[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 7, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5418-5419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02409]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC18-8-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-716); 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 currently approved 
information collection, [FERC-716, Good Faith Requests for Transmission 
Service and Good Faith Responses by Transmitting Utilities Under 
Sections 211(a) and 213(a) of the Federal Power Act (FPA)].

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due April 9, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC18-8-
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: 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-716, Good Faith Requests for 
Transmission Service and Good Faith Responses by Transmitting Utilities 
Under Sections 211(a) and 213(a) of the Federal Power Act (FPA).
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0170.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-716 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting 
requirements.
    Abstract: The Commission uses the information collected under the 
requirements of FERC-716 to implement the statutory provisions of 
Sections 211 and Section 213 of the Federal Power Act as amended and 
added by the Energy Policy Act 1992. FERC-716 also includes the 
requirement to file a Section 211 request if the negotiations between 
the transmission requestor and the transmitting utility are 
unsuccessful. For the initial process, the information is not filed 
with the Commission. However, the request and response may be analyzed 
as a part of a Section 211 action. The Commission may order 
transmission services under the authority of FPA 211.
    The Commission's regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR), 18 CFR 2.20, provide standards by which the Commission 
determines if and when a valid good faith request for transmission has 
been made under section 211 of the FPA. By developing the standards, 
the Commission sought to encourage an open exchange of data with a 
reasonable degree of specificity and completeness between the party 
requesting transmission services and the transmitting utility. As a 
result, 18 CFR 2.20 identifies 12 components of a good faith estimate 
and 5 components of a reply to a good faith request.
    Type of Respondents: Transmission Requestors and Transmitting 
Utilities.
    Estimate of Annual Burden \1\: The Commission estimates the annual 
public

[[Page 5419]]

reporting burden for the information collection as:
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    \1\ 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 explanation of what is included in the 
information collection burden, reference 5 Code of Federal 
Regulations 1320.3.
    \2\ The estimates for cost per response are derived using the 
following formula: Average Burden Hours per Response * $76.50 per 
Hour = Average Cost per Response. The cost per hour figure is the 
FERC average salary plus benefits. Subject matter experts found that 
industry employment costs closely resemble FERC's regarding the 
FERC-716 information collection.

           FERC-716 (Good Faith Requests for Transmission Service and Good Faith Responses by Transmitting Utilities Under Sections 211(a) and 213(a) of the Federal Power Act (FPA))
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                                                          Annual number
                                            Number of     of responses    Total number of    Average burden and cost per response \2\     Total annual burden hours and total        Cost per
                                           respondents   per respondent      responses                                                                annual  cost                respondent ($)
                                                    (1)             (2)    (1) * (2) = (3)  (4)......................................  (3) * (4) = (5)..........................       (5) / (1)
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Information exchange between parties...               3               1                  3  100 hrs.; $7650..........................  300 hrs.; $22,950........................           7,650
Application submitted to FERC if                      3               1                  3  2.5 hrs.; $191.25........................  7.5 hrs.; $573.75........................          191.25
 parties' negotiations are unsuccessful.
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    Total..............................  ..............  ..............                  6  .........................................  307.5 hrs.; $23,523.75...................        7,841.25
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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 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: February 1, 2018.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-02409 Filed 2-6-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P