Notice2021-16063
Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-537); Comment Request; Extension
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 28, 2021
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Abstract
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 a renewal of currently approved information collection, FERC-537 (Gas Pipeline Certificates: Construction, Acquisition, and Abandonment), which will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 142 (Wednesday, July 28, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 142 (Wednesday, July 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40554-40555]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16063]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. IC21-24-000]
Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-537); Comment
Request; Extension
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.
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 a renewal of currently approved
information collection, FERC-537 (Gas Pipeline Certificates:
Construction, Acquisition, and Abandonment), which will be submitted to
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review.
DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due August 27,
2021.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments on FERC-537 to OMB through
<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission Desk Officer. Please identify the OMB Control Number (1902-
0060) in the subject line of your comments. Comments should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this notice to <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>.
Please submit copies of your comments to the Commission. You may
submit copies of your comments (identified by Docket No. IC21-24-000)
by one of the following methods:
Electronic filing through <a href="http://www.ferc.gov">http://www.ferc.gov</a>, is preferred.
<bullet> Electronic Filing: Documents must be filed in acceptable
native applications and print-to-PDF, but not in scanned or picture
format.
<bullet> For those unable to file electronically, comments may be
filed by USPS mail or by hand (including courier) delivery.
[cir] Mail via U.S. Postal Service Only: Addressed to: Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First
Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.
[cir] Hand (Including Courier) Delivery: Deliver to: Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852.
Instructions: OMB submissions must be formatted and filed in
accordance with submission guidelines at <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. 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: <a href="http://www.ferc.gov">http://www.ferc.gov</a>. For user assistance,
contact FERC Online Support by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#24424156474b4a484d4a41575154544b565064424156470a434b52"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="cdaba8bfaea2a3a1a4a3a8beb8bdbda2bfb98daba8bfaee3aaa2bb">[email protected]</span></a>, 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 <a href="https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview">https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#94d0f5e0f5d7f8f1f5e6f5faf7f1d4d2d1c6d7baf3fbe2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c682a7b2a785aaa3a7b4a7a8a5a38680839485e8a1a9b0">[email protected]</span></a>, telephone at (202) 502-8663.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: FERC-537 (Gas Pipeline Certificates: Construction,
Acquisition, and Abandonment).
OMB Control No.: 1902-0060.
Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-537 information
collection requirements with no changes to the reporting requirements.
Abstract: The FERC-537 information collection requires natural gas
companies to file the necessary information with FERC in order for the
Commission to determine if the requested certificate should be
authorized. The data required to be submitted in a normal certificate
filing consists of identification of the company and responsible
officials, factors considered in the location of the facilities and the
impact on the area for environmental considerations. Also to be
submitted are the following, as applicable to the specific request:
<bullet> Flow diagrams showing the design capacity for engineering
design verification and safety determination;
<bullet> Cost of proposed facilities, plans for financing, and
estimated revenues and expenses related to the proposed facility for
accounting and financial evaluation.
<bullet> Existing and proposed storage capacity and pressures and
reservoir engineering studies for requests to increase storage
capacity;
<bullet> An affidavit showing the consent of existing customers for
abandonment of service requests.
Certain self-implementing construction and abandonment programs do
not require the filing of applications. However, those types of
programs do require the filing of annual reports, so many less
significant actions can be reported in a single filing/response and
less detail would be
[[Page 40555]]
required. Additionally, requests for an increase of pipeline capacity
must include a statement that demonstrates compliance with the
Commission's Certificate Policy Statement by making a showing that the
cost of the expansion will not be subsidized by existing customers and
that there will not be adverse economic impacts to existing customers,
competing pipelines or their customers, nor to landowners and to
surrounding communities.
The Commission reviews and analyses the information filed under the
regulations subject to FERC-537 to determine whether to approve or deny
the requested authorization. If the Commission failed to collect these
data, it would lose its ability to review relevant information to
determine whether the requested certificate should be authorized. The
60-day notice published on May 21, 2021 \1\ and received no comments.
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\1\ 86 FR 27589.
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Type of Respondents: Jurisdictional natural gas companies.
Estimate of Annual Burden \2\: The Commission estimates the annual
public reporting burden for the information collection as:
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\2\ 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. Refer to
5 CFR 1320.3 for additional information.
FERC-537 (Gas Pipeline Certificates: Construction, Acquisition, and Abandonment) \3\
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Annual number Total average annual Cost per
Number of of responses Total number Average annual burden & burden hours & total respondent
respondents per respondent of responses cost per response \4\ annual cost ($)
(1) (2) (1) * (2) = (4)..................... (3) * (4) = (5)........ (5) / (1) \5\
(3)
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18 CFR 157.5-.11 (Interstate 31 1.39 43.09 500 hrs.; $41,500....... 21,545 hrs; $1,788,235. $57,685
Certificate and Abandonment
Applications).
18 CFR 157.53 (Pipeline Purging/ 1 1 1 50 hrs.; $4,150......... 50 hrs.; $4,150........ 4,150
Testing Exemptions).
18 CFR 157.201-.209; 157.211; 157.214- 24 2.125 51 200 hrs.; $16,600....... 10,200 hrs.; $846,600.. 35,275
.218 (Blanket Certificates Prior to
Notice Filings).
18 CFR 157.201-.209; 157.211; 157.214- 162 1 162 50 hrs.; $4,150......... 8,100 hrs.; $672,300... 4,150
.218 (Blanket Certificates--Annual
Reports).
18 CFR 284.11 (NGPA Section 311 75 1 75 50 hrs.; $4,150......... 3,750 hrs.; $311,250... 4,150
Construction--Annual Reports).
18 CFR 284.8 \6\ (Request for Waiver 31 1.39 43.09 10 hrs.; $830........... 430.90 hrs.; $35,764.70 1,153.70
of Capacity Release Regulations).
18 CFR 284.13(e) and 284.126(a) 2 1 2 30 hrs.; $2,490......... 60 hrs.; $4,980........ 2,490
(Interstate and Intrastate Bypass
Notice).
18 CFR 284.221 (Blanket Certificates) 1 1 1 100 hrs.; $8,300........ 100 hrs.; $8,300....... 8,300
18 CFR 284.224 (Hinshaw Blanket 1 1 1 75 hrs.; $6,225......... 75 hrs.; $6,225........ 6,225
Certificates).
18 CFR 157.5-.11; 157.13-.20 (Non- 11 1.36 14.96 75 hrs.; $6,225......... 1,122 hrs.; $93,126.... 8,466
facility Certificate or Abandonment
Applications.
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Total............................ .............. .............. 394.14 ........................ 45,432.90 hrs.; ..............
$3,770,930.70.
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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.
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\3\ Changes to estimated number of respondents were based on
average number of respondents over the past three years.
\4\ The estimates for cost per response are derived using the
following formula: Average Burden Hours per Response * $83.00/hour =
Average cost/response. The figure is the 2020 FERC average hourly
cost (for wages and benefits) of $83.00 (and an average annual
salary of $172,329/year). Commission staff is using the FERC average
salary because we consider any reporting requirements completed in
response to the FERC-537 to be compensated at rates similar to the
work of FERC employees.
\5\ Each of the figures in this column are rounded to the
nearest dollar.
\6\ A Certificate Abandonment Application would require waiver
of the Commission's capacity release regulations in 18 CFR 284.8;
therefore this activity is associated with Interstate Certificate
and Abandonment Applications.
Dated: July 22, 2021.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-16063 Filed 7-27-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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