[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 83 (Wednesday, April 30, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24413-24415]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-09802]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC14-6-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-600); Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy 
(DOE).

ACTION: Comment request.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or 
FERC) is submitting its information collection FERC-600 (Rules of 
Practice and Procedure: Complaint Procedures) 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 previously issued a Notice in the 
Federal Register (79 FR 7651, 2/10/2014) requesting public comments. 
The Commission received no comments on the FERC-600.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due by May 30, 
2014.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by the OMB Control No. 
1902-0180, 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 Commission, in 
Docket No. IC14-6-000, 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.

[[Page 24414]]

    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-600, Rules of Practice and Procedure: Complaint 
Procedures.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0180.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-600 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the reporting requirements.
    Abstract: The information is used by the Commission to implement 
the statutory provisions of the Federal Power Act (FPA), 16 U.S.C./
791a-825r; the Natural Gas Act (NGA), 15 U.S.C. 717-717w; the Natural 
Gas Policy Act (NGPA), 15 U.S.C. 3301-3432; the Public Utility 
Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA), 16 U.S.C. 2601-2645; the 
Interstate Commerce Act (ICA), 49 App. U.S.C. 1 et. seq.; the Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 1301-1356; and the Energy Policy 
Act of 2005, (Pub. L. 109-58) 119 Stat. 594.
    For the natural gas industry, section 14(a) of the NGA \1\ provides 
that the Commission may permit any person to file with it a statement 
in writing, under oath or otherwise, as it shall determine, as to any 
or all facts and circumstances concerning a matter which may be the 
subject of an investigation.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 717m; accord 15 U.S.C. 717d.
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    For public utilities, section 307(a) of the FPA \2\ provides that 
the Commission may permit any person to file with it a statement in 
writing, under oath or otherwise, as it shall determine, as to any or 
all facts and circumstances concerning a matter which may be the 
subject of an investigation.
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    \2\ 16 U.S.C. 825f(a); accord 16 U.S.C. 824e.
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    Section 215(d)(5) of the FPA \3\ provides that the Commission, upon 
its own motion or upon complaint, may order the Electric Reliability 
Organization to submit to the Commission a proposed reliability 
standard or a modification to a reliability standard that addresses a 
specific matter if the Commission considers such a new or modified 
reliability standard appropriate to carry out this section.
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    \3\ 16 U.S.C. 824o(d)(5).
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    For hydropower projects, section 19 of the FPA \4\ provides that, 
as a condition of a license, jurisdiction is conferred upon the 
Commission, upon complaint of any person aggrieved or upon its own 
initiative, to exercise such regulation and control over services, 
rates, and charges until such time as the State shall have provided a 
commission or other authority for such regulation and control.
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    \4\ 16 U.S.C. 812.
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    For qualifying facilities, section 210(h)(2)(B) of PURPA \5\ 
provides that any electric utility, qualifying cogenerator, or 
qualifying small power producer may petition the Commission to enforce 
the requirements of the Commission's PURPA regulations.
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    \5\ 16 U.S.C. 824a-3(h)(2)(B).
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    For oil pipelines, in Part 1 of the Interstate Commerce Act, 
sections 1, 6 and 15 (recodified by Pub. L. 95-473 and found as an 
appendix to Title 49 U.S.C.),\6\ the Commission is authorized to 
investigate the rates charged by oil pipeline companies subject to its 
jurisdiction. If such rate has been filed and allowed by the Commission 
to go into effect without suspension and hearing, the Commission can 
investigate the effective rate on its own motion or by complaint filed 
with the Commission. Section 13 of the ICA \7\ provides that any person 
can file a complaint regarding anything done or omitted to be done by 
an oil pipeline.
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    \6\ 49 App. U.S.C. 1 et seq (1988).
    \7\ Id. 13.
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    In Order No. 602,\8\ the Commission revised its regulations 
governing complaints filed with the Commission under the above 
statutes. Order No. 602 was designed to encourage and support 
consensual resolution of complaints, and to organize the complaint 
procedures so that all complaints are handled in a timely and fair 
manner. In order to achieve this result, the Commission revised Rule 
206 of its Rules of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.206) to require 
that a complaint satisfy certain informational requirements, to require 
that answers be filed in a 20-day time frame, and to provide that 
parties may employ various types of alternative dispute resolution 
procedures to resolve their disputes.
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    \8\ 64 FR 17087 (April 8, 1999)
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    The data in complaints filed by interested/affected parties 
regarding jurisdictional oil, natural gas, electric and hydropower 
operations, facilities, and services are used by the Commission in 
establishing a basis to make an initial determination regarding the 
merits of the complaint and whether or not to undertake further 
investigation or provide relief. Investigations may range from whether 
there is undue discrimination in rates or services to questions 
regarding market power of regulated entities to environmental concerns. 
In order to make an informed determination, it is important to know the 
specifics underlying any oil, gas, electric, and hydropower complaint 
``up-front'' in a timely manner and in sufficient detail to allow the 
Commission to act swiftly. In addition, such complaint data help the 
Commission and interested parties to monitor, e.g., the market for 
undue discrimination or exercises of market power. The information 
submitted is voluntary but submitted pursuant to prescribed filing 
requirements. The Commission implements these filing requirements in 
the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) under 18 CFR parts 343 and 
385.206.
    Type of Respondents: Interested/affected parties regarding oil, 
natural gas, electric and hydropower operations, facilities, and 
services.
    Estimate of Annual Burden \9\: The Commission estimates the annual 
public reporting burden for the information collection as:
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    \9\ 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.

[[Page 24415]]



                                             FERC-600, Rules of Practice and Procedure: Complaint Procedures
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                                                                     Annual number                     Average burden     Total annual
                       Number of respondents                         of responses    Total number of    and cost per    burden hours and     Cost per
                                                                    per respondent      responses         response     total annual cost  respondent ($)
(1)                                                                            (2)    (1) * (2) = (3)             (4)    (3) * (4) = (5)       (5) / (1)
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62................................................................               1                 62        \10\ 160         \12\ 9,920         $11,280
                                                                                                         \11\ $11,280      \13\ $699,360
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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.
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    \10\ As indicated in the 60-day notice, we re-evaluated the time 
and effort involved in preparing and filing a complaint, in light of 
the current complexities of the industries regulated by FERC. As a 
result, we think an estimate of 160 hours per complaint is a more 
realistic average of the burden per filing. The reporting 
requirements have not been revised.
    \11\ $70.50/hour is the average hourly cost of a FERC employee 
(salary plus benefits) for Fiscal Year 2014. We assume that the 
respondents to this collection are similarly situated in terms of 
salary plus benefits.
    Average cost per response = Average burden hours per response 
[160 hours] * $70.50 per hour.
    \12\ Total annual burden hours = Total number of responses [62] 
* Average burden hours per response [160].
    \13\ Total annual cost = Total annual burden hours [9,920] * 
hourly cost [$70.50].

    Dated: April 23, 2014.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-09802 Filed 4-29-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P