[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 12, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26019-26020]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-10008]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC21-23-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725V); Comment 
Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

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-725V, Mandatory Reliability Standards: COM 
Reliability Standards.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due July 12, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit copies of your comments (identified by Docket 
No. IC21-23-000) by one of the following methods:
    Electronic filing through http://www.ferc.gov, is preferred.
     Electronic Filing: Documents must be filed in acceptable 
native applications and print-to-PDF, but not in scanned or picture 
format.
     For those unable to file electronically, comments may be 
filed by USPS mail or by hand (including courier) delivery:
    [cir] Mail via U.S. Postal Service Only: Addressed to: Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First 
Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.
    [cir] Hand (including courier) Delivery: Deliver to: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852.
    Instructions: All 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-725V, Mandatory Reliability Standards: COM Reliability 
Standards.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0277.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-725V information 
collection requirements with no changes to the reporting requirements.
    Abstract: On August 15, 2016, the North American Electric 
Reliability Corporation (NERC) filed a petition for Commission 
approval, pursuant to section 215(d)(1) of the Federal Power Act 
(``FPA'') \1\ and Section 39.5 \2\ of the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission's regulations, for Reliability Standard COM-001-3 
(Communications), the associated Implementation Plan, retirement of 
currently-effective Reliability Standard COM-001-2.1, and Violation 
Risk Factors (``VRFs'') and Violation Severity Levels (``VSLs'') 
associated with new Requirements R12 and R13 in Reliability Standard 
COM-001-3. Reliability Standard COM-001-3 reflects revisions developed 
under Project 2015-07 Internal Communications Capabilities, in 
compliance with the Commission's directive in Order No. 888 that NERC 
``develop modifications to COM-001-2, or develop a new standard, to 
address the Commission's concerns regarding ensuring the adequacy of 
internal communications capability whenever internal communications 
could directly affect the reliability opera.
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    \1\ 16 U.S.C. 824o (2012).
    \2\ 18 CFR 39.5 (2015).
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    Reliability Standards COM-001-3 and COM-002-4 do not require 
responsible entities to file information with the Commission. COM-001-3 
requires that transmission operators, balancing authorities, 
reliability coordinators, distribution providers, and generator 
operators must maintain documentation of Interpersonal Communication 
capability and designation of Alternate Interpersonal Communication, as 
well as evidence of testing of the Alternate Interpersonal 
Communication facilities. COM-002-4 requires balancing authorities, 
distribution providers, reliability coordinators, transmission 
operators, and generator operators to develop and maintain documented 
communication protocols, and to be able to provide evidence of training 
on the protocols and of their annual assessment of the protocols. 
Additionally, all applicable entities (balancing authorities, 
reliability coordinators, transmission operators, generator operators, 
and distribution providers) must be able to provide evidence of three-
part communication when issuing or receiving an Operating Instruction 
during an Emergency.
    Type of Respondents: Public utilities.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \3\ The Commission estimates the annual 
public reporting burden for the information collection as:
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    \3\ The Commission defines burden 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, reference 5 Code of Federal 
Regulations 1320.3.

[[Page 26020]]



                                          FERC-725V--Mandatory Reliability Standards: COM Reliability Standards
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                                                         Annual  number
                                         Number of        of  responses   Total number    Average burden and    Total annual  burden hours     Cost per
                                        respondents            per        of responses    cost per response 4   and  total annual cost  ($)   respondent
                                                           respondent                                                                            ($)
                                   (1).................             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4).................  (3) * (4) = (5).............    (5) / (1)
                                                                                    (3)
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(On-going) Maintain evidence of    1,313 (BA, DP, GOP,                1           1,313  4 hrs.; $228........  5,252 hrs.; $299,364........         $228
 Interpersonal Communication        RC & TOP).
 capability 5.
(On-going) Maintain evidence of    199 (BA, RC & TOP)..               1             199  8 hrs.; 456.........  1,592 hrs.; 90,744..........          456
 training and assessments 6.
(On-going) Maintain evidence of    1,257 (DP & GOP)....               1           1,257  8 hrs.; 456.........  10,056 hrs.; 573,192........          456
 training 7.
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    Total........................  ....................  ..............           2,769  ....................  16,900 hrs.; 963,300........  ...........
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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.
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    \4\ The estimates for cost per response are loaded hourly wage 
figure (includes benefits) is based on two occupational categories 
for 2020 found on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website (http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm): The hourly estimates for 
salary plus benefits are: (a) Electrical Engineer (code 17-2071), 
$70.19; (b) Information and Record Clerk (code 43-4199), $43.38. The 
average hourly cost (salary plus benefits), weighting both skill 
sets equally, is $56.79. For these calculations, we round the figure 
to $57.00 per hour.
    \5\ For COM-001-3 the BA, RC, TOP, GOP, DP were taken as 
aggregate to eliminate overlap if the same entity has multiple 
registrations.
    \6\ For COM-002-4 the BA, RC and TOP were taken as aggregate to 
eliminate overlap if the same entity has multiple registration.
    \7\ For COM-002-4 the DP and GOP were taken as aggregate to 
eliminate overlap if the same entity has multiple registrations.

    Dated: May 6, 2021.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-10008 Filed 5-11-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P