[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 188 (Thursday, September 27, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48813-48814]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-21053]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. IC18-19-000]
Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725); Comment
Request; Extension September 21, 2018
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 currently approved
information collection, FERC-725 (Certification of Electric Reliability
Organization; Procedures for Electric Reliability Standards).
DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due November 26,
2018.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC18-19-
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-725, Certification of Electric Reliability
Organization; Procedures for Electric Reliability Standards.
OMB Control No.: 1902-0225.
Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-725 information
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.\1\
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\1\ As of 9/19/2018, a package for the ``non-substantive''
changes to FERC-725, implemented in the Final Rule in Docket No.
RM18-2-000, is pending review at the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB). The burden estimates provided in this Notice use those same
burden estimates.
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Abstract: The FERC-725 contains the following information
collection elements:
Self Assessment and ERO (Electric Reliability Organization)
Application: The Commission requires the ERO to submit to FERC a
performance assessment report every five years. The next assessment is
due in 2019. Each Regional Entity submits a performance assessment
report to the ERO.
Submitting an application to become the ERO is also part of this
collection.\2\
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\2\ The Commission does not expect any new ERO applications to
be submitted in the next five years and is not including any burden
for this requirement in the burden estimate. FERC still seeks to
renew the regulations pertaining to a new ERO application under this
renewal but is expecting the burden to be zero for the foreseeable
future. 18 CFR 39.3 contains the regulation pertaining to ERO
applications.
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Reliability Assessments: 18 CFR 39.11 requires the ERO to assess
the reliability and adequacy of the Bulk-Power System in North America.
Subsequently, the ERO must report to the Commission on its findings.
Regional entities perform similar assessments within individual
regions. Currently the ERO submits to FERC three assessments each year:
Long term, winter, and summer. In addition, the North American Electric
Reliability Corporation (NERC, the Commission-approved ERO) also
submits various other assessments as needed.
Reliability Standards Development: Under section 215 of the FPA,
the ERO is charged with developing Reliability Standards. Regional
Entities may also develop regional specific standards.
Reliability Compliance: Reliability Standards are mandatory and
enforceable upon approval by the Commission. In addition to the
specific information collection requirements contained in each standard
(cleared under other information collections), there are general
compliance, monitoring and enforcement
[[Page 48814]]
information collection requirements imposed on applicable entities.
Audits, spot checks, self-certifications, exception data submittals,
violation reporting, and mitigation plan confirmation are included in
this area.
Stakeholder Survey: The ERO uses a stakeholder survey to solicit
feedback from registered entities \3\ in preparation for its three year
and five year self-performance assessment. The Commission assumes that
the ERO will perform another survey prior to the 2019 self-assessment.
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\3\ A ``registered entity'' is an entity that is registered with
the ERO. All Bulk-Power System owners, operators and users are
required to register with the ERO. Registration is the basis for
determining the Reliability Standards with which an entity must
comply. See http://www.nerc.com/page.php?cid=3%7C25 for more
details.
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Other Reporting: This category refers to all other reporting
requirements imposed on the ERO or regional entities in order to comply
with the Commission's regulations. For example, FERC may require NERC
to submit a special reliability assessment. This category captures
these types of one-time filings required of NERC or the Regions. The
Commission implements its responsibilities through 18 CFR part 39.
Type of Respondent: Electric Reliability Organization, Regional
entities, and registered entities.
Estimate of Annual Burden \4\: The Commission estimates the total
annual burden and cost \5\ for this information collection in the table
below. For hourly cost (for wages and benefits), we estimate that 70%
of the time is spent by Electrical Engineers (code 17-2071, at $66.90/
hr.), 20% of the time is spent by Legal (code 23-0000, at $143.68/hr.),
and 10% by Office and Administrative Support (code 43-0000, at $41.34/
hr.). Therefore, we use the weighted hourly cost (for wages and
benefits) of $79.70 {or [(0.70) * ($66.90/hr.)] + [(0.20) * $143.68/
hr.] + [(0.10) * $41.34/hr.]{time} .
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\4\ ``Burden'' is the total time, effort, or financial resources
expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or
provide information to or for a Federal agency. For further
explanation of what is included in the information collection
burden, refer to Title 5 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3.
\5\ Costs (for wages and benefits) are based on wage figures
from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for May 2017 (at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm) and benefits information (at
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm).
\6\ In instances where the number of responses per respondent is
``1,'' the Commission Staff thinks that the actual number of
responses varies and cannot be estimated accurately.
FERC-725
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Annual number Average burden hours Estimated total
Type of respondent Type of reporting Number of of responses Total number & cost ($) per annual burden hours
requirement respondents per respondent of responses response (rounded) & cost ($) (rounded)
(A) (B) \6\ (A) x (B) = (D)................. (C) x (D)
(C)
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Electric Reliability Organization Self-Assessment..... 1................. .2 .2 4,160 hrs.; $331,552 832 hrs.; $66,310.
(ERO).
Reliability .................. 5.5 5.5 15,600 hrs.; 85,800 hrs.;
Assessments. $1,243,320. $6,838,260.
Reliability .................. 2 2 20,280 hrs.; 40,560 hrs.;
Compliance. $1,616,316. $3,232,632.
Standards .................. 1 1 21,840 hrs.; 21,840 hrs.;
Development. $1,740,648. $1,740,648.
Other Reporting..... .................. 1 1 2,080 hrs.; $165,776 2,080 hrs.;
$165,776.
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ERO, Sub-Total................ .................... .................. .............. .............. .................... 151,112 hrs.;
$12,043,626.
Regional Entities................. Self-Assessment..... 7................. .2 1.4 4,160 hrs.; $331,552 5,824 hrs.;
$464,173.
Reliability .................. 1 7 15,600 hrs.; 109,200 hrs.;
Assessments. $1,243,320. $8,703,240.
Reliability .................. 1 7 37,440 hrs.; 262,080 hrs.;
Compliance. $2,983,968. $20,887,776.
Standards .................. 1 7 2,340 hrs.; $186,498 16,380 hrs.;
Development. $1,305,486.
Other Reporting..... .................. 1 7 1,040 hrs.; $82,888. 7,280 hrs.;
$580,216.
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Regional Entities, Sub-Total.. .................... .................. .............. .............. .................... 400,764 hrs.;
$31,940,891.
Registered Entities............... Stakeholder Survey.. estimated 1,409... .2 281.8 8 hrs.; $637.60..... 2,254 hrs.;
$179,676.
Reliability .................. 1 1,409 400 hrs.; $31,880... 563,600 hrs.;
Compliance. $44,918,920.
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Registered Entities, Sub-Total .................... .................. .............. .............. .................... 565,854 hrs.;
$45,098,596.
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Total Burden Hrs. and Cost .................... .................. .............. .............. .................... 1,117,730 hrs.;
$89,083,113.
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As indicated in the table, there was a decrease from eight to seven
in the number of Regional Entities because the Southwest Power Pool
dissolved in 2018. Other changes from previous estimates are based on
new data in the proposed NERC 2019 Business Plan and Budget to reflect
changes in the number of FTEs (full-time equivalent employees) working
in applicable areas. Reviewing the NERC Compliance database, we
determined the number of unique U.S. entities is 1,409 (compared to the
previous value of 1,446). Lastly, in several instances, the amount of
time an FTE devotes to a given function may have been increased or
decreased.
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: September 21, 2018.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-21053 Filed 9-26-18; 8:45 am]
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