67060 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 248 / Friday, December 28, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

during the specific dates and times 

established in advance by a Notice to 

Airmen. The effective date and time will 

thereafter be continuously published in 

the Airport/Facility Directory.’’ 

Finally, this action updates the airport 

name from Olympia Airport to Olympia 

Regional Airport, updates the 

geographic coordinates of the airport to 

match the FAA’s aeronautical database, 

and replaces the outdated term Airport/ 

Facility Directory with the term Chart 

Supplement in the associated Class D 

and Class E airspace legal descriptions. 

This airspace redesign is necessary for 

the safety and management of IFR 

operations at the airport. 

Regulatory Notices and Analyses 

The FAA has determined that this 

regulation only involves an established 

body of technical regulations for which 

frequent and routine amendments are 

necessary to keep them operationally 

current, is non-controversial and 

unlikely to result in adverse or negative 

comments. It, therefore: (1) Is not a 

‘‘significant regulatory action’’ under 

Executive Order 12866; (2) is not a 

‘‘significant rule’’ under DOT 

Regulatory Policies and Procedures (44 

FR 11034; February 26, 1979); and (3) 

does not warrant preparation of a 

Regulatory Evaluation as the anticipated 

impact is so minimal. Since this is a 

routine matter that only affects air traffic 

procedures and air navigation, it is 

certified that this rule, when 

promulgated, will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities under the 

criteria of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. 

Environmental Review 

The FAA has determined that this 

action qualifies for categorical exclusion 

under the National Environmental 

Policy Act in accordance with FAA 

Order 1050.1F, ‘‘Environmental 

Impacts: Policies and Procedures,’’ 

paragraph 5–6.5a. This airspace action 

is not expected to cause any potentially 

significant environmental impacts, and 

no extraordinary circumstances exist 

that warrant preparation of an 

environmental assessment. 

Lists of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 71 

Airspace, Incorporation by reference, 

Navigation (air). 

Adoption of the Amendment 

In consideration of the foregoing, the 

Federal Aviation Administration 

amends 14 CFR part 71 as follows: 

PART 71—DESIGNATION OF CLASS A, 

B, C, D, AND E AIRSPACE AREAS; AIR 

TRAFFIC SERVICE ROUTES; AND 

REPORTING POINTS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 71 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 106(g); 40103, 

40113, 40120; E.O. 10854, 24 FR 9565, 3 CFR, 

1959–1963 Comp., p. 389. 

§ 71.1 [Amended] 

■ 2. The incorporation by reference in 

14 CFR 71.1 of FAA Order 7400.11C, 

Airspace Designations and Reporting 

Points, dated August 13, 2018, and 

effective September 15, 2018, is 

amended as follows: 

Paragraph 5000 Class D Airspace. 

* * * * * 

ANM OR D Olympia, WA [Amended] 

Olympia Regional Airport, WA 

(Lat. 46°58′10′′ N, long. 122°54′09′′ W) 

That airspace extending upward from the 

surface to and including 2,700 feet MSL 

within a 4-mile radius of Olympia Regional 

Airport. This Class D airspace area is 

effective during the specific dates and times 

established in advance by a Notice to 

Airmen. The effective date and time will 

thereafter be continuously published in the 

Chart Supplement. 

Paragraph 6002 Class E Airspace 

Designated as Surface Areas. 

* * * * * 

ANM OR E2 Olympia, WA [Amended] 

Olympia Regional Airport, WA 

(Lat. 46°58′10′′ N, long. 122°54′09′′ W) 

That airspace within a 4-mile radius of 

Olympia Regional Airport. This Class E 

airspace area is effective during the specific 

dates and times established in advance by a 

Notice to Airmen. The effective date and time 

will thereafter be continuously published in 

the Chart Supplement. 

Paragraph 6004 Class E Airspace 

Designated as an Extension to a Class D or 

Class E Surface Area. 

* * * * * 

ANM OR E4 Olympia, WA [Amended] 

Olympia Regional Airport, WA 

(Lat. 46°58′10′′ N, long. 122°54′09′′ W) 

That airspace extending upward from the 

surface within the area bounded by a line 

beginning at lat. 46°57′14′′ N, long. 

