E9-7571. Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-916); Comment Request; Extension

March 30, 3009.

AGENCY:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (DOE).

ACTION:

Notice of proposed information collection and request for comments.

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 or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the information collection described below.

DATES:

Comments in consideration of the collection of information are due June 1, 2009.

ADDRESSES:

Comments may be filed either electronically or in paper format, and should refer to Docket No. IC09-916-000. Documents must be prepared in an acceptable filing format and in compliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission submission guidelines at http://www.ferc.gov/​help/​submission-guide.asp.

Comments may be eFiled. The eFiling option, under the Documents & Filings tab on the Commission's home Web page (http://www.ferc.gov), directs users to the eFiling Web page. First-time users follow the eRegister instructions on the eFiling Web page to establish a user name and password before eFiling. Filers will receive an e-mailed confirmation of their filed comments. Commenters filing electronically should not make a paper filing. If electronic filing is not possible, deliver original and 14 paper copies of the filing to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.

Parties interested in receiving automatic notification of activity in this docket may do so through eSubscription. The eSubscription option under the Documents & Filings tab on the Commission's home Web page directs users to the eSubscription Web page. Users submit the docket numbers of the filings they wish to track and will subsequently receive an e-mail notification each time a filing is made under the submitted docket numbers. First-time users will need to establish a user name and password before eSubscribing.

Filed comments and FERC issuances may be viewed, printed and downloaded remotely from the Commission's Web site. The eLibrary link found at the top of most of the Commission's Web pages directs users to FERC's eLibrary. From the eLibrary Web page, choose General Search, and in the Docket Number space provided, enter IC09-916, then click the Submit button at the bottom of the page. For help with any of the Commission's electronic submission or retrieval systems, e-mail FERC Online Support: [e-mail], or telephone toll-free: [phone] (TTY [phone]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Commission is requesting comments on the record retention requirements of FERC-916,^[1] “Record Retention Requirements for Pipelines Providing Unbundled Sales Service, and Persons Holding Blanket Marketing Certificates,” OMB Control No. 1902-0224. The FERC-916 record retention requirements are contained in 18 CFR 284.288(b) and 284.403(b).

The Commission's regulations at 18 CFR 284.288 and 284.403 provide that applicable sellers of natural gas adhere to a code of conduct when making gas sales in order to protect the integrity of the market. The Commission imposes the FERC-916 record retention requirement on applicable sellers to “retain, for a period of five years, all data and information upon which it billed the prices it charged for natural gas it sold pursuant to its market based sales certificate or the prices it reported for use in price indices.” FERC uses the FERC-916 records to monitor the jurisdictional transportation activities and unbundled sales activities of interstate natural gas pipelines and blanket marketing certificate holders.

The record retention period of five years is necessary due to the importance of records related to any investigation of possible wrongdoing and related to assuring compliance with the codes of conduct and the integrity of the market. The requirement is necessary to ensure consistency with the rule prohibiting market manipulation (regulations adopted in Order No. 670, implementing the EPAct 2005 anti-manipulation provisions ^[2] ) and the generally applicable five-year statute of limitations where the Commission seeks civil penalties for violations of the anti-manipulation rules or other rules, regulations, or orders to which the price data may be relevant.

Failure to have this information available would mean the Commission is unable to perform its regulatory functions and to monitor and evaluate transactions and operations of interstate pipelines and blanket marketing certificate holders.

Action: The Commission is requesting a three-year extension of the current expiration date for the FERC-916, with no changes to the requirements.

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

FERC requirements	Number of respondents annually	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Total annual burden hours
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(1) × (2) × (3)
FERC-916	222	1	1	222

The estimated total annual cost to respondents includes hours for labor (222 hrs. at $17 per hour, for a labor cost of $3,774) and record storage costs (using an estimated 12,548 cu. ft of records in off-site storage, for a total record storage cost of $81,051). The total annual cost (labor plus off-site record storage) is $84,825; the total annual cost per respondent is $382.

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, and utilizing 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 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 estimate of cost 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 retaining these records, such as administrative costs, off-site records storage, 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) Whether the proposed 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 of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  FERC-916 was formerly called “FERC-916(549),” with the intent of consolidating the FERC-916 into the FERC-549 (OMB Control No. 1902-0086). FERC has decided not to consolidate the FERC-916 into the FERC-549, so this Notice deals only with the FERC-916 requirements.

2.  18 CFR 1c.1 and 1c.2, 71 FR 4244 (2006).