[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 28, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13275-13277]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-06191]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC18-3-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725F); 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-725F (Mandatory Reliability Standard for 
Nuclear Plant Interface Coordination) and submitting the information 
collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. Any 
interested person may file comments directly with OMB and should 
address a copy of those comments to the Commission as explained below. 
The Commission published a Notice in the Federal Register in Docket No. 
IC18-3-000 (82 FR 60980, December 26, 2017) requesting public comments. 
FERC received no comments in response to the Notice and is indicating 
that in its submittal to the OMB.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due April 27, 
2018.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by OMB Control No. 1902-
0249, should be sent via email to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs: [email protected]. Attention: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission Desk Officer.
    A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Commission, in 
Docket No. IC18-3-000, 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.

[[Page 13276]]

    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 725F, Mandatory Reliability Standard for Nuclear Plant 
Interface Coordination.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0249.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-725F information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting 
requirements.
    Abstract: The Commission requires the information collected by the 
FERC-725F to implement the statutory provisions of section 215 of the 
Federal Power Act (FPA) (16 U.S.C. 824o). On August 8, 2005, the 
Electricity Modernization Act of 2005, which is Title XII, Subtitle A, 
of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), was enacted into law.\1\ 
EPAct 2005 added a new section 215 to the FPA, which required a 
Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) to develop 
mandatory and enforceable Reliability Standards, which are subject to 
Commission review and approval. Once approved, the Reliability 
Standards may be enforced by the ERO subject to Commission oversight, 
or the Commission can independently enforce Reliability Standards.\2\
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    \1\ Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 109-58, Title XII, 
Subtitle A, 119 Stat. 594, 941 (2005), 16 U.S.C. 824o.
    \2\ 16 U.S.C. 824o(e)(3).
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    On February 3, 2006, the Commission issued Order No. 672, 
implementing section 215 of the FPA.\3\ Pursuant to Order No. 672, the 
Commission certified one organization, North American Electric 
Reliability Corporation (NERC), as the ERO. The Reliability Standards 
developed by the ERO and approved by the Commission apply to users, 
owners and operators of the Bulk-Power System as set forth in each 
Reliability Standard.
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    \3\ Rules Concerning Certification of the Electric Reliability 
Organization; and Procedures for the Establishment, Approval, and 
Enforcement of Electric Reliability Standards, Order No. 672, FERC 
Stats. & Regs. ] 31,204, order on reh'g, Order No. 672-A, FERC 
Stats. & Regs. 31,212 (2006).
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    On November 19, 2007, NERC filed its petition for Commission 
approval of the Nuclear Plant Interface Coordination Reliability 
Standard, designated NUC-001-1. In Order No. 716, issued October 16, 
2008, the Commission approved the standard while also directing certain 
revisions.\4\ Revised Reliability Standard, NUC-001-2, was filed with 
the Commission by NERC in August 2009 and subsequently approved by the 
Commission January 21, 2010.\5\ On November 4, 2014, in Docket No. 
RD14-13, the Commission approved revised Reliability Standard NUC-001-
3.\6\
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    \4\ Mandatory Reliability Standard for Nuclear Plant Interface 
Coordination, Order No. 716, 125 FERC 61,065, at P 189 & n.90 
(2008), order on reh'g, Order No. 716-A, 126 FERC 61,122 (2009).
    \5\ North American Electric Reliability Corporation, 130 FERC 
61,051 (2010). When the revised Reliability Standard was approved, 
the Commission did not go to OMB for approval. It is assumed that 
the changes made did not substantively affect the information 
collection and therefore a formal submission to OMB was not needed.
    The most recent OMB approval for FERC-725F was issued on 6/15/
2015.
    \6\ The Letter Order is posted at https://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/OpenNat.asp?fileID=13675845.
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    The purpose of Reliability Standard NUC -001-3 is to require 
coordination between Nuclear Plant Generator Operators and Transmission 
Entities for the purpose of ensuring nuclear plant safe operation and 
shutdown.\7\ The Nuclear Reliability Standard applies to nuclear plant 
generator operators (generally nuclear power plant owners and 
operators, including licensees) and transmission entities, defined in 
the Reliability Standard as including a nuclear plant's suppliers of 
off-site power and related transmission and distribution services. To 
account for the variations in nuclear plant design and grid 
interconnection characteristics, the Reliability Standard defines 
transmission entities as all entities that are responsible for 
providing services related to Nuclear Plant Interface Requirements 
(NPIRs), and lists eleven types of functional entities (heretofore 
described as transmission entities) that could provide services related 
to NPIRs.\8\
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    \7\ See Reliability Standard NUC-001-3 at http://www.nerc.com/pa/Stand/Reliability%20Standards/NUC-001-3.pdf.
    \8\ The list of functional entities consists of transmission 
operators, transmission owners, transmission planners, transmission 
service providers, balancing authorities, reliability coordinators, 
planning coordinators, distribution providers, load-serving 
entities, generator owners and generator operators.
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    FERC-725F information collection requirements include establishing 
and maintaining interface agreements, including record retention 
requirements. These agreements are not filed with FERC, but with the 
appropriate entities as established by the Reliability Standard.
    Type of Respondents: Nuclear operators, nuclear plants, 
transmission entities.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \9\ The Commission estimates the average 
annual burden and cost \10\ for this information collection as follows.
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    \9\ 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. Refer to 
5 CFR 1320.3 for additional information.
    \10\ The wage and benefit figures are based on the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics (BLS) data (at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm) for May 2016 for Sector 22, Utilities. (The benefits 
figure is based on BLS data as of September 8, 2017, which indicates 
that wages are 69.6% and benefits are 30.4% of total salary (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm).)
    The estimated hourly cost (for wages plus benefits) for 
reporting requirements is $84.23/hour, based on the average for an 
electrical engineer (occupation code 17-2071, $68.12/hour), legal 
(occupation code 23-0000, $143.68/hour), and office and 
administrative support (occupation code 43-0000, $40.89/hour).
    The estimated hourly cost (wages plus benefits) for record 
keeping is $32.74/hour for a file clerk (occupation code 43-4071).

