[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 78 (Monday, April 24, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24787-24789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08512]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RD23-4-000]


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

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

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 proposed revisions of the 
currently approved information collection, FERC-725G, (Mandatory 
Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System).

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due June 23, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit copies of your comments (identified by Docket 
No. RD23-4-000) 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-725G (Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-
Power System: Approval of PRC Reliability Standard PRC-002-4.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0252.
    Type of Request: Approval of FERC-725G information collection 
requirements associated with proposed PRC Reliability Standard PRC-002-
4.
    Abstract: This Notice pertains to the FERC-725G information 
collection requirements associated with PRC Reliability Standard PRC-
002-4, (Disturbance Monitoring and Reporting Requirements), the 
associated Violation Risk Factors and Violation Severity Levels, and 
the proposed implementation plan including the retirement of the 
currently effective Reliability Standard PRC-002-3, proposed by the 
North American Electric Reliability (NERC) in a petition dated March 
10, 2023. NERC also

[[Page 24788]]

proposed the retirement of Reliability Standard PRC-002-3. The 
Commission included the petition in a Combined Notice of Filings 
published on March 23, 2023, at 88 FR 17564.
    On March 4, 2022, the Commission's Office of Electric Reliability 
approved PRC-002-3 in Docket No. RD22-2-000. The FERC submitted an 
information collection request to OMB on October 25, 2022, in 
association with that Order, and that request is currently pending 
review at OMB under the heading ``FERC-725G (DLO in RD22-2-000), 
Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System: PRC Rel 
Stds.''
    NERC's proposed revisions: (1) clarify requirements for 
notifications under the standard, including when generator owners and 
transmission owners must have data for an applicable transformer or 
transmission line; (2) clarify and make consistent terminology used in 
the Standard; (3) incorporate the implementation timeframe for newly-
identified facilities; and (4) add a criterion defining substantial 
changes in fault current levels requiring changing the locations for 
which certain data is recorded.
    The information collection requirements contained in this Notice 
are subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
under section 3507(d) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.\1\ OMB's 
regulations require approval of certain information collection 
requirements imposed by agency rules.\2\ Upon approval of a collection 
of information, OMB will assign an OMB control number and expiration 
date. Respondents subject to the filing requirements of this rule will 
not be penalized for failing to respond to these collections of 
information unless the collections of information display a valid OMB 
control number. The Commission solicits comments on the Commission's 
need for this information, whether the information will have practical 
utility, the accuracy of the burden estimates, ways to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected or 
retained, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondents' burden, 
including the use of automated information techniques.
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    \1\ 44 U.S.C. 3507(d).
    \2\ 5 CFR part 1320.
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    The number of respondents below is based on an estimate of the NERC 
compliance registry for balancing authority, transmission operator, 
generator operator, generator owner and reliability coordinator. The 
Commission based its paperwork burden estimates on the NERC compliance 
registry as of February 10, 2023. According to the registry, there are 
325 transmission owners, 1,117 generator owners and 12 reliability 
coordinators. The estimates are based on the change in burden from the 
currently pending standard (i.e., PRC-002-3) to the standard approved 
in this Docket (i.e., PRC-002-4). The Commission based the burden 
estimates on staff experience, knowledge, and expertise.
    The estimates are based combination on one-time (years 1 and 2) 
obligations to follow the revised Reliability Standard.
    Proposed Reliability Standard PRC-002-4 (Disturbance Monitoring and 
Reporting Requirements) would advance the reliability of the BES by 
providing needed clarity regarding the application of the standard's 
requirements. First, proposed Reliability Standard PRC-002-4 would 
clarify requirements for notifications under the standard, including 
when Generator Owners and Transmission Owners must have data for an 
applicable transformer or transmission line. Second, the proposed 
Reliability Standard clarifies and promotes consistency in terminology 
used in the standard. Third, the proposed Reliability Standard brings 
the implementation timeframe for newly identified facilities into the 
standard. Last, the proposed Reliability Standard adds a criterion that 
defines what constitutes a substantial change in fault current levels 
that would require changing the locations for which sequence of events 
(SER) and fault recording (FR) data is recorded. The revisions and 
supporting rationale are discussed in further detail below.
    Proposed Reliability Standard PRC-002-4, the subject of this 
Notice, contains a number of revisions intended to clarify the 
standard, aid in its administration, and reduce ambiguities and 
unnecessary burdens. The proposed change to Attachment 1 Step 7 allows 
the possibility of significant change over time without a required 
change in data recording location. The Reliability Standard PRC-002-4 
would provide necessary clarifications to the standard in the 
requirements R1, R3 and R5 and promotes consistency in terminology used 
in the standard. The new requirement R13 brings the implementation 
timeframe for newly identified facilities into the standard. These 
changes would clarify the extent of the required notifications and data 
collection requirements consistent with other provisions in the 
currently effective and approved versions of the PRC-002 standard.
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    \3\ TO=Transmission Owner, GO=Generator Owner and RC=Reliability 
Coordinator.
    \4\ The estimated hourly cost (salary plus benefits) derived 
using the following formula: Burden Hours per Response * $/hour = 
Cost per Response. based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as 
of February 10, 2023, of an Electrical Engineer (17-2071)--$77.02,--
and for Information and Record Clerks (43-4199) $42.35, The average 
hourly burden cost for this collection is [($77.02 + $42.35)/2 = 
$61.17)] rounded to $61.17 an hour.