122°48′28′′ W; to lat. 46°56′44′′ N, long. 

122°47′08′′ W; to lat. 46°55′28′′ N, long. 

122°47′10′′ W; to lat. 46°54′42′′ N, long. 

122°47′45′′ W; to lat. 46°55′28′′ N, long. 

122°49′51′′ W; thence counter-clockwise 

along the 4-mile radius of the airport to the 

point of beginning. 

Paragraph 6005 Class E Airspace Areas 

Extending Upward From 700 Feet or More 

Above the Surface of the Earth. 

* * * * * 

ANM OR E5 Olympia, WA [New] 

Olympia Regional Airport, WA 

(Lat. 46°58′10′′ N, long. 122°54′09′′ W) 

That airspace extending upward from 700 

feet above the surface within a 6.8-mile 

radius of Olympia Regional Airport from the 

airport 211° bearing clockwise to the airport 

088° bearing, and within an 8.2-mile radius 

of the airport from the airport 088° bearing 

clockwise to the airport 122° bearing, and 

within a 12.4-mile radius of the airport from 

the airport 122° bearing clockwise to the 

airport 211° bearing, and within 1 mile each 

side of the 011° bearing from the airport 

extending to 11.6 miles north of the airport. 

Issued in Seattle, Washington, on 

December 14, 2018. 

Byron Chew, 

Acting Group Manager, Operations Support 

Group, Western Service Center. 

[FR Doc. 2018–28098 Filed 12–27–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

18 CFR Parts 8 and 141 

[Docket No. RM18–14–000; Order No. 852] 

Elimination of Form 80 and Revision of 

Regulations on Recreational 

Opportunities and Development at 

Licensed Hydropower Projects 

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (Commission) 

issues this Final Rule to amend its 

regulations to eliminate the Licensed 

Hydropower Development Recreation 

Report, designated as FERC Form No. 80 

(Form 80). Form 80 solicits information 

on the use and development of 

recreation facilities at hydropower 

projects licensed by the Commission 

under the Federal Power Act. In 

addition, the Commission is revising its 

regulations on recreational use and 

development at licensed hydropower 

projects in order to modernize licensee 

public notice practices, clarify 

recreational signage requirements, and 

provide flexibility to assist licensees’ 

compliance with these requirements. 

DATES: This rule is effective March 28, 

2019. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jon Cofrancesco (Technical 

Information), Office of Energy 

Projects, Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission. 888 First Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502– 

8951, jon.cofrancesco@ferc.gov. 


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1See 16 U.S.C. 803(a)(1) (2012). 

2 41 Stat. 1063. 

3 49 Stat. 838, 16 U.S.C. 791a–825r. 

4Exhibit R, 18 CFR 4.41 (2018), License 

Applications—Revision of Regulations, Order 260– 

A, 29 FPC 777 (1963). 

5Publicizing License Conditions Relating to 

Recreational Opportunities at Hydroelectric 

Projects, Order No. 299, 33 FPC 1131 (1965) (Order 

299). Section 1 of part 8 requires licensees to 

publicize license conditions related to recreation; 

section 2 requires licensees to post, at points of 

public access, signs providing recreation use 

information and requires licensees to make such 

information available for inspection; and section 3 

requires licensees to permit use without 

discrimination. 18 CFR 8.1–8.3 (2018). 

6Recreational Development at Licensed Projects, 

Order No. 313, 34 FPC 1546, 1548 (1965) (Order 

313). 

7 Inventory of Recreation Facilities at Licensed 

Hydroelectric Projects, Order No. 330, 36 FPC 1030 

(1966) (Order 330). Section 8.11 requires the filing 

of information on the use and development of 

public recreation opportunities. 18 CFR 8.11 (2018). 

Tara DiJohn (Legal Information), Office 

of the General Counsel, Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 

First Street NE, Washington, DC 

20426, (202) 502–8671, tara.dijohn@

ferc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

United States of America 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

Docket No. RM18–14–000 

Elimination of Form 80 and Revision of 

Regulations on Recreational 

Opportunities and Development at 

Licensed Hydropower Projects 

ORDER NO. 852 

FINAL RULE 

(Issued December 20, 2018) 

Table of Contents 

Paragraph Nos. 

