[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 92 (Tuesday, May 13, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27292-27293]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10880]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC14-5-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725D); 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 its information 
collection FERC-725D (Facilities Design, Connections and Maintenance 
Reliability Standards) 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 11773, 3/3/
2014) requesting public comments. The Commission received no comments 
on the FERC-725D and is making this notation in its submittal to OMB.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due by June 12, 
2014.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by the OMB Control No. 
1902-0247, 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. IC14-5-000, 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], by telephone at (202) 502-8663, and by fax at 
(202) 273-0873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Facilities Design, Connections and Maintenance Reliability 
Standards.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0247.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-725D information 
collection requirements with no changes to the 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 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

[[Page 27293]]

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 annual 
public reporting burden for the 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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                                                                                                                       Total annual
                                            Number of       Annual number of   Total number of     Average burden     burden hours &     Average annual
                                           respondents       responses per        responses       hours & cost per  total annual cost       cost per
                                                               respondent                            response 5             6              respondent
                                                      (1)                (2)        (1)*(2)=(3)                (4)        (3)*(4)=(5)            (5)/(1)
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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.
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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.

    Dated: May 6, 2014.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-10880 Filed 5-12-14; 8:45 am]
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