[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 10, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14358-14359]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-07042]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC19-19-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-542); Comment 
Request; Extension

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-542 (Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Tracking).

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due June 10, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC19-19-
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-542, Gas Pipelines Rates: Rate Tracking.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0070.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-542 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting 
requirements.
    Abstract: The information collected by FERC-542 is used by the 
Commission to implement the statutory provisions of Title IV of the 
Natural Gas Policy Act (NGPA), 15 U.S.C. 3301-3432, and sections 4, 5 
and 16 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) (Pub. L. 75-688) (15 U.S.C. 717-
717w). These statutes allow the Commission to collect natural gas 
transmission cost information from interstate natural gas pipelines for 
the purpose of verifying that these costs, which are passed on to 
customers, are just and reasonable.
    Natural gas pipelines are required by the Commission to track their 
transportation costs to allow for the Commission's review and, where 
appropriate, approve the pass-through of these costs to pipeline 
customers. FERC-542 accounts for costs involving: (1) Research, 
development, and deployment expenditures; (2) annual charge 
adjustments; and (3) periodic rate adjustments.
    FERC-542 filings may be submitted at any time or on a regularly 
scheduled basis in accordance with the pipeline company's tariff. 
Filings may be either: (1) Accepted; (2) suspended and set for hearing; 
(3) minimal suspension; or (4) suspended for further review, such as 
technical conference or some other type of Commission action.
    The Commission implements these filing requirements in the Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) under 18 CFR part 154, 154.107, 154.4, 154.7, 
154.201, and 154.401-154.403.

[[Page 14359]]

    Type of Respondents: Jurisdictional Natural Gas Pipelines.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \1\ The Commission estimates the total 
burden and cost for this information collection as follows:
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    \1\ 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.

                                                      FERC-542 (Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Tracking)
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                                                                                                                           Total annual
                                                             Number of     Annual number   Total number   Average burden  burden hours &   Cost ($) per
                  FERC data collection                      respondents    of responses    of responses    hours & cost    total annual     respondent
                                                                (1)       per respondent    (1)*(2)=(3)   per respondent  cost (rounded)  (rounded) (5)/
                                                                                (2)                          (4) \ 2\      (3)*(4) = (5)        (1)
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FERC-542................................................              90               2             180     2 hrs; $158        360 hrs;            $158
                                                                                                                                 $28,440
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    Total...............................................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............        360 hrs;
                                                                                                                                 $28,440
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\2\ FERC staff estimates that industry costs for salary plus benefits are similar to Commission costs. The cost figure is the FY2018 FERC average annual
  salary plus benefits ($164,820/year or $79/hour).

    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: April 3, 2019.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-07042 Filed 4-9-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P