I. Background ................................................................................................................................................................................. 2 

II. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ................................................................................................................................................ 5 

III. Discussion ................................................................................................................................................................................ 6 

A. Removal of § 8.11—Information Respecting Use and Development of Public Recreational Opportunities ..................... 6 

1. Licensees’ General Recreation Obligations ................................................................................................................ 9 

2. Recreational Use Monitoring ....................................................................................................................................... 14 

3. Mandatory Conditioning Authority ............................................................................................................................... 22 

4. Recreation Costs, Revenues, and User Fees ............................................................................................................ 28 

5. Commission Determination ......................................................................................................................................... 30 

B. Removal of § 141.14—Form No. 80, Licensed Hydropower Development Recreation Report ........................................ 31 

C. Amendments of 18 CFR 8.1 and 8.2 ................................................................................................................................ 33 

1. Section 8.1—Publication of License Conditions Relating to Recreation .................................................................... 34 

2. Section 8.2—Posting of Project Lands as to Recreation Use and Availability of Information ................................... 43 

IV. Regulatory Requirements ........................................................................................................................................................ 48 

A. Information Collection Statement ....................................................................................................................................... 48 

B. Environmental Analysis ...................................................................................................................................................... 63 

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act ................................................................................................................................................... 64 

D. Document Availability ........................................................................................................................................................ 69 

E. Effective Date and Congressional Notification .................................................................................................................. 72 

1. The Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission (Commission) is amending 

its regulations to remove § 8.11, thereby 

eliminating the requirement for 

licensees to file a Licensed Hydropower 

Development Recreation Report, 

designated as FERC Form No. 80 (Form 

80). Form 80 solicits information on the 

use and development of recreation 

facilities at hydropower projects 

licensed by the Commission under the 

Federal Power Act (FPA). In addition, 

the Final Rule revises §§ 8.1 and 8.2 of 

the Commission’s regulations to 

modernize licensee public notice 

practices, clarify recreational signage 

requirements, and provide flexibility to 

assist licensees’ compliance with these 

requirements. 

I. Background 

2. Section 10(a)(1) of the FPA requires 

the Commission to ensure that any 

licensed project is best adapted to a 

comprehensive plan for improving and 

developing a waterway for a variety of 

beneficial public uses, including 

recreational use.1 Although section 

10(a) of the Federal Water Power Act of 

June 10, 1920 2 did not refer specifically 

to recreation, in 1935 when the Federal 

Water Power Act was re-enacted as Part 

I of the Federal Power Act,3 the words 

‘including recreational purposes’ were 

added to section 10(a) to make clear that 

recreation considerations were to be 

included in the comprehensive 

development of the nation’s water 

resources. Pursuant to this obligation, 

the Commission required licensees to 

allow public access to project lands and 

waters for recreational use and began to 

include standard conditions in licenses 

for the provision of recreational 

facilities. 

3. In the 1960s, the Commission 

developed specific policies and 

practices to ensure that licensees 

provided reasonable recreational 

opportunities and notice of such 

opportunities to the public. In 1963, the 

Commission began requiring recreation 

plans for the public utilization of project 

water and land,4 and in 1965 amended 

its regulations by adding part 8, entitled 

‘‘Recreation Opportunities and 

Development at Licensed Projects,’’ in 

order to require licensees to widely 

publicize to the general public 

recreational opportunities at individual 

projects.5 Order 313, issued on 

December 27, 1965, amended the 

Commission’s general policy regulations 

(18 CFR part 2) by adding § 2.7 to clarify 

that licensees whose projects include 

land and water resources with outdoor 

recreational potential have a 

responsibility to develop those 

resources in accordance with area 

needs, to the extent that such 

development is not inconsistent with 

the primary purpose of the project.6 In 

1966, the Commission further amended 

part 8 of its regulations to require 

licensees to file Form 80, a report that 

provides an inventory of the use and 

development of recreational facilities at 

each development contained within a 

licensed project.7

4. Over the years, the Commission has 

continued to revise its regulations to 

reflect the Commission’s current public 

recreation policies and practices. And 

once again, the Commission has decided 

to modify certain recreation-related 

regulations in order to eliminate 

unnecessary reporting requirements, 

modernize licensee public notice 

practices, clarify recreational signage 

requirements, and provide flexibility to 

assist licensees’ compliance with these 

requirements. 


