated annual cost burden to respondents is $1,040,038 
[18,483 hours * $56.27/hour \5\ = $1,040,038]
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    \4\ In the prior notice regarding this collection, FERC used 183 
burden hours per response, and the assumption of one response per 
year. In this notice we show the burden to a more detailed level, 
indicating that there is one response per day per respondent. We use 
366 days as this keeps the total burden hour figure consistent with 
the prior notice.
    \5\ This figure includes wages plus benefits and comes from the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics Management Analyst category (13-1111) 
(http://bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm and http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm).
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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;

[[Page 54881]]

(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 
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collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

    Dated: August 29, 2013.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-21669 Filed 9-5-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P