[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 20, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38335-38337]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-15409]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC21-20-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-567, FERC-
576); Consolidated 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 collections, FERC-567 (Gas Pipeline Certificates: Annual 
Reports of System Flow Diagrams) and FERC-576 (Report of Service 
Interruptions or Damage to Facilities) 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 August 19, 
2021.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on FERC-567 and/or FERC-576 to OMB 
through www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, Attention: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission Desk Officer. Please identify the OMB control 
number (1902-0005 and/or 1902-0004) in the subject line. Your comments 
should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register.
    Please submit copies of your comments (identified by Docket No. 
IC21-20-000) to the Commission as noted below. 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:
    OMB submissions must be formatted and filed in accordance with 
submission

[[Page 38336]]

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] and telephone at (202) 502-8663.
    Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collections 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 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission published a 60-day Paperwork 
Reduction Act Notice \1\ in the Federal Register on May 11, 2021 and no 
comments were received on the renewal of FERC-567 and FERC-576 
information collections. Inadvetently, the cost caluations for FERC-576 
indicated that it used the 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) costs 
estimates when in fact it used the 2021 costs figures. The correct cost 
estimated are reflected below. This does not effect any information 
related to the collection of FERC-567.
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    \1\ 86 FR 25852.
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    The following information pertains to FERC-567 only.
    Title: FERC-567, Gas Pipeline Certificates: Annual Reports of 
System Flow Diagrams.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0005.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-567 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting 
requirements.
    Abstract: Per 18 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 260.8(a), each 
major interstate natural gas pipeline with a system delivery capacity 
exceeding 100,000 Mcf \2\ per day is required to submit, by June 1 of 
each year, diagrams reflecting operating conditions on the pipeline's 
main transmission system during the previous 12 months ending on 
December 31. The submitted information must include (i) configuration 
and location of installed pipeline facilities; (ii) receipt and 
delivery points between shippers, and pipeline companies; (iii) 
location of compressor stations on a pipeline system; (iv) pipeline 
diameters; (v) maximum allowable operating pressures; (vi) suction and 
discharge pressures at compressor stations; (vii) installed horsepower 
and volumes compressed at each compressor station; (viii) existing 
shippers currently nominating service under firm contracts on each 
pipeline company; and (ix) peak capacity on the system. The data is 
collected so that it's available in the event the Commission needs to 
confirm pipeline facility data.
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    \2\ Mcf is a unit of measurement for natural gas that equals 
1,000 cubic feet.
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    Type of Respondents: Natural gas pipeline companies with a system 
delivery capacity in excess of 100,000 Mcf per day.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: The Commission estimates the annual 
public reporting burden for the information collection as:
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    \3\ The number of respondents in the currently approved OMB 
inventory for FERC-567 is 197. Changes to the estimate were based on 
average number of respondents over the past three years.
    \4\ The Commission staff estimates that the average respondent 
for FERC-567 is similarly situated to the Commission, in terms of 
salary plus benefits. Based on FERC's 2020 annual average of 
$172,329 (for salary plus benefits), the average hourly cost is $83/
hour.

