[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 224 (Tuesday, November 20, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58557-58558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-25288]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC19-5-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-500); 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-500 (Application for License/Relicense and 
Exemption for Water Projects with More than 5 Megawatt Capacity).

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due January 22, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC19-5-
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], telephone at (202) 502-8663, and fax at (202) 
273-0873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: FERC-500, Application for License/Relicense and Exemption 
for Water Projects with More than 5 Megawatt Capacity.\1\
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    \1\ There is a pending Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in Docket 
No. RM18-14-000 which proposes to make some changes to FERC-500. 
This notice does not reflect the proposed changes to FERC-500 due to 
Docket No. RM18-14.
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    OMB Control No.: 1902-0058
    Abstract: Pursuant to the Federal Power Act, the Commission is 
authorized to issue licenses and exemptions to citizens of the United 
States, or to any corporation organized under the laws of United States 
or any State thereof, or to any State or municipality for the purpose 
of constructing, operating, and maintaining dams, water conduits, 
reservoirs, power houses, transmission lines, or other project works 
necessary or convenient for the development and improvement of 
navigation and for the development, transmission, and utilization of 
power across, along, from, or in any of the streams or other bodies of 
water over which Congress has jurisdiction under its authority to 
regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States, or 
upon any part of the public lands and reservations of the United 
States.
    FERC-500 is an application (for water projects with more than 5 
megawatt capacity) for a hydropower license or exemption. FERC-500 
includes certain reporting requirements in 18 CFR 4, 5, 8, 16, 141, 
154.15, and 292. Depending on the type of application, it may include 
project description, schedule, resource allocation, project operation, 
construction schedule, cost, and financing; and an environmental 
report. After an application is filed, the Federal agencies with 
responsibilities under the Federal Power Act (FPA) and other 
statutes,\2\ the States, Indian tribes, and other participants have 
opportunities to request additional studies and provide comments and 
recommendations.
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    \2\ Statutes include the Electric Consumers Protection Act 
(ECPA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered 
Species Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972 
(the Clean Water Act), and the Coastal Zone Management Act.
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    Submittal of the FERC-500 application is necessary to fulfill the 
requirements of the FPA in order for the Commission to make the 
required finding that the proposal is economically, technically, and 
environmentally sound, and is best adapted to a comprehensive plan for 
improving/developing a waterway or waterways.
    Type of Respondent: Applicants for major hydropower licenses or 
exemptions greater than 5 MW
    Estimate of Annual Burden \3\: Applicants for licenses are required 
to include an estimate of their cost to prepare the license 
application, which would include nearly all of the reporting 
requirements in FERC-500.\4\ Because the requirements for an exemption 
application are largely the same as that of a license application, the 
license application costs are a good estimate of the exemption 
application costs and of the overall burden of preparing license and 
exemption applications for projects greater than 5 MW.
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    \3\ ``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.
    \4\ Exceptions would be 18 CFR 2.19, 4.201, 4.202, 4.303, 4.35, 
8.1, 8.2, 16.19, 141.15, and 292.208, none of which directly relate 
to preparation of a license or exemption application for a project 
greater than 5 MW.
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    To estimate the burden, we used actual data reported by applicants 
for proposed projects greater than 5 MW filed in fiscal years (FY) 2016 
through 2018, and averaged the reported license application costs. The 
results are presented in the table below.

[[Page 58558]]



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                           Fiscal year                                FY 2016         FY 2017         FY 2018
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Number of applications (Responses)..............................              14               8               6
Average Cost per Response.......................................      $3,571,786      $3,735,714      $2,293,413
Total Burden Cost for All Applications (Responses)..............      50,005,004      29,885,712      13,760,478
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    The average burden cost per application over the period FY 2016 
through FY 2018 was approximately $3,344,686 \5\. We estimate a cost 
(salary plus benefits) of $79/hour.\6\ Using this hourly cost estimate, 
the average burden for each application filed from FY 2016 to FY 2018 
is 42,338 hours.
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    \5\ $93,651,194 (Total burden cost from FY 2016-2018) / 28 
(total number of applications received from FY 2016-2018) = 
$3,344,686.
    \6\ FERC staff estimates that industry is similarly situated in 
terms of the hourly cost for salary plus benefits. Therefore, we are 
using the FERC FY 2018 hourly cost (salary plus benefits) of $79/
hour.

                                                    FERC-500
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                        Annual number                  Average burden hours  Total annual burden
Number of respondents   of responses    Total number      & cost ($) per        hours & total        Cost per
                       per respondent   of responses         response          annual cos ($)t    respondent ($)
(1)                               (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4).................  (3) * (4) = (5)....       (5) / (1)
                                                  (3)
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9....................               1               9  42,337.79 hrs.;       381,040.11 hrs.;      $3,344,685.50
                                                        $3,344,685.50.        $30,102,169.50.
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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.

    Dated: November 14, 2018.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-25288 Filed 11-19-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P