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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 1 (Friday, January 2, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38-40]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-30744]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration

Proposed Agency Information Collection

AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of 
Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Agency information collection activities: Proposed information 
collection; notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The EIA invites public comment on a proposed collection of 
information that EIA is developing for submission to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995. The EIA is soliciting comments on the proposed reinstatement of 
the Forms EIA-457A, C, D, E, F, and G, ``2015 Residential Energy 
Consumption Survey.'' Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall 
have practical utility; (b) 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; (c) ways to enhance 
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; 
and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.

DATES: Comments regarding this proposed information collection must be 
received on or before March 3, 2015. If you anticipate difficulty in 
submitting comments within that period, contact the person listed in 
ADDRESSES below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to James ``Chip'' Berry. To ensure receipt of 
the comments by the due date, submission by email is recommended 
(james.berry@eia.gov). Comments may also be submitted by mail to James 
Berry, Survey Manager, EI-22, Forrestal Building, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Washington, DC 20585. Alternatively, Mr. Berry may be contacted 
by telephone at (202) 586-5543.

[[Page 39]]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the forms and instructions should be directed to Mr. Berry at 
the contact information given above. To view the forms online please go 
to: http://www.eia.gov/survey/#eia-457.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Federal Energy Administration Act of 
1974 (Pub. L. 93-275, 15 U.S.C. 761 et seq.) and the DOE Organization 
Act (Pub. L. 95-91, 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) requires EIA to carry out a 
centralized, comprehensive, and unified energy information program. 
This program collects, evaluates, assembles, analyzes, and disseminates 
information on energy resource reserves, production, demand, 
technology, and related economic and statistical information. This 
information is used to assess the adequacy of energy resources to meet 
near and longer-term domestic demands.
    EIA, as part of its effort to comply with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 35), provides the general public 
and other Federal agencies with opportunities to comment on collections 
of energy information conducted by or in conjunction with EIA. Any 
comments received help EIA to prepare data requests that maximize the 
utility of the information collected, and to assess the impact of 
collection requirements on the public. Also, EIA will later seek 
approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under section 
3507(a) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
    The Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) is a periodic 
series of surveys of households and their energy suppliers with the 
purpose of collecting and reporting energy characteristics, 
consumption, and expenditures data of homes in the United States. The 
data are widely used throughout the government and the private sector 
for policy analysis and are made available to the public via data 
tables, public-use data files, and analysis articles. The most recent 
survey, the 2009 RECS, was the 13th iteration of the program. Data, 
reports, survey forms, and documentation from the 2009 RECS are 
available at EIA's Residential Consumption homepage at http://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/. Results and documentation from 
earlier surveys are also available at this Web site. Please refer to 
the survey Web site for more detailed information about the purpose of 
the RECS and discussions of survey and data collection methodologies.
    EIA administers the RECS to a nationally representative sample of 
households. A follow-on survey of rental agents (e.g. apartment 
managers or landlords) is also conducted to collect more accurate 
structural and equipment information for household respondents living 
in apartments. Specially trained interviewers collect energy 
characteristics on the housing unit, usage patterns, and household 
demographics. The household and rental agent data collections are 
conducted on a voluntary basis and in-person with each respondent. This 
information is combined with data from energy suppliers to these homes 
to estimate energy costs and usage for heating, cooling, appliances and 
other end uses. The energy supplier surveys are collected primarily via 
a secure Web site and response is mandatory. Similar designs and 
methods are planned for the next iteration of the RECS, the 2015 RECS.
    This information collection contains:
    (1) OMB No.: 1905-0092.
    (2) Information Collection Request Title: EIA-457A C, D, E, F, G, 
``Residential Energy Consumption Survey''.
    (3) Type of Request: Reinstatement with change of a previously 
approved collection for which approval has discontinued.
    (4) Purpose: Need for and proposed use of the information: The RECS 
is used to collect data on energy characteristics, consumption, and 
expenditures of U.S. homes. These data collections fulfill planning, 
analyses and decision-making needs of DOE, other Federal agencies, 
State governments, and the private sector. Respondents are householders 
of selected housing units and their energy suppliers. Response 
obligations are Voluntary (households) and Mandatory (energy 
suppliers).
    This will be a proposed reinstatement of a previously approved 
collection and three-year clearance request to OMB. The content of the 
2015 RECS will be largely unchanged from the 2009 RECS. Sampling will 
incorporate key definitions and elements from previous RECS. Housing 
units will be selected via a multi-stage area probability sample design 
and will be statistically representative of U.S. occupied housing 
units, as well as selected sub-national geographies.
    The EIA proposes the following changes to the RECS:
    a. The sample size for the 2015 RECS will be smaller than the 2009 
RECS. The sample size and publishable results for the 2015 RECS will be 
comparable to the 2001 and 2005 surveys.
    b. The content of the household questionnaire will remain 
relatively unchanged from the 2009 RECS. Detailed information about the 
following characteristics of the home and data items that support the 
energy supplier collection will continue to be collected:

 Structural characteristics, including square footage
 Appliances
 Entertainment devices and miscellaneous electric loads
 Primary and secondary heating
 Cooling
 Water heating
 Household demographics
 Energy supplier and payment information

    Minor updates will be made to items in these areas in the interest 
of respondent clarity or to adjust to changes in technology. For 
example, EIA will collect information about tablet usage, revise 
refrigerator size categories to align with current stock, collect 
information on the use of wood pellets, and capture the penetration of 
ground-source heat pumps. Some items are also planned for removal, 
including residential transportation items.
    c. The scope of the supplemental RECS form EIA 457-C, ``Rental 
Agent Survey'' will be expanded to include all responding households 
living in apartments. In previous RECS only those responding households 
who paid some or all of their energy bills through rent or condo fees 
were selected for the follow-on Rental Agent Survey. Analysis of the 
2009 RECS indicates that the data quality for all apartment unit 
respondents would be significantly improved by asking critical 
questions of associated apartment rental agents (e.g. leasing agents, 
property managers, or landlords.)
    (5) Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,933.
    a. Household Survey: 1,500.
    b. Rental Agent Survey: 183.
    c. Energy Supplier Surveys: 250.
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: 4,334.
    a. Household Survey: 1,500.
    b. Rental Agent Survey: 367.
    c. Energy Supplier Surveys: 2,467.
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 1,959.
    a. Household Survey: 1,250.
    b. Rental Agent Survey: 92.
    c. Energy Supplier Surveys: 617.
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: EIA 
estimates that there are no capital and start-up costs associated with 
this data collection. The information is maintained in the normal 
course of business. For household respondents no additional record 
keeping or other burden is required outside the interview

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process. The cost of burden hours to all household, rental agent, and 
energy supplier respondents is estimated to be $135,817 (1,959 annual 
burden hours times $69.33 per hour.) Therefore, other than the cost of 
burden hours, EIA estimates that there are no additional costs for 
generating, maintaining and providing the information.

    Statutory Authority:  Section 13(b) of the Federal Energy 
Administration Act of 1974, Pub. L. 93-275, codified at 15 U.S.C. 
772(b).

    Issued in Washington, DC, December 24, 2014.
Lawrence Stroud,
Acting Director, Office of Survey Development and Statistical 
Integration, U.S. Energy Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-30744 Filed 12-31-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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