[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 248 (Thursday, December 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89680-89681]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28701]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC24-4-000]


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

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

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 proposed extension pf 
the information collection, FERC-725A(1C), Mandatory Reliability 
Standards for Bulk-Power System:

[[Page 89681]]

Reliability Standard TOP-001-5 (OMB Control No. 1902-0298).

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due February 26, 
2024.

ADDRESSES: Please submit your comments to the Commission (identified by 
Docket No. IC) by one 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: 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), 
or (202) 502-8659 for TTY.
    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/docs-filing/docs-filing.asp.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean Sonneman may be reached by email 
at [email protected], telephone at (202) 502-6362.

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: Extension 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 Standard 
addresses 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. Reliability 
Standard TOP-001-5 is the currently effective version of the standard 
as of April 1, 2021, at the same time Reliability Standard TOP-001-4 
was retired. The Commission now seeks to extend the information 
collection activities associated with Reliability Standard TOP-001-5.
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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.
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    It is also noted that we are updating appliable entities to 
accurately reflect for this renewal it applies to transmission 
operators (TOP) and balancing authorities (BA), in the previous renewal 
the incorrect number of TOPs was used and we are changing it from 321 
to 165.
    Type of Respondents: Transmission Operators (TOP) and Balancing 
Authorities (BA).
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \2\ The Commission estimates the annual 
public reporting burden and cost as follows.
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    \2\ 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.
    \3\ Our estimates are based on the NERC Compliance Registry of 
11/14/2023, which indicates there are 165 unique entities registered 
as TOPs and 98 unique entities registered as BAs within the United 
States. One entity may be registered as having several roles.
    \4\ 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 and 
https://www.bls.gov/ecec/data.htm), as of September 2023. The data 
for reporting requirements are for an electrical engineer (code 17-
2071): $70.55/hour ($54.83 mean hourly wage plus $15.72 hourly 
benefits. The data for recordkeeping requirements are for an 
information and record clerk (code 43-4199): $39.56/hour ($29.67 
mean hourly wage plus $9.89 hourly benefits).

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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
                                     \3\        per respondent                        ($)            cost ($)
                               (1)............             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4) \4\........  (3) * (4) = (5)
                                                                           (3)
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Reporting (R10, R20, & R21),   165 (TOP)......               1             165  3 hrs.; $211.65  495 hrs.;
 ongoing.                                                                                         $34,922.25.
Recordkeeping, ongoing.......  165 (TOP)......               1             165  2 hrs.; $79.12.  330 hrs.;
                                                                                                  $13,054.80.
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    TOP Sub-Totals...........  ...............  ..............  ..............  5 hrs.; $290.77  825 hrs.;
                                                                                                  $47,977.05.
Reporting (R23 & R24),         98 (BA)........               1              98  2 hrs.; $141.10  196 hrs.;
 ongoing.                                                                                         $13,827.80.
Recordkeeping, ongoing.......  98 (BA)........               1              98  4 hrs.; $158.24  392 hrs.;
                                                                                                  $15,507.52.
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    BA Sub-Totals............  ...............  ..............  ..............  6hrs.; $299.34.  588 hrs.;
                                                                                                  $29,335.32.
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        FERC-725A(1C) ongoing  ...............  ..............  ..............  ...............  1,413 hrs.;
         total.                                                                                   $773,312.37
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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.

    Dated: December 21, 2023.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-28701 Filed 12-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P