                                                 Proposed Changes Due to Order in Docket No. RD23-4-000
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                                                  Number of
                                      Type \3\      annual     Total number of     Average number of burden
Reliability standard & requirement   and number   responses       responses         hours per response \4\                 Total burden hours
                                     of entity    per entity
                                            (1)          (2)    (1) * (2) = (3)  (4).........................  (3) * (4) = (5)
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                                                                        FERC-725G
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PRC-002-4:
    TO............................          325            1                325  16 hrs., $978.72............  5,200 hrs., $318,084.
    GO............................        1,117            1              1,117  16 hrs., $978.72............  17,872 hrs., $1,093,230.24.
    RC............................           12            1                 12  8 hrs., $489.36.............  96 hrs., $5,872.32.
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        Total for PRC-002, One      ...........  ...........              1,454  40 hrs., $2,446.8...........  23,168 hrs., $1,417,186.56.
         Time Estimate--Years 1
         and 2.
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[[Page 24789]]

    The one-time burden of 23,168 hours that only applies for Year 1 
and 2 will be averaged over three years (23,168 hours / 3 = 7,722.667 
(7,722.67 - rounded) hours/year over three years). The number of 
responses is also averaged over three years (1,454 responses / 3 = 
484.667 (484.67 - rounded) responses/year).
    The responses and burden hours for Years 1-3 will total 
respectively as follows for Year 1 one-time burden:

Year 1: 484.67 responses; 7,722.67 hours
Year 2: 484.67 responses; 7,722.67 hours
Year 3: 484.67 responses; 7,722.67 hours

    Comments concerning the information collection and retirement 
approved by the Commission in this Docket and the associated burden 
estimates, should be sent to the Commission in this docket and may also 
be sent to the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs [Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission]. For security reasons, comments should be sent 
by email to OMB at the following email address: 
[email protected].

Environmental Analysis

    The Commission is required to prepare an Environmental Assessment 
or an Environmental Impact Statement for any action that may have a 
significant adverse effect on the human environment.\5\ The Commission 
has categorically excluded certain actions from this requirement as not 
having a significant effect on the human environment. Included in the 
exclusion are rules that are clarifying, corrective, or procedural or 
that do not substantially change the effect of the regulations being 
amended.\6\ The actions approved here fall within this categorical 
exclusion in the Commission's regulations.
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    \5\ Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969, Order No. 486, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. 
& Regs., Regulations Preambles 1986-1990 ] 30,783 (1987).
    \6\ 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii).
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Document Availability

    In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this document via the 
internet through the Commission's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov) and 
in the Commission's Public Reference Room during normal business hours 
(8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time) at 888 First Street NE, Room 2A, 
Washington, DC 20426.
    From the Commission's Home Page on the internet, this information 
is available on eLibrary. The full text of this document is available 
on eLibrary in PDF and Microsoft Word format for viewing, printing, 
and/or downloading. To access this document in eLibrary, type the 
docket number excluding the last three digits of this document in the 
docket number field.
    User assistance is available for eLibrary and the Commission's 
website during normal business hours from the Commission's Online 
Support at (202) 502-6652 (toll free at 1-866-208-3676) or email at 
[email protected], or the Public Reference Room at (202) 502-
8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. Email the Public Reference Room at 
[email protected].
    By direction of the Commission.
    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: April 17, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-08512 Filed 4-21-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P