[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 98 (Monday, May 21, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23451-23452]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-10753]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC18-13-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-537); 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-537 (Gas Pipeline Certificates: 
Construction, Acquisition, and Abandonment).

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due July 20, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC18-13-
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-537 (Gas Pipeline Certificates: Construction, 
Acquisition, and Abandonment.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0060.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-537 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting 
requirements.
    Abstract: The FERC-537 information collection requires natural gas 
companies to file the necessary information with FERC in order for the 
Commission to determine if the requested certificate should be 
authorized. Certain self-implementing construction and abandonment 
programs do not require the filing of applications. However, those 
types of programs do require the filing of annual reports, so many less 
significant actions can be reported in a single filing/response and 
less detail would be required.
    The data required to be submitted in a normal certificate filing 
consists of identification of the company and responsible officials, 
factors considered in the location of the facilities and the impact on 
the area for environmental considerations. Also to be submitted are the 
following, as applicable to the specific request:
     Flow diagrams showing the design capacity for engineering 
design verification and safety determination;
     Cost of proposed facilities, plans for financing, and 
estimated revenues and expenses related to the proposed facility for 
accounting and financial evaluation.
     Existing and proposed storage capacity and pressures and 
reservoir engineering studies for requests to increase storage 
capacity;
     An affidavit showing the consent of existing customers for 
abandonment of service requests.
    Additionally, requests for an increase of pipeline capacity must 
include a statement that demonstrates compliance with the Commission's 
Certificate Policy Statement by making a showing that the cost of the 
expansion will not be subsidized by existing customers and that there 
will not be adverse economic impacts to existing customers, competing 
pipelines or their customers, nor to landowners and to surrounding 
communities.
    Type of Respondents: Natural gas companies.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \1\ The Commission estimates the annual 
public reporting burden for the information collection as:
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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.

                                                                        FERC-537
                                         [Gas pipeline certificates: Construction, acquisition, and abandonment]
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                                                       Annual  number
                                          Number of     of  responses   Total  number      Average burden and      Total annual  burden      Cost per
                                         respondents         per        of  responses    cost per  response \2\  hours and  total annual    respondent
                                                         respondent                                                        cost
                                                  (1)             (2)  (1) * (2) = (3)  (4)....................  (3) * (4) = (5)........   (5) / (1) \3\
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18 CFR 157.5-.11 (Interstate                       52            1.19               62  500 hrs.; $39,500......  31,000; $2,449,000.....         $47,096
 Certificate and Abandonment
 Applications).
18 CFR 157.53 (Pipeline Purging/                    1               1                1  50 hrs.; $3,950........  50 hrs.; $3,950........           3,950
 Testing Exemptions).
18 CFR 157.201-.209; 157.211; 157.214-             21            1.86               39  200 hrs; $15,800.......  7,800 hrs.; $616,200...          29,343
 .218 (Blanket Certificates Prior to
 Notice Filings).
18 CFR 157.201-.209; 157.211; 157.214-            129        \4\ 1.05              135  50 hrs.; $3,950........  6,750 hrs.; $533,250...           4,134
 .218 (Blanket Certificates--Annual
 Reports).

[[Page 23452]]

 
18 CFR 284.11 (NGPA Section 311                    83        \5\ 1.01               84  50 hrs.; $3,950........  4,200 hrs.; $331,800...           3,998
 Construction--Annual Reports).
18 CFR 284.8.........................             178               0                0  N/A....................  N/A....................             N/A
18 CFR 284.13(e) and 284.126(a)                     2               1                2  30 hrs.; $2,370........  60 hrs.; $4,740........           2,370
 (Interstate and Intrastate Bypass
 Notice).
18 CFR 284.221 (Blanket Certificates)               5         \7\ 1.4                7  100 hrs.; $7,900.......  700 hrs.; $55,300......          11,060
 \6\.
18 CFR 224 (Hinshaw Blanket                         2               1                2  75 hrs.; $5,925........  150 hrs.; $11,850......           5,925
 Certificates).
18 CFR 157.5-.11; 157.13-.20 (Non-                  3               1                3  75 hrs.; $5,925........  225 hrs.; $17,775......           5,925
 facility Certificate or Abandonment
 Applications).
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    Total............................  ..............  ..............          \8\ 335  .......................  50,935 hrs.; $4,023,865  ..............
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    Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) Kwhether 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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    \2\ The estimates for cost per response are derived using the 
following formula: Average Burden Hours per Response * $79.00/hour = 
Average cost/response. The figure is the 2018 FERC average hourly 
cost (for wages and benefits) of $79.00 (and an average annual 
salary of $164,820/year). Commission staff is using the FERC average 
salary because we consider any reporting requirements completed in 
response to the FERC-537 to be compensated at rates similar to the 
work of FERC employees.
    \3\ Each of the figures in this column are rounded to the 
nearest dollar.
    \4\ This figure was derived from 135 responses / 129 respondents 
= 1.046 or ~1.05 responses/respondent.
    \5\ This figure was derived from 84 responses / 83 respondents = 
1.012 or ~1.01 responses/respondent.
    \6\ One-time filings, new tariff and rate design proposal, or 
request for exemptions.
    \7\ This figure was derived from 7 responses / 5 respondents = 
1.4 responses/respondent.
    \8\ The 335 responses are derived from 214 individual 
respondents.

     Dated: May 14, 2018.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-10753 Filed 5-18-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P