[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 210 (Wednesday, November 3, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60626-60628]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-23962]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC22-1-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (Ferc-725); 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, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or 
FERC) is soliciting public comment on the currently approved 
information collection, FERC-725 (Certification of Electric Reliability 
Organization; Procedures for Electric Reliability Standards).

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due January 3, 
2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit your comments (identified by Docket No. IC22-
1-000) 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

[[Page 60627]]

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-725, Certification of Electric Reliability 
Organization; Procedures for Electric Reliability Standards.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0225.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-725 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.
    Abstract: The FERC-725 contains the following information 
collection elements: Self Assessment and ERO (Electric Reliability 
Organization) Application: The Commission requires the ERO to submit to 
FERC a performance assessment report every five years. The next 
assessment is due in 2024. Each Regional Entity submits a performance 
assessment report to the ERO.
    Submitting an application to become the ERO is also part of this 
collection.\1\
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    \1\ The Commission does not expect any new ERO applications to 
be submitted in the next five years and is not including any burden 
for this requirement in the burden estimate. FERC still seeks to 
renew the regulations pertaining to a new ERO application under this 
renewal but is expecting the burden to be zero for the foreseeable 
future. 18 CFR 39.3 contains the regulation pertaining to ERO 
applications.
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    Reliability Assessments: 18 CFR 39.11 requires the ERO to assess 
the reliability and adequacy of the Bulk-Power System in North America. 
Subsequently, the ERO must report to the Commission on its findings. 
Regional entities perform similar assessments within individual 
regions. Currently the ERO submits to FERC three assessments each year: 
Long term, winter, and summer. In addition, the North American Electric 
Reliability Corporation (NERC, the Commission-approved ERO) also 
submits various other assessments as needed.
    Reliability Standards Development: Under section 215 of the Federal 
Power Act (FPA),\2\ the ERO is charged with developing Reliability 
Standards. Regional Entities may also develop regional specific 
standards and have standard experts on staff to work with entities 
below the regional level.
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    \2\ 16 U.S.C. 824o.
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    Reliability Compliance: Reliability Standards are mandatory and 
enforceable upon approval by the Commission. In addition to the 
specific information collection requirements contained in each standard 
(cleared under other information collections), there are general 
compliance, monitoring and enforcement information collection 
requirements imposed on applicable entities. Audits, spot checks, self-
certifications, exception data submittals, violation reporting, and 
mitigation plan confirmation are included in this area.
    Stakeholder Survey: The ERO uses a stakeholder survey to solicit 
feedback from registered entities \3\ in preparation for its five year 
self-performance assessment. The Commission assumes that the ERO will 
perform another survey prior to the 2024 self-assessment.
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    \3\ A ``registered entity'' is an entity that is registered with 
the ERO. All Bulk-Power System owners, operators and users are 
required to register with the ERO. Registration is the basis for 
determining the Reliability Standards with which an entity must 
comply. See http://www.nerc.com/page.php?cid=3%7C25 for more 
details.
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    Other Reporting: This category refers to all other reporting 
requirements imposed on the ERO or regional entities in order to comply 
with the Commission's regulations. For example, FERC may require NERC 
to submit a special reliability assessment or inquiry. This category 
captures these types of one-time filings required of NERC or the 
Regions. The Commission implements its responsibilities through 18 CFR 
part 39.
    Type of Respondent: Electric Reliability Organization, Regional 
entities, and registered entities.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \4\ The Commission estimates the total 
annual burden and cost \5\ for this information collection in the table 
below. For hourly cost (for wages and benefits), we estimate that 70% 
of the time is spent by Electrical Engineers (code 17-2071, at $72.15/
hr.), 20% of the time is spent by Legal (code 23-0000, at $142.25/hr.), 
and 10% by Office and Administrative Support (code 43-0000, at $44.47/
hr.). Therefore, we use the weighted hourly cost (for wages and 
benefits) of $83.40 (rounded) {or [(0.70) * ($72.15/hr.)] + [(0.20) * 
$142.25/hr.] + [(0.10) * $44.47/hr.]{time} .
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    \4\ ``Burden'' is 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 Title 5 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3.
    \5\ Costs (for wages and benefits) are based on wage figures 
from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for May 2021 (at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm) and benefits information (at 
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.html.)
    \6\ In instances where the number of responses per respondent is 
``1,'' the Commission Staff thinks that the actual number of 
responses varies and cannot be estimated accurately.