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8Elimination of Form 80 and Revision of 

Regulations on Recreational Opportunities and 

Development at Licensed Hydropower Projects, 

FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 32,726 (2018) (NOPR). 9The eight licensees include: Duke Energy; 

Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County, 

Washington; Idaho Power Company; Pacific Gas 

and Electric Company; PacifiCorp; KEI (USA) 

Power Management, Inc.; Public Utility District No. 

1 of Chelan County, Washington; and Alabama 

Power. Comments were also filed by the National 

Park Service (Park Service); the U.S. Forest Service 

(Forest Service); Roanoke County, Virginia; the 

Town of Vinton, Virginia; Alaska Power 

Association; and the National Hydropower 

Association (NHA). 

10 Modification of Hydropower Procedural 

Regulations, Including the Deletion of Certain 

Outdated or Non-Essential Regulations, Order No. 

540, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 30,944 (1992) (crossreferenced at 59 FERC ¶ 61,124). Order 330 

originally required licensees to file a Form 80 every 

two years. Order 330, 36 FPC 1030, 1031. The 

Commission subsequently amended § 8.11 to revise 

the form and reduce the filing frequency. See 

Revision of Licensed Hydropower Development 

Recreation Report: FERC Form No. 80, Order No. 

179, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 30,295 (1981) (crossreferenced at 16 FERC ¶ 61,248 (consolidating, 

simplifying, and reducing the size of the Form 80 

by approximately 60 percent); Deletion of a 1987 

Filing Requirement for FERC Form No. 80, Order 

No. 419, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 30,640 (1985) (crossreferenced at 31 FERC ¶ 61,154) (committing to reevaluate the need for Form 80, and take further 

action if Form 80 is found unnecessary or in need 

of modification). 

11Most licensed projects have only one project 

development. However, licensees of projects with 

more than one development must file a separate 

Form 80 report for each development. 12The Form 80 defines a recreation day as each 

visit by a person to a development for recreational 

purposes during any portion of a 24-hour period. 

13 18 CFR 8.11(c) (2018). 

14NOPR, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 32,726 at PP 

5–8. 

15 In addition, between fiscal years 2016 and 

2030, over 500 projects will begin the relicensing 

process. During relicensing, the Commission’s 

Division of Hydropower Licensing will evaluate the 

need for, and may require, project-specific 

recreation monitoring in new licenses on a case-bycase basis. 

16The Park Service recommends that the 

Commission consider incorporating the basic 

planning and monitoring framework developed by 

the Interagency Visitor Use Management Council— 

a collaboration between six federal agencies (the 

Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

the Park Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). The Interagency 

Council’s Visitor Use Management Framework 

describes a process for managing visitor use on 

federally-managed lands and waters, and can be 

accessed at https://visitorusemanagement.nps.gov/ 

VUM/Framework. The Commission is not a federal 

land management agency. Staff evaluates and 

develops recreation planning and monitoring 

requirements that respond to the unique resource 

issues and site conditions at individual projects. 

II. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

5. On May 17, 2018, the Commission 

issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(NOPR) proposing to eliminate the Form 

80, and further revise its regulations 

governing recreational use and 

development at licensed hydropower 

projects.8 In response to the NOPR, the 

Commission received 14 comments 

from the following entities: eight 

licensees, two federal land management 

agencies, two local governments, and 

two trade associations.9 The proposal 

set forth in the NOPR, the comments 

received, and the Commission’s 

determinations are discussed below. 

