66688 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 247 / Thursday, December 27, 2018 / Notices 

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Dated: December 19, 2018. 

Mark Schneider, 

Director, Institute of Education Sciences. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27933 Filed 12–26–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

U.S. Energy Information 

Administration 

Agency Information Collection 

Extension 

AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information 

Administration (EIA), Department of 

Energy (DOE). 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: EIA requests a three-year 

extension with changes for the 

Petroleum Supply Reporting System 

(PSRS). The PSRS consists of six weekly 

surveys that make up the Weekly 

Petroleum Supply Reporting System 

(WPSRS), eight monthly surveys, and 

one annual survey. The weekly 

petroleum and biofuels supply surveys 

collect data on petroleum refinery 

operations, blending, biofuels 

production, inventory levels, imports of 

crude oil, petroleum products, and 

biofuels from samples of operating 

companies. The monthly and annual 

petroleum and biofuels supply surveys 

collect data on petroleum refinery 

operations, blending, biofuels 

production, natural gas plant liquids 

production, inventory levels, imports, 

inter-regional movements, and storage 

capacity for crude oil, petroleum 

products, and biofuels. 

DATES: EIA must receive all comments 

on this proposed information collection 

no later than February 25, 2019. If you 

anticipate any difficulties in submitting 

your comments by the deadline, contact 

the person listed in the ADDRESSES

section of this notice as soon as 

possible. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Michael Conner, Petroleum, Natural 

Gas, and Biofuels Statistics, U.S. Energy 

Information Administration, Forrestal 

Building, U.S. Department of Energy, 

1000 Independence Ave. SW, EI–25 

Washington, DC 20585. Submission via 

email to michael.conner@eia.gov is 

recommended. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Conner, (202) 586–1795 email 

Michael.conner@eia.gov. The proposed 

forms and instructions are available on 

EIA’s website at: https://www.eia.gov/ 

survey/. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

information collection request contains: 

(1) OMB No. 1905–0165; 

(2) Information Collection Request 

Title: Petroleum Supply Reporting 

System; 

(3) Type of Request: Renewal with 

changes; 

(4) Purpose: EIA’s PSRS is made up of 

Forms EIA–800 Weekly Refinery Report 

(previously the Weekly Refinery and 

Fractionator Report), EIA–802 Weekly 

Product Pipeline Report, EIA–803 

Weekly Crude Oil Stocks Report, EIA– 

804 Weekly Imports Report, EIA–805 

Weekly Bulk Terminal Report 

(previously the Weekly Bulk Terminal 

and Blender Report), EIA–809 Weekly 

Oxygenate Report, EIA–810 Monthly 

Refinery Report, EIA–812 Monthly 

Product Pipeline Report, EIA–813 

Monthly Crude Oil Report, EIA–814 

Monthly Imports Report, EIA–815 

Monthly Bulk Terminal Report 

(previously the Monthly Bulk Terminal 

and Blender Report), EIA–816 Monthly 

Natural Gas Plant Liquids Report, EIA– 

817 Monthly Tanker and Barge 

Movement Report, EIA–819 Monthly 

Biofuel and Fuel Oxygenate Report 

(previously the EIA–819 Monthly 

Oxygenate Report and EIA–22M 

Monthly Biodiesel Production Report), 

and EIA–820 Annual Refinery Report. 

The purpose of the PSRS is to collect 

detailed petroleum industry data to 

meet EIA’s mandates and energy data 

users’ needs for credible, reliable, and 

timely energy information on 

production, receipts, inputs, 

movements, and stocks of crude oil, 

petroleum products, natural gas plant 

liquids, and related biofuels in the 

United States. This information is used 

to evaluate supply conditions for crude 

oil and refined petroleum markets. 

Forms EIA–800, EIA–802, EIA–803, 

EIA–804, EIA–805 and EIA–809 are 

designed to provide an early, initial 

estimate of weekly petroleum refinery 

operations, inventory levels, and 

imports of selected petroleum products. 

The WPSRS is the only comprehensive 

weekly government source of data about 

the current status of petroleum supply 

and disposition in the upstream 

petroleum markets for the United States. 

Forms EIA–810, EIA–812, EIA–813, 

EIA–814, EIA–815, EIA–816, EIA–817, 

and EIA–819 are designed to provide 

statistically reliable and comprehensive 

monthly information on petroleum 

refining operations to EIA, federal 

agencies, and the private sector for use 

in forecasting, policy making, planning, 

and analysis. Form EIA–820 is an 

annual survey that provides data on 

refinery capacities, fuels consumed, 

natural gas consumed as hydrogen 

feedstock, and crude oil receipts by 

method of transportation for operating 

and idle petroleum refineries (including 

new refineries under construction), and 

refineries that shutdown during the 

previous year. 

(4a) Proposed Changes to Information 

Collection: The following changes are 

proposed to the data elements collected 

on surveys in the Petroleum Supply 

Reporting System (PSRS). 

