[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 10, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56742-56743]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-15072]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. AD24-3-000]


Billing Procedures for Annual Charges for the Costs of Other 
Federal Agencies for Administering Part I of the Federal Power Act; 
Notice Reporting Costs for Other Federal Agencies' Administrative 
Annual Charges for Fiscal Year 2023

    1. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is 
required to determine the reasonableness of costs incurred by other 
Federal agencies (OFAs) \1\ in connection with their participation in 
the Commission's proceedings under the Federal Power Act (FPA) Part I 
\2\ when those agencies seek to include such costs in the 
administrative charges licensees must pay to reimburse the United 
States for the cost of administering Part I.\3\ The Commission's Order 
on Remand and Acting on Appeals of Annual Charge Bills \4\ determined 
which costs are eligible to be included in the administrative annual 
charges. This order also established a process whereby the Commission 
would annually request each OFA to submit cost data, using a form \5\ 
specifically designed for this purpose. In addition, the order 
established requirements for detailed cost accounting reports and other 
documented analyses to explain the cost assumptions contained in the 
OFAs' submissions.
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    \1\ The OFAs include: the U.S. Department of the Interior 
(Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park 
Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of the Solicitor, 
Office of Environmental Policy & Compliance); the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (U.S. Forest Service); the U.S. Department of Commerce 
(National Marine Fisheries Service); and the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers.
    \2\ 16 U.S.C. 791a-823d (2018).
    \3\ See id. section 803(e)(1) and 42 U.S.C. 7178 (2018).
    \4\ 107 FERC ] 61,277, order on reh'g, 109 FERC ] 61,040 (2004).
    \5\ Other Federal Agency Cost Submission Form, available at 
https://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/forms.asp#ofa.
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    2. The Commission has completed its review of the forms and 
supporting documentation submitted by the U.S. Department of the 
Interior (Interior), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Agriculture), 
and the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) for fiscal year (FY) 
2023. This notice reports the costs the Commission included in its 
administrative annual charges for FY 2024.

Scope of Eligible Costs

    3. The basis for eligible costs that should be included in the 
OFAs' administrative annual charges is prescribed by the Office of 
Management and Budget's (OMB) Circular A-25--User Charges and the 
Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board's Statement of Federal 
Financial Accounting Standards (SFFAS) Number 4--Managerial Cost 
Accounting Concepts and Standards for the Federal Government. Circular 
A-25 establishes Federal policy regarding fees assessed for government 
services and provides specific information on the scope and type of 
activities subject to user charges. SFFAS Number 4 provides a 
conceptual framework for federal agencies to determine the full costs 
of government goods and services.
    4. Circular A-25 provides for user charges to be assessed against 
recipients of special benefits derived from federal activities beyond 
those received by the general public.\6\ With regard to licensees, the 
special benefit derived from federal activities is the license to 
operate a hydropower project. The guidance provides for the assessment 
of sufficient user charges to recover the full costs of services 
associated with these special benefits.\7\ SFFAS Number 4 defines full 
costs as the costs of resources consumed by a specific governmental 
unit that contribute directly or indirectly to a provided service.\8\ 
Thus, pursuant to OMB requirements and authoritative accounting 
guidance, the Commission must base its OFA administrative annual charge 
on all direct and indirect costs incurred by agencies in administering 
Part I of the FPA. The special form the Commission designed for this 
purpose, the ``Other Federal Agency Cost Submission Form,'' captures 
the full range of costs recoverable under the FPA and the referenced 
accounting guidance.\9\
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    \6\ OMB Circular A-25 section 6.
    \7\ OMB Circular A-25 section 6.a.2.
    \8\ SFFAS Number 4 ] 7.
    \9\ For the past few years, the form has excluded ``Other Direct 
Costs'' to avoid the possibility of confusion that occurred in 
earlier years as to whether costs were being entered twice as 
``Other Direct Costs'' and ``Overhead.''
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    5. Our guidance directs the OFAs to ensure that the costs are for 
FPA Part I activities and that the documented costs are segregated 
between activities covering municipal projects from those for non-
municipal projects. This year, we also asked the OFAs to provide 
additional narrative descriptions of the type of work performed in 
administering FPA Part I (including a list of the projects for which 
work was performed during the covered period) and a detailed 
description of what managerial/administrative or other activities are 
included in the non-specific category.

Commission Review of OFA Cost Submittals

    5. The Commission received cost forms and other supporting 
documentation from the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and 
Commerce. The Commission completed a review of each OFA's cost 
submission forms and supporting reports. In its examination of the 
OFAs' cost data, the Commission considered each agency's ability to 
demonstrate a system or process which effectively captured, isolated, 
and reported FPA Part I costs as required by the ``Other Federal Agency 
Cost Submission Form.''
    6. The Commission held a Technical Conference on March 21, 2024 to 
report its initial findings to licensees and OFAs. Representatives for 
several licensees and most of the OFAs attended the conference. 
Following the technical conference, a transcript was posted, and 
licensees had the opportunity to submit comments to the Commission 
regarding its initial review.
    7. Idaho Falls Group (Idaho Falls) filed written comments \10\ 
generally agreeing with the Commission's revisions of the guidance 
requiring narrative descriptions of work

[[Page 56743]]

performed for each project during the fiscal year.
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    \10\ See Letter from Michael A. Swiger, Van Ness Feldman, to the 
Honorable Debbie-Anne A. Reese, FERC, Docket No. AD24-3-000 (filed 
April 18, 2024).
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    8. After full consideration of the comments presented, and in 
accordance with the previously cited guidance, the Commission accepted 
as reasonable any costs reported via the cost submission forms that 
were clearly documented in the OFAs' accompanying reports and/or 
analyses. These documented costs will be included in the administrative 
annual charges for FY 2024.

Summary of Reported & Accepted Costs for Fiscal Year 2023
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN10JY24.019

Figure 1

    9. Figure 1 summarizes the total reported costs incurred by 
Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce with respect to their participation 
in administering Part I of the FPA. Additionally, Figure 1 summarizes 
the reported costs that the Commission determined were clearly 
documented and accepted for inclusion in its FY 2024 administrative 
annual charges.

Summary Findings of Commission's Costs Review

    10. As presented in Figure 1, the Commission has determined that 
$5,814,411 of the $6,702,547 in total reported costs were reasonable 
and clearly documented in the OFAs' accompanying reports and/or 
analyses. Based on this finding, 13% of the total reported cost was 
determined to be unreasonable. The Commission notes the most 
significant issue with the documentation provided by the OFAs was the 
lack of detailed description of type of work performed and a list of 
projects for work performed during the fiscal year.
    11. The cost reports that the Commission determined were clearly 
documented and supported could be traced to detailed cost-accounting 
reports, which reconciled to data provided from agency financial 
systems or other pertinent source documentation. A further breakdown of 
these costs is included in the Appendix to this notice, along with an 
explanation of how the Commission determined their reasonableness.

Points of Contact

    12. If you have any questions regarding this notice, please contact 
Raven Rodriguez at (202) 502-6276.

    Dated: July 2, 2024.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-15072 Filed 7-9-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P