III. Discussion 

A. Removal of § 8.11—Information 

Respecting Use and Development of 

Public Recreational Opportunities 

6. Section 8.11 requires licensees to 

file Form 80, which is a report on the 

use and development of recreational 

facilities at each development contained 

within a licensed hydropower project, 

on April 1 of every sixth year, 

documenting data compiled during the 

previous calendar year.10 For each 

project development,11 the Form 80 

requires licensees to report the number 

of visits (i.e., recreation days),12 the use 

capacity of each type of public 

recreation facility, and the licensee’s 

annual costs and revenues associated 

with the public recreation facilities 

within the project boundary. In order to 

complete the Form 80, licensees must 

collect data on recreation use, facilities, 

and capacity for a 12-month period. 

Licensees may request an exemption 

from the Form 80 requirement if they 

demonstrate that a project development 

has little or no existing use or recreation 

potential (i.e., less than 100 recreation 

days per year).13

7. In the NOPR, the Commission 

proposed to remove § 8.11 from its 

regulations, thereby eliminating the 

requirement for licensees to file the 

Form 80. The Commission advanced 

several reasons for eliminating Form 

80.14 First, unlike in 1965 when Form 

80 was adopted, licensed projects with 

significant recreation opportunities are 

often now required to comply with 

project-specific license conditions that 

direct licensees to prepare and 

implement a recreation plan, conduct 

recreation monitoring, and file periodic 

updates to an approved recreation 

plan.15 Second, for licensed projects 

with limited recreation opportunities— 

many of which are exempt from filing 

Form 80—Commission staff relies on a 

variety of tools other than the Form 80 

to determine whether the projects are 

meeting public recreation needs, 

including periodic inspections and 

investigation of non-compliance 

allegations (e.g., any recreation-related 

inquiries or complaints submitted by 

resource agencies, recreation users, or 

local residents). Third, Commission staff 

reports limited use of Form 80 data and 

cites concerns about the data’s validity 

and lack of specificity. Finally, 

advances in technology since the advent 

of the Form 80 (e.g., websites, publiclyavailable aerial photography, and the 

Commission’s eLibrary system) allow 

interested parties and the general public 

to easily access information about a 

project’s recreational opportunities and 

any recreation-related license 

requirements. 

8. All eight licensees that commented 

on the NOPR support the Commission’s 

proposal to eliminate the Form 80 

reporting requirement. Alaska Power 

Association and NHA also filed 

comments in support of the NOPR’s 

proposal to eliminate the Form 80. The 

Park Service conditionally supports the 

Commission’s proposal, provided that 

the Commission strengthens its 

oversight of licensees’ recreation-related 

planning, monitoring, and information 

dissemination. 

1. Licensees’ General Recreation 

Obligations 

NOPR Comments 

9. In response to the NOPR’s proposal 

to eliminate Form 80, the Park Service 

commented that additional guidance, 

training, and technical assistance is 

needed to ensure new and existing 

recreation management plans satisfy the 

general obligations set forth in § 2.7 of 

the Commission’s regulations. The Park 

Service recommends that the 

Commission: (i) Conduct a 

comprehensive evaluation of its 

recreation planning and monitoring 

programs for licensing and postlicensing compliance; (ii) develop 

guidance and offer training and 

technical assistance for recreation 

management planning and monitori 16

and (iii) establish a public process for 

periodic review of recreation facilities, 

conditions, needs, and recreation flows. 

Commission Response 

10. Pursuant to its obligations under 

the FPA and the Commission’s 

regulations, Commission staff evaluates 

the existing recreation resources, 

facilities, and needs at each existing or 

proposed hydropower project on a caseby-case basis during the licensing 

process and, as appropriate, also during 

the amendment process. Similarly, as 

appropriate, Commission staff continues 

to evaluate a project’s recreational 

resources, facilities, and needs over the 

term of a license by considering licenserequired recreation plan updates and 

monitoring reports, conducting periodic 

project inspections, and addressing 

allegations of non-compliance. 

11. Commission staff frequently 

provides guidance to licensees on a 


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17Roanoke County and the Town of Vinton 

acknowledge that their comments on the NOPR are 

informed by their experience consulting as 

stakeholders on two licensed projects—Smith 

Mountain Project No. 2210 and Niagara Project No. 

2466. 

18For potential violations and wrongdoing 

involving Commission hydropower projects, 

individuals or stakeholders are encouraged to 

contact the Commission’s Office of Energy Projects 

directly at 844–434–0053. 

