[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 82 (Monday, May 1, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20333-20335]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-08742]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Energy Information Administration
Agency Information Collection Extension
AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of
Energy.
ACTION: Agency information collection activities: Information
collection extension; notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The EIA, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
intends to extend with changes for three years with the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), the surveys in the Natural Gas Data
Collection Program Package under OMB Control No. 1905-0175. This
program provides information on the supply and disposition of natural
gas within the United States.
The surveys covered by this information collection request include:
Form EIA-176, Annual Report of Natural and Supplemental Gas Supply and
Disposition
EIA-191, Monthly Underground Gas Storage Report
EIA-757, Natural Gas Processing Plant Survey
EIA-857, Monthly Report of Natural Gas Purchases and Deliveries to
Consumers
EIA-910, Monthly Natural Gas Marketer Survey
EIA-912, Weekly Underground Natural Gas Storage Report
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents,
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other
forms of information technology.
DATES: Comments regarding this proposed information collection must be
received on or before June 30, 2017. If you anticipate difficulty in
submitting comments within that period, contact the person listed in
ADDRESSES as soon as possible.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Michael Kopalek, Natural Gas
Downstream Team, Office of Petroleum and Biofuel Statistics, U.S.
Energy Information Administration. To ensure receipt of the comments by
the due date, submission by email ([email protected]) is
recommended. The mailing address is Michael Kopalek, U.S. Energy
Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000
Independence Ave. SW., EI-25, Washington, DC 20585. Telephone 202-586-
4001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
copies of the any forms and instructions should be directed to Mr.
Kopalek at the address listed above. Also, the draft forms and
instructions are available on the EIA Web site at http://www.eia.gov/survey/notice/ngdownstreamforms2015.cfm.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request
contains:
(1) OMB Control Number 1902-0175;
(2) Information Collection Request Title: Natural Gas Data
Collection Program;
(3) Type of Request: Renewal, with changes;
(4) Purpose: The Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L.
93-275, 15 U.S.C. 761 et seq.) and the DOE Organization Act (Pub. L.
95-91, 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) require EIA to carry out a centralized,
comprehensive, and unified energy information program. This program
collects, evaluates, assembles, analyzes, and disseminates information
on energy resource reserves, production, demand, technology, and
related economic statistics. This information is used to assess the
adequacy of energy resources to meet both near- and long-term domestic
demands.
[[Page 20334]]
EIA, as part of its effort to comply with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), provides the
general public and other Federal agencies with opportunities to comment
on the collection of energy information conducted by or in conjunction
with EIA. Comments help EIA prepare information collection requests
that maximize the utility of the information collected and assess the
impact of collection requirements on the public.
The natural gas surveys included in the Natural Gas Data Collection
Program Package collect information on natural gas underground storage,
supply, processing, transmission, distribution, consumption by sector,
and consumer prices. This information is used to support public policy
analyses of the natural gas industry and estimates generated from data
collected on these surveys. The statistics generated from these surveys
are posted to the EIA Web site (http://www.eia.gov) and in various EIA
products, including the Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report (WNGSR),
Natural Gas Monthly (NGM), Natural Gas Annual (NGA), Monthly Energy
Review (MER), Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), Annual Energy Outlook
(AEO), and Annual Energy Review (AER). Respondents to EIA natural gas
surveys include underground storage operators, processors,
transporters, marketers, and distributors. Each form included as part
of this package is discussed in detail below.
Please refer to the proposed forms and instructions for more
information about the purpose, who must report, when to report, where
to submit, the elements to be reported, detailed instructions,
provisions for confidentiality, and uses (including possible
nonstatistical uses) of the information. For instructions on obtaining
materials, see the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
EIA requests a three-year extension of collection authority for
each of the above-referenced surveys with proposed changes to Forms
EIA-176, EIA-910, EIA-912 and minor changes to improve clarity in the
instructions to Forms EIA-191, 757, and 857.
(4a) Proposed Changes to Information Collection:
Form EIA-176, Annual Report of Natural and Supplemental Gas Supply and
Disposition
Form EIA-176 collects data on natural, synthetic, and other
supplemental gas supplies, disposition, and certain revenues by state.