Forms EIA–800, EIA–802, EIA–803, 

EIA–804, EIA–805, EIA–810, EIA–812, 

EIA–813, EIA–814, EIA–815, EIA–816, 

EIA–817, EIA–819, EIA–820 (Except 

Form EIA–809) 

EIA proposes to change the unit of 

measurement from thousand barrels to 

barrels. Petroleum and biofuel supply 

surveys are increasingly being used to 

track relatively small-volume products, 

such as E85 motor fuel and biofuels. In 

these cases, rounding to the nearest 

thousand barrels fails to capture 

reportable activity because the 

quantities are too small to round up to 

1,000 barrels (i.e. fewer than 500 barrels) 

for a given period. EIA proposes to 

apply this change to all surveys within 

the PSRS, except Form EIA–809 where 

volumetric data on fuel ethanol will 

continue to be collected in gallons. 

Forms EIA–800, EIA–802, EIA–804, 

EIA–805, EIA–810, EIA–812, EIA–814, 

EIA–815, EIA–817 

EIA proposes to reduce the number of 

separate finished motor gasoline 

products from nine to six and reorganize 

motor fuel categories to track ethanol 

blending. The proposed six categories 

are: 

Æ Gasoline Not Blended with Ethanol 

(E0) 

Æ Gasoline Blended with Ethanol up 

to E10 

Æ Midblend Gasoline with Ethanol > 

(E10–E50) 

Æ Flex Fuel (E85) Blended with 51% 

to 83% Ethanol 

Æ Reformulated Blendstock for 

Oxygenate Blending (RBOB) 

Æ Motor Gasoline Blending 

Components 


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Finished motor gasoline is currently 

distinguished by the categories of 

reformulated and conventional gasoline. 

These categories were developed in 

1995 to track production of finished 

motor gasoline in a framework 

consistent with EPA’s Clean Fuel 

programs. EIA is proposing changes to 

finished motor gasoline product 

categories to emphasize the ethanol 

content of motor fuel and to provide 

more relevant data for current energy 

policy decisions. Reducing the number 

of finished motor gasoline categories 

from nine to six simplifies reporting 

requirements while maintaining 

essential information for policy analysis 

and market assessments of gasoline and 

other motor fuels. 

The following additional changes are 

specific to each survey in the PSRS. 

Form EIA–800 

• Discontinue separate reporting of 

commercial and military grade 

kerosene-type jet fuel. EIA will continue 

to collect total kerosene-type jet fuel 

which includes both commercial and 

military fuel grades. EIA determined 

that the separate reporting of military 

and commercial grades of kerosene-type 

jet fuel has limited utility. 

• Discontinue reporting total refinery 

input. The current requirement to report 

total refinery input is ambiguous and 

produces data of questionable accuracy. 

Add new rows, under the column 

headings for Input; Production; and 

Ending Stocks, to separately report 

unfinished oils, other biofuel and 

renewable fuel (excluding ethanol), 

hydrocarbon gas liquids (excluding 

propane), and total refinery olefins. 

Ethane, normal butane, isobutane, and 

natural gasoline will be reported as a 

single category under hydrocarbon gas 

liquids. This proposed change takes 

components of the current total input 

and separates them to clarify the data to 

be reported and improves data accuracy. 

Form EIA–802 

• Discontinue collection of stocks of 

refinery olefins. EIA determined that the 

collection of weekly data on stocks of 

refinery olefins is no longer needed. 

• Add collection of total biofuels and 

renewable fuels excluding ethanol. 

Biofuels are increasingly important 

sources of U.S. fuel supplies. EIA has 

extensive weekly data for ethanol and 

needs additional weekly biofuel data to 

ensure that weekly fuel supply data are 

complete. 

Form EIA–803 

• Discontinue collection of combined 

crude oil stocks held in pipelines and 

tank farms and replace it with separate 

reporting of crude oil stocks held in 

tank farms and pipelines. Separate 

reporting of crude oil stocks held in 

pipelines and tank farms allows for a 

more accurate assessment of available 

crude oil supplies. Crude oil stocks held 

in pipelines are essentially unavailable 

because pipelines must remain full to 

operate. 

• In Part 3, add separate reporting of 

crude oil stocks held in tank farms at 

Cushing, Oklahoma as either deliverable 

under NYMEX contract or not 

deliverable under NYMEX contract. 

Separate reporting of crude oil stocks at 

Cushing, Oklahoma that are deliverable 

under NYMEX contract provides 

improved market transparency. 

• In Part 5, add separate reporting of 

crude oil receipts as foreign or domestic 

and report shipments by mode of 

transportation and whether those crude 

oil shipments were to U.S. locations or 

exported for the Strategic Petroleum 

Reserve (SPR). 

• For waterborne shipments to U.S. 

locations, EIA proposes to add questions 

to identify the vessel and purchasing 

company of the crude oil. Shipments of 

crude oil from SPR are anticipated to 

continue for the next several years. EIA 

needs information on the shipments of 

crude oil to ensure that all barrels are 

accounted for in U.S. and regional 

statistics. 

Form EIA–804 

• Add collection of total biofuels and 

renewable fuels excluding ethanol. 