19 Doing otherwise would merely be retaining the 

Form 80’s standardized monitoring approach under 

the guise of a different name (i.e., a standard license 

condition), defeating the purpose of this Final Rule. 

range of recreation management 

planning and monitoring matters. Staff 

regularly participates in recreation and 

land use management trainings, 

workshops, and conferences. Staff also 

strives to provide timely and 

constructive advice to licensees in 

response to project-specific recreation 

inquiries. In addition, Commission staff 

is currently developing a guidance 

document for licensees, which will 

provide general guidance on how to 

prepare a recreation management plan 

in consultation with stakeholders. This 

guidance document will describe the 

components of an effective recreation 

management plan, such as recreation 

use monitoring, periodic plan review 

and updates, and circumstances 

warranting a plan amendment. 

12. The Commission’s hydropower 

licensing and compliance programs 

already incorporate a robust public 

process that allows for periodic review 

of recreation facilities, conditions, 

needs, and, where appropriate, 

recreation flows. Most often, public 

engagement opportunities arise during 

the pre-filing consultation process and 

the Commission’s public notice process 

for license applications and recreationrelated compliance proceedings (e.g., 

consideration of a recreation 

management plan or amendment 

application). During the term of a 

license, agencies, members of the 

public, and other stakeholders have 

additional opportunities to review and 

provide input on any license-required 

recreation plan updates, periodic 

recreation plan assessments, or 

recreation-related monitoring results. 

Finally, members of the public may, at 

any time during the license term, access 

and review recreation-related 

documents on the Commission’s 

website, seek available project-specific 

recreation plans or other information 

from individual licensees, or contact 

Commission staff regarding recreation 

inquiries or complaints. 

13. The foregoing demonstrates that 

there are sufficient safeguards to ensure 

that our recreation requirements are 

understood and implemented. 

2. Recreational Use Monitoring 

NOPR Comments 

14. The Park Service expresses 

concern that the Commission would not 

require projects with limited recreation 

opportunities to implement any new or 

additional recreation monitoring efforts 

if it eliminates the Form 80 reporting 

requirement. Rather, for all projects 

including those with little or no 

recreation opportunities, the Park 

Service recommends that the 

Commission: (i) Notice project 

inspections and invite stakeholders and 

the public to participate; (ii) inspect 

projects on a regular basis using staff 

with recreation expertise; and (iii) 

improve or clarify the process for 

submitting recreation-related 

complaints to the Commission. 

15. If Form 80 is eliminated, Roanoke 

County and the Town of Vinton urge the 

Commission to include language in 

every project license requiring licensees 

to develop a recreation monitoring plan 

in consultation with the appropriate 

federal agencies, state agencies, local 

governments, and other stakeholders.17

Roanoke County and the Town of 

Vinton also ask the Commission to 

reconsider the NOPR’s statement that 

licensed projects with little to no 

recreation, including projects previously 

exempted from the Form 80 reporting 

requirement pursuant to § 8.11(c), 

would not be expected to implement 

any new or additional recreation 

monitoring efforts, but should continue 

to comply with any project-specific 

license conditions related to public 

recreation. 

16. PacifiCorp asks the Commission to 

clarify that projects that do not have any 

license-required recreation use reporting 

other than Form 80 submittals will no 

longer have any routine recreation use 

reporting obligations if the Form 80 is 

eliminated. 

Commission Response 

17. The Commission considers the 

need for recreation monitoring on a 

project-specific basis, based on the 

conditions at that project at the time of 

licensing and during post-licensing 

review, as appropriate. Roughly half of 

all licensed projects will begin the 

relicensing process within the next 12 

years and during the relicensing 

proceeding the Commission will 

conduct a comprehensive review of 

each project’s recreational resources and 

determine the appropriate level of 

recreational use monitoring, if any, 

needed for each project. 

18. In addition, Commission staff 

periodically conducts project 

inspections that focus on an individual 

license’s environmental and recreationrelated requirements. Generally, 

Commission staff also will conduct an 

environmental inspection for projects 

with significant environmental or public 

use license requirements—e.g., projects 

with high recreational use, fish passage 

facilities, or wildlife mitigation areas. 

