[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 220 (Thursday, November 16, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53489-53490]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24802]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket Nos. RD17-8-000]
Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725HH);
Comment Request; Revision and Extension
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of revised 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 revisions to the information
collection, FERC-725HH (RF Reliability Standards) which will be
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review of
the information collection requirements.
DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due January 16,
2018.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket Nos. RD17-8-000
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 CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at
[email protected], telephone at (202) 502-8663, and fax at (202)
273-0873.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: FERC-725HH, RF Reliability Standards.
OMB Control Number: 1902-0256.
Type of Request: Three-year approval of the FERC-725HH information
collection requirements, as modified by Docket No. RD17-8-000.
Abstract: The information collected by the FERC-725HH is required
to implement the statutory provisions of section 215 of the Federal
Power Act (FPA) (16 U.S.C. 824o). Section 215 of the FPA buttresses the
Commission's efforts to strengthen the reliability of the interstate
grid through the grant of new authority by providing for a system of
mandatory Reliability Standards developed by the Electric Reliability
Organization (ERO). In July 2006, the Commission certified the North
American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) as the ERO.\1\
Reliability Standards that the ERO proposes to the Commission may
include Reliability Standards that are proposed to the ERO by a
Regional Entity.\2\ A Regional Entity is an entity that has been
approved by the Commission to enforce Reliability Standards under
delegated authority from the ERO.\3\ On March 17, 2011, the Commission
approved a regional Reliability Standard submitted by the ERO that was
developed by the ReliabilityFirst Corporation (RF).\4\
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\1\ North American Electric Reliability Corp., 116 FERC 61,062
(ERO Certification Order), order on reh'g & compliance, 117 FERC
61,126 (2006), aff'd sub nom. Alcoa, Inc. v. FERC, 564 F.3d 1342
(D.C. Cir. 2009).
\2\ 16 U.S.C. 824o(e)(4).
\3\ 16 U.S.C. 824o(a)(7) and (e)(4).
\4\ Planning Resource Adequacy Assessment Reliability Standard,
Order No. 747, 134 FERC 61,212 (2011).
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RF promotes bulk electric system reliability in the Eastern
Interconnection. RF is the Regional Entity responsible for compliance
monitoring and enforcement in the RF region. In addition, RF provides
an environment for the development of Reliability Standards and the
coordination of the operating and planning activities of its members as
set forth in the RF bylaws.
There is one regional Reliability Standard in the RF region. The
regional Reliability Standard requires planning coordinators within the
RF geographical footprint to analyze, assess and document resource
adequacy for load in the RF footprint annually, to utilize a ``one day
in ten years'' loss of load criterion, and to document and post load
and resource capability in each area or transmission-constrained sub-
area identified.
BAL-502-RFC-02 (Planning Resource Adequacy Analysis,
Assessment and Documentation) \5\ establishes common criteria, based on
``one day in ten year'' loss of load expectation principles, for the
analysis, assessment, and documentation of resource adequacy for load
in the RF region.
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\5\ BAL-502-RFC-02 is included in the OMB-approved inventory for
FERC-725H.
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The Commission's request to OMB reflects the following:
Implementing the regional Reliability Standard BAL-502-RF-
03 and the retirement of regional Reliability Standard BAL-502-RFC-02
\6\ which is discussed below.
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\6\ Burden associated with BAL-502-RF-02 Reliability Standard
was once contained in FERC-725H information collection (OMB Control
No. 1902-0256). FERC-725H was discontinued on 3/6/2014. However, the
requirements of BAL-502-RF-02 were still imposed on NERC entities.
Those requirements are now being retired with no removal of burden
(any associated burden was removed concurrent with the
discontinuance).
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[[Page 53490]]
On September 7, 2017, NERC and RF filed a joint petition in Docket
No. RD17-8-000 \7\ requesting Commission approval of: (a) Regional
Reliability Standard BAL-502-RF-03 (Planning Resource Adequacy
Analysis, Assessment and Documentation), and (b) the retirement of
regional Reliability Standard BAL-502-RFC-02.\6\ The petition states:
``Proposed regional Reliability Standard BAL-502-RF-03 establishes
common criteria, based on ``one day in ten year'' loss of Load
expectation principles, for the analysis, assessment, and documentation
of Resource Adequacy for Load in the ReliabilityFirst region.'' NERC's
and RF's joint filing was noticed on September 8, 2017, with
interventions, comments and protests due on or before October 10, 2017.
In this document, we provide estimates of the burden and cost related
to those revisions to FERC-725HH.
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\7\ The joint petition and exhibits are posted in the
Commission's eLibrary system in Docket No. RD17-8-000.
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Type of Respondents: Planning coordinators.
Estimate of Annual Burden: \8\ Details follow on the changes
related to Docket No. RD17-8-000.
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\8\ Burden is defined 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, refer to 5 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3.
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Estimate of Changes to Burden Due to Docket No. RD17-8: The joint
petition requested Commission approval of regional Reliability Standard
BAL-502-RF-03 and retirement of regional Reliability Standard BAL-502-
RFC-02. The estimated effects on burden and cost \9\ are as follows:
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\9\ For BAL-502-RF-03, the hourly cost (for salary plus
benefits) uses the figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for
three positions involved in the reporting and recordkeeping
requirements. These figures include salary (http://bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm) and benefits (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm) and are:
Manager (Occupation Code 11-0000): $81.52/hour.
Engineer (Occupation Code 17-2071): $68.12/hour.
File Clerk (Occupation Code 43-4071): $32.74/hour.
The hourly cost for the reporting requirements ($60.79) is an
average of the cost of a manager, an engineer, and a file clerk.
\10\ The number of respondents is derived from the NERC
Compliance Registry as of October 2, 2017 for the burden associated
with the proposed regional Reliability Standard BAL-502-RF-03.
FERC-725HH, RF Reliability Standards, Changes in Docket No. RD17-8-000
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Number of Annual number Total annual burden
Entity respondents of responses Annual number of Average burden hours and hours and total annual Cost per
\10\ per respondent responses cost per response ($) cost ($) respondent ($)
(1) (2) (1) * (2) = (3) (4)..................... (3) * (4) = (5)........ (5) / (1) = (6)
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Proposed Regional Reliability Standard BAL-502-RF-03
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Planning Coordinators.......... 2 1 2 16 hrs.; $973........... 32 hrs.; $1,945........ $973
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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: November 9, 2017.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-24802 Filed 11-15-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P