[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 95 (Wednesday, May 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22664-22666]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-10401]



[[Page 22664]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC18-6-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities: (FERC-65, FERC-65a, 
FERC-65b, FERC-725v) Consolidated Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

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 information collections, 
FERC-65 (Notice of Holding Company Status), FERC-65A (Exemption 
Notification of holding Company Status), and FERC-65B (Waiver 
Notification of Holding Company Status), and FERC-725V (Mandatory 
Reliability Standards: COM Reliability Standards) which will be 
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a review of 
the information collection requirements.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due June 15, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by OMB Control No. 1902-
0218 and OMB Control No. 1902-0277, should be sent via email to the 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs: [email protected]. 
Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Desk Officer. The Desk 
Officer may also be reached via telephone at 202-395-8528.
    A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Commission, in 
Docket No. IC18-6-000 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-65 (Notice of Holding Company Status), FERC-65A 
(Exemption Notification of Holding Company Status), and FERC-65B 
(Waiver Notification of Holding Company Status).
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0218.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-65, FERC-65A and 
FERC-65B information collection requirements with no changes to the 
current reporting requirements.
    Abstract: The Pursuant to section 366.4 of the Commission's rules 
and regulations, persons who meet the definition of a holding company 
shall provide the Commission notification of holding company status.
    The FERC-65 is a one-time informational filing outlined in the 
Commission's regulations at 18 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 366.4. 
The FERC-65 must be submitted within 30 days of becoming a holding 
company.\1\ While the Commission does not require the information to be 
reported in a specific format, the filing needs to consist of the name 
of the holding company, the name of public utilities, the name of 
natural gas companies in the holding company system, and the names of 
service companies. In addition, the Commission requires the filing to 
include the names of special-purpose subsidiaries (which provide non-
power goods and services) and the names of all affiliates and 
subsidiaries (and their corporate interrelationship) to each other. 
Filings may be submitted in hardcopy or electronically through the 
Commission's eFiling system.
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    \1\ Persons that meet the definition of a holding company as 
provided by Sec.  366.1 as of February 8, 2006 shall notify the 
Commission of their status as a holding company no later than June 
15, 2006. Holding companies formed after February 8, 2006 shall 
notify the Commission of their status as a holding company, no later 
than the latter of June 15, 2006 or 30 days after they become 
holding companies.
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FERC-65A (Exemption Notification of Holding Company Status)

    While noting the previously outlined requirements of the FERC-65, 
the Commission has allowed for an exemption from the requirement of 
providing the Commission with a FERC-65 if the books, accounts, 
memoranda, and other records of any person are not relevant to the 
jurisdictional rates of a public utility or natural gas company; or if 
any class of transactions is not relevant to the jurisdictional rates 
of a public utility or natural gas company. Persons seeking this 
exemption file the FERC-65A, which must include a form of notice 
suitable for publication in the Federal Register. Those who file a 
FERC-65A in good faith will have a temporary exemption upon filing, 
after 60 days if the Commission has taken no action, the exemption will 
be deemed granted. Commission regulations within 18 CFR 366.3 describe 
the criteria in more specificity.

1. FERC-65B (Waiver Notification of Holding Company Status)

    If an entity meets the requirements in 18 CFR 366.3(c), they may 
file a FERC-65B waiver notification pursuant to the procedures outlined 
in 18 CFR 366.4. Specifically, the Commission waives the requirement of 
providing it with a FERC-65 for any holding company with respect to one 
or more of the following: (1) Single-state holding company systems; (2) 
holding companies that own generating facilities that total 100 MW or 
less in size and are used fundamentally for their own load or for sales 
to affiliated end-users; or (3) investors in independent transmission-
only companies. Filings may be made in hardcopy or electronically 
through the Commission's website.
    Type of Respondent: Public utility companies, natural gas 
companies, electric wholesale generators, foreign utility holding 
companies.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \2\ The Commission estimates the annual 
public reporting burden for the information collection as:
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    \2\ 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.

[[Page 22665]]