These inspections allow Commission 

staff to inspect project features, 

facilities, and areas to ensure that 

licensees are complying with the 

requirements of their respective project 

licenses. Commission staff also regularly 

conducts environmental inspections at 

projects with on-going non-compliance 

or identified resource issues. 

19. Finally, the most efficient way to 

bring a recreation-related complaint or 

non-compliance allegation to the 

Commission’s attention is by directly 

contacting the Commission’s Office of 

Energy Projects through its enforcement 

hotline telephone number.18 Once a 

recreation-related allegation of noncompliance is received by the 

Commission, it is forwarded to staff 

within the Commission’s Office of 

Energy Projects’ Division of 

Hydropower Administration and 

Compliance for investigation and any 

necessary follow-up action. 

20. In response to PacifiCorp’s 

clarification request, unless recreation 

use reporting is required by a license 

condition—including any approved 

recreation plan or report or mandatory 

agency condition—licensees will no 

longer have any specific recreation use 

reporting obligation once the Form 80 is 

eliminated. 

21. For the reasons discussed above, 

we will not establish a standard 

requirement for recreational use 

monitoring at every licensed project.19

Considering recreation planning and 

monitoring needs on a project-by-project 

basis is the most appropriate method for 

Commission staff to ensure that each 

licensed project protects its recreational 

opportunities and is best adapted to the 

comprehensive development of the 

waterway. 

3. Mandatory Conditioning Authority 

NOPR Comments 

22. The Forest Service comments that 

it values the type of information 

reported by licensees in Form 80 

submittals. 

23. The Forest Service expresses 

concern that if the Form 80 reporting 

requirement is eliminated, there will be 

no long-term baseline information on 

recreational usage to inform the 

development of operational plans or 

license conditions, and suggests that in 


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20Commission staff estimates that between 

January 2015 and the end of September 2018, the 

Commission issued a total of 73 licenses for original 

or relicensed hydropower projects. Of these 

licenses, the Commission specifically included 

conditions requiring the development and 

implementation of recreation management plans for 

54 of these projects and also specifically exempted 

another nine of these projects from the current 

Form 80 filing requirement, due to little or no 

project-specific recreation resources or 

opportunities. In other words, of the licenses issued 

between January 2015 and the end of September 

2018, licensees for 63 licenses (i.e., 86 percent) 

were required to develop a project-specific 

recreation management plan or were exempt from 

the Form 80 filing requirement. 

21 18 CFR 2.7 (2018). 

22See, e.g., Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant 

County, Washington, 160 FERC ¶ 61,099, at P 23 

(2017). 

23Order 330, 36 FPC 1030. 

24 18 CFR 141.14 (2018). 

25 18 CFR 8.1 (2018). 

26See id. 

future relicensing proceedings it will 

rely increasingly on its mandatory 

conditioning authority under section 

4(e) of the FPA to ensure that licensees 

monitor recreation usage, and facility 

features and operations meet public 

recreational needs on Forest Service 

lands. 

24. The Forest Service also asks the 

Commission to clarify how eliminating 

Form 80 will affect projects that are 

currently awaiting final license orders, 

including projects with 4(e) license 

conditions that may rely on Form 80 

information. Under such circumstances, 

the Forest Service cautions that it may 

need to revise previously-submitted 4(e) 

license conditions. 

Commission Response 

25. As previously explained in the 

NOPR, most projects with significant 

recreation resources have a recreation 

management plan or recreation 

monitoring report requirements and 

thus are already responsible for 

recreational monitoring or oversight 

above and beyond that required by the 

Form 80 filing requirement.20 In the 

absence of the Form 80 reporting 

requirement, licensees will remain 

subject to any other recreation 

monitoring requirements contained 

within a license condition or approved 

recreation plan. 

26. Going forward, Commission staff 

evaluating future license and 

amendment applications will continue 

to make case-by-case determinations on 

whether recreation monitoring is 

warranted for a particular project and, if 

so, the type and degree of monitoring 

needed. We anticipate that Federal land 

management agencies will likewise 

continue to provide input on the 

appropriateness of recreation 

monitoring during individual licensing 

proceedings. In any event, Federal land 

management agencies, such as Forest 

Service, are not precluded by this Final 

Rule from continuing to use their 

mandatory 4(e) conditioning authority 

to require recreational monitoring for 

individual projects during licensing 

proceedings, as they deem appropriate. 

