2019-28120. Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-923); Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

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 requirements and burden of the information collection described below.

DATES:

Comments on the collection of information are due February 28, 2020.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC20-5-000) by either of the following methods:

• eFiling at Commission's Website: http://www.ferc.gov/​docs-filing/​efiling.asp.
• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.

Please identify the specific information collection number and/or title in your comments.

Instructions: All submissions must be formatted and filed in accordance with submission guidelines at: http://www.ferc.gov/​help/​submission-guide.asp. For user assistance contact FERC Online Support by email at [e-mail], or by phone at: [phone] (toll-free), or [phone] for TTY.

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/​docs-filing/​docs-filing.asp.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ellen Brown may be reached by email at [e-mail], telephone at [phone], and fax at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Type of Request: Three-year extension of the information collection requirements described below with no changes to the current reporting requirements.

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 estimates 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.

FERC-923, Communication of Operational Information between Natural Gas Pipelines and Electric Transmission Operators

OMB Control No.: 1902-0265.

Abstract: In 2013, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) revised its regulations to provide explicit authority to interstate natural gas pipelines and public utilities that own, operate, or control facilities used for the transmission of electric energy in interstate commerce to voluntarily share non-public, operational information with each other for the purpose of promoting reliable service and operational planning on either the pipeline's or public utility's system. This helped ensure the reliability of natural gas pipeline and public utility transmission services by permitting transmission operators to share with each other the information that they deem necessary to promote the reliability and integrity of their systems. FERC removed actual or perceived prohibitions to the information sharing and communications between industry entities. The communications of information are not submitted to FERC. Rather, the non-public information is shared voluntarily between industry entities. FERC does not prescribe the content, medium, format, or frequency for the information sharing and communications. Those decisions are made by the industry entities, depending on their needs and the situation.

Type of Respondent: Natural gas pipelines and public utilities.

Estimate of Annual Burden: ^[1] The Commission estimates the annual public reporting burden and cost ^[2] for FERC-923 as:

FERC-923

	Number of respondents	Annual number of responses per respondent	Total number of responses	Average burden hours & cost ($) per response	Total annual burden hours & total annual cost ($)	Cost per respondent ($)
	(1)	(2)	(1) * (2) = (3)	(4)	(3) * (4) = (5)	(5) ÷ (1)
Public Utility Transmission Operator, communications	3 165	12	1,980	0.5 hrs.; $40	990 hrs.; $79,200	$480
Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines, communications	4 181	12	2,172	0.5 hrs.; $40	1,086 hrs.; $86,880	480
Total			4,152		2,076 hrs.; $166,080

Dated: December 20, 2019.

Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  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. See 5 CFR 1320 for additional information on the definition of information collection burden.

2.  Commission staff estimates that the industry's skill set (wages and benefits) for FERC-923 is comparable to the Commission's skill set. The FERC 2019 average salary plus benefits for one FERC full-time equivalent (FTE) is $167,091/year (or $80/hour [rounded]).

3.  The estimate for the number of respondents is based on the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Compliance Registry as of December 6, 2019, minus the Transmission Operators within ERCOT.

4.  The estimate is based on the number of respondents to the 2018 FERC Forms 2 and 2A (Major and Non-major Natural Gas Pipeline Annual Reports).