[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 159 (Thursday, August 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40759-40761]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-17656]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC18-18-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-545 and FERC-
549c); Consolidated Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of information collections 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 requirements and burden of 
the information collections described below.

DATES: Comments on the collections of information are due October 15, 
2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC18-18-
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.
    Please reference the specific collection number and/or title in 
your comments.
    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: 
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the information collection 
requirements for all collections described below with no changes to the 
current reporting requirements. Please note the two collections are 
distinct.
    Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collections of 
information are 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 estimates of the 
burden and cost of the collections of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance 
the quality, utility and clarity of the information collections; and 
(4) ways to minimize the burden of the collections of information on 
those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.

FERC-545, Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Change (Non-Formal)

    Title: FERC-545, Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Change (Non-formal).
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0154.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-545 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting 
requirements.
    Abstract: FERC-545 is required to implement sections 4, 5, and 16 
of the Natural Gas Act (NGA), (15 U.S.C. 717c-717o, PL 75 688, 52 Stat. 
822 and 830). NGA sections 4, 5, and 16 authorize the Commission to 
inquire into rate structures and methodologies and to set rates at a 
just and reasonable level. Specifically, a natural gas company must 
obtain Commission authorization for all rates and charges made, 
demanded, or received in connection with the transportation or sale of 
natural gas in interstate commerce.
    Under the NGA, a natural gas company's rates must be just and 
reasonable and not unduly discriminatory or preferential. The 
Commission may act under different sections of the NGA to effect a 
change in a natural gas company's rates. When the Commission reviews 
rate increases that a natural gas company has proposed, it is subject 
to the requirement of section 4(e) of the NGA. Under section 4(e), the 
natural gas company bears the burden of proving that its proposed rates 
are just and reasonable. On the other hand, when the Commission seeks 
to impose its own rate determination, it must do so in compliance with 
section 5(a) of the NGA. Under section 5, the Commission must first 
establish that its alternative rate proposal is both just and 
reasonable.
    Section 16 of the NGA states that the Commission ``shall have the 
power to perform any and all acts, and to prescribe, issue, make, 
amend, and rescind such orders, rules, and regulations as it may find 
necessary or appropriate to carry out provisions of

[[Page 40760]]

[the NGA].'' In other words, section 16 of the NGA grants the 
Commission the power to define accounting, technical and trade terms, 
prescribe forms, statements, declarations or reports, and to prescribe 
rules and regulations.
    Pipelines adjust their tariffs to meet market and customer needs. 
The Commission's review of these proposed changes is required to ensure 
rates remain just and reasonable and that services are not provided in 
an unduly or preferential manner. The Commission's regulations in 18 
CFR part 154 specify what changes are allowed and the procedures for 
requesting Commission approval.
    The Commission uses information in FERC-545 to examine rates, 
services, and tariff provisions related to natural gas transportation 
and storage services. The following filing categories are subject to 
FERC-545: (1) Tariff Filings--filings regarding proposed changes to a 
pipeline's tariff (including Cost Recovery Mechanisms for Modernization 
of Natural Gas Facilities filings in Docket No. PL15-1) and any related 
compliance filings; (2) Rate Filings--rate-related filings under NGA 
sections 4 and 5 and any related compliance filings and settlements; 
(3) Informational Reports; (4) Negotiated Rate and Non-Conforming 
Agreement Filings; and (6) Market-Based Rates for Storage Filings (Part 
284.501-505). One-time compliance filings mandated in Order No. 587-W 
(Docket Nos. RM96-1-038 and RM14-2-003) and Order No. 801 (Docket No. 
RM14-21-000) are excluded from this data collection renewal.
    Type of Respondents: Natural gas pipelines under the jurisdiction 
of NGA.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: 1 The Commission estimates 
the annual public reporting burden for the information collection as:
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    \1\ 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.
    \2\ The estimated hourly cost (salary plus benefits) provided in 
this section is based on the salary figures for May 2017 posted by 
the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Utilities sector (available 
at http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm#13-0000) and scaled 
to reflect benefits using the relative importance of employer costs 
in employee compensation from May 2017 (available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm). The hourly estimates for 
salary plus benefits are:
    Computer and Mathematical (Occupation Code: 15-0000), $63.25.
    Economist (Occupation Code: 19-3011), $71.98.
    Legal (Occupation Code: 23-0000), $143.68.
    Accountants and Auditors: 13-2011), $56.59.
    The average hourly cost (salary plus benefits) is calculated 
weighting each of the aforementioned wage categories as follows: 
$63.25 (0.05) + $71.98 (0.3) + $143.68 (0.6) + $56.59 (0.05) = 
$113.79. The Commission rounds it to $114/hour.

