[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 82 (Tuesday, April 28, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23511-23512]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08895]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Proposed Extension

AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of 
Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: EIA invites public comment on the proposed three year 
extension, with changes, of the Natural Gas Data Collection Program, as 
required under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The surveys covered 
by this request include:
    Form EIA-176--Annual Report of Natural and Supplemental Gas Supply 
and Disposition;
    Form EIA-191--Monthly Underground Natural Gas Storage Report;
    Form EIA-191L--Monthly Liquefied Natural Gas Storage Report;
    Form EIA-757--Natural Gas Processing Plant Survey;
    Form EIA-857--Monthly Report of Natural Gas Purchases and 
Deliveries to Consumers;
    Form EIA-910--Monthly Natural Gas Marketer Survey; and
    Form EIA-912--Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report.
    The Natural Gas Data Collection Program provides information on 
natural gas production, underground storage, supply, processing, 
transmission, distribution, and consumption by sector within the United 
States.

DATES: EIA must receive all comments on this proposed information 
collection no later than June 29, 2020. If you anticipate any 
difficulties in submitting your comments by the deadline, contact the 
person listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice as soon as 
possible.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments electronically to [email protected] or 
mail comments to Michael Kopalek, U.S. Energy Information 
Administration, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, EI-25, Washington, DC 
20585.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you need additional information, 
contact Michael Kopalek, U.S. Energy Information Administration, 
telephone (202) 586-4001, or by email at [email protected]. The 
forms and instructions are available on EIA's website at www.eia.gov/survey/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request 
contains:
    (1) OMB No.: 1902-0175;
    (2) Information Collection Request Title: Natural Gas Data 
Collection Program;
    (3) Type of Request: Three-year extension with changes;
    (4) Purpose: The surveys included in the Natural Gas Data 
Collection Program collect information on natural gas underground 
storage, supply, processing, transmission, distribution, consumption by 
sector, and consumer prices. The data collected supports public policy 
analyses and produce estimates of the natural gas industry. The 
statistics generated from these surveys are published on EIA's website 
(http://www.eia.gov) and are used in various EIA information products, 
including the Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report (WNGSR), Natural Gas 
Monthly (NGM), Natural Gas Annual (NGA), Monthly Energy Review (MER), 
Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), Annual Energy Outlook (AEO), and 
Annual Energy Review (AER).
    (4a) Proposed Changes to Information Collection:

[[Page 23512]]

Form EIA-176--Annual Report of Natural and Supplemental Gas Supply and 
Disposition

    Form EIA-176 collects data on natural, synthetic, and other 
supplemental gas supplies, their disposition, and certain revenues by 
state. EIA proposes to modify the survey instructions to explicitly 
include ``producers of renewable natural gas or biogas, including 
landfill collection facilities, agricultural digesters, and wastewater 
treatment facilities.'' EIA seeks to add producers of renewable natural 
gas and biogas as respondents to Form EIA-176 because these facilities 
produce and consume gas in electric power generation, vehicle fuel, and 
other applications and are in scope for the reporting frame.

Form EIA-191--Monthly Underground Natural Gas Storage Report

    Form EIA-191 collects data on the operations of all active 
underground storage facilities. The name of the survey will change from 
Monthly Underground Gas Storage Report to Monthly Underground Natural 
Gas Storage Report.

Form EIA-191L--Monthly Liquefied Natural Gas Storage Report

    EIA proposes to add a new survey, Form EIA-191L, Monthly Liquefied 
Natural Gas Storage Report to collect natural gas inventory storage 
data from approximately 90 operators of liquefied natural gas (LNG) 
facilities. Form EIA-191L is a shorter version of Form EIA-191 and will 
collect the same natural gas data as Form EIA-191 except it will not 
collect information on base gas, working gas, field type, and facility 
type.

Form EIA-757--Natural Gas Processing Plant Survey

    Form EIA-757 collects information on the capacity, status, and 
operations of natural gas processing plants, and monitors their 
constraints to natural gas supplies during catastrophic events, such as 
hurricanes. Schedule A of Form EIA-757 collects baseline operating and 
capacity information from all respondents on a triennial basis. 
Schedule B is used on an emergency standby basis and is activated 
during natural disasters or other energy disruptive events. Schedule B 
collects data from a sample of respondents in the affected areas. There 
are no proposed changes to Form EIA-757.

Form EIA-857--Monthly Report of Natural Gas Purchases and Deliveries to 
Consumers

    Form EIA-857 collects data on the quantity and cost of natural gas 
delivered to distribution systems and the quantity and revenue of 
natural gas delivered to consumers by end-use sector, on a monthly 
basis by state. There are no proposed changes to this survey.

Form EIA-910--Monthly Natural Gas Marketer

    Form EIA-910 collects information on natural gas sales from 
marketers in selected states that have active consumer choice programs. 
EIA proposes to increase the number of respondents to this survey due 
to the increased number of natural gas market participants.

Form EIA-912--Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report

    Form EIA-912 collects information on weekly inventories of natural 
gas in underground storage facilities. LNG storage capacity increased 
28% from 2008 to 2018, driven by growth of LNG activity at marine 
terminals. EIA proposes to collect aboveground storage stocks from 
approximately five marine terminals that import or export LNG. The name 
of the survey will change from Weekly Underground Natural Gas Storage 
Report to Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report.
    (5) Annual Estimated Number of Survey Respondents: 3,645;
    Form EIA-176 consists of 2,200 respondents;
    Form EIA-191 consists of 145 respondents;
    Form EIA-191L consists of 90 respondents;
    Form EIA-757 Schedule A consists of 600 respondents
    Form EIA-757 Schedule B consists of 20 respondents;
    Form EIA-857 consists of 330 respondents;
    Form EIA-910 consists of 160 respondents;
    Form EIA-912 consists of 100 respondents.
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: 16,487.
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 57,012.
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
$4,568,942 (57,012 burden hours times $80.14 per hour). EIA estimates 
that respondents will have no additional costs associated with the 
surveys other than the burden hours and the maintenance of the 
information during the normal course of business.
    Comments are invited on whether or not: (a) The proposed collection 
of information is necessary for the proper performance of agency 
functions, including whether the information will have a practical 
utility; (b) EIA's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used, is accurate; (c) EIA can improve the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information it will collect; and (d) EIA can minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, such as 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.

    Statutory Authority:  15 U.S.C. 772(b) and 42 U.S.C. 7101 et 
seq.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on April 20th, 2020.
Thomas Leckey,
Assistant Administrator for Energy Statistics, U.S. Energy Information 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020-08895 Filed 4-27-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P