                                       FERC-567--Gas Pipeline Certificates: Annual Reports of System Flow Diagrams
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                                                                                                                                              Average
                                    Number of    Annual  number                     Average  annual                                        annual  cost
          Respondents              respondents    of responses    Total number     burden & cost per       Total annual burden hours &          per
                                       \3\       per respondent   of responses        response \4\              total annual cost           respondent
                                                                                                                                                ($)
                                            (1)             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4)..................  (3) * (4) = (5).................       (5) / (1)
                                                                            (3)
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Natural Gas Pipelines..........             124               1             124  4 hrs.; $332.........  496 hrs.; $41,168...............            $332
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    The following information pertains to FERC-576 only.
    Title: FERC-576, Report of Service Interruptions or Damage to 
Facilities.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0004.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-576 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting 
requirements.
    Abstract: Per 18 CFR 260.9, natural gas pipeline companies must 
report (i) damage to any jurisdictional natural gas facilities other 
than liquefied natural gas facilities caused by a hurricane, earthquake 
or other natural disaster or terrorist activity that results in a loss 
of or reduction in pipeline throughput or storage deliverability; and 
(ii) serious interruptions of service to any shipper involving 
jurisdictional natural gas facilities other than liquefied natural gas 
facilities.
    The notifications, made to the Director, Division of Pipeline 
Certificates via email or fax as soon as feasibly possible, must state: 
(1) The location of the service interruption or damage to natural gas 
pipeline or storage facilities; (2) The nature of any damage to 
pipeline or storage facilities; (3) Specific identification of the 
facilities damaged; (4) The time the service interruption or damage to 
the facilities occurred; (5) The customers affected by the service 
interruption or damage to the facilities; (6) Emergency actions taken 
to maintain service; and (7) Company contact and telephone number. The 
information provided by these notifications are kept by the Commission 
and are not made part of the public record.
    In addition, if an incident requires reporting of the incident to 
the Department of Transportation under the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety 
Act of 1968, a copy of such report shall be submitted to the Director 
of the Commission's

[[Page 38337]]

Division of Pipeline Certificates, within 30 days of the reportable 
incident. Natural gas companies must also send a copy of submitted 
reports to each state commission for the state(s) in which the reported 
service interruption occurred. If the Commission did not collect this 
information, it would lose a data point that assists in the monitoring 
of transactions, operations, and reliability of interstate pipelines.
    Type of Respondents: Natural gas companies experiencing service 
interruptions or damage to facilities.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: The Commission estimates the average 
annual burden and cost \5\ for this information collection as follows. 
Please note that the cost figures in the Table for FERC-576 has been 
rounded (columns 4) for display purposes only. The calculations for the 
`cost per response' are based on the number of hours multiplied by the 
total weight hourly cost.
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    \5\ Costs (for wages and benefits) are based on wage figures 
from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) at http://bls.gov/oes/current/naics3_221000.htm, as of June 2021. In the 60-day notice, 
the costs incorrectly reflected 2020 figures rather than the actual 
2021 cost estimates. The corrected costs are listed above and does 
not impact the renewal notice for FERC-567. Commission staff 
estimates that 20% of the work is performed by a manager, and 80% is 
performed by legal staff. The hourly costs for wages plus benefits 
are:
     Management (Occupational Code: 11-0000) is $97.89.
     Legal (Occupational Code: 23-0000) is $142.25.
    Therefore, the weighted hourly cost (for wages plus benefits) is 
$133.38 [(0.20 * $97.89) + (0.80 * $142.25)].

                                                                FERC-576--Report of Service Interruptions or Damage to Facilities
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                                                                                                                                                                                      Average
                                             Number of    Annual  number                                                                                                           annual  cost
                                            respondents    of  responses   Total number     Average annual  burden hrs. & cost  ($)    Total annual burden  hrs. & total  annual        per
                                                \6\             per        of responses                  per response                                    cost                       respondent
                                                            respondent                                                                                                                  ($)
                                                     (1)             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4).......................................  (3) * (4) = (5)...........................       (5) / (1)
                                                                                     (3)
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Notification of Incident--Service                     50               1              50  1 hr.; $133.38............................  50 hrs.; $6,669...........................         $133.38
 Interruption.
Notification of Incident--Damage........              22               1              22  0.25 hrs.; $33.35.........................  5.5 hrs.; $733.59.........................           33.35
Submittal of DOT Incident Report........              10               1              10  0.25 hrs.; $33.35.........................  2.5 hrs.; $333.45.........................           33.35
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    Total...............................              82  ..............  ..............  ..........................................  58 hrs.; $7,736.04........................  ..............
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    Dated: July 13, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
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    \6\ The total number of respondents in the currently approved 
OMB inventory for FERC-576 is 147. Changes to the estimate were 
based on average number of respondents over the past three years.
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[FR Doc. 2021-15409 Filed 7-19-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P