E8-24493. Commission Information Collection Activities, Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension

October 8, 2008.

AGENCY:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(a) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the information collection described below.

DATES:

Comments on the collection of information are due November 14, 2008.

ADDRESSES:

Copies of sample filings of the proposed information collection can be obtained from the Commission's Web site (http://www.ferc.gov/​docs-filings/​elibrary.asp) or from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Attn: Michael Miller, Office of the Executive Director, ED-34, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. Comments may be filed either in paper format or electronically. Those parties filing electronically do not need to make a paper filing. For paper filing, the 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 refer to Docket No. IC09-65B-000.

Documents filed electronically via the Internet must be prepared in an acceptable filing format and in compliance with the Commission's submission guidelines. Complete filing instructions and acceptable filing formats are available at http://www.ferc.gov/​help. To file the document, access the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov,, choose the Documents & Filings tab, click on eFiling, then follow the instructions given. 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.

All comments may be viewed, printed or downloaded remotely via the Internet through FERC's homepage using the eLibrary link. For user assistance, contact [e-mail] or toll-free at [phone] or for TTY, contact [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael Miller, 888 First St., NE., Washington, DC 20426. He may be reached by telephone at [phone], by fax at [phone], and by e-mail at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The information collected under the requirements of FERC-65B “Waiver Notification” (OMB No. 1902-0217) is used by the Commission to implement the statutory provisions of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2005. Among other things, PUHCA 2005 was intended to give the Commission access to books and records relevant to costs incurred by a public utility or natural gas company which are necessary or appropriate for the protection of utility customers with respect to jurisdictional rates. This intention was made clear in section 1264 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, 42 U.S.C. 16452. However, in 18 CFR 366.3(c) the Commission has allowed for waivers from related requirements for any holding company with respect to one or more of the following: (1) Single-state holding company systems; (2) holding companies that own generating facilities that total 100 MW or less in size and are used fundamentally for their own load or for sales to affiliated end-users; or (3) investors in independent transmission-only companies.

Entities meeting these criteria may file a FERC-65B pursuant to the notification procedures contained in 18 CFR 366.4 to obtain a waiver. Filings may be made in hardcopy or electronically through the Commission's Web site.

Action: The Commission is requesting a three-year extension of the current expiration date.

Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this collection is estimated as:

Number of respondents annually	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Total annual burden hours
(1)	(2)	(3)	(1) × (2) × (3)
10	1	1	10

The estimated total cost to respondents is $607.62. [10 hours divided by 2080 hours ^[1] per year, times $126,384 ^[2] equals $607.62]. The average cost per respondent is $60.76.

The reporting burden includes the total time, effort, or financial resources expended to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide the information including: (1) Reviewing instructions; (2) developing, acquiring, installing, using technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, verifying, processing, maintaining, disclosing and providing information; (3) adjusting the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable filing instructions and requirements; (4) training personnel to respond to a collection of information; (5) searching data sources; (6) completing and reviewing the collection of information; and (7) transmitting, or otherwise disclosing the information.

The cost estimate for respondents is based upon salaries for professional and clerical support, as well as direct and indirect overhead costs. Direct costs include all costs directly attributable to providing this information, such as administrative costs and the cost for information technology. Indirect or overhead costs are costs incurred by an organization in support of its mission. These costs apply to activities which benefit the whole organization rather than any one particular function or activity.

Comments are invited on: (1) The accuracy of the agency's burden estimate of the proposed information collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used to calculate the reporting burden; (2) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected.

Kimberly Bose,

Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  Number of hours an employee works each year.

2.  Average annual salary per employee.