   FERC-65 (Notification of Holding Company Status), FERC-65A (Exemption Notification of Holding Company Status), and FERC-65B (Waiver Notification of
                                                                 Holding Company Status)
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                                                                                                                           Total annual
                                                             Number of     Annual number   Total number   Average burden   burden hours      Cost per
                                                            respondents    of responses    of responses    and cost per      and total      respondent
                                                                          per respondent                   response \3\     annual cost
                                                                     (1)             (2)     (1) * (2) =             (4)     (3) * (4) =   ($) (5) / (1)
                                                                                                     (3)                             (5)
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FERC-65.................................................              12               1              12      3; $229.50      36; $2,754         $229.50
FERC-65A................................................               4            1.25               5       1; $76.50      5; $382.50          $95.63
FERC-65B................................................               4            1.75               7       1; $76.50      7; $535.50         $133.88
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    Total...............................................  ..............  ..............              24  ..............      48; $3,672  ..............
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    Title: FERC-725V, Mandatory Reliability Standards: COM Reliability 
Standards.
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    \3\ The estimates for cost per response are derived using the 
following formula: 2017 Average Burden Hours per Response * $76.50 
per Hour = Average Cost per Response. The hourly cost figure of 
$76.50 is the average FERC employee wage plus benefits. We assume 
for FERC-65, FERC-65A and FERC-65B that respondents earn at a 
similar rate.
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    OMB Control No.: 1902-0277.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-725V information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting 
requirements.
    Abstract: On August 15, 2016, the North American Electric 
Reliability Corporation (NERC) filed a petition for Commission 
approval, pursuant to section 215(d)(1) of the Federal Power Act 
(``FPA'') \4\ and Section 39.5 \5\ of the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission's regulations, for Reliability Standard COM-001-3 
(Communications), the associated Implementation Plan, retirement of 
currently-effective Reliability Standard COM-001-2.1, and Violation 
Risk Factors (``VRFs'') and Violation Severity Levels (``VSLs'') 
associated with new Requirements R12 and R13 in Reliability Standard 
COM-001-3. Reliability Standard COM-001-3 reflects revisions developed 
under Project 2015-07 Internal Communications Capabilities, in 
compliance with the Commission's directive in Order No. 888 that NERC 
``develop modifications to COM-001-2, or develop a new standard, to 
address the Commission's concerns regarding ensuring the adequacy of 
internal communications capability whenever internal communications 
could directly affect the reliability opera.
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    \4\ 16 U.S.C. 824o (2012).
    \5\ 18 CFR 39.5 (2015).
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    Reliability Standards COM-001-2 and COM-002-4 do not require 
responsible entities to file information with the Commission. COM-001-2 
requires that transmission operators, balancing authorities, 
reliability coordinators, distribution providers, and generator 
operators must maintain documentation of Interpersonal Communication 
capability and designation of Alternate Interpersonal Communication, as 
well as evidence of testing of the Alternate Interpersonal 
Communication facilities. COM-002-4 requires balancing authorities, 
distribution providers, reliability coordinators, transmission 
operators, and generator operators to develop and maintain documented 
communication protocols, and to be able to provide evidence of training 
on the protocols and of their annual assessment of the protocols. 
Additionally, all applicable entities (balancing authorities, 
reliability coordinators, transmission operators, generator operators, 
and distribution providers) must be able to provide evidence of three-
part communication when issuing or receiving an Operating Instruction 
during an Emergency.
    Type of Respondents: Public utilities.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \6\ The Commission estimates the annual 
public reporting burden for the information collection as:
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    \6\ 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.

                                                              FERC-725V, Mandatory Reliability Standards: COM Reliability Standards
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                                                                           Annual number
                                             Number of respondents         of responses    Total number       Average burden and cost per      Total annual burden hours & total     Cost per
                                                                          per respondent   of responses              response \7\                         annual cost               respondent
                                      (1)...............................             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4)...............................  (3) * (4) = (5)...................   ($) (5) / (1)
                                                                                                     (3)
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(One-time) \8\ Development of         201 (BA, RC & TOP)................               1             201  8 hrs. & $288.....................  1,608 hrs. & $57,888..............             288
 Communication Protocols [COM-002-4
 R1].
(On-going) \9\ Maintain evidence of   1,180 (DP & GOP)..................               1           1,180  4 hrs. & $144.....................  4,720 hrs. & $169,920.............             144
 Interpersonal Communication
 capability [COM-001-2 R7 and R8].

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(On-going) Maintain evidence of       201 (BA, RC & TOP)................               1             201  8 hrs. & $288.....................  1,608 hrs. & $57,888..............             288
 training and assessments [COM-002-4
 R2, R4, R5 and R6].
(On-going) Maintain evidence of       1,880 (DP & GOP)..................               1           1,180  8 hrs. & $288.....................  15,040 hrs. & $541,440............             288
 training [COM-002-4 R3 and R6].
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    Total...........................  ..................................  ..............           2,762  ..................................  22,976 hrs. & $827,136............  ..............
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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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    \7\ The loaded hourly wage figure (includes benefits) is based 
on the occupational categories for 2016 found on the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics website (http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm):
    Electrical Engineer (Occupation Code: 17-2071): $68.12 (review 
and documentation).
    Office and Administrative Support (Occupation Code: 43-0000): 
$40.89 ($68.12 + 40.89 = 109.01 / 3 = $36.34. This figure is rounded 
to $36.00 for use in collection FERC-725V for calculating wage 
figures in this renewal calculation.

    Dated: May 10, 2018.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-10401 Filed 5-15-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P