[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 41 (Monday, March 3, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11773-11775]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-04543]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. Ic14-5-000]


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

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of information collection and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, 44 USC 3506(c)(2)(A), the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the 
currently approved information collection, FERC-725D (Facilities 
Design, Connections and Maintenance Reliability Standards).

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due May 2, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC14-5-
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.
    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], telephone at (202) 502-8663, and fax at (202) 
273-0873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Facilities Design, Connections and Maintenance Reliability 
Standards.

[[Page 11774]]

    OMB Control No.: 1902-0247.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-725D information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting 
requirements.
    Abstract: The Commission requires the FERC-725D information 
collection to implement the statutory provisions of Section 215 of the 
Federal Power Act (FPA).\1\ On August 8, 2005, the Electricity 
Modernization Act of 2005 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 
2005), was enacted into law.\2\ EPAct 2005 added a new Section 215 to 
the FPA, which required a Commission-certified Electric Reliability 
Organization (ERO) to develop mandatory and enforceable reliability 
standards which are subject to Commission review and approval. Once 
approved, the reliability standards may be enforced by the ERO subject 
to Commission oversight or the Commission can independently enforce 
reliability standards.\3\
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    \1\ 16 U.S.C. 842o.
    \2\ Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 109-58, Title XII, 
Subtitle A, 119 Stat. 594, 941 (2005), 16 U.S.C. 824o.
    \3\ 16 U.S.C .824o(e)(3).
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    On February 3, 2006, the Commission issued Order No. 672, 
implementing Section 215 of the FPA. Pursuant to Order No. 672, the 
Commission certified one organization [North American Electric 
Reliability Council (NERC)] as the ERO. The reliability standards 
developed by the ERO and approved by the Commission will apply to 
users, owners, and operators of the Bulk-Power System (BPS) as set 
forth in each reliability standard.
    On November 15, 2006, NERC filed 20 revised reliability standards 
and three new reliability standards for Commission approval. The 
Commission addressed revisions to the 20 Reliability Standards in Order 
No. 693. The Commission approved the three new reliability standards on 
12/27/2007 in Order No. 705 and NERC designated them as follows:

 FAC-010-1 (System Operating Limits Methodology for the 
Planning Horizon)
 FAC-011-1 (System Operating Limits Methodology for the 
Operations Horizon)
 FAC-014-1 (Establish and Communicate System Operating Limits).
    Subsequently, NERC modified these standards in April of 2008 and 
submitted to the Commission for approval. On 3/20/2009 the Commission 
approved NERC's modifications to the FAC standards in Order No. 722 and 
NERC now designates these standards as FAC-010-2, FAC-011-2, and FAC-
014-2. These three approved FAC reliability standards require planning 
authorities and reliability coordinators to establish methodologies to 
determine system operating limits (SOLs) for the bulk-power system in 
the planning and operation horizons.
    The three reliability standards do not require responsible entities 
to file information with the Commission. Nor, with the exception of a 
three year self-certification of compliance, do the Reliability 
Standards require responsible entities to file information with the ERO 
or Regional Entities. However, the Reliability Standards do require 
responsible entities to develop and maintain certain information for a 
specified period of time, subject to inspection by the ERO or Regional 
Entities.
    Reliability standard FAC-010-2 requires the planning authority to 
have a documented methodology for use in developing SOLs and must 
retain evidence that it issued its SOL methodology to relevant 
reliability coordinators, transmission operators and adjacent planning 
authorities. Further, each planning authority must self-certify its 
compliance to the compliance monitor once every three years. 
Reliability standard FAC-011-2 requires similar documentation by the 
reliability coordinator. Reliability standard FAC-014-2 requires the 
reliability coordinator, planning authority, transmission operator, and 
transmission planner to verify compliance through self-certification 
submitted to the compliance monitor annually. These entities must also 
document that they have developed SOLs consistent with the applicable 
SOL methodology and that they have provided SOLs to entities identified 
in Requirement 5 of the reliability standard. Further, the planning 
authority must maintain a list of multiple contingencies and their 
associated stability limits.
    Type of Respondents: Planning authorities, reliability 
coordinators, transmission planners, and transmission operators.
    Estimate of Annual Burden \4\: The Commission estimates the total 
Public Reporting Burden and cost for this information collection as:
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    \4\ The Commission defines burden 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-725D--(Mandatory Reliability Standards: FAC (Facilities, Design, Connections, and Maintenance)
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                                                                       Annual
                                                                     number of                          Average        Total annual     Average  annual
                                                        Number of    responses    Total number  of   burden hours    burden hours  &        cost per
                                                       respondents      per          responses        & cost  per     total  annual        respondent
                                                                     respondent                       response\5\        cost\6\
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                                                               (1)          (2)    (1) * (2) = (3)             (4)    (3) * (4) = (5)          (5) / (1)
Annual Reporting.....................................          470            1                470           295.7            138,980            $20,992
                                                                                                           $20,992         $9,866,240
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\5\ The estimate for cost per response is derived using the following formula: Total Annual Cost (Column 5) / Total Number of Responses (Column 3) =
  Average Cost per Response.
\6\ The total annual cost is derived from salary figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for two positions involved in the reporting and record-
  keeping associated with this collection. These figures include salary (http://bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm) and other associated benefits (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm):  Manager: $82.36/hour.  Engineer: $59.62/hour. This results in an average hourly wage of
  $70.99. 138,980 hours (total annual burden) * $70.99/hour = $9,866,240.

    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

[[Page 11775]]

of automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.

    Dated: February 21, 2014.
 Kimberly D. Bose,
 Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-04543 Filed 2-28-14; 8:45 am]
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