Biofuels are increasingly important 

sources of U.S. fuel supplies. EIA has 

extensive weekly data for ethanol and 

needs additional weekly biofuel data to 

ensure that weekly fuel supply data are 

complete. 

Form EIA–805 

• Discontinue collection of stocks of 

refinery olefins. EIA determined that the 

collection of weekly data on stocks of 

refinery olefins is no longer needed. 

• Add a question in Part 3 Terminal 

Activity to report ending stocks of 

consumer and export grade propane 

separately from propane stored as part 

of a mix of natural gas liquids and 

propane that does not meet 

specifications for either consumer or 

export grade propane. This change 

allows EIA to accurately determine the 

availability of propane that is ready for 

distribution and delivery to the market 

and compare it to propane that requires 

fractionation or other processing before 

it can be delivered. 

• Discontinue collection of data for 

Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE), 

Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (ETBE), and 

other oxygenates. Stocks and other data 

for MTBE, ETBE, and other fuel 

oxygenates at refineries and terminals 

are no longer needed for EIA to assess 

U.S. and regional volumetric petroleum 

supply balances. 

• Combine finished aviation gasoline 

and aviation gasoline blending 

components into a single product 

category. Production of aviation 

gasoline has declined over the years. 

Separate reporting of finished aviation 

gasoline and aviation gasoline blending 

components has limited utility. 

Combined reporting of aviation gasoline 

and aviation gasoline blending 

components is adequate to meet EIA 

data requirements. 

• Discontinue collection of total input 

for blending operations. In Part 3, EIA 

proposes to add the reporting of biofuel 

and renewable fuel under the column 

headings Input, Production, and Ending 

Stocks. Add the collection of ethane, 

normal butane, isobutane, and natural 

gasoline as a single category under the 

column headings Input and Ending 

stocks. The current requirement for 

operators of product storage and 

blending terminals to report total input 

for blending operations has been a 

persistent source of confusion for survey 

respondents and has produced data of 

questionable accuracy and limited 

utility. This proposed change takes 

components of the current total input 

and separates them to clarify the data to 

be reported and improves accuracy of 

the data for analysis. 

• Discontinue the separate reporting 

of propylene stocks. The collection of 

propylene stocks is no longer necessary 

to determine the propane component of 

combined propane and propylene 

stocks. 

Form EIA–809 

• Discontinue separate reporting of 

denatured and undenatured fuel 

ethanol. Report production and weekending stocks of total fuel ethanol 

including denatured and undenatured 

fuel ethanol as a single category. The 

separate reporting of denatured and 

undenatured ethanol caused confusion 

among survey respondents and data 

quality issues. EIA can assess ethanol 

supply conditions by collecting total 

ethanol (combined denatured and 

undenatured) production. 

Form EIA–810 

• EIA proposes to replace the three 

residual fuel oil sulfur categories from: 

Less than 0.31% by weight; 0.31% by 

weight to 1% percent by weight; and 

greater than 1% by weight to four sulfur 

categories of: 

1. Less than or equal to 1,000 ppm, 


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2. Greater than 1,000 ppm and less 

than or equal to 5,000 ppm, 

3. Greater than 5,000 ppm and less 

than or equal to 10,000 ppm, and 

4. Greater than 10,000 ppm. 

The four proposed sulfur categories 

for residual fuel oil are required for 

consistency with current marine fuel 

specifications and trade statistics from 

the U.S. Census Bureau. 

• In Part 6, replace the three current 

biofuel reporting categories of biomassbased diesel fuel, other renewable diesel 

fuel, and other renewable fuels to the 

categories biodiesel, renewable diesel 

fuel, renewable heating oil, renewable 

jet fuel, renewable naphtha and 

gasoline, and other renewable fuels and 

intermediate products. These changes 

clarify the products and improve the 

utility of U.S. and regional data by 

collecting data on the specific types of 

renewable fuels that are increasingly 

more important in petroleum refinery 

operations. 

• Discontinue separate reporting of 

commercial and military grade 

kerosene-type jet fuel. EIA will only 

collect total kerosene-type jet fuel which 

includes both commercial and military 

fuel grades. EIA determined that the 

separate reporting of military and 

commercial grades of kerosene-type jet 

fuel has limited utility. 

• In Part 6, discontinue collection of 

storage capacity for September 30th, but 

will continue to collect storage capacity 

once each year as of March 31st. EIA 

determined that storage capacity data 

collected once each year (as of March 

31st) are adequate for policy analysis 

and assessing market supply conditions. 

• In Part 6, rename the column 

heading idle storage capacity to 

temporarily out of service. EIA has 

found the phrase temporarily out of 

service to be more consistent than the 

term idle when describing storage 

capacity that is not in use at the time of 

reporting. 

• In Part 5, discontinue collection of 

ending stocks including stocks held on 

site and stocks in transit by water and 

rail under the column heading Stocks 

End of Month. Add two columns for 

separately reporting Stocks on site end 

of month and Stocks in transit to the 

refinery by water or rail end of month. 