The proposed changes include:
a. Add a question in Part 3(B) asking respondents if they have an
alternative-fueled vehicle fleet, and if so, what kind and how many
vehicles comprise the fleet. This information will improve survey frame
coverage and data accuracy reported on Form EIA-886, Annual Survey of
Alternative Fueled Vehicles;
b. Add a new section Part 3(E) to add a question for local
distribution companies to provide all five-digit zip codes in their
distribution territory where they deliver natural gas for end-use
consumption. This information enables EIA to estimate the approximate
service territory for a local distribution company. This information
will allow EIA analysts and data customers to understand service
territories associated with natural gas distributors. EIA has received
inquiries for this information in the past;
c. Add a question in Part 3 (F) asking respondents for the names
and zip codes of any aboveground liquefied (LNG) natural gas storage
facilities that are owned by, operated by, or provide services to a
survey respondent. EIA proposes to collect this information to
facilitate collection of LNG data by providing a list of operators and
their locations;
d. Discontinue collecting costs associated with purchase gas
received within the service area. In the past, EIA spent substantial
resources to validate this information. EIA has the capability to
estimate values for this activity using monthly data. EIA proposes to
delete this data element to reduce respondent reporting burden; and
e. Move Part 6 Line 12.4 (from the drop down menu selection) sub-
item 9096, ``Other Natural gas consumed in your operations:
Vaporization/LNG Fuel,'' to make it a standalone line item as new Line
12.4, called ``Vaporization/Liquefaction/LNG Fuel.'' The collection of
``Other Natural Gas'' consumed in operations that was previously listed
on Line 12.4 will be shown as a new Line 12.6 in Part 6 with the three
other drop down choices (Utilities Use, Other, and Other Expenses)
available to the user. In the past, many respondents have missed
reporting this data element. The proposed change is designed to improve
the coverage and accuracy of respondents reporting this information and
will assist EIA in its modeling and analysis.
f. Add a question in Part 6 Line 12.5, ``Vehicle fuel used in
company fleet'' to collect information on vehicle fuel for company
vehicles. Based on cognitive testing of the EIA-176 form, respondents
were reporting natural gas vehicle fuel for their own company fleet as
company use. This affects the accuracy of the vehicle fuel volumes and
prices reported in Part 6 Items 10.5 and 11.5. Company use volumes do
not have associated revenue and should not be included in 10.5 and
11.5. Adding this question will give respondents an explicit place to
report company-owned vehicle fuel volumes and improve the accuracy of
vehicle fuel prices based on Part 6 Items 10.5 and 11.5.
Form EIA-191, Monthly Underground Gas Storage Report
Form EIA-191 collects data on the operations of all active
underground storage facilities. EIA is proposing to make the following
changes to Form EIA-191:
a. Remove ``Other'' as a response option under ``type of facility''
question in Part 3 of the survey form. Respondents have not utilized
this category for classifying their facilities. This open ended
facility category does not provide the intended utility for EIA so EIA
proposes to delete it to reduce reporting burden.
Form EIA-757, Natural Gas Processing Plant Survey
Form EIA-757 collects information on the capacity, status, and
operations of natural gas processing plants, and monitors constraints
of natural gas processing plants during periods of supply disruption in
areas affected by an emergency, such as a hurricane. Schedule A of the
EIA-757 is used to collect data every three years. Schedule A collects
information on baseline operating and capacity information from all
respondents. Schedule A was used to collect information in 2015 and the
next planned collection for Schedule A is 2018. Schedule B is activated
as needed and collects data from a sample of respondents in affected
areas as needed. Schedule B was last activated in 2012 when Hurricane
Isaac damaged energy supply infrastructure along the Gulf Coast. A
sample of approximately 20 plants reported in 2012 during that energy
disruption. EIA is proposing to continue the collection of the same
data elements on Form EIA-757 Schedules A and B in their present form
with one minor protocol change:
a. Collect EIA-757 Schedule A data for new natural gas processing
plants that opened and began operations between the current three-year
data collection cycles. This minor protocol change allows EIA to
maintain a current frame at all times rather than updating the survey
frame every three years when a new data collection cycle begins.
[[Page 20335]]
Form EIA-857, Monthly Report of Natural Gas Purchases and Deliveries to
Consumers
Form EIA-857 collects data on the quantity and cost of natural gas
delivered to distribution systems and the quantity and revenue of
natural gas delivered to end-use consumers by market sector, on a
monthly basis by state. EIA is not proposing any substantive changes to
Form EIA-857.
