[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 137 (Monday, July 18, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46664-46666]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-16899]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RD16-4-000]


Proposed Agency Information Collection

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) invites 
public comment in Docket No. RD16-4-000 on a proposed change to a 
collection of information (FERC-725M, Mandatory Reliability Standards: 
Generator Requirements at the Transmission Interface) that the 
Commission is developing for submission to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The 
Commission previously issued a Notice in the Federal Register (81 FR 
26543, May 3, 2016) requesting public

[[Page 46665]]

comments. The Commission received no comments and is making this 
notation in the submittals to OMB.

DATES: Comments regarding the proposed information collections must be 
received on or before August 17, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by the OMB Control No. 
1902-0263, should be sent via email to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs at: [email protected], Attention: Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission Desk Officer.
    A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Commission, in 
Docket No. RD16-4-000, 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: The Commission will submit the reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements of proposed Reliability Standard FAC-003-4 
(Transmission Vegetation Management) to OMB for review. Proposed 
Reliability Standard FAC-003-4 \1\ replaces the requirements from the 
previous version of the Reliability Standard (FAC-003-3 \2\), which is 
approved under FERC-725M (Mandatory Reliability Standards: Generator 
Requirements at the Transmission Interface, OMB Control No. 1902-0263).
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    \1\ The Reliability Standard was approved in a Delegated Order 
issued on 4/26/2016 (posted at http://elibrary-backup.ferc.gov/idmws/common/opennat.asp?fileID=14218839).
    \2\ Reliability Standard FAC-003-3 was approved in Order No. 785 
in Docket No. RM12-16-000. Revisions to Reliability Standard for 
Transmission Vegetation Management, Order No. 777, 142 FERC ] 61,208 
(2013). The associated reporting and recordkeeping requirements in 
FAC-003-3 were approved by OMB on Dec. 17, 2013, under FERC-725M.
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    Type of Request: Three-year approval of the revised FERC-725M 
information collection requirements with the stated changes to the 
current reporting and record retention requirements.
    Abstract: The Commission requires the information collected by the 
FERC-725M to implement the statutory provisions of section 215 of the 
Federal Power Act (FPA).\3\ On August 8, 2005, Congress enacted into 
law the Electricity Modernization Act of 2005, which is title XII, 
subtitle A, of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005).\4\ EPAct 
2005 added a new section 215 to the FPA, which requires 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.\5\
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    \3\ 16 U.S.C. 824o (2012).
    \4\ Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 109-58, title XII, 
subtitle A, 119 Stat. 594, 941 (codified at 16 U.S.C. 824o).
    \5\ 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.\6\ Pursuant to Order No. 672, the 
Commission certified one organization, the North American Electric 
Reliability Corporation (NERC), as the ERO.\7\ The Reliability 
Standards developed by the ERO and approved by the Commission apply to 
users, owners and operators of the Bulk-Power System as set forth in 
each Reliability Standard.
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    \6\ Rules Concerning Certification of the Electric Reliability 
Organization; and Procedures for the Establishment, Approval, and 
Enforcement of Electric Reliability Standards, Order No. 672, FERC 
Stats. & Regs. ] 31,204, order on reh'g, Order No. 672-A, FERC 
Stats. & Regs. ] 31,212 (2006).
    \7\ North American Electric Reliability Corp., 116 FERC ] 
61,062, order on reh'g and compliance, 117 FERC ] 61,126 (2006), 
order on compliance, 118 FERC ] 61,190, order on reh'g, 119 FERC ] 
61,046 (2007), aff'd sub nom. Alcoa Inc. v. FERC, 564 F.3d 1342 
(D.C. Cir. 2009).
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    On March 14, 2016, NERC filed a petition for Commission approval of 
proposed Reliability Standard FAC-003-4 (Transmission Vegetation 
Management). NERC states in its petition that proposed Reliability 
Standard FAC-003-4 reflects revisions to the current Minimum Vegetation 
Clearance Distances (MVCDs) in Reliability Standard FAC-003-3 based on 
additional testing regarding the appropriate gap factor to be used to 
calculate clearance distances for vegetation. NERC explains that in 
response to the Commission's directive as part of its approval of an 
earlier version of the Reliability Standard, FAC-003-2, NERC contracted 
with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to conduct this 
testing.\8\ As NERC notes, when the Commission approved Reliability 
Standard FAC-003-2, the Commission stated that ``it is important that 
NERC develop empirical evidence that either confirms assumptions used 
in calculating the MVCD values based on the Gallet equation, or gives 
reason to revisit the Reliability Standard.'' \9\
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    \8\ NERC Petition at 7 (citing Order No. 777, 142 FERC ] 61,208 
(2013)).
    \9\ Order No. 777, 142 FERC ] 61,208 at P 3.
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    NERC states in its petition that preliminary testing conducted by 
EPRI indicated that the gap factor used to calculate MVCDs should be 
adjusted. NERC further explains that proposed Reliability Standard FAC-
003-4 proposes higher and more conservative MVCD values, and therefore 
maintains that these revisions will ``enhance reliability and provide 
additional confidence by applying a more conservative approach to 
determining the vegetation clearing distances.'' \10\ NERC states that 
the revised clearances as reflected in Table 2 were moved into the text 
of the proposed Reliability Standard, and that MVCD values were added 
for elevations up to 15,000 feet, but that no other substantive changes 
were made to the currently-effective Reliability Standard FAC-003-
3.\11\
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    \10\ NERC Petition at 3.
    \11\ Id. at 12, and n. 37 (describing certain non-substantive 
edits to the standard and implementation plan as compared to the 
currently-effective version of the standard).
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    Type of Respondents: Transmission Owner (TO) and Generator Owner 
(GO)
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \12\ The burden and cost estimates below 
are based on the number of transmission owners and generator owners as 
reflected in NERC's registry (i.e., updated since the Commission's 
approval of earlier versions of FAC-003). Transmission owners and 
applicable generator owners have a one-time burden to review and modify 
existing documentation, plans and procedures, as well as an ongoing 
burden to retain records. Our estimate of the number of respondents 
affected is based on the NERC Compliance Registry as of February 25, 
2016. According to the Compliance Registry, NERC has registered 320 
transmission owners and 940 generator owners within the United States, 
and we estimate that