Current EIA reporting instructions 

provide for stocks in transit by water 

and rail to be included in ending stocks 

reported on EIA surveys. Examination of 

stocks data shows that stocks in transit 

by water and rail may be undercounted 

and vary between reporting periods. The 

combined reporting of stocks in transit 

with ending stocks also complicates the 

data validation process for surveys that 

require volumetric balances. Separate 

reporting of stocks in transit simplifies 

the data processing and validation for 

surveys that require volumetric balances 

such as Form EIA–810 and Form EIA– 

815. 

• In Part 5, add collection of stocks, 

receipts, shipments, and fuel uses and 

losses separately for all individual 

hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL) 

components. This change allows EIA to 

fully report hydrocarbon gas liquids. 

EIA currently estimates certain HGL 

data based on a model because separate 

data are unavailable. This change will 

replace the use of model-based 

estimates with actual data and allow 

EIA to generate more accurate supply 

estimates. 

• In Part 5, provide space on the form 

for refinery operators to reclassify 

unfinished oils and other products as 

crude oil by reporting these products as 

production of crude oil. Refiners 

sometimes add unfinished oils and 

other non-crude oil barrels to crude oil 

inventory. This change will allow 

refiners to report this practice as 

additional production of crude oil so the 

volumes can be included in the overall 

refinery balance and not ignored. 

• Add a new section, Part 6A 

Production of Renewable Fuels CoProcessed in the Refinery, to collect 

renewable fuels production coprocessed with petroleum in refineries. 

EIA is collecting more detailed 

information in this section because the 

number of U.S. refiners processing 

renewable feedstocks with petroleum is 

increasing. Adding this section to Form 

EIA–810 allows EIA to assess supply 

and track production from this emerging 

energy production activity. 

• Add a new section, Part 6B 

Consumption of Feedstocks for 

Renewable Fuels Production, to collect 

data on consumption of renewable 

feedstocks co-processed with petroleum 

in refineries. These data are required in 

order for EIA to provide a 

comprehensive accounting of renewable 

feedstocks for biofuel production. 

Form EIA–812 

• In Part 3, replace the three current 

biofuel reporting categories of biomassbased diesel fuel, other renewable diesel 

fuel, and other renewable fuels to the 

categories biodiesel, renewable diesel 

fuel, renewable heating oil, renewable 

jet fuel, renewable naphtha and 

gasoline, and other renewable fuels and 

intermediate products. These changes 

clarify the products and will improve 

the utility of U.S. and regional data by 

collecting data on the specific types of 

renewable fuels that are growing 

increasingly more important in 

petroleum operations. 

• Discontinue collection of stocks of 

refinery olefins. EIA determined that the 

collection of data on stocks of refinery 

olefins is no longer needed. 

• In Part 3, discontinue collection of 

residual fuel stocks and delete the row 

for residual fuel (product code 511). The 

data has shown that residual fuel oil is 

a product not typically moved by 

pipeline. 

• In Part 4, discontinue collection of 

renewable fuel movements and delete 

the rows for fuel ethanol (product code 

141), biomass-based diesel fuel (product 

code 203), other renewable diesel fuel 

(product code 205), and other renewable 

fuels (product code 207). EIA has found 

that inter-regional pipeline movements 

of these renewable fuels seldom occur 

and these data have limited utility for 

assessing fuel supply conditions. 

Form EIA–813 

• Discontinue collecting storage 

capacity information as of September 

30th, but continue to collect storage 

capacity once each year as of March 

31st. EIA determined that storage 

capacity data collected once each year 

(as of March 31st) are adequate for 

policy analysis and assessing market 

supply conditions. 

• Parts 6 and 7 relating to storage 

capacity are re-numbered as Parts 8 and 

9 in the new form. 

• Rename the column heading Idle in 

the storage capacity sections in Parts 6 

and 7 of the current form, to temporarily 

out of service in Parts 8 and 9 of the new 

form. EIA has found the phrase 

temporarily out of service to be more 

consistent than the term idle when 

describing storage capacity that is not in 

use at the time of reporting. 

• Discontinue collection of ending 

stocks including stocks held on-site and 

stocks in transit by water and rail. Add 

reporting of stocks held on-site and 

stocks in transit by water and rail as 

separate reporting requirements in the 

facility activity section on Form EIA– 

813 Part 5. Current EIA reporting 

instructions provide for stocks in transit 

by water and rail to be included in 

ending stocks reported on EIA surveys. 

Examination of stocks data suggests that 

stocks in transit by water and rail are 

undercounted and can vary between 

reporting periods. The combined 

reporting stocks in transit with ending 

stocks also complicates the data 

validation process for surveys that 

require volumetric balances. Separate 

reporting of Stocks in Transit in Part 5 

and Ending Stocks in Part 3 simplifies 

the data processing and validation for 

surveys that require volumetric balances 

such as Form EIA–810 and Form EIA– 

815. 


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• Discontinue collection of combined 

crude oil stocks held in pipelines and 

tank farms and replace with separate 

reporting of crude oil stocks held in 

tank farms and pipelines. In Part 4, 

separately reporting crude oil stocks 

held in pipelines and tank farms allows 

for a more accurate assessment of 

available crude oil supplies. Crude oil 

stocks held in pipelines are essentially 

unavailable because pipelines must 

remain full in order to operate. 

