[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 26, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60975-60976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27731]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC18-2-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (Ferc-725y), 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, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the 
information collection FERC-725Y, Mandatory Reliability Standards 
(Personnel Performance, Training, and Qualifications), 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 February 26, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket No. IC18-2-000 
by either of the following methods:
     eFiling at Commission's website: 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-725Y, Mandatory Reliability Standard (Personnel 
Performance, Training, and Qualifications).
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0279.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-725Y information 
collection requirements with no changes to the reporting requirements.
    Abstract: The FERC-725Y information collection is intended to help 
ensure the safe and reliable operation of the interconnected grid 
through the retention of suitably trained and qualified personnel in 
positions that can impact the reliable operation of the Bulk-Power 
System. The Commission uses the FERC-725Y to implement the 
Congressional mandate of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to develop 
mandatory and enforceable Reliability Standards to better ensure the 
reliability of the nation's Bulk-Power System. FERC-725Y will ensure 
that personnel performing or supporting real-time operations on the 
Bulk Electric System (BES) are trained using a systematic approach. The 
Reliability Standard requires entities to maintain records subject to 
review by the Commission and NERC to ensure compliance with the 
Reliability Standard.
    The Reliability Standard requires entities to maintain records 
subject to review by the Commission and NERC to ensure compliance with 
the Reliability Standard. This Reliability Standard contains of six 
Requirements:

 R1 requires reliability coordinators, balancing authorities, 
and transmission operators to develop and implement a training program 
for system operators
 R2 requires transmission owners to develop and implement a 
training program for system operators
 R3 requires reliability coordinators, balancing authorities, 
transmission operators and transmission owners to verify the 
capabilities of their identified personnel
 R4 requires reliability coordinators, balancing authorities, 
transmission operators and transmission owners to provide those 
personnel with emergency operations training using simulation 
technology
 R5 requires reliability coordinators, balancing authorities, 
and transmission operators to develop and implement training for their 
operations support personnel
 R6 requires applicable generator operators to develop and 
implement training for certain of their dispatch personnel at a 
centrally located dispatch center.

    Type of Respondents: Reliability coordinators, balancing 
authorities, transmission operators, transmission owners, and generator 
owners.
Estimate of Annual Burden: \1\ Our estimate below regarding the number 
of respondents is based on the NERC compliance registry as of September 
29, 2017. According to the NERC compliance registry, NERC has 
registered 176 transmission operators, 331 transmission owners and 890 
generator operators.
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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.
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    The Commission estimates the additional annual reporting burden and 
cost as follows:

[[Page 60976]]



                                                           FERC-725Y in Docket No. IC18-2-000
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                                                                                                                           Total annual
                                                 Number and type of        Annual number   Total number   Average burden  burden hours &     Cost per
                                                   respondents \2\         of responses    of responses     & cost per     total annual     respondent
                                                                          per respondent                   response \3\        cost
                                            (1).........................             (2)     (1) * (2) =             (4)     (3) * (4) =       (5) / (1)
                                                                                                     (3)                             (5)
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Annual Evaluation and Update of Training    TO (331), GOP (890).........               1       \4\ 1,064         6 hrs.,     6,384 hrs.,          $68.12
 Program and Task List.                                                                                          $408.72        $434,878
Retention of Records......................  TO (331), GOP (890).........               1       \4\ 1,064        10 hrs.,    10,640 hrs.,           40.89
                                                                                                                 $408.90        $435,070
Verification and Retention of Evidence of   TO (331)....................               1             331        10 hrs.,     3,310 hrs.,           40.89
 capabilities of personnel [R3, M3, C1.2],                                                                       $408.90        $135,346
 and Creation and Retention of Records on
 Simulation Training.
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
    Total.................................  ............................  ..............  ..............  ..............    20,334 hrs.;
                                                                                                                              $1,005,294
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\2\ TO=Transmission Owner; RC=Reliability Coordinator; BA=Balancing Authority; TOP=Transmission Operator; GOP=Generator Operator.
\3\ The estimates for cost per response are loaded hourly wage figure (includes benefits) is based on the average of three occupational categories for
  2016 found on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website (http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm): Electrical Engineer (Occupational Code: 17-2071):
  $68.12; Office and Administrative Support (Occupation Code: 43-0000): $40.89.
\4\ Some transmission owners are also generator operators. To eliminate double counting some entities, this figure reflects the number of unique
  entities (1064) within the group of TOs and GOPs. That approach is used throughout the table.

    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: December 19, 2017.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-27731 Filed 12-22-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P