[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 55 (Tuesday, March 22, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15300-15302]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-06368]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC16-4-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-500 and FERC-
542); Consolidated Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Energy.

ACTION: Comment request.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (Commission or FERC) is submitting two information 
collections (FERC-500, Application for License/Relicense and Exemption 
for Water Projects with More than 5 Megawatt Capacity, and FERC-542, 
Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Tracking) 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 (80 
FR 79322, 12/21/2015) and Errata Notice (81 FR 6844, 2/9/2016) 
requesting public comments. The Commission received no public comments 
and is making this notation in its submittals to OMB.

DATES: Comments on the collections of information are due April 21, 
2016.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by the OMB Control Nos. 
1902-0058 (FERC-500) and 1902-0070 (FERC-542), 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 202-395-0710.
    A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Commission, in 
Docket No. IC16-4-000, 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:
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the information collection 
requirements for the collections described below with no changes to the 
current reporting or recordkeeping requirements. Please note that each 
collection is distinct.
    Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collections of 
information 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 estimates of the 
burden \1\ and cost of the collections of information, 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 collections 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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    \1\ 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, refer to 5 Code of Federal 
Regulations 1320.3.
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FERC-500, Application for License/Relicense and Exemption for Water 
Projects With More Than 5 Megawatt \2\ Capacity
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    \2\ Megawatt = MW.
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    OMB Control No.: 1902-0058
    Abstract: Pursuant to the Federal Power Act, the Commission is 
authorized to issue licenses and exemptions to citizens of the United 
States, or to any corporation organized under the laws of United States 
or any State thereof, or to any State or municipality for the purpose 
of constructing, operating, and maintaining dams, water conduits, 
reservoirs, power houses, transmission lines, or other project works 
necessary or convenient for the development and improvement of 
navigation and for the development, transmission, and utilization of 
power across, along, from, or in any of the streams or other bodies of 
water over which Congress has jurisdiction under its authority to 
regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States, or 
upon any part of the public lands and reservations of the United 
States.
    FERC-500 includes an application (for water projects with more than 
5 megawatt capacity) for a hydropower license/re-license or exemption, 
annual conveyance report,\3\ and comprehensive plans. FERC-500 includes 
certain reporting requirements in 18 CFR 4,\4\ 5, 8, 16, 141, 154.15, 
and 292. Depending on the type of application or filing, it may include 
project description, schedule, resource allocation, project operation, 
construction schedule, cost, and financing; and an environmental 
report.
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    \3\ Annual conveyance reports are filed for both major and minor 
licenses. 80% of the reports are related to major licenses.
    \4\ FERC staff has not received any application filings 
pertaining to the regulations described under 18 CFR 4.303 in over 
20 years. It remains in 18 CFR and is included in FERC-500.
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    After an application is filed, the Federal agencies with 
responsibilities under the Federal Power Act (FPA) and other 
statutes,\5\ the States, Indian tribes,

[[Page 15301]]

and other participants have opportunities to request additional studies 
and provide comments and recommendations.
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    \5\ Statutes include the Electric Consumers Protection Act 
(ECPA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered 
Species Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972 
(the Clean Water Act), and the Coastal Zone Management Act.
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    Submittal of the FERC-500 application is necessary to fulfill the 
requirements of the FPA in order for the Commission to make the 
required finding that the proposal is economically, technically, and 
environmentally sound, and is best adapted to a comprehensive plan for 
improving/developing a waterway or waterways.
    In the 60-day Notice, we inadvertently included under FERC-500 only 
the responses and burden associated with major license/re-license 
applications or modifications for projects over 5 MW. In this Notice, 
we are including the annual conveyance reports (filed by industry) and 
comprehensive plans (filed by federal and state agencies which have 
comprehensive plan status pursuant to 18 CFR 2.19).
    Type of Respondent: Applicants for major hydropower licenses or 
exemptions greater than 5 MW, and Federal and State agencies which have 
comprehensive plan status.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: Applicants for licenses are required to 
include an estimate of their cost to prepare the license application, 
which would include nearly all of the reporting requirements in FERC-
500.\6\ Because the requirements for an exemption application are 
largely the same as that of a license application, the license 
application costs are a good estimate of the exemption application 
costs and of the overall burden of preparing license and exemption 
applications for projects greater than 5 MW. To estimate the total 
annual burden, we averaged the reported license application costs for 
proposed projects greater than 5 MW filed in fiscal years (FY) 2012 
through 2015. The results are presented in the table below:
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    \6\ FERC-500 also includes requirements in 18 CFR 2.19, 4.201, 
4.202, 4.303, 4.35, 8.1, 8.2, 16.19, 141.15, and 292.208, which do 
not directly relate to preparation of a license/re-license or 
exemption application for a project greater than 5 MW.