• In Part 4, add collection of crude oil 

stocks held in tank farms at Cushing, 

Oklahoma as either deliverable under 

NYMEX contract or not deliverable 

under NYMEX contract. Separate 

reporting of crude oil stocks at Cushing, 

Oklahoma that are deliverable under 

NYMEX contract provides improved 

market transparency. 

• In Part 6, add collection of crude oil 

receipts as foreign or domestic and 

collection of shipments by mode of 

transportation and whether those 

shipments were to U.S. locations or 

exported for waterborne shipments to 

U.S. locations. EIA proposes adding 

questions to identify the purchaser of 

the crude oil on Form EIA–813 Part 6. 

Shipments of crude oil from SPR are 

anticipated to continue for the next 

several years. EIA needs information on 

the shipments of crude oil to ensure that 

all of the barrels are accounted for in 

U.S. and regional statistics. 

• Add collection of stocks on site, 

stocks in transit by water and rail, and 

storage capacity in PADD 6 including 

Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands in 

EIA–813 Parts 3, 5, and 8 respectively. 

EIA is required to account for nonrefinery crude oil stocks held in U.S. 

territories. 

• Discontinue the separate collection 

in Parts 6 and 7 of In operation storage 

capacity for exclusive use and leased to 

others. These two data elements will be 

collected together as a single data 

element under the row label In 

Operation Storage Capacity in Parts 8 

and 9. EIA found that storage capacity 

data reported separately by capacity for 

exclusive use and capacity leased to 

others has limited utility and should be 

discontinued. 

Form EIA–815 

• In Part 3, replace the three residual 

fuel oil sulfur categories from: 

Æ Less than 0.31% by weight, 

Æ 0.31% by weight to 1% percent by 

weight, 

Æ greater than 1% by weight 

to four proposed sulfur categories of: 

1. less than or equal to 1,000 ppm, 

2. greater than 1,000 ppm and less 

than or equal to 5,000 ppm, 

3. greater than 5,000 ppm and less 

than or equal to 10,000 ppm, and 

4. Greater than 10,000 ppm. 

The four proposed sulfur categories 

for residual fuel oil are required for 

consistency with current marine fuel 

specifications and trade statistics from 

the U.S. Census Bureau. 

• In Part 3, replace biofuel reporting 

categories identified on current surveys 

as biomass-based diesel fuel, other 

renewable diesel fuel, and other 

renewable fuels with the new categories 

biodiesel, renewable diesel fuel, 

renewable heating oil, renewable jet 

fuel, renewable naphtha and gasoline, 

and other renewable fuels and 

intermediate products. These changes 

clarify the products and improve the 

utility of U.S. and regional data. 

• In Part 3 Terminal Activity, 

discontinue collection of stocks of 

refinery olefins. EIA determined that the 

collection of data on stocks of refinery 

olefins is no longer needed. 

• In Part 3 Terminal Activity, 

discontinue the separate reporting of 

propylene stocks. Add a question in Part 

3 to report ending stocks of consumer 

and export grade propane separately 

from propane stored as part of a mix of 

natural gas liquids and propane that 

does not meet specifications for either 

consumer or export grade propane. This 

change will help to clarify availability of 

propane that is ready for distribution 

and delivery to the market and propane 

that requires fractionation or other 

processing before it can be delivered. 

• In Part 3, Terminal Activity, 

discontinue collection of data for MTBE, 

ETBE, and other oxygenates. Stocks and 

other data for MTBE, ETBE, and other 

fuel oxygenates at refineries and 

terminals are no longer needed for EIA 

to assess U.S. and regional volumetric 

petroleum supply balances. Production 

of MTBE, ETBE, and other fuel 

oxygenates will continue to be collected 

on Form EIA–819. 

• In Part 3, Terminal Activity, 

discontinue the separate reporting of 

finished aviation gasoline and aviation 

gasoline blending components. These 

two categories will be combined. Report 

finished aviation gasoline and aviation 

gasoline blending components under a 

single product category. Production of 

aviation gasoline has declined over the 

years. Separate reporting of finished 

aviation gasoline and aviation gasoline 

blending components has limited 

utility. Combined reporting of aviation 

gasoline and aviation gasoline blending 

components is adequate to meet EIA 

data requirements. 

• In Part 3 Terminal Activity, 

reconfigure the collection of normal 

butane and isobutane stocks to allow for 

the reporting of stocks of refinery-grade 

butane as either normal butane or 

isobutane. Refinery-grade butane can 

either be normal butane or isobutane. 

The reconfigured product list is 

intended to capture this distinction and 

eliminate confusion that may be caused 

by the current product list. 

• In Part 3 Terminal Activity, 

discontinue collection of the 

subcategories of unfinished oils. The 

reporting of individual unfinished oils 

products at terminals has limited utility 

and is often difficult for terminal 

operators to accurately determine. 

