[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 116 (Monday, June 17, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36176-36177]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-14277]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. IC13-17-000]
Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-551); Comment
Request; Extension
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.
ACTION: Notice of information collection and request for comments.
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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, Reporting of Flow Volume and Capacity by
Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines. This collection originally affected
both intrastate and interstate natural gas pipelines, but for reasons
described below only pertains to interstate natural gas pipelines.
DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due August 16,
2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC13-17-
000) by either of the following methods:
eFiling at Commission's Web site: 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 [email protected], or by phone at: (866) 208-3676
(toll-free), or (202) 502-8659 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: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at
[email protected], telephone at (202) 502-8663, and fax at (202)
273-0873.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Reporting of Flow Volume and Capacity by Interstate Natural
Gas Pipelines.
OMB Control No.: 1902-0243.
Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-551 information
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting
requirements except as described below.
Abstract: Interstate pipelines are required to post on their Web
sites the volumes of no-notice service flows \1\ at each receipt and
delivery point before 11:30 a.m. central clock time three days after
the day of gas flow.
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\1\ See 18 CFR 284.7(a)(4) (requiring pipelines to provide no-
notice service).
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FERC implemented Order Nos. 720 and 720-A to comply with the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 (``EPAct 2005'') and specifically Section 23 of
EPAct 2005, which amended the NGA to direct FERC to ``facilitate price
transparency in markets for the sale or transportation of physical
natural gas in interstate commerce.'' On October 24, 2011, the United
States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision
granting the Texas Pipeline Association and the Railroad Commission's
petition for review and vacating FERC's Order Nos. 720 and 720-A. In
its order, the 5th Circuit held that Order Nos. 720 and 720-A exceeded
the scope of FERC' authority under the Natural Gas Act of 1938 and FERC
could not require intrastate natural gas pipelines to post the
information. However, the court's decision did not disrupt the
reporting and posting obligations of interstate natural gas
pipelines.\2\
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\2\ Order Granting Motion to Clarify Opinion, Texas Pipelines
Ass'n v. FERC, 661 F.3d 258 (Dec. 20. 2011).
\3\ The Commission defines burden 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. For further explanation of what is included in the
information collection burden, reference 5 Code of Federal
Regulations 1320.3.
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Type of Respondents: Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines.
Estimate of Annual Burden:\3\ The Commission estimates the total
Public Reporting Burden for this information collection for Interstate
Natural Gas
[[Page 36177]]
Pipelines has not changed since the Final Rule on Rehearing was issued
on January 21, 2012 in Docket No. RM08-2-001.\4\
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Estimated
Number of daily annual burden Total annual
Number of respondents postings per hours per hours for all
respondent respondent respondents
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101.......................................................... 1 183 18,483
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The Commission estimates $1,040,038 as the total collection cost
based on 18,483 hours at $56.27/hour \5\ (18,483 hours*$56.27/
hour=1,040,038 (rounded)).
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\4\ 18 CFR still lists the posting requirements for intrastate
pipelines at 284.14. The Commission notes that because of the
court's decision, FERC no longer requires intrastate pipelines to
report this information.
\5\ This figure includes wages plus benefits and comes from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics Management Analyst category (13-1111)
(http://bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm and http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm).
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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 10, 2013.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-14277 Filed 6-14-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P