E7-1484. Commission Information Collection Activities, Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension

January 24, 2007.

AGENCY:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the requirements of section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) has submitted the information collection described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and extension of this information collection requirement. Any interested person may file comments directly with OMB and should address a copy of those comments to the Commission as explained below. The Commission received one comment in response to an earlier Federal Register notice of October 19, 2006 (71 FR 61736-61737) and has made this notation in its submission to OMB.

DATES:

Comments on the collection of information are due by February 26, 2007.

ADDRESSES:

Address comments on the collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Desk Officer. Comments to OMB should be filed electronically, c/o [e-mail] and include the OMB Control No. as a point of reference. The Desk Officer may be reached by telephone at 202-395-4650. A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of the Executive Director, ED-34, Attention: Michael Miller, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. Comments may be filed either in paper format or electronically. Those persons filing electronically do not need to make a paper filing. For paper filings an original and 14 copies, of such comments should be submitted to the Secretary of the Commission, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426 and should refer to Docket No. IC07-538-001.

Documents filed electronically via the Internet must be prepared in WordPerfect, MS Word, Portable Document Format, or ASCII format. To file the document, access the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov and click on “Make an E-Filing,” and then follow the instructions for each screen. First time users will have to establish a user name and password. The Commission will send an automatic acknowledgement to the sender's e-mail address upon receipt of comments. User assistance for electronic filings is available at 202-502-8258 or by e-mail to [e-mail]. Comments should not be submitted to this e-mail address.

All comments may be viewed, printed or downloaded remotely via the Internet through FERC's homepage using the “eLibrary” link. Enter the docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket number field to access the document. For user assistance, contact [e-mail] or toll-free at [phone], or for TTY, contact [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael Miller may be reached by telephone at [phone], by fax at [phone], and by e-mail at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Description

The information collection submitted for OMB review contains the following:

1. Collection of Information: FERC 538 “Gas Pipeline Certificates: Initial Service.”

2. Sponsor: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

3. Control No.: 1902-0061.

The Commission is now requesting that OMB approve and extend the expiration date for an additional three years with no changes to the existing collection. The information filed with the Commission is mandatory.

4. Necessity of the Collection of Information: Submission of the information is necessary for the Commission to carry out its responsibilities in implementing the Statutory provisions of sections 7(a), 10(a) and 16 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) (Pub. L. 75-688) (15 U.S.C. 717-717w). The reporting requirements contained in this collection of information are used by the Commission to determine whether a distributor applicant can economically construct and manage its facilities. Requests are made to the Commission by individuals or entities to have the Commission, by order, direct a natural gas pipeline to extend or improve its transportation facilities, and sell gas to an individual, entity or municipality for the specific purpose indicated in the order, and to extend the pipeline's transportation facilities to communities immediately adjacent to the municipality's facilities or to territories served by the natural gas company. In addition, the Commission reviews the supply data to determine if the pipeline company can provide the service without curtailing certain of its existing customers. The flow data and market data are also used to evaluate existing and future customer requirements on the system to find if sufficient capacity will be available. Likewise, the cost of facilities and the rate data are used to evaluate the financial impact of the cost of the project to both the pipeline company and its customers. The Commission implements these filing requirements in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) under 18 CFR Part 156.

5. Respondent Description: The respondent universe currently comprises 85 companies (on average) subject to the Commission's jurisdiction. However, the Commission receives on average filings from only one respondent.

6. Estimated Burden: 240 total hours, 1 respondents (average), 1 response per respondent, and 240 hours per response (average).

7. Estimated Cost Burden to respondents: 240 hours/2080 hours per years × $122,137 per year = $14,093. The cost per respondent is equal to $14,093.

Statutory Authority: Statutory provisions of sections 7(a), 10(a) and 16 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) (Pub. L. 75-688) (15 U.S.C. 717-717w).

Magalie R. Salas,

Secretary.