• In Part 3, discontinue collection of 

ending stocks including stocks held on 

site and stocks in transit by water and 

rail. Add reporting of stocks held on site 

and stocks in transit by water and rail 

as separate reporting requirements in 

the facility activity section. Current EIA 

reporting instructions provide for stocks 

in transit by water and rail to be 

included in ending stocks reported on 

EIA surveys. Examination of stocks data 

suggests that stocks in transit by water 

and rail are undercounted and can vary 

between reporting periods. The 

combined reporting of stocks in transit 

with ending stocks also complicates the 

data validation process for surveys that 

require volumetric balances. Separate 

reporting of stocks in transit simplifies 

the data processing and validation for 

surveys that require volumetric 

balances. 

• EIA proposes to add a new section, 

Part 4 Petrochemical Plant Stocks of 

Natural Gas Liquids, to collect reporting 

of the stocks of ethane, propane, normal 

butane, isobutene, and natural gasoline 

natural gas liquids (NGL) held at 

petrochemical plants, EIA–815. 

Petrochemical plant operators are a 

special class of end user storage because 

they are able to function in ways that 

are similar to the commercial terminals 

surveyed by EIA. Including 

petrochemical plant storage improves 

data accuracy and improves market 

assessments of NGL supply availability. 

• Storage capacity data collected in 

Part 4 of the current form will be 

collected in a new Part 5 section of the 

form. Discontinue collection of storage 

capacity twice a year and only collect it 

once. Reporting storage capacity as of 

September 30th will be discontinued. 

Storage capacity will only be collected 

once each year as of March 31st. EIA 

determined that storage capacity data 

collected once each year (as of March 

31st) are adequate for policy analysis 

and assessing market supply conditions. 

• In Part 5, the column label idle 

storage capacity is changed to 

temporarily out of service. EIA has 

found the phrase temporarily out of 


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service to be more consistent than the 

term idle when describing storage 

capacity that is not in use at the time of 

reporting. 

Form EIA–816 

• Add reporting of stocks in transit by 

water and rail as separate reporting 

requirements in the facility activity 

section in addition to continuing to 

report Stocks End of Month. Current EIA 

reporting instructions provide for stocks 

in transit by water and rail to be 

included in ending stocks reported on 

EIA surveys. Examination of stocks data 

suggests that stocks in transit by water 

and rail are undercounted and can vary 

between reporting periods. The 

combined reporting of stocks in transit 

with ending stocks also complicates the 

data validation process for surveys that 

require volumetric balances. Separate 

reporting of stocks in transit simplifies 

the data processing and validation for 

surveys that require volumetric 

balances. 

• In Part 3 Natural Gas Liquids 

Activity, add a separate row to collect 

data for condensate. Separate reporting 

of condensate allows EIA to better 

identify barrels that enter the NGL 

supply chain and the condensate barrels 

that are more likely to enter the crude 

oil supply chain. 

• Add a new Part 4 to collect monthly 

volumes of inlet natural gas processed at 

the plant. 

• Add a new Part 5 to collect monthly 

volumes of outlet residue gas separated 

out by methane, ethane, propane, 

nitrogen, and NGLs. The addition of 

data on inlet and residue natural gas 

improves EIA estimates of the reduction 

of natural gas supply due to NGL 

extraction. This data also improves 

market assessments by providing a 

measure of ethane and other NGL 

quantities that remain in natural gas 

after processing as well as providing an 

indicator of the heat content of 

marketed natural gas. 

• Add a new Part 6 Isomerization 

Activity to collect volumes on the input 

of normal butane used for production of 

isobutane in Section 6.1. Section 6.1a 

will separately collect the volumes of 

normal butane sourced from natural gas 

processing plants and refineries. Form 

EIA–816 currently collects data on 

isomerization of normal butane to 

isobutane. Separating the normal butane 

sourced from gas plants and refineries 

will allow EIA to more accurately 

measure butane supply availability. 

Form EIA–817 

• In Part 3, replace the three residual 

fuel oil sulfur categories from: 

Æ Less than 0.31% by weight, 

Æ 0.31% by weight to 1% percent by 

weight, 

Æ greater than 1% by weight 

to four proposed sulfur categories of: 

1. 1,000 ppm sulfur or under, 

2. 1,001 ppm–5,000 ppm sulfur, 

3. 5,001 ppm–10,000 ppm sulfur, and 

4. greater than 10,000 ppm sulfur. 

The four proposed sulfur categories 

for residual fuel oil are required for 

consistency with current marine fuel 

specifications and trade statistics from 

the U.S. Census Bureau. 

• In Part 3, replace biofuel reporting 

categories identified on current surveys 

as biomass-based diesel fuel, other 

renewable diesel fuels, and other 

renewable fuels to the proposed 

categories biodiesel, renewable diesel 

fuel, renewable heating oil, renewable 

jet fuel, renewable naphtha and 

gasoline, and other renewable fuels and 

intermediate products. These changes 

clarify the biofuel product categories 

and improve the utility of U.S. and 

regional data. 

