[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 131 (Monday, July 9, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Page 31741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-14563]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC18-14-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-552); Comment 
Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

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- 552, Annual Report of Natural Gas 
Transactions.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due September 7, 
2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC18-14-
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-552, Annual Report of Natural Gas Transactions.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0242.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-552 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting 
requirements.
    Abstract: The Commission uses the information collected in the 
FERC-552 \1\ to provide greater transparency into the size of the 
physical natural gas market and the types of transactions market 
participants use to make physical natural gas purchases and sales. The 
collection includes transactions that contribute to, or may contribute 
to natural gas price indices. Many market participants rely on indices 
as a way to reference market prices without taking on the risks of 
active trading.
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    \1\ FERC-552 is prescribed in 18 CFR (Code of Federal 
Regulations) 260.401.
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    FERC-552 had its genesis in the Energy Policy Act of 2005,\2\ which 
added section 23 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA). Section 23 of the NGA, 
among other things, directs the Commission ``to facilitate price 
transparency in markets for the sale or transportation of physical 
natural gas in interstate commerce, having due regard for the public 
interest, the integrity of those markets, and the protection of 
consumers.'' \3\
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    \2\ Public Law 109-58.
    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 717t-2.
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    Type of Respondents: Wholesale natural gas market participants.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \4\ The Commission estimates the total 
annual burden and cost \5\ for this information collection as follows.
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    \4\ ``Burden'' is 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, refer to Title 5 CFR 1320.3.
    \5\ Costs (for wages and benefits) are based on wage figures 
from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for May 2017 (at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm) and benefits information (for 
December 2017, issued March 20, 2018, at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm). The staff estimates that 75% of the work 
is done by a financial analyst (code 13-2051) at an hourly cost of 
$64.35 (for wages plus benefits), and 25% of the work is done by 
legal staff members (code 23-0000) at an hourly cost of $143.68 (for 
wages plus benefits). Therefore the average cost (for wages plus 
benefits) is rounded to $84.18/hour [or ($64.35/hour * 0.75) + 
($143.68/hour * 0.25)].

                                                   FERC-552--Annual Report of Natural Gas Transactions
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                                                                                                                                             Annual cost
                                          Number of    Annual number   Total number    Average burden hours and   Total annual burden hours      per
                Category                 respondents   of responses    of responses      cost per response ($)           and cost ($)         respondent
                                                      per respondent                                                                             ($)
                                                 (1)             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4).......................  (3) * (4) = (5)..........    (5) / (1)
                                                                                 (3)
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Wholesale natural gas market                     675               1             675  20 hrs.; \6\ $1,683.60....  13,500 hrs.; $1,136,430..       $1,683
 participants.
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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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    \6\ The staff thinks that the average estimated burden per 
filing should be 20 hours (rather than the current estimate of 10 
hours). There are no changes to the reporting requirements.

    Dated: June 29, 2018.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-14563 Filed 7-6-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P