   FERC-500 (Application for License/Relicense and Exemption for Water Projects With More Than 5 MW Capacity)
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                   Fiscal year                         2012            2013            2014            2015
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Number of Applications (Responses)..............               9               7              15               2
Average Cost per Response.......................      $2,059,828      $1,234,987      $3,776,864        $500,000
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    Total Burden Cost...........................      18,538,451       8,644,909      56,652,960       1,000,000
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    The average burden cost per application over the period FY 2012 
through FY 2015 was approximately $2,570,797.\7\ We estimate a cost 
(salary plus benefits) of $72/hour.\8\ Using this hourly cost estimate, 
the average burden for each application filed from FY 2012 to FY 2015 
is 35,706 hours.
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    \7\ $84,836,320 (Total burden cost from FY2012-2015) / 33 (total 
number of applications received from FY2012-2015) = $2,570,797.
    \8\ FERC staff estimates that industry is similarly situated in 
terms of the hourly cost for salary plus benefits. Therefore, we are 
using the FERC FY 2015 hourly cost (salary plus benefits) of $72/
hour.
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    The average annual burden and cost (including estimates for annual 
conveyance reports and comprehensive plans) follow.\9\
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    \9\ The hourly cost (wages plus benefits) for annual conveyance 
reports and comprehensive reports is similarly estimated to be $72/
hour.

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                                                        Annual number                                              Total annual burden
            Type of filing                Number of     of responses    Total number    Average burden hours &    hours & total  annual      Cost per
                                         respondents   per respondent   of  responses    cost ($) per response           cost ($)         respondent ($)
                                                  (1)             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4).....................  (3) * (4) = (5)........       (5) / (1)
                                                                                  (3)
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License/Re-license (application or                  9               1               9  35,705.52 hrs.;           321,349.68 hrs.;          $2,570,797.42
 modification).                                                                         $2,570,797.42.            $23,137,176.82.
Annual Conveyance Reports (under 18           \10\ 41               1              41  3 hrs.; $216............  123 hrs.; $8,856.......             216
 CFR 141.15).
Comprehensive Plans (under 18 CFR                  33               1              33  1 hr.; $72..............  33 hrs.; $2,376........              72
 2.19) \11\.
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    Total............................              83  ..............              83  ........................  321,505.68 hrs.;         ..............
                                                                                                                  $23,148,408.82.
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FERC-542, Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Tracking

OMB Control No.: 1902-0070
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    \10\ Order 540 changed the reporting requirement to state that 
licensees are only to report if they convey lands/waters under the 
standard land use article. Over the last 4 years, the number of 
filings averaged 26. Based on filings in 2016, the number of filings 
is expected to increase and is estimated at 41 per year. 80% of the 
conveyance reports are for major projects.
    \11\ The comprehensive plans apply to all projects, minor and 
major. These plans are not capacity-specific, so the complete 
estimated number of filings is included here under FERC-500, however 
some plans would also apply to FERC-505.
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    Abstract: The Natural Gas Act (NGA) requires FERC to regulate the 
transmission and sale of natural gas for resale in interstate commerce 
and to ensure the rates jurisdictional natural gas pipelines charge are 
just and reasonable. It provides FERC with authority to implement NGA 
mandates through its rules and regulations. FERC allows jurisdictional 
pipelines to flow through to their customers such costs as fuel or 
electric power costs necessary to operate compressor stations as well 
as the costs of storage services; research,

[[Page 15302]]

development, and demonstration (RD&D) expenditures and FERC annual 
charge adjustment assessments. To ensure these charges result in just 
and reasonable rates, FERC requires jurisdictional pipelines to file 
detailed and summary information on these flowed costs in the FERC-542. 
Analyses of FERC-542 data helps the Commission evaluate the charges to 
ensure compliance with NGA rate requirements.
    The FERC-542 contains the following information collection 
requirements: (1) Research, development, and deployment (RD&D) 
expenditures [18 CFR 154.401]; (2) annual charge adjustments (ACA) [18 
CFR 154.402]; and (3) periodic rate adjustments [18 CFR 154.403]. The 
general requirements for tariff filings that are specified in the 
following regulations apply to all FERC-542 filings: 18 CFR 154.4, 18 
CFR 154.7, 18 CFR 154.107, and 18 CFR 154.201.
    Type of Respondent: Natural Gas Pipelines
    Estimate of Annual Burden: The Commission estimates the annual 
public reporting burden and cost \12\ for the information collection 
as:
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    \12\ FERC staff estimates that industry is similarly situated in 
terms of the hourly cost for salary plus benefits. Therefore, we are 
using the FERC FY 2015 hourly cost (salary plus benefits) of $72/
hour.

                                                      FERC-542 (Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Tracking)
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                                            Annual number
          Number of  respondents             of responses     Total number    Average  burden & cost ($)    Total annual  burden hours       Cost per
                                            per respondent    of responses           per response              & total  annual cost       respondent ($)
(1)                                                   (2)   (1) * (2) = (3)  (4).........................  (3) * (4) = (5).............       (5) / (1)
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87.......................................            2.13              185   2 hrs.; $144................  370 hrs.; $26,640...........            $306
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    Dated: March 16, 2016.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-06368 Filed 3-21-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P