[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 214 (Wednesday, November 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70141-70142]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24454]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC20-24-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725A(1C)); 
Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of extension 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 renewal of currently 
approved information collection, FERC-725A(1C) (Mandatory Reliability 
Standards for Bulk-Power System: Reliability Standard TOP-001-4) which 
will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a 
review of the information collection requirements.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due December 4, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on the information collections to OMB 
through www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Attention: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission Desk Officer. Please identify the OMB Control 
Number(s) in the subject line of your comments. Comments should be sent 
within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
    A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Commission, in 
Docket

[[Page 70142]]

No. IC20-20-000, by any of the following methods:
     eFiling at Commission's Website: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp.
     U.S. Postal Service Mail: Persons unable to file 
electronically may mail similar pleadings to the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.
     Effective 7/1/2020, delivery of filings other than by 
eFiling or the U.S. Postal Service should be delivered to Health and 
Human Services, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
    Instructions:
    OMB submissions must be formatted and filed in accordance with 
submission guidelines at www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Using the 
search function under the ``Currently Under Review'' field, select 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; click ``submit,'' and select 
``comment'' to the right of the subject collection.
    FERC submissions must be formatted and filed in accordance with 
submission guidelines at: http://www.ferc.gov. For user assistance, 
contact FERC Online Support by email at [email protected], or 
by phone at: (866) 208-3676 (toll-free).
    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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at 
[email protected], telephone at (202) 502-8663.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: FERC-725A(1C) (Mandatory Reliability Standards for Bulk-
Power System: Reliability Standard TOP- 001-4).
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0298.
    Type of Request: Three-year approval of FERC-725A(1C) to the 
information collection, with no changes to the reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.
    Abstract: In a petition dated March 6, 2017, the North American 
Electric Reliability Corporation (``NERC'') requested Commission 
approval for proposed Reliability Standard TOP-001-4 (Transmission 
Operations). NERC stated that the ``proposed Reliability Standards 
address the Commission directives in Order No. 817 related to: (i) 
Transmission operator monitoring of non-bulk electric system (``BES'') 
facilities; (ii) redundancy and diverse routing of transmission 
operator, balancing authority, and reliability coordinator data 
exchange capabilities; and (iii) testing of alternative or less 
frequently used data exchange capabilities''. In an order on April 17, 
2017,\1\ the implementation of Reliability Standard TOP-001-4 and the 
retirement of Reliability Standard TOP-001-3 was approved.\2\
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    \1\ The Delegated Letter Order is available in the Commission's 
eLibrary at https://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/OpenNat.asp?fileID=14560616.
    \2\ TOP-001-5 soon formerly TOP-001-4 has been approved by the 
commission and is being submitted for approval through Final Rule 
issued on September 17, 2020. Although 725A(1C) is included in the 
Final Rule (9/17/2020) it will be submitted to OMB in 725A because 
only one OMB No. can be submitted at a time to OMB.
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    The 60-day Federal Register notice published on August 28, 2020 (85 
FR 53355) and no comments were received.
    Type of Respondents: Transmission Operators (TOP) and Balancing 
Authorities (BA).
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \3\ The Commission estimates the annual 
public reporting burden and cost as follows.
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    \3\ 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. For 
further explanation of what is included in the information 
collection burden, refer to 5 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3.

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                                  Number of                                      Average burden    Total annual
    Information collection      respondents &    Annual number   Total number     hours & cost    burden hours &
         requirements           type of entity   of responses    of responses     per response     total annual
                                     \4\        per respondent                        ($)            cost ($)
                               (1)............             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4) \5\........  (3) * (4) = (5)
                                                                           (3)
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                                                  FERC-725A(1C)
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                                                  TOP-001-4 \6\
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Reporting (R10, R20, & R21),   321 (TOP)......               1             321  3 hrs.; $210.57  963 hrs.;
 ongoing.                                                                                         $67,592.97.
Recordkeeping, ongoing.......  321 (TOP)......               1             321  2 hrs.; $82.06.  642 hrs.;
                                                                                                  $26,341.26.
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    TOP Sub-Totals...........  ...............  ..............  ..............  5 hrs.; $292.63  1,605 hrs.;
                                                                                                  $93,934.23.
Reporting (R23 & R24),         97 (BA)........               1              97  2 hrs.; $140.38  194 hrs.;
 ongoing.                                                                                         $13,616.86.
Recordkeeping, ongoing.......  97 (BA)........               1              97  4 hrs.; $164.12  388 hrs.;
                                                                                                  $15,919.64.
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    BA Sub-Totals............  ...............  ..............  ..............  6 hrs.; $304.50  582 hrs.;
                                                                                                  $29,536.50.
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        FERC-725A(1C) ongoing  ...............  ..............  ..............  ...............  2,187 hrs.;
         total.                                                                                   $123,470.73.
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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 estimates 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.
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    \4\ Our estimates are based on the NERC Compliance Registry of 
7/17/2020, which indicates there are 321 entities registered as TOPs 
and 97 entities registered as BAs within the United States. One 
entity may be registered as having several roles.
    \5\ The hourly cost figures, for salary plus benefits, for the 
reliability standards are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 
information (at http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm), as of 
May 2019. For reporting requirements, an electrical engineer (code 
17-2071) is $70.19/hour; for the recordkeeping requirements, an 
information and record clerk (code 43-4199) is $41.03/hour.
    \6\ Requirement R21 (applicable to TOPs in ongoing yrs.) covers 
quarterly testing and associated reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements. Requirement R24 (applicable to BAs in ongoing yrs.) 
covers quarterly testing and associated engineering and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: October 28, 2020.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-24454 Filed 11-3-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P