[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 138 (Wednesday, July 18, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33925-33927]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-15325]



[[Page 33925]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket Nos. RD18-1-000, RD18-2-000, RD18-3-000 and RD18-5-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725E); Comment 
Request; Revision

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Comment request.

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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 submitting its information collection FERC-725E (Mandatory 
Reliability Standards for the Western Electric Coordinating Council) to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review of the information 
collection requirements. Any interested person may file comments 
directly with OMB and should address a copy of those comments to the 
Commission as explained below. On May 11, 2018, the Commission 
previously issued a Notice in the Federal Register requesting public 
comments. The Commission received no comments on the FERC-725E and is 
making this notation in its submittal to OMB.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due by August 17, 
2018.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by the OMB Control No. 
1902-0246, 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 202-395-0710.
    A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Commission, in 
Docket Nos. RD18-1-000, RD18-2-000, RD18-3-000, and RD18-5-000 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], by telephone at (202) 502-8663, and by fax at 
(202) 273-0873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: FERC-725E, Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Western 
Electric Coordinating Council.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0246.
    Type of Request: Revision to FERC-725E information collection 
requirements, as discussed in Docket Nos. RD18-1-000 and RD18-3-000.
    Abstract: The North American Electric Reliability Corporation 
(NERC) and Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) filed four 
joint petitions to modify/retire WECC regional Reliability Standards.
    On March 8 2018, NERC and WECC filed a joint petition in Docket No. 
RD18-2-000 \1\ requesting Commission approval of:
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    \1\ The joint petition and exhibits are posted in the 
Commission's eLibrary system in Docket No. RD18-2-000 (BAL-004-WECC-
3 Petition).
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     Regional Reliability Standard BAL-004-WECC-3 (Automatic 
Time Error Correction), and
     the retirement of existing regional Reliability Standard 
BAL-004-WECC-2.
    The petition states: ``Regional Reliability Standard BAL-004-WECC-3 
seeks to maintain Interconnection frequency and to ensure that Time 
Error Corrections and Primary Inadvertent Interchange (``PII'') payback 
are effectively conducted in a manner that does not adversely affect 
the reliability of the [Western] Interconnection.'' \2\ The proposed 
modifications to the standard focus on the entities using a common 
tool. All other proposed changes are for clarification. The Commission 
is not changing the reporting requirements, nor is it modifying the 
burden, cost or respondents with this collection, and sees this as a 
non-material or non-substantive change to a currently approved 
collection.
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    \2\ BAL-004-WECC-3 Petition, page 1.
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    On March 16, 2018, NERC and WECC filed a joint petition in Docket 
No. RD18-5-000 \3\ requesting Commission approval of:
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    \3\ The joint petition and exhibits are posted in the 
Commission's eLibrary system in Docket No. RD18-5-000 (FAC-501-WECC-
2 Petition).
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     Regional Reliability Standard FAC-501-WECC-2 (Transmission 
Maintenance), and
     the retirement of existing regional Reliability Standard 
FAC-501-WECC-1.
    The petition states: ``The purpose of FAC-501-WECC-2 is to ensure 
the Transmission Owner of a transmission path identified in the table 
titled ``Major WECC Transfer Paths in the Bulk Electric System'' 
(``WECC Transfer Path Table'' or ``Table''), including associated 
facilities, has a Transmission Maintenance and Inspection Plan 
(``TMIP'') and performs and documents maintenance and inspection 
activities in accordance with the TMIP.'' The modifications to the 
existing standard are for clarification of the transmission owner's 
obligations and to directly incorporate the list of applicable 
transmission paths. This list is currently posted on the WECC website 
and has not changed. The Commission is not changing reporting 
requirements nor is it modifying the burden, cost or respondents with 
this collection, and sees this as a non-material or non-substantive 
change to a currently approved collection.
    The Commission's request to OMB will reflect the following:
     Elimination of the burden associated with regional 
Reliability Standard VAR-002-WECC-2 (Automatic Voltage Regulators), 
which is proposed for retirement (addressed in Docket No. RD18-1 and 
discussed below); \4\
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    \4\ The joint petition and exhibits are posted in the 
Commission's eLibrary system in Docket No. RD18-1-000 (VAR-002-WECC-
2 Petition).
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     elimination of the burden associated with regional 
Reliability Standard PRC-004-WECC-2 (Protection System and Remedial 
Action Scheme Misoperation), which is proposed for retirement 
(addressed in Docket No. RD18-3 and discussed below),\5\
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    \5\ The joint petition and exhibits are posted in the 
Commission's eLibrary system in Docket No. RD18-3-000 (WECC PRC-004-
WECC-2 Retirement Petition).
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     non-material or non-substantive changes (discussed above) 
in Docket Nos. RD18-2 and RD18-5.
    On March 7, 2018, NERC and WECC filed a joint petition in Docket 
No. RD18-1-000 requesting Commission approval to retire the WECC 
regional Reliability Standard VAR-002-WECC-2 (Automatic Voltage 
Regulators). According to the petition, the purpose of the proposed 
retirement is based on WECC's experience with regional Reliability 
Standard VAR-002-WECC-2 which has shown that the reliability-related 
issues addressed in the regional standard are adequately addressed by 
the continent-wide voltage and reactive

