2021-01756. Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725S); Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Notice of information collection and request for comments.

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-725S (Emergency Preparedness and Operations (EOP) Reliability Standards) and submitting the information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. Any interested person may file comments directly with OMB and should address a copy of those comments to the Commission as explained below.

DATES:

Comments on the collection of information are due February 26, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC21-6-000) by one of the following methods:

• eFiling at Commission's Website: http://www.ferc.gov.
• 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 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of the Secretary, 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 [e-mail], or by phone at [phone] (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 [e-mail], telephone at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: FERC-725S, Emergency Preparedness and Operations (EOP) Reliability Standards.

OMB Control No.: 1902-0270.

Type of Request: Three-year approval of the FERC-725S information collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting requirements.

Abstract: The Electricity Modernization Act of 2005, which is Title XII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), added a new section 215 to the Federal Power Act (FPA).^[1] FPA section 215 requires a Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) to develop mandatory and enforceable Reliability Standards, subject to Commission review and approval. Section 215 of the FPA requires a Commission-certified ERO to develop mandatory and enforceable Reliability Standards, subject to Commission review and approval. In 2006, the Commission certified North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) as the ERO pursuant to section 215 of the FPA. FERC-725S consists of Emergency Preparedness and Operations (EOP) Reliability Standards, EOP-004-4 (Event Reporting), EOP-005-3 (System Restoration from Blackstart Resources), EOP-006-3 (System Restoration Coordination), EOP-008-2 (Loss of Control Center Functionality), EOP-010-1 (Geomagnetic Disturbance Operations), and EOP-011-1 (Emergency Operations). These Reliability Standards enhance reliability by:

(1) Providing accurate reporting of events to NERC's event analysis group to analyze the impact on the reliability of the bulk electric system (Reliability Standard EOP-004-4).

(2) delineating the roles and responsibilities of entities that support system restoration from blackstart resources which generate power without the support of the bulk electric system (Reliability Standard EOP-005-3).

(3) clarifying the procedures and coordination requirements for reliability coordinator personnel to execute system restoration processes (Reliability Standard EOP-006-3).

(4) refining the required elements of an operating plan used to continue reliable operations of the bulk electric system in the event that primary control center functionality is lost (Reliability Standard EOP-008-2).

(5) addressing the effects of operating Emergencies by ensuring each Transmission Operator and Balancing Authority has developed Operating Plan(s) to mitigate operating Emergencies, and that those plans are coordinated within a Reliability Coordinator Area (EOP-010-1).

(6) streamlining the requirements for Emergency operations of the Bulk Electric System. Attachment 1, which is incorporated into Requirements R2 and R6, provides the process and descriptions of the levels used by the Reliability Coordinator when communicating the condition of a Balancing Authority that is experiencing an Energy Emergency (EOP-011-1).

The 60-day notice was published on November 18, 2020 (85 FR 73477), and no comments were received.

Type of Respondents: Public utilities subject to the FPA.

Estimate of Annual Burden ^[2] and cost: ^[3] With the exception of adjustments due to the Commission's recent experience with this information collection, the Commission estimates there will be no changes in the annual public reporting burden for the FERC-735S, as follows:

FERC-725S

Reliability standard and associated requirement	Number of respondents 4	Annual number of responses per respondent	Total number of responses	Average burden & cost per response	Total annual burden & total annual cost	Cost per respondent ($)
	(1)	(2)	(1) * (2) = (3)	(4)	(3) * (4) = (5)	(5) ÷ (1)
EOP-010-1	181	1	181	20 hrs.; $1,660	3,620 hrs.; $300,460	$1,660
EOP-011-1	12	1	12	1,500 hrs.; $124,500	18,000 hrs.; $1,494,000	124,500
EOP-004-4, EOP-005-3, EOP-006-3, EOP-008-2	280	1	280	250.58 hrs.; $20,798	70,162.4 hrs.; $5,234,440	20,798
Total EOP	473				91,782 hrs.; $7,028,900

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: January 21, 2021.

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,

Deputy Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  16 U.S.C. 824 o. The approved Reliability Standards are available on the Commission's eLibrary document retrieval system on the NERC website, www.nerc.com.

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.  Commission staff estimates that the industry's skill set and cost (for wages and benefits) for FERC-725S are approximately the same as the Commission's average cost. The FERC 2020 average salary plus benefits for one FERC full-time equivalent (FTE) is $172,329/year (or $83.00/hour).

4.  The number of respondents is based on NERC compliance registration information as of October 2, 2020.