[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 95 (Thursday, May 18, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22825-22826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-10046]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Western Area Power Administration


Agency Information Collection Extension

AGENCY: Western Area Power Administration, Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), an element of 
the Department of Energy (DOE), pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995, intends to extend for three years without change, an 
information collection request with the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB). The current OMB control number 1910-5136 for WAPA's Applicant 
Profile Data (APD) form expires September 30, 2017. WAPA intends to 
extend the APD form under the OMB control number to September 30, 2020. 
WAPA is seeking comments on this proposed information collection 
extension.

DATES: Comments regarding this proposed information collection must be 
received on or before the end of the comment period that closes on July 
17, 2017. WAPA must receive comments by the end of the comment period 
to ensure consideration.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be sent to Mr. Brent Osiek, Vice 
President of Power Marketing, Western Area Power Administration, 150 
East Social Hall Avenue, Suite 300, Salt Lake City, UT 84111, or by 
email to [email protected]. Please refer to ``Paperwork Reduction Act 
Information Collection'' as the subject of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact Mr. Brent Osiek, Vice 
President of Power Marketing, Western Area Power Administration, 150 
East Social Hall Avenue, Suite 300, Salt Lake City, UT 84111, telephone 
(801) 524-5495, or email [email protected]. The APD form is available on 
WAPA's Web page at www.wapa.gov/PowerMarketing/Pages/applicant-profile-data.aspx.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request relates 
to: (1) OMB No. 1910-5136; (2) Information Collection Request Title: 
Western Area Power Administration Applicant Profile Data; (3) Type of 
Review: Renewal; (4) Purpose: The proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of WAPA's power marketing 
functions. WAPA markets a limited amount of Federal hydropower. WAPA 
has discretion to determine who will receive an allocation of Federal 
hydropower. Due to the limited quantity and high demand for WAPA's 
hydropower available under established marketing plans, WAPA may need 
to be able to collect information using the APD to evaluate the 
entities that apply to receive allocations of Federal hydropower; (5) 
Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: 33.3; (6) Annual Estimated 
Number of Total Responses: 33.3; (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden 
Hours: 266.7; and (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost 
Burden: $34,063.44.

I. Statutory Authority

    Reclamation Laws are a series of laws arising from the Desert Land 
Act of 1877 and include, but are not limited to, the Desert Land Act of 
1877, Reclamation Act of 1902, Reclamation Project Act of 1939, and the 
Acts authorizing each individual project such as the Central Valley 
Project Authorizing Act of 1937.\1\ The Reclamation Act of 1902 
established the Federal reclamation program.\2\ The basic principle of 
the Reclamation Act of 1902 was that the United States, through the 
Secretary of the Interior, would build and operate irrigation works 
from the proceeds of public land sales in the sixteen arid Western 
states (a seventeenth was later added). The Reclamation Project Act of 
1939 expanded the purposes of the reclamation program and specified 
certain terms for contracts that the Secretary of the Interior enters 
into to furnish water and power.\3\ Congress enacted the Reclamation 
Laws for purposes that include enhancing navigation, protection from 
floods, reclaiming the arid lands in the Western United States, and for 
fish and wildlife.\4\ Congress intended the production of power would 
be a supplemental feature of the multi-purpose water projects 
authorized under the Reclamation Laws.\5\ No contract entered into by 
the United States for power may, in the judgment of the Secretary, 
impair the efficiency of the project for irrigation purposes.\6\ 
Section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 1944 is read in pari materia with 
Reclamation Laws with respect to the WAPA.\7\ In 1977, the Department 
of Energy Organization Act transferred the power marketing functions of 
the Department of the Interior to the Secretary of Energy, acting by 
and through a separate Administrator for WAPA.\8\ Pursuant to this 
authority, WAPA markets Federal hydropower. As part of WAPA's

[[Page 22826]]

marketing authority, WAPA needs to obtain information from interested 
entities who desire an allocation of Federal power using the APD form. 
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 requires WAPA to obtain a clearance 
from OMB before collecting this information through the APD form.\9\
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    \1\ See, Ch. 107, 19 stat. 377 (1877), Ch. 1093, 32 Stat. 388 
(1902), Ch. 418, 53 Stat. 1187 (1939), Ch. 832, 50 Stat. 844, 850 
(1937), all as amended and supplemented.
    \2\ See, Ch. 1093, 32 Stat. 388 (1902), as amended and 
supplemented.
    \3\ See, Ch. 418, 53 Stat. 1187 (1939), as amended and 
supplemented.
    \4\ See, e.g., Ch. 832, 50 Stat. 844, 850 (1937), as amended and 
supplemented.
    \5\ See, e.g., Ch. 832, 50 Stat. 844, 850 (1937), as amended and 
supplemented.
    \6\ See, 43 U.S.C. 485h(c).
    \7\ See, Act of December 22, 1944, Ch. 665, 58 Stat. 887, as 
amended and supplemented.
    \8\ See, 42 U.S.C. 7152(a)(1)(E).
    \9\ See, 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.
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II. This Process Determines the Format of the APD and Is Not a Call for 
Applications

    This public process and the associated Federal Register notice only 
determine the information that WAPA will collect from an entity 
desiring to apply for a Federal power allocation. This public process 
is a legal requirement that WAPA must comply with before WAPA can 
request information from potential preference customers. This public 
process is not the process whereby interested parties request an 
allocation of Federal power. The actual allocation of power is outside 
the scope of this proceeding. Please do not submit a request for 
Federal power in this process. Later, through a separate process, WAPA 
will issue a call for applications, as part of its project-specific 
marketing plans. When WAPA issues a call for applications, the 
information WAPA proposes to collect is voluntary. WAPA will use the 
information collected, in conjunction with its project-specific 
marketing plans, to determine an entity's eligibility and ultimately 
which entity will receive an allocation of Federal power.

III. Invitation for Comments

    WAPA intends to extend and reuse the APD form under the OMB control 
number to September 30, 2020. Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the 
extended collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information shall have practical utility; (2) 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; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including the use of 
automated electronic, mechanical or other collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.

    Dated: April 21, 2017.
Mark A. Gabriel,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-10046 Filed 5-17-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P