Form EIA–819 

• In Parts 4, 6, 8, and 10, add 

reporting of stocks held on site and 

stocks in transit by water and rail as 

separate reporting requirement. In 

addition to continuing to report Stocks 

End of Month. Current EIA reporting 

instructions provide for stocks in transit 

by water and rail to be included in 

ending stocks reported on EIA surveys. 

Examination of stocks data suggests that 

stocks in transit by water and rail are 

undercounted and can vary between 

reporting periods. The combined 

reporting of stocks in transit with 

ending stocks also complicates the data 

validation process for surveys that 

require volumetric balances. Separate 

reporting of stocks in transit simplifies 

the data processing and validation for 

surveys that require volumetric 

balances. 

• EIA proposes combining Forms 

EIA–22M and EIA–819 into a single 

survey under Form EIA–819 to cover all 

biofuels (including renewable fuels not 

currently tracked on any EIA survey), 

fuel oxygenates (ETBE, MTBE), and 

non-refinery producers of isooctane. 

The new survey will collect consistent 

volumetric balance data on petroleum 

and biofuel blending at biofuel 

production plants and feedstock inputs 

for all biofuels. The proposed new Form 

EIA–819 will also expand the scope of 

EIA biofuel data collection to include 

producers of renewable diesel fuel and 

other renewable fuels that are currently 

out of scope. All facilities will report 

production capacity as well as receipts, 

production, input, shipments, beginning 

and ending stocks, as well as stocks in 

transit to the facility at the end of the 

report month. Part 9 will collect 

consumption of feedstocks for 

production of biofuel and renewable 

fuels and annual fuels consumed at the 

facility. The proposed Form EIA–819 is 

intended to improve accuracy and 

consistency of biofuel and oxygenate 

production and blending including 

blending with petroleum fuels. EIA will 

discontinue Form EIA–22M since the 

same information that is currently 

reported on Form EIA–22M will be 

collected on the new Form EIA–819. 

(5) Annual Estimated Number of 

Respondents: 4,640 total respondents: 

EIA–800 consists of 125 respondents 

EIA–802 consists of 46 respondents 

EIA–803 consists of 80 respondents 

EIA–804 consists of 100 respondents 

EIA–805 consists of 745 respondents 

EIA- 809 consists of 156 respondents 

EIA–810 consists of 139 respondents 

EIA–812 consists of 100 respondents 

EIA–813 consists of 205 respondents 

EIA–814 consists of 360 respondents 

EIA–815 consists of 1,485 respondents 

EIA–816 consists of 600 respondents 

EIA–817 consists of 40 respondents 

EIA–819 consists of 320 respondents 

EIA–820 consists of 139 respondents 

(6) Annual Estimated Number of 

Total Responses: 104,231 total 

responses. 

(7) Annual Estimated Number of 

Burden Hours: 208,430 total hours. 

(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and 

Recordkeeping Cost Burden: EIA 

estimates that there are no additional 

costs to respondents associated with the 

surveys other than the costs associated 

with the burden hours. The information 

collected on the forms is maintained by 

companies in their data systems during 

their normal course of business. The 

cost of burden hours to the respondents 

is estimated to $15,427,988 (208,430 

burden hours times $74.02 per hour). 

Comments are invited on whether or 

not: (a) The proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of agency functions, 

including whether the information will 

have a practical utility; (b) EIA’s 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information, including the 

validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used, is accurate; (c) EIA 

can improve the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information it will collect; 

and (d) EIA can minimize the burden of 

the collection of information on 

respondents, such as automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

Statutory Authority: 15 U.S.C. 772(b) and 

42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq. 


khammond on DSK30JT082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 247 / Thursday, December 27, 2018 / Notices 66693 

Signed in Washington, DC, on December 6, 

2018. 

Nanda Srinivasan, 

Director, Office of Survey Development and 

Statistical Integration, U. S. Energy 

Information Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2018–28062 Filed 12–26–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

Docket Nos. CP18–102–000;CP18–103–000] 

Notice of Availability of the 

Environmental Assessment for the 

Proposed Cheyenne Connector, LLC 

Cheyenne Connector Pipeline and 

Rockies Express Pipeline LLC 

Cheyenne Hub Enhancement Projects 

The staff of the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC or 

Commission) has prepared an 

environmental assessment (EA) for the 

Cheyenne Connector Pipeline Project 

and the Cheyenne Hub Enhancement 

Project, proposed respectively by 

Cheyenne Connector, LLC and Rockies 

Express Pipeline LLC (Rockies Express) 

in the above-referenced docket. The 

applicants request authorization to 

construct approximately 71 miles of 

new 36-inch-diameter pipeline, five 

new meter and regulating stations, and 

one new compressor station, as 

described further below. All proposed 

facilities would be in Weld County, 

Colorado. 

The EA assesses the potential 

environmental effects of the 

construction and operation of the 

Cheyenne Connector Pipeline and 

Cheyenne Hub Enhancement Projects in 

accordance with the requirements of the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA). The FERC staff concludes that 

approval of the proposed projects, with 

appropriate mitigating measures, would 

not constitute a major federal action 

significantly affecting the quality of the 

human environment. 

