2010-23364. Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-547); Comment Request; Submitted for OMB Review

September 13, 2010.

AGENCY:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Energy.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the requirements of section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) has submitted the information collection described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review of the information collection requirements. Any interested person may file comments directly with OMB and should address a copy of those comments to the Commission as explained below. The Commission issued a Notice in the Federal Register (75 FR 34107, 6/16/2010) requesting public comments. FERC received no comments on the FERC-547 and has made this notation in its submission to OMB.

DATES:

Comments on the collection of information are due by October 20, 2010.

ADDRESSES:

Address comments on the collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Desk Officer. Comments to OMB should be filed electronically, c/o [e-mail] and include OMB Control Number 1902-0084 for reference. The Desk Officer may be reached by telephone at 202-395-4638.

A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and should refer to Docket No. IC10-547-001. Comments may be filed either electronically or in paper format. Those persons filing electronically do not need to make a paper filing. Documents filed electronically via the Internet must be prepared in an acceptable filing format and in compliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission submission guidelines. Complete filing instructions and acceptable filing formats are available at http://www.ferc.gov/​help/​submission-guide.asp. To file the document electronically, access the Commission's Web site and click on Documents & Filing, E-Filing (http://www.ferc.gov/​docs-filing/​efiling.asp), and then follow the instructions for each screen. 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.

For paper filings, the comments should be submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, and should refer to Docket No. IC10-547-001.

Users interested in receiving automatic notification of activity in FERC Docket Number IC10-547 may do so through eSubscription at http://www.ferc.gov/​docs-filing/​esubscription.asp. 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:

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The information collected under the requirements of FERC-547, “Gas Pipeline Rates: Refund Report Requirements” (OMB Control No. 1902-0084), is used by the Commission to implement the statutory refund provisions governed by sections 4, 5, and 16 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA).^[1] Sections 4 and 5 authorize the Commission to order a refund, with interest, for any portion of a natural gas company's increased rate or charge found to be unjust or unreasonable. Refunds may also be instituted by a natural gas company as a stipulation to a Commission-approved settlement agreement or a provision under the company's tariff. Section 16 of the NGA authorizes the Commission to prescribe rules and regulations necessary to administer its refund mandates. The Commission's refund reporting requirements are found in 18 CFR 154.501 and 154.502.

The Commission uses the data to monitor refunds owed by natural gas companies to ensure that the flow-through of refunds owed by these companies are made as expeditiously as possible and to assure that refunds are made in compliance with the Commission's regulations.

Action: The Commission is requesting a three-year extension of the FERC-547 reporting requirements, with no changes.

Burden Statement: The estimated annual public reporting burden for FERC-547 is reduced from the estimate made three years ago due to a reduction in the average number of filings received annually, from 60 in 2007, to 30 presently.

FERC data collection	Number of respondents (1)	Average number of reponses per respondents (2)	Average burden hours per response (3)	Total annual burden hours (1)×(2)×(3)
FERC-547	30	1	75	2,250

The total estimated annual cost burden to respondents is $149,143 (2250 hours/2080 hours ^[2] per year, times $137,874 ^[3] ).

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 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) 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.  15 U.S.C. 717-717w.

2.  Estimated number of hours an employee works each year.

3.  Estimated average annual cost per employee.