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                                                             Annual number                                          Total annual burden      Cost per
                                     Number of respondents   of responses    Total number    Average burden hours   hours & total annual  respondent ($)
             FERC-725F                        (1)           per respondent   of responses    & cost per response     cost ($) (rounded)   (rounded) (5)/
                                                                  (2)         (1)*(2)=(3)     ($) (rounded) (4)         (3)*(4)=(5)             (1)
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New or Modifications to Existing     60 nuclear plants +                 2             360  66.67 hrs.; $5,616...  24,001 hrs.;                  $11,231
 Agreements (Reporting).              120 transmission                                                              $2,021,621.
                                      entities\11\.
New or Modifications to Existing     60 nuclear plants +                 2             360  6.67 hrs.; $218......  2,401 hrs.; $78,615..            $437
 Agreements (Record Keeping).         120 transmission
                                      entities.
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[[Page 13277]]

 
    Total..........................  .....................  ..............        \12\ 360  .....................  26,402 hrs.;\13\       ..............
                                                                                                                    $2,100,236.
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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.
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    \11\ This figure of 120 transmission entities is based on the 
assumption that each agreement will be between 1 nuclear plant and 2 
transmission entities (60 x 2 = 120). However, there is some double 
counting in this figure because some transmission entities may be 
party to multiple agreements with multiple nuclear plants. The 
double counting does not affect the burden estimate, and the correct 
number of unique respondents will be reported to OMB.
    \12\ The 180 respondents affected by the reporting requirements 
are also affected by the recordkeeping requirements.
    \13\ The reporting requirements have not changed. The decrease 
in the number of respondents is due to: a) normal fluctuations in 
industry (e.g., companies merging and splitting, and coming into and 
going out of business), and b) no new agreements being issued due to 
the lack of new nuclear plants being developed.

    Dated: March 20, 2018.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-06191 Filed 3-27-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P