The Cheyenne Connector Pipeline 

Project includes the following facilities: 

• Approximately 71 miles of 36-inchdiameter pipeline with ancillary 

facilities including three mainline 

valves; and 

• five associated meter and regulating 

stations. 

The Cheyenne Hub Enhancement 

Project includes the following facilities: 

• One new approximately 32,100 

horsepower compressor station; 

• enhancements to modify Rockies 

Express’ existing Cheyenne Hub 

interconnect facilities, including 

installation of pipe, valves, fittings, 

filters, and ancillary equipment; and 

• ancillary facilities constructed at 

Rockies Express’ existing Cheyenne Hub 

pursuant to 18 CFR 2.55(a), consisting of 

station piping, vibration reducing 

equipment, compressor and electrical 

buildings, valves, and gas cooling 

equipment. 

The Commission mailed a copy of the 

Notice of Availability for the EA to 

federal, state, and local government 

representatives and agencies; elected 

officials; environmental and public 

interest groups; Native American tribes; 

potentially affected landowners and 

other interested individuals and groups; 

and newspapers and libraries in the 

projects’ areas. The EA is only available 

in electronic format. It may be viewed 

and downloaded from the FERC’s 

website (www.ferc.gov), on the 

Environmental Documents page (https:// 

www.ferc.gov/industries/gas/enviro/ 

eis.asp). In addition, the EA may be 

accessed by using the eLibrary link on 

the FERC’s website. Click on the 

eLibrary link (https://www.ferc.gov/ 

docs-filing/elibrary.asp), click on 

General Search, and enter the docket 

number in the ‘‘Docket Number’’ field, 

excluding the last three digits (i.e., 

CP18–102 or CP18–103). Be sure you 

have selected an appropriate date range. 

For assistance, please contact FERC 

Online Support at FercOnlineSupport@

ferc.gov or toll free at (866) 208–3676, or 

for TTY, contact (202) 502–8659. 

Any person wishing to comment on 

the EA may do so. Your comments 

should focus on the EA’s disclosure and 

discussion of potential environmental 

effects, reasonable alternatives, and 

measures to avoid or lessen 

environmental impacts. The more 

specific your comments, the more useful 

they will be. To ensure that the 

Commission has the opportunity to 

consider your comments prior to 

making its decision on these projects, it 

is important that we receive your 

comments in Washington, DC on or 

before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on 

January 17, 2019. 

For your convenience, there are three 

methods you can use to file your 

comments to the Commission. The 

Commission encourages electronic filing 

of comments and has staff available to 

assist you at (866) 208–3676 or 

FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. Please 

carefully follow these instructions so 

that your comments are properly 

recorded. 

(1) You can file your comments 

electronically using the eComment 

feature on the Commission’s website 

(www.ferc.gov) under the link to 

Documents and Filings. This is an easy 

method for submitting brief, text-only 

comments on a project; 

(2) You can also file your comments 

electronically using the eFiling feature 

on the Commission’s website 

(www.ferc.gov) under the link to 

Documents and Filings. With eFiling, 

you can provide comments in a variety 

of formats by attaching them as a file 

with your submission. New eFiling 

users must first create an account by 

clicking on ‘‘eRegister.’’ You must select 

the type of filing you are making. If you 

are filing a comment on a particular 

project, please select ‘‘Comment on a 

Filing’’; or 

(3) You can file a paper copy of your 

comments by mailing them to the 

following address. Be sure to reference 

the project docket number (CP18–102– 

000 and/or CP18–103–000) with your 

submission: Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 

1A, Washington, DC 20426. 

Any person seeking to become a party 

to the proceeding must file a motion to 

intervene pursuant to Rule 214 of the 

Commission’s Rules of Practice and 

Procedures (18 CFR 385.214). Motions 

to intervene are more fully described at 

http://www.ferc.gov/resources/guides/ 

how-to/intervene.asp. Only intervenors 

have the right to seek rehearing or 

judicial review of the Commission’s 

decision. The Commission may grant 

affected landowners and others with 

environmental concerns intervenor 

status upon showing good cause by 

stating that they have a clear and direct 

interest in this proceeding which no 

other party can adequately represent. 

Simply filing environmental comments 

will not give you intervenor status, but 

you do not need intervenor status to 

have your comments considered. 

Additional information about the 

project is available from the 

Commission’s Office of External Affairs, 

at (866) 208–FERC, or on the FERC 

website (www.ferc.gov) using the 

eLibrary link. The eLibrary link also 

provides access to the texts of all formal 

documents issued by the Commission, 

such as orders, notices, and 

rulemakings. 

In addition, the Commission offers a 

free service called eSubscription which 

allows you to keep track of all formal 

issuances and submittals in specific 

dockets. This can reduce the amount of 

time you spend researching proceedings 

by automatically providing you with 

notification of these filings, document 

summaries, and direct links to the 

documents. Go to www.ferc.gov/docsfiling/esubscription.asp. 


khammond on DSK30JT082PROD with NOTICES