[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 55 (Thursday, March 23, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 14888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05782]



[[Page 14888]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC17-5-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-588), Comment 
Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of information collection and request for comments.

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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 soliciting public comment on the information collection FERC-
588 (Emergency Natural Gas Transportation, Sale and Exchange 
Transactions) and will be submitting FERC-588 to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review of the information collection 
requirements.

DATES: Comments in consideration of the collection of information are 
due May 22, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket No. IC17-5-000 
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], telephone at (202) 502-8663, and fax at (202) 
273-0873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: FERC-588, Emergency Natural Gas Transportation, Sale and 
Exchange Transactions.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0144.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-588 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the reporting requirements.
    Abstract: The FERC-588 is used by the Commission to implement the 
statutory provisions of sections 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) 
(Pub. L. 75-688) (15 U.S.C. 717-717w) and provisions of the Natural Gas 
Policy Act of 1978 (NGPA), 15 U.S.C. 3301-3432. Under the NGA, a 
natural gas company must obtain Commission approval to engage in the 
transportation, sale or exchange of natural gas in interstate commerce. 
However, section 7(c) exempts from certificate requirements ``temporary 
acts or operations for which the issuance of a certificate will not be 
required in the public interest.'' The NGPA also provides for non-
certificated interstate transactions involving intrastate pipelines and 
local distribution companies.
    A temporary operation, or emergency, is defined as any situation in 
which an actual or expected shortage of gas supply would require an 
interstate pipeline company, intrastate pipeline, or local distribution 
company, or Hinshaw pipeline to curtail deliveries of gas or provide 
less than the projected level of service to the customer. The natural 
gas companies which provide the temporary assistance to the companies 
which are having the ``emergency'' must file the necessary information 
described in Part 284, Subpart I of the Commission's Regulations with 
the Commission, so that it may determine if their assisting 
transaction/operation qualifies for exemption. The assisting company 
may or may not be under the Commission's jurisdiction and if their 
assisting actions qualify for the exemption, they will not become 
subject to the Commission's jurisdiction for such actions.
    A report within forty-eight hours of the commencement of the 
transportation, sale or exchange, a request to extend the sixty-day 
term of the emergency transportation, if needed, and a termination 
report are required. The data required to be filed for the forty-eight 
hour report is specified by 18 CFR 284.270.
    Type of Respondents: Natural Gas Pipelines.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \1\ The Commission estimates the Public 
Reporting Burden for this information collection as:
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    \1\ Burden is defined 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-588--Emergency Natural Gas Transportation, Sale and Exchange Transactions
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                                                   Annual number
                                     Number of     of responses    Total number   Average burden & cost per  Total annual burden hours &     Cost per
                                    respondents   per respondent   of responses          response \2\             total annual Cost       respondent ($)
                                             (1)             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4)......................  (3) * (4) = (5)............       (5) / (1)
                                                                             (3)
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Natural Gas Pipelines...........              10               3              30  10 hrs.; $765.00.........  300 hrs $22,950.00.........         2295.00
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\2\ The estimates for cost per response are derived using the 2017 FERC average salary plus benefits of $158,754/year (or $76.50/hour). Commission staff
  finds that the work done for this information collection is typically done by wage categories similar to those at FERC.

    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: March 17, 2017.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-05782 Filed 3-22-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P