Form EIA-910, Monthly Natural Gas Marketer, and Form EIA-912 Weekly
Underground Natural Gas Storage Report
Form EIA-910 collects information on natural gas sales from
marketers in selected states that have active customer choice programs.
EIA is requesting information on the volume and revenue for natural gas
commodity sales and any receipts for distribution charges and taxes
associated with the sale of natural gas.
Form EIA-912 collects information on weekly inventories of natural
gas in underground storage facilities.
EIA proposes a permanent change in the confidentiality pledge to
respondents to Forms EIA-910 and EIA-912. EIA revised its
confidentiality pledge to Forms EIA-910 and EIA-912 survey respondents
under the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical
Efficiency Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 (note)) (CIPSEA) in an emergency Federal
Register notice published on January 12, 2017 in 82 FR 3764. These
revisions were necessary because of requirements from the Federal
Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 (Pub. L. 114-11, Division N,
Title II, Subtitle B, Sec. 223). This law permits and requires the
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide
Federal civilian agencies' information technology systems with
cybersecurity protection for their Internet traffic. Federal statistics
provide key information that the Nation uses to measure its performance
and make informed choices about budgets, energy, employment, health,
investments, taxes, and a host of other significant topics. Strong and
trusted confidentiality and exclusively statistical use pledges under
the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act
(CIPSEA) and similar statistical confidentiality pledges are effective
and necessary in honoring the trust that businesses, individuals, and
institutions, by their responses, place in statistical agencies. EIA
proposed to make this change permanent in a separate Federal Register
notice released on March 1, 2017 in 82 FR 12217 for all EIA surveys
protected under CIPSEA. In this notice EIA proposes to permanently
revise the confidentiality pledge to Form EIA-910 and EIA-912
respondents as follows:
The information you provide on Form EIA-xxx will be used for
statistical purposes only and is confidential by law. In accordance
with the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical
Efficiency Act of 2002 and other applicable Federal laws, your
responses will not be disclosed in identifiable form without your
consent. Per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015,
Federal information systems are protected from malicious activities
through cybersecurity screening of transmitted data. Every EIA
employee, as well as every agent, is subject to a jail term, a fine,
or both if he or she makes public ANY identifiable information you
reported.
EIA is not proposing any other substantive changes to Form EIA-910.
EIA proposes one additional change to Form EIA-912. EIA proposes to
include an additional geographic data element for working gas
collection and publication in the Lower 48 states:
a. Divide the ``South Central'' reporting region into ``South
Central Salt'' and ``South Central Nonsalt.'' Currently EIA categorizes
storage operators as either Salt facilities or Nonsalt facilities and
allocates their volumes entirely to that region. This proposed change
would require respondents to allocate volumes in their reported data
between Salt facilities and Nonsalt facilities; this would improve the
accuracy of EIA's published estimates on underground storage. For
example, under the current methodology, volumes reported by a
respondent with majority salt storage would be allocated entirely to
the ``South Central Salt'' region, even if nearly half of their volumes
were stored in nonsalt facilities. Currently, operators with more than
15 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of storage capacity in the South Central
region report volumes separately between Salt facilities or Nonsalt
facilities. This proposed change will require all operators in the
reporting sample to report the same way.
Request for Comments: EIA invites comments on the extension of this
information collection package and the proposed changes discussed above
to the corresponding survey forms and instructions.
(5) Estimated Total Number of Survey Respondents: 3,340.
EIA-176 consists of 2,050 respondents.
EIA-191 consists of 145 respondents.
EIA-757 consists of 600 respondents.
EIA-857 consists of 330 respondents.
EIA-910 consists of 100 respondents.
EIA- 912 consists of 95 respondents.
(6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: 14,183.
(7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 50,564.
(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: The
information is maintained in the normal course of business. The cost of
the burden hours is estimated to be $3,724,554 (50,564 burden hours
times $73.66 per hour). Other than the cost of burden hours, EIA
estimates that there are no additional costs for generating,
maintaining and providing the information.
Statutory Authority: Section 13(b) of the Federal Energy
Administration Act of 1974, Pub. L. 93-275, codified as 15 U.S.C.
772(b) and the DOE Organization Act of 1977, P.L. 95-91, codified at
42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.
Issued in Washington, DC, on April 18, 2017.
Nanda Srinivasan,
Director, Office of Survey Development and Statistical Integration, U.
S. Energy Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2017-08742 Filed 4-28-17; 8:45 am]
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