                       FERC-725, Certification of Electric Reliability Organization; Procedures for Electric Reliability Standards
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                                                                 Annual
                                    Type of                    number of                     Average burden hours &
      Type of respondent           reporting      Number of    responses    Total number      cost ($) per response      Estimated total annual burden
                                  requirement    respondents      per       of responses            (rounded)              hrs. & cost ($) (rounded)
                                                               respondent
                                                         (A)      (B) \6\     (A) x (B) =  (D).......................  (C) x (D)
                                                                                      (C)
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Electric Reliability           Self-Assessment.  ...........           .2              .2  4,160 hrs.; $346,950......  832 hrs.; $69,390.
 Organization (ERO).
                               Reliability       ...........          5.0             5.0  10,400 hrs.; $867,360.....  52,000 hrs.; $4,336,800.
                                Assessments.
                               Reliability       ...........            2               2  17,680 hrs.; $1,474,512...  35,360 hrs.; $2,949,024.
                                Compliance.
                               Standards         ...........            1               1  20,800 hrs.; $1,734,720...  35,360 hrs.; $2,949,024.
                                Development.
                               Other Reporting.            1            1               1  4,160 hrs.; $346,944......  4,160 hrs.; $346,944.
                                                --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    ERO, Sub-Total...........  ................  ...........  ...........  ..............  ..........................  113,152 hrs.; $9,436,877.
Regional Entities............  Self-Assessment.  ...........           .2             1.2  4,160 hrs.; $346,944......  4,992 hrs.; $416,332.8.
                               Reliability       ...........            1               6  15,600 hrs.; $1,301,040...  93,600 hrs.; $7,806,240.
                                Assessments.
                               Reliability       ...........            1               6  47,840 hrs.; $3,989,856...  287,040 hrs.; $23,939,136.
                                Compliance.
                               Standards         ...........            1               6  4,680 hrs.; $390,312......  28,080 hrs.; $2,341,872.
                                Development.
                               Other Reporting.            6            1               6  1,040 hrs.; $86,736.......  7,280 hrs.; $607,152.
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    Regional Entities, Sub-    ................  ...........  ...........  ..............  ..........................  420,992 hrs.; $35,110,732.6.
     Total.

[[Page 60628]]

 
Registered Entities..........  Stakeholder       ...........           .2           299.2  8 hrs.; $667.20...........  2,393.6 hrs.; $199,626.2.
                                Survey.
                               Reliability           * 1,496            1           1,496  400 hrs.; $33,360.........  598,400 hrs.; $49,906,186.
                                Compliance.
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    Registered Entities, Sub-  ................  ...........  ...........  ..............  ..........................  600,793.60 hrs.; $50,106,186.
     Total.
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        Total Burden Hrs. and  ................  ...........  ...........  ..............  ..........................  1,134,938 hrs.; $94,653,796.
         Cost.
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* Estimated.

    As indicated in the table, there was a decrease from seven to six 
in the number of Regional Entities because the Florida Reliability 
Coordinating Council (FRCC) dissolved in July 2019. Other changes from 
previous estimates are based on new data in the proposed NERC 2022 
Business Plan and Budget to reflect changes in the number of FTEs 
(full-time equivalent employees) working in applicable areas. Reviewing 
the NERC Compliance database, we determined the number of unique U.S. 
entities is 1,496 (compared to the previous value of 1,409). Lastly, in 
several instances, the amount of time an FTE devotes to a given 
function may have been increased or decreased.
    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.

    Dated: October 28, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-23962 Filed 11-2-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P