[[Page 33926]]

(``VAR'') Reliability Standards \6\ and that retention of the regional 
standard would not provide additional benefits for reliability.
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    \6\ The burdens related to continent-wide Reliability Standards 
VAR-001-4.2 (Voltage and Reactive Control) and VAR-002-4.1 
(Generator Operation for Maintenance Network Voltage Schedules) are 
included in FERC-725A (Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-
Power System, OMB Control No. 1902-0244).
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    On March 9, 2018, NERC and WECC filed a joint petition in Docket 
No. RD18-3-000 requesting Commission approval to retire the WECC 
regional Reliability Standard PRC-004-WECC-2 (Protection System and 
Remedial Action Scheme Misoperation). The purpose of the proposed 
retirement is based on NERC and WECC's belief that since the initial 
development of this regional standard, other continent-wide Reliability 
Standards \7\ have been developed that have made the requirements of 
this regional Reliability Standard redundant and no longer necessary 
for reliability in the Western Interconnection.
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    \7\ The burdens related to continent-wide Reliability Standards 
mentioned in the petition: FAC-003-4 (Transmission Vegetation 
Management) are included in FERC-725M (Mandatory Reliability 
Standards for the Bulk-Power System, OMB Control No. 1902-0263); 
PRC-001-1.1(ii) (System Protection Coordination) are included in 
FERC-725A (Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power 
System, OMB Control No. 1902-0244); PRC-004-5(i) (Protection System 
Misoperation Identification and Correction), PRC-005-6 (Protection 
System, Automatic Reclosing, and Sudden Pressure Relaying 
Maintenance), PRC-012-2 (Remedial Action Schemes) are included in 
FERC-725G (Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power 
System: PRC Standards, OMB Control No. 1902-0252); PRC-016-1 
(Remedial Action Scheme Misoperations), PRC-017-1 (Remedial Action 
Scheme Maintenance and Testing), TOP-001-3 (Transmission Operations) 
and TOP-003-3 (Operational Reliability Data) are included in FERC-
725A (Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, OMB 
Control No. 1902-0244).
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    Type of Respondents: Transmission owners, transmission operators, 
generator operators, and generator owners.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \8\ Details follow on the changes in 
Docket Nos. RD18-1-000 and RD18-3-000 which will be submitted to OMB 
for approval in a consolidated package under FERC-725E.
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    \8\ 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.
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    Estimate of Changes to Burden Due to Docket No. RD18-1: The 
Commission estimates the reduction in the annual public reporting 
burden for the FERC-725E (due to the retirement of regional Reliability 
Standard VAR-002-WECC-2) as follows:9 10
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    \9\ The reductions in burden and cost shown in the table are the 
same figures as those in the current OMB-approved inventory for the 
reporting and recordkeeping requirements that are now being retired.
    \10\ The hourly cost (for salary plus benefits) uses the figures 
from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for three positions involved in 
the reporting and recordkeeping requirements. These figures include 
salary (http://bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm) and benefits 
(http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm) and are: Manager: 
$89.07/hour, Engineer: $64.91/hour, and File Clerk: $31.19/hour.
    The hourly cost for the reporting requirements ($76.99) is an 
average of the cost of a manager and engineer. The hourly cost for 
recordkeeping requirements uses the cost of a file clerk.

