[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 237 (Wednesday, December 10, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73286-73288]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28949]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RM14-22-000]


Proposed Agency Information Collection

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Comment request.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or 
FERC) is submitting the information collections in Docket No. RM14-22-
000 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 file a copy of those comments to 
the Commission as explained below.
    The Commission solicited comments on the information collections 
associated with RM14-22-000 in Order No. 800 published in the Federal 
Register (79 FR 59105, October 1, 2014). The Commission received no 
comments on the information collections and is making this notation in 
its submission to OMB.

DATES: Comments on the information collections are due by January 9, 
2015.

[[Page 73287]]


ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by FERC-505 and FERC-
512, should be sent by 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 by telephone at (202) 395-4718.
    A copy of the comments should also be filed with the Commission, 
identified by the Docket No. RM14-22-000, 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 to the Commission 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 (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 by email at 
[email protected], by telephone at (202) 502-8663, or by fax at 
(202) 273-0873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The information collections in Docket No. 
RM14-22-000 relate to Commission-approved revisions to conform the 
Commission's regulations on preliminary permits and exemptions to the 
Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013 (Hydropower Efficiency 
Act).\1\ The information collection requirements for preliminary 
permits and exemptions are contained in: FERC-505 (Small Hydropower 
Projects and Conduits Facilities including License/Relicense, 
Exemption, and Qualifying Conduit Facility Determination, OMB Control 
Number 1902-0115) and FERC-512 (Preliminary Permit, OMB Control Number 
1902-0073).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Public Law 113-23 (2013).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Hydropower Efficiency Act amended statutory provisions 
pertaining to preliminary permits and to projects that are exempt from 
certain licensing requirements under the Federal Power Act (FPA) \2\ in 
order to reduce cost and regulatory burden, and in turn, promote 
hydropower development. Specifically, the Hydropower Efficiency Act 
gave the Commission authority to extend a preliminary permit once for 
not more than two additional years without requiring the permittee to 
apply for a successive preliminary permit. The Hydropower Efficiency 
Act also expanded the number of projects that may qualify for 
exemptions from certain licensing requirements under the FPA (i.e., 
small conduit exemptions or small hydroelectric power projects), and 
allowed other projects to qualify to operate without Commission 
oversight (i.e., qualifying conduit hydropower facilities).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ 16 U.S.C. 798 (2012), amended by, Hydropower Regulatory 
Efficiency Act of 2013, Public Law 113-23, 5, 127 Stat. 493 (2013).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Commission approved the revised regulations in Order No. 800. 
While the revised regulations formally implement the Hydropower 
Efficiency Act, the Commission has complied with the Act since its 
enactment. Moreover, in Order No. 800, the Commission found that the 
revised regulations will reduce the current burden for affected 
entities.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Revisions and Technical Corrections to Conform the 
Commission's Regulations to the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act 
of 2013, Order No. 800, 79 FR 59105 (Oct. 1, 2014), 148 FERC ] 
61,197, at P 13 (2014).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Burden Statement: \4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \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 CFR 1320.3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Commission estimates the average annual reporting burden and 
cost as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ The estimated average hourly cost (salary plus benefits) is 
$70.50.
    \6\ The Commission considers an application to be a 
``response.''
    \7\ The estimates provided for small conduit exemption 
applications are for all conduit exemption applications, including 
applications for non-municipal conduit exemptions that have an 
installed capacity of greater than 15 MW and up to 40 MW, and for 
any conduit exemption located on federal land.
    \8\ In the Commission's first solicitation of comments on the 
information collections in Order No. 800, Commission staff estimated 
that the Commission would receive five conduit exemption 
applications per year. Since the Hydropower Efficiency Act's 
enactment in August 2013, the Commission has received only three 
conduit exemption applications. Therefore, Commission staff reduces 
its estimate of anticipated conduit exemption applications to two 
applications per year.
    \9\ Given that Commission staff estimates two conduit exemption 
applications per year, Commission staff anticipates surrenders of 
conduit exemptions on federal lands to be rare. Hence, Commission 
staff estimates one surrender of a conduit exemption on federal 
lands to be filed every ten years (equaling on average 0.1 
applications per year). The one surrender would trigger agency 
notification, which is estimated to take 46 hours. The burden and 
cost are being averaged over that ten-year period (equaling on 
average 4.6 hours per year).

                                               Annual Changes Implemented by the Final Rule in RM14-22 \5\
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                          Annual  number                      Average      Total annual
                                                             Number of     of  responses   Total  number    burden and     burden  hours     Cost per
                   Type of respondents                      respondents      \6\  per      of  responses     cost per       and  total      respondent
                                                                            respondent                       response       annual cost
                                                                     (a)             (b)     (a) x (b) =             (d)     (c) x (d) =         (e)/(a)
                                                                                                     (c)                             (e)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    FERC-505, Small Hydropower Projects and Conduit Facilities Including License/Relicense, Exemption, and Qualifying Conduit Facility Determination
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small conduit exemption applications (40 MW or less,               \8\ 2               1               2            * 46            * 92          $3,243
 which can now be on fed. lands) \7\....................                                                          $3,243          $6,486
Small conduit exemption holder_notice to fed. agencies                 1         \9\ 0.1             0.1            * 46           * 4.6            $324
 of petition to surrender and steps to be taken to                                                                $3,243            $324
 restore lands..........................................

[[Page 73288]]

 
Small hydroelectric power project exemption applications          \10\ 2               1               2            * 46            * 92          $3,243
 (greater than 5 MW and up to 10 MW)....................                                                          $3,243          $6,486
Qualifying conduit hydropower facility_notices of intent          \12\ 8               1               8            * 46           * 368          $3,243
 \11\...................................................                                                          $3,243         $25,944
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              FERC-512, Preliminary Permit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Request for extension to 5 years........................         \13\ 80               1              80             * 4           * 320            $282
                                                                                                                    $282         $22,560
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Hours.

    Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the information 
collections are 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 information collections, including the validity 
of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information collections; and (4) 
ways to minimize the burden of the information collections on those who 
are to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ The Commission received six license applications between 
2010 and 2013 that proposed projects with installed capacity greater 
than 5 MW, which could now qualify for a small hydroelectric power 
project exemption. Therefore, Commission staff estimates that on 
average the Commission receives two applications per year.
    \11\ A notice of intent is a request that the Commission 
determine a project is a qualifying conduit hydropower facility.
    \12\ While the Commission initially received a rash of notices 
of intent to construct qualifying conduit hydropower facilities, 
Commission staff expects notices of intent to taper off. Over 60 
percent of the 36 notices of intent the Commission received since 
the Hydropower Efficiency Act's enactment were filed within the 
first six months of the program. In the last three months, the 
Commission received three notices of intent; one of which the 
applicant refiled after Commission staff rejected the applicant's 
first notice of intent. Therefore, Commission staff estimates that 
it will receive eight notices of intent per year.
    \13\ Based on the number of preliminary permits issued in the 
past three years, Commission staff estimates that an annual average 
of 80 permits will be eligible to request an extension.

    Dated: December 5, 2014.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-28949 Filed 12-9-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P