98-194. Notice of New Docket Prefix IC

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 3 (Tuesday, January 6, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 478-479]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-194]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


Notice of New Docket Prefix IC

December 30, 1997.
    Notice is hereby given that a new docket prefix IC has been 
established for notices issued by the Commission on its information 
collection requirements. These notices announce the Commission's 
efforts to have public

[[Page 479]]

involvement on the development of its information collection 
requirements prior to obtaining approval with the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB).
    On October 1, 1995, the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 
35) went into effect and expanded the provisions of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1980. Among the additional agency responsibilities 
enumerated in the Act were the requirements to plan for the development 
of new collections of information and the extension of existing 
collections of information far in advance of sending them forward to 
OMB for approval. This additional advanced planning is necessary 
because agencies must develop greater public participation in the 
development of information collection requirements imposed on the 
public. To achieve this public participation, the Commission must 
``provide 60-day notice in the Federal Register, and otherwise consult 
with members of the public and affected agencies'' [44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A)]. In these notices, the Commission must solicit comments 
on the need for the information, its practical utility, the accuracy of 
the Commission's burden estimate, and on ways to minimize the burden, 
including through ``the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology.''
    In addition, the Act continued the requirement that agencies 
publish a notice in the Federal Register stating that the proposed 
collection of information has been submitted for OMB review. This is 
the second notice to appear in the Federal Register and provides the 
public with a second opportunity to comment. OMB must provide at least 
30 days for public comment after receipt of the Commission's submission 
and prior to making a decision. In order for the Commission to obtain 
public comment and routine OMB review and approval, for both new 
collections of information and also to extend ongoing collections of 
information, it has to allow an additional 90 days in the approval 
process.
    In order to properly account for any comments it receives in 
response to a Federal Register notice, it is necessary to establish a 
new docket prefix for notices concerning the Commission's collections 
of information. The new docket prefix will help the Commission to 
manage this type of work and assess its resources applicable to it. The 
new docket prefix will be ICFY-NNN-NNN, where the FY stands for the 
fiscal year in which the notice was issued, the first NNN is an 
identifier for the Commission's collection of information requirement 
and the second NNN represents either the first or second notice, with 
000 to designate a 60 day notice and 001 to designate a 30-day notice. 
For example, IC98-592-000 would represent the 60-day notice for the 
Commission information collection FERC-592 during fiscal year 1998.
    When an information collection requirement is also the subject of a 
proposed or final rule, the RM docket number would be used instead of 
an IC docket number.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-194 Filed 1-5-98; 8:45 am]
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