            FERC-725E, Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Western Electric Coordinating Council, Reductions Due to Docket No. RD18-1-000
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                                                   Annual number                                          Total annual
                                     Number of     of responses    Annual number     Average burden     burden hours and
             Entity                 respondents         per        of responses    hours and cost per   total annual cost     Cost per respondent  ($)
                                                    respondents                      response  ($)             ($)
                                             (1)             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4)................  (3) * (4) = (5)...  (5) / (1) = (6)
                                                                             (3)
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                                  Retirement of Regional Reliability Standard VAR-002-WECC-2 and Associated Reductions
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Reporting Requirements
 (Annually):
    Generator Operators.........             228               1             228  10 hr.; $769.90....  2,280 hr.;          $770 (reduction).
                                                                                                        $175,537
                                                                                                        (reduction).
    Transmission Operators                    86               4             344  10 hr.; $769.90....  3,440 hr.;          $3,080 (reduction).
     applicable to standard VAR-                                                                        $264,846
     002.                                                                                               (reduction).
Recordkeeping Requirements
 (Annually):
    Generator Operators.........             228               1             228  1 hr.; $31.19......  228 hr.; $7,111     $31 (reduction).
                                                                                                        (reduction).
    Transmission Operators                    86               1              86  4 hr.; $124.76.....  344 hr.; $10,729    $125 (reduction).
     applicable to standard VAR-                                                                        (reduction).
     002.
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        Total Reduction.........  ..............  ..............             886  ...................  6,292 hr.;
                                                                                                        $458,223
                                                                                                        (reduction).
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    Estimate of Changes to Burden Due to Docket No. RD18-3: The 
Commission estimates the reduction in the annual public reporting 
burden for the FERC-725E (due to the retirement of regional Reliability 
Standard PRC-004-WECC-2) as follows: 11 12
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    \11\ The reductions in burden and cost shown in the table are 
the same figures as those in the current OMB-approved inventory for 
the reporting and recordkeeping requirements, now being retired.
    \12\ The hourly cost (for salary plus benefits) uses the figures 
from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for three positions involved in 
the reporting and recordkeeping requirements. These figures include 
salary (http://bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm) and benefits 
(http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm) and are: Manager: 
$89.07/hour, Engineer: $64.91/hour, and File Clerk: $31.19/hour.
    The hourly cost for the reporting requirements ($76.99) is an 
average of the cost of a manager and engineer. The hourly cost for 
recordkeeping requirements uses the cost of a file clerk.

            FERC-725E, Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Western Electric Coordinating Council, Reductions Due to Docket No. RD18-3-000
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                                                   Annual number                                          Total annual
                                     Number of     of responses    Annual number     Average burden     burden hours and
             Entity                 respondents         per         of response    hours and cost per   total annual cost     Cost per respondent  ($)
                                                    respondents                      response  ($)             ($)
                                             (1)             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4)................  (3) * (4) = (5)...  (5) / (1) = (6)
                                                                             (3)
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                                  Retirement of regional Reliability Standard PRC-004-WECC-2 and Associated Reductions
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Reporting Requirements
 (Annually):
    Transmission Owners that                   5               2              10  40 hr.; $3,079.60..  400 hr.; $30,796    $6,159 (reduction).
     operate qualified transfer                                                                         (reduction).
     paths.
Recordkeeping Requirements
 (Annually):
    Transmission Owners that                   5               1               5  6 hr.; $187.14.....  30 hr.; $936        $187 (reduction).
     operate qualified transfer                                                                         (reduction).
     paths.
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        Total Reduction.........  ..............  ..............              15  ...................  430 hr.; $31,732
                                                                                                        (reduction).
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    Total Reduction in Burden for FERC-725E, for Submittal to OMB. The 
total reduction in burden due to the proposed retirements of regional 
Reliability Standards VAR-002-WECC-2 and PRC-004-WECC-2 is detailed 
below:
     Total Reduction of Annual Responses: 901.
     Total Reduction of Burden Hours: 6,722.
     Total Reduction of Burden Cost: $489,955.
    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: July 12, 2018.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-15325 Filed 7-17-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P