2018-14563. Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-552); Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

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 currently approved information collection, FERC- 552, Annual Report of Natural Gas Transactions.

DATES:

Comments on the collection of information are due September 7, 2018.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC18-14-000) 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.

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:

Title: FERC-552, Annual Report of Natural Gas Transactions.

OMB Control No.: 1902-0242.

Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-552 information collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting requirements.

Abstract: The Commission uses the information collected in the FERC-552 ^[1] to provide greater transparency into the size of the physical natural gas market and the types of transactions market participants use to make physical natural gas purchases and sales. The collection includes transactions that contribute to, or may contribute to natural gas price indices. Many market participants rely on indices as a way to reference market prices without taking on the risks of active trading.

FERC-552 had its genesis in the Energy Policy Act of 2005,^[2] which added section 23 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA). Section 23 of the NGA, among other things, directs the Commission “to facilitate price transparency in markets for the sale or transportation of physical natural gas in interstate commerce, having due regard for the public interest, the integrity of those markets, and the protection of consumers.” ^[3]

Type of Respondents: Wholesale natural gas market participants.

Estimate of Annual Burden: ^[4] The Commission estimates the total annual burden and cost ^[5] for this information collection as follows.

FERC-552—Annual Report of Natural Gas Transactions

Category	Number of respondents	Annual number of responses per respondent	Total number of responses	Average burden hours and cost per response ($)	Total annual burden hours and cost ($)	Annual cost per respondent ($)
	(1)	(2)	(1) * (2) = (3)	(4)	(3) * (4) = (5)	(5) ÷ (1)
Wholesale natural gas market participants	675	1	675	20 hrs.; 6 $1,683.60	13,500 hrs.; $1,136,430	$1,683

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: June 29, 2018.

Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  FERC-552 is prescribed in 18 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) 260.401.

2.  Public Law 109-58.

3.  15 U.S.C. 717t-2.

4.  “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 CFR 1320.3.

5.  Costs (for wages and benefits) are based on wage figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for May 2017 (at https://www.bls.gov/​oes/​current/​naics2_​22.htm) and benefits information (for December 2017, issued March 20, 2018, at https://www.bls.gov/​news.release/​ecec.nr0.htm). The staff estimates that 75% of the work is done by a financial analyst (code 13-2051) at an hourly cost of $64.35 (for wages plus benefits), and 25% of the work is done by legal staff members (code 23-0000) at an hourly cost of $143.68 (for wages plus benefits). Therefore the average cost (for wages plus benefits) is rounded to $84.18/hour [or ($64.35/hour * 0.75) + ($143.68/hour * 0.25)].

6.  The staff thinks that the average estimated burden per filing should be 20 hours (rather than the current estimate of 10 hours). There are no changes to the reporting requirements.