                                                 FERC-545: Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Change (Non-Formal)
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                                                         Average
                                                        number of                                                                              Cost per
                                           Number of    responses    Total number   Average burden and cost per   Total annual burden hours   respondent
                                          respondents      per       of responses           response \2\            and total annual cost        ($)
                                                        respondent
                                                  (1)          (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4)........................  (3) * (4 ) = (5)..........    (5) / (1)
                                                                               (3)
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Tariff Filings..........................          124        2.597             322  211 hrs.; $24,054..........  67,947 hrs.; $7,745,958...      $62,467
Rate Filings............................           17        1.412              24  354 hrs.; $40,356..........  8,497 hrs.; $968,658......       56,980
Informational Reports...................          101        2.347             237  235 hrs.; $26,790..........  55,706 hrs.; $6,350,484...       62,876
Negotiated Rates & Non-Conforming                  65        9.923             645  233 hrs.; $26,562..........  150,285 hrs.; $17,132,490.      263,577
 Agreement Filings.
Market-Base Rates for Storage Filings...            4            1               4  230 hrs.; $26,220..........  920 hrs.; $104,880........       26,220
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    Total...............................  ...........  ...........           1,232  ...........................  283,355 hrs.; $32,302,470.  ...........
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FERC-549C, Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas 
Pipelines

    OMB Control No.: 1902-0174.
    Abstract: The business practice standards under FERC-549C are 
required to carry out the Commission's policies in accordance with the 
general authority in sections 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 14, 16, and 20 of the 
Natural Gas Act (NGA),\3\ and sections 311, 501, and 504 of the Natural 
Gas Policy Act of 1978 (NGPA).\4\ The Commission adopted these business 
practice standards in order to update and standardize the natural gas 
industry's business practices and procedures in addition to improving 
the efficiency of the gas market and the means by which the gas 
industry conducts business across the interstate pipeline grid.
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    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 717c-717w.
    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 3301-3432.
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    In various orders since 1996, the Commission has adopted 
regulations to standardize the business practices and communication 
methodologies of interstate natural gas pipelines proposed by the North 
American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) in order to create a more 
integrated and efficient pipeline industry.\5\ Generally, when and if 
NAESB-proposed standards (e.g., consensus standards developed by the 
Wholesale Gas Quadrant (WGQ) \6\) are approved by the Commission, the 
Commission incorporates them by reference into its approval. The 
process of standardizing business practices in the natural gas industry 
began with a Commission initiative to standardize electronic 
communication of capacity release transactions. The outgrowth of the 
initial Commission standardization efforts produced working groups 
composed of all segments of the natural gas industry and, ultimately, 
the Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB), a consensus organization open 
to all members of the gas industry was created. GISB was succeeded by 
NAESB.
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    \5\ This series of orders began with the Commission's issuance 
of Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas 
Pipelines, Order No. 587, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,038 (1996).
    \6\ An accredited standards organization under the auspices of 
the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
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    NAESB is a voluntary non-profit organization comprised of members 
from the retail and wholesale natural gas and electric industries. 
NAESB's mission is to take the lead in developing standards across 
these industries to simplify and expand electronic communication and to 
streamline business practices. NAESB's core objective is to facilitate 
a seamless North American marketplace for natural gas, as recognized by 
its customers, the business community, industry participants, and 
regulatory bodies. NAESB has divided its efforts among four quadrants 
including two retail quadrants, a wholesale electric quadrant, and the 
WGQ. The NAESB WGQ standards are a product of this

[[Page 40761]]

effort. Industry participants seeking additional or amended standards 
(to include principles, definitions, standards, data elements, process 
descriptions, and technical implementation instructions) must submit a 
request to the NAESB office, detailing the change, so that the 
appropriate process may take place to amend the standards.
    Failure to collect the FERC-549C data would prevent the Commission 
from monitoring and properly evaluating pipeline transactions and/or 
meeting statutory obligations under both the NGA and NGPA.
    Type of Respondent: Natural gas pipelines under the jurisdictions 
of NGA and NGPA.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: The Commission estimates the annual 
public reporting burden for the information collection as:
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    \7\ The estimated hourly cost (salary plus benefits) provided in 
this section is based on the salary figures for May 2017 posted by 
the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Utilities sector (available 
at http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm#13-0000) and scaled 
to reflect benefits using the relative importance of employer costs 
in employee compensation from May 2017 (available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm). The hourly estimates for 
salary plus benefits are:
    Petroleum Engineer (Occupation Code: 17-2051), $71.62.
    Computer Systems Analysts (Occupation Code: 15-1120), $46.26.
    Legal (Occupation Code: 23-0000), $143.68.
    Economist (Occupation Code: 19-3011), $71.98.
    The average hourly cost (salary plus benefits) is calculated 
weighting each of the aforementioned wage categories as follows: 
$71.62 (0.3) + $143.68 (0.3) + $46.26 (0.15) + $71.98 (0.25) = 
$89.52. The Commission rounds it to $90/hour.

                                     FERC-549C: Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines
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                                                         Average
                                                        number of                                                                              Cost per
                                           Number of    responses    Total number   Average burden and cost per   Total annual burden hours   respondent
                                          respondents      per       of responses           response \7\            and total annual cost        ($)
                                                        respondent
                                                  (1)          (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4)........................  (3) * (4) = (5)...........    (5) / (1)
                                                                               (3)
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Standards for Business Practices of               165         2.96             490  96 hrs.; $8,640............  47,040 hrs.; $4,233,600...      $25,658
 Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines.
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    Dated: August 10, 2018.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-17656 Filed 8-15-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P