[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 16 (Monday, January 27, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8208-8209]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01736]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. IC25-8-000]
Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725D); 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 a renewal of currently approved
information collection, FERC-725D (Facilities Design, Connections and
Maintenance Reliability Standards). This notice for the transfer of
FAC-003-5 (725M) and FAC-008-5 (725A) to 725D.
DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due March 28,
2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC25-8-
000) by one of the following methods:
Electronic filing through https://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 other delivery methods:
[cir] Mail via U.S. Postal Service Only: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE,
Washington, DC 20426.
[cir] All other delivery services: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue,
Rockville, MD 20852.
Instructions: All submissions must be formatted and filed in
accordance with submission guidelines at: https://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 https://www.ferc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kayla Williams may be reached by email
at [email protected], telephone at (202) 502-6468.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: FERC-725D, Facilities Design, Connections and Maintenance
Reliability Standards.
OMB Control No.: 1902-0247.
Type of Request: Three-year approval of the FERC-725D information
collection requirements, with changes to the reporting or recordkeeping
requirements. (There are adjustments to the estimates to update the
totals to add in the FAC-003-5 and FAC-008-5).
Abstract: On August 8, 2005, The Electricity Modernization Act of
2005, which is Title XII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005),
was enacted into law. EPAct 2005 added a new section 215 to the Federal
Power Act (FPA), which requires a Commission-certified Electric
Reliability Organization (ERO) to develop mandatory and enforceable
Reliability Standards, subject to Commission review and approval. Once
approved, the Reliability Standards may be enforced by the ERO, subject
to Commission oversight, or by the Commission independently. In 2006,
the Commission certified NERC (now called the North American Electric
Reliability Corporation) as the ERO pursuant to section 215 of the FPA.
On March 16, 2007 (pursuant to section 215(d) of the FPA), the
Commission issued Order No. 693, approving 83 of the 107 initial
Reliability Standards filed by NERC. In the intervening years, numerous
changes have been made to update, eliminate, or establish various
Reliability Standards.
The information collected by FERC-725D is required to implement the
[[Page 8209]]
statutory provisions of section 215 of the Federal Power Act (FPA) (16
U.S.C. 824c). Pursuant to section 215 of the Federal Power Act
(FPA),\1\ in Order 836,\2\ the Commission approved the following
standards: FAC-003-5 is set out to maintain a reliable electric
transmission system by using a defense-in-depth strategy to manage
vegetation located on transmission rights of way (ROW) and minimize
encroachments from vegetation located adjacent to the ROW, thus
preventing the risk of those vegetation-related outages that could lead
to Cascading. FAC-003-5 is applicable to TOs and GOs and NERC has
incorporated Applicability Sections 4.2.2 and 4.3.1.2 of FAC-003-5 to
replace references to ``elements of an IROL under NERC Standard FAC-014
by the Planning Coordinator'' with references to facilities:
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\1\ 16 U.S.C. 824(o).
\2\ Order 836 in Docket No. RM16-13 was issued on 9/20/2017 and
is posted at https://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/opennat.asp?fileID=14684897.
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``Identified by the Planning Coordinator or Transmission Planner,
per its Planning Assessment of the Near-Term Transmission Planning
Horizon as a Facility that if lost or degraded are expected to result
in instances of instability, Cascading, or uncontrolled separation that
adversely impacts the reliability of the Bulk Electric System for a
planning event.''
Reliability Standard FAC-008-5 ensures that Facility Ratings used
in the reliable planning and operation of the Bulk Electric System
(BES) are determined based on technically sound principles. A Facility
Rating is essential for the determination of System Operating Limits.
Type of Respondents: TO& GO.\3\
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\3\ TO = Transmission Owner; GO = Generator Owner.
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Estimate of Annual Burden \4\ and Cost: The Commission estimates an
increase (adjustment) in the annual public reporting burden for the
FERC-725D. In an effort to target similar NERC Reliability Standards by
family the following manhours associated with two FAC (Facilities)
Reliability Standards (FAC-008-5 and FAC-003-5) is being transferred
from 725A (1902-0244) to the 725D (1902-0247), where other FAC
standards are collected, as shown below in the table:
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\4\ 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.
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Number of Average number
Number of annual Total number of burden hours Total burden
entity \5\ responses per of responses per response hours
entity \6\
(1)............ (2) (1) * (2) = (4)............ (3) * (4) = (5)
(3)
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Transferred from FERC-725M to FERC-725D
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Annual Review and Record 191(TO)........ 1 191 1.91 hrs.; 364.81 hrs.;
Retention. 731(GO)........ 1 731 $134.98/hrs. $25,781.12.
.48 hrs.; 349.41 hrs.;
$33.92 hrs. $24,728.14.
Carryover from RD22-2 Exp. 1,393.......... 4 5,572 8 hrs.; $565.36 44,576 hrs.;
2026. $3,150,185.92.
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Total for FAC-003-5...... ............... .............. 6,494 ............... 45,290.22 hrs.;
$3,200,659.85.
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Number of Average number
Number of annual Total number of burden hours Total burden
entity \7\ responses per of responses per response hours
entity \8\
(1)............ (2) (1) * (2) = (4)............ (3) * (4) = (5)
(3)
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Transferred from FERC-725A to FERC-725D
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Annual review and record 324 (TO)....... 1 324 200 hrs.; 64,800 hrs.;
retention. 1210 (GO)...... 1 1,210 $70.67/hrs. $4,579,416.
80 hrs.; $70.67/ 96,800 hrs.;
hrs. $6,840,856.
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Total for FAC-008-5...... ............... .............. 1,534 ............... 161,600 hrs.;
$11,420,272.
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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 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.
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\5\ These values were derived from the NERC Compliance data of
April 16, 2024, using only unique United States registered entities.
\6\ The estimated hourly cost (salary plus benefits) is a
combination based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as of
2024, for 75% of the average of an Electrical Engineer (17-2071)
$79.31/hr., 79.31 x .75 = 59.4825 ($59.48-rounded) ($59.48/hour) and
25% of an Information and Record Clerk (43-4199) $44.74/hr., $44.74
x .25% = 11.185 ($11.19 rounded) ($11.19/hour), for a total ($59.48
+ $11.19 = $70.67/hour).
\7\ These values were derived from the NERC Compliance data of
April 16, 2024, using only unique United States registered entities.
\8\ The estimated hourly cost (salary plus benefits) is a
combination based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as of
2024, for 75% of the average of an Electrical Engineer (17-2071)
$79.31/hr., 79.31 x .75 = 59.4825 ($59.48-rounded) ($59.48/hour) and
25% of an Information and Record Clerk (43-4199) $44.74/hr., $44.74
x .25% = 11.185 ($11.19 rounded) ($11.19/hour), for a total ($59.48
+ $11.19 = $70.67/hour).
Dated: January 17, 2025.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-01736 Filed 1-24-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P