[[Page 46666]]

approximately 10 percent (or 94) of the registered generator owners 
have interconnection facilities that meet the requirements for 
applicability under the new standard. The estimated annual burden and 
cost of the new standard follow.\13\
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    \12\ 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 information, refer to 5 CFR 1320.3.
    \13\ The estimates for cost per hour (for salary plus benefits) 
are derived from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics' figures for May 
2015 (at http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm#11-0000 and 
benefits [updated March 10, 2016] at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm), as follows:
     $62.16/hour for salary plus benefits [based on the 
average for an electrical engineer (code 17-2071, at $64.20/hour), a 
first-line supervisor of forestry workers (code 45-1011, at $33.34/
hour), and a manager (code 11-0000, at $88.94/hour)]
     $31.76/hour, salary plus benefits for an information 
and record clerk (code 43-4000).

                                              FERC-725M--Changes Due to FAC-003-4 in Docket No. RD16-4-000
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                                                                                                                                           Total annual
                                          Number of       Number of     Total number   Average burden hours and    Total annual burden       cost per
      Requirements/measures \14\         respondents    responses per   of responses       cost per response          hours and cost        respondent
                                            \15\         respondent                                                                             ($)
                                                  (1)             (2)     (1)*(2)=(3)  (4).....................  (3)*(4)=(5)............
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Strategies, documentation, processes,             414               1             414  4 hrs.; $248.64.........  1,656 hrs.; $102,936.96         $248.64
 & procedures (M3) [one-time].                                                                                    [@$62.16/hr.].
Record Retention (Compliance 1.2)                 414               1             414  1 hr.; $31.76...........  414 hrs.; $13,148.64              31.76
 [ongoing].                                                                                                       [@$31.76/hr.].
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    Total Net Change, due to RD16-4..  ..............  ..............  ..............  ........................  2,070 hrs.; $116,085.60  ..............
                                                                                                                  \16\.
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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 estimates of the burden 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 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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    \14\ The Order in Docket No. RD16-4 does not modify the 
following requirements. However, due to normal fluctuations in 
industry, the number of respondents (TOs and GOs), in the submittal 
to OMB will be updated as follows.
     The Quarterly Reporting (Compliance 1.4) is required of 
102 respondents (94 GOs and 8 Regional Entities), rather than 96 
respondents.
     The requirements for Annual Vegetation Inspection 
Document (M6), annual vegetation work plan (M7), evidence of 
management of vegetation (M1 and M2), confirmed vegetation condition 
(M4), and corrective action (M5) are required of 94 respondents 
(rather than 88).
    \15\ We estimate a total of 414 respondents (320 TOs and 94 GOs) 
are affected.
    \16\ This is the estimate for Year 1 (including one-time 
implementation cost plus ongoing record retention costs). In 
subsequent years, only the record retention costs ($13,148.64, 
annual total for all respondents) will continue.
    For the submittal to OMB (available in reginfo.gov), the one-
time implementation burden and cost (which will be completed in Year 
1) will be averaged over Years 1-3.

    Dated: July 11, 2016.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-16899 Filed 7-15-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P