2023-09825. Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725A(1B)); Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

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 FERC 725A(1B)— Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System. The Commission published a 60-day notice on March 2, 2023, in the Federal Register and received no comments.

DATES:

Comments on the collection of information are due June 8, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Send written comments on FERC–725A(1B) (identified by Docket No. IC23–7–000) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) through www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain, Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Desk Officer. Please identify the OMB Control Number 1902–0292 (Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System) in the subject line. Your comments should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice in the Federal Register .

Please submit copies of your comments (identified by Docket No. IC23–7–000 and FERC–725A(1B)) to the Commission as noted below. Electronic filing through https://www.ferc.gov is preferred.

• Electronic Filing: Documents must be filed in acceptable native applications and print-to-PDF, but not in scanned or picture format.

• For those unable to file electronically, comments may be filed by USPS mail or by hand (including courier) delivery:

Mail via U.S. Postal Service only, addressed to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.

Hand (including courier) delivery to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission,12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852.

Please reference the specific collection number(s) (FERC–725A(1B)) and/or title(s) (Communication of Operational Information between Natural Gas Pipelines and Electric Transmission Operators) in your comments.

Instructions: OMB submissions must be formatted and filed in accordance with submission guidelines at: www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Using the search function under the “Currently Under Review field,” select “Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,” click “submit,” and select “comment” to the right of the subject collection. FERC submissions must be formatted and filed in accordance with submission guidelines at: https://www.ferc.gov. For user assistance, contact FERC Online Support by email at [e-mail], or by phone at (866) 208–3676 (toll-free).

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 https://www.ferc.gov /ferc-online/overview.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ellen Brown may be reached by email at [e-mail] and telephone at (202) 502–8663.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: FERC–725A(1B), (Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System).

OMB Control No.: 1902–0292.

Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC–725A(1B) information collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Abstract: FERC–725A(1B).^[1] Under section 215 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), the Commission proposes to approve Reliability Standards TOP–010–1i (Real-time Reliability Monitoring and Analysis Capabilities) submitted by North American Electric Corporation (NERC). In this order, the Reliability Standards build on monitoring, real-time assessments and support effective situational awareness. The Reliability Standards accomplish this by requiring applicable entities to: (1) Provide notification to operators of real-time monitoring alarm failures; (2) provide operators with indications of the quality of information being provided by their monitoring and analysis capabilities; and (3) address deficiencies in the quality of information being provided by their monitoring and analysis capabilities. FERC–725A(1B) addresses situational awareness objectives by providing for operator awareness when key alarming tools are not performing as intended. These collections will improve real-time situational awareness capabilities and enhance reliable operations by requiring reliability coordinators, transmission operators, and balancing authorities to provide operators with an improved awareness of system conditions analysis capabilities, including alarm availability, so that operators may take appropriate steps to ensure reliability. These functions include planning, operations, data sharing, monitoring, and analysis.

Type of Respondent: Balancing Authority (BA), Transmission Operations (TOP) and Reliability Coordinators (RC).

Estimate of Annual Burden:  ^[2] The Commission estimates the total annual burden and cost for this information collection in the table below.

FERC–725A(1B)—Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System ³

Entity	Requirements	Number of respondents 4	Annual number of responses per respondent	Total number of responses	Average burden & cost per response 5	Total annual burden hours & total annual cost	Cost per respondent ($)
		(1)	(2)	(1) * (2) = (3)	(4)	(3) * (4) = (5)	(5) ÷ (1)
BA 6	Annual reporting	98	1	98	42 hrs.; $3,234.84	4,116 hrs.; $317,014.32	$3,234.84
TOP 7	Annual reporting	168	1	168	40 hrs.; $3,080.80	6,720 hrs.; $517,574.40	3,080.80
BA/TOP	Annual Record Retention	266	1	266	2 hrs.; $84.70	532 hrs.; $22,530.20	84.70
Total Burden Hours Per Year (Reporting)						10,836 hrs. $834,588.72
Total Burden Hours Per Year (Record Retention)						532 hrs.; $22,530.20

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 estimate 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.

Dated: May 3, 2023.

Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  The 725(1B) collection was created as a temporary collection number originally used at the time of the RD16–6–000, because OMB cannot review two pending requests with the same OMB control no. at a given time. The FERC 725A is again pending at OMB for an unrelated matter, thus we are renewing the temporary number and the related collection at this time.

2.  “Burden” is 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. For further explanation of what is included in the information collection burden, refer to title 5 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3.

3.  Our estimates are based on the NERC Compliance Registry Summary of Entities and Functions as of November 4, 2022, which indicates there are 266 entities registered as BA and TOP.

4.  The number of respondents is the number of entities in which a change in burden from the current standards to the proposed standards exists, not the total number of entities from the current or proposed standards that are applicable.

5.  The estimated hourly costs (salary plus benefits) are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) information, as of May 2022 (at http://www.bls.gov/​oes/​current/​naics2_​22.htm, with updated benefits information for March 2022 at http://www.bls.gov/​news.release/​ecec.nr0.htm), for an electrical engineer (code 17–2071, $77.02/hour), and for information and record clerks record keeper (code 43–4199, $42.35/hour). The hourly figure for engineers is used for reporting; the hourly figure for information and record clerks is used for document retention.

6.  Balancing Authority (BA). The following Requirements and associated measures apply to balancing authorities: Requirement R1: A revised data specification and writing the required operating process/operating procedure; and Requirement R2: quality monitoring logs and the data errors and corrective action logs.

7.  Transmission Operations (TOP). The following Requirements and associated measures apply to transmission operators: Requirement R1: A revised data specification and writing the required operating process/operating procedure; and Requirement R3: alarm process monitor performance logs to maintain performance logs and corrective action plans.