[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 173 (Friday, September 6, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46949-46950]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19272]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC19-46-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-604); 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 (PRA), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission 
or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the currently approved 
requirements and burden of information collection, FERC-604 (Cash 
Management Agreements).

DATES: Comments on the collections of information are due November 5, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC19-46-
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

[[Page 46950]]

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-604 (Cash Management Agreements).
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0267.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-604 with no 
changes to the current reporting requirements.
    Abstract: Cash management or ``money pool'' programs typically 
concentrate affiliates' cash assets in joint accounts for the purpose 
of providing financial flexibility and lowering the cost of borrowing. 
In a 2001 investigation, FERC staff found that balances in cash 
management programs affecting FERC-regulated entities totaled 
approximately $16 billion. Additionally, other investigations revealed 
large transfers of funds amounting to more than $1 billion) between 
regulated pipeline affiliates and non-regulated parents whose financial 
conditions were precarious. The Commission found that these and other 
fund transfers and the enormous (mostly unregulated) pools of money in 
cash management programs could detrimentally affect regulated rates.
    To protect customers and promote transparency, the Commission 
issued Order 634-A (2003) requiring entities to formalize in writing 
and file with the Commission their cash management agreements. At that 
time, the Commission obtained OMB clearance for this new reporting 
requirement under the FERC-555 information collection (OMB Control No. 
1902-0098). Now, the Commission includes these reporting requirements 
for cash management agreements under the FERC-604 information 
collection (OMB Control No. 1902-0267). The Commission implemented 
these reporting requirements in 18 CFR parts 141.500, 260.400, and 
357.5.
    Type of Respondents: Public utilities, natural gas companies, and 
oil pipeline companies.
    Estimate of Annual Burden.1 The Commission estimates the 
annual public reporting burden for the information collection as:
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    \1\ Burden is defined 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. See 5 
CFR 1320 for additional information on the definition of information 
collection burden.
    \2\ The Commission staff estimates that industry is similarly 
situated in terms of hourly cost (for wages plus benefits). Based on 
the Commission's FY (Fiscal Year) 2019 average cost $167,091 (for 
wages plus benefits), $80.00/hour is used.

                                                          FERC-604, Cash Management Agreements
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                                   Number of
     Number of respondents       responses per   Total number of    Average burden hours & average  Total annual burden hours & total       Cost per
                                  respondent        responses         cost \2\ per response ($)              annual cost ($)             respondent ($)
(1)                                        (2)    (1) * (2) = (3)  (4)............................  (3) * (4) = (5)..................    (5) / (1) = (6)
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35............................               1                 35  1.5 hours; $120.00.............  52.5 hours; $4,200.00............            $120.00
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    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.

    Dated: August 30, 2019.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-19272 Filed 9-5-19; 8:45 am]
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