27. As to Forest Service’s concern 

regarding current pending license 

applications, while we have explained 

that we believe sufficient information 

regarding recreation usage and needs 

will continue to be available after Form 

80 is eliminated, the Forest Service may, 

if it deems it necessary, timely amend 

its 4(e) license conditions. 

4. Recreation Costs, Revenues, and User 

Fees 

28. The Park Service states that, 

following the elimination of Form 80, 

the Commission should require all 

licensees to report annual recreation 

costs and revenues, as well as user fees 

for specific facilities, on a regular basis. 

29. The Commission’s regulations 

allow a licensee to charge reasonable 

fees to help defray the cost of 

constructing, operating, and 

maintaining recreation facilities.21 Form 

80 required licensees to include data on 

its annual recreation costs and revenues, 

but it did not require licensees to 

identify specific user fees for individual 

facilities. Typically, the Commission 

does not review or approve the 

reasonableness of such fees.22 However, 

if the Commission receives an inquiry or 

complaint regarding recreation costs, 

revenues, or user fees at a particular 

project, staff may request that the 

licensee provide such information to 

assist in its investigation of a noncompliance allegation. Therefore, the 

Commission does not believe that 

establishing a standard requirement for 

every licensee to report to the 

Commission recreation costs, revenues, 

and user fees on an annual basis is 

necessary, nor does the Park Service 

elaborate on the utility of such a 

standard reporting requirement. 

5. Commission Determination 

30. For the reasons discussed above, 

the Commission concludes that the 

benefits and the reduced burden for 

licensees and staff that result from 

eliminating the Form 80 outweigh the 

potential minor obstacles that may arise 

during the transition from the Form 80 

data to specific recreation data gained 

through licensee compliance with 

project-specific license conditions. By 

this Final Rule, we adopt the NOPR’s 

proposal to delete § 8.11 of our 

regulations, thereby eliminating the 

Form 80 filing requirement. 

B. Removal of § 141.14—Form No. 80, 

Licensed Hydropower Development 

Recreation Report 

31. Added to the Commission’s 

regulations alongside the Form 80 

requirement in 1966,23 § 141.14 

approved licensee use of Form 80 in the 

manner prescribed in § 8.11 of our 

regulations.24 To parallel the proposed 

removal of § 8.11, the NOPR also 

proposed to remove § 141.14 of its 

regulations. 

32. The Commission did not receive 

any comments addressing the NOPR’s 

proposed removal of § 141.14 of the 

Commission’s regulations. Therefore, 

we retain the NOPR’s proposal to delete 

§ 141.14. 

C. Amendments of 18 CFR 8.1 and 8.2 

33. The Commission amends §§ 8.1 

and 8.2 of its regulations to modernize 

licensee public notice practices, clarify 

recreational signage requirements, and 

provide flexibility to assist licensees’ 

compliance with these requirements. 

All licensees that filed comments in 

response to the NOPR generally support 

the Commission’s proposal to revise 

§§ 8.1 and 8.2 of the Commission’s 

regulations to update licensee public 

notice practices. Forest Service also 

expressed support for the Commission’s 

efforts to modernize and diversify 

licensee options for keeping the public 

informed of recreation opportunities at 

licensed projects. 

1. Section 8.1—Publication of License 

Conditions Relating to Recreation 

34. Section 8.1 directs licensees to 

publicize information about the 

availability of projects lands and waters 

for recreational purposes, and any 

recreation-related license conditions.25

Section 8.1 requires licensees, at a 

minimum, to publish notice in a local 

newspaper once each week for four 

weeks of any recreation-related license 

conditions that the Commission may 

designate in an order issuing or 

amending a license.26

35. In addition to publishing notice in 

the local newspaper, the NOPR 

proposed to require licensees with 

project websites to also post notice of 

recreation-related license conditions on 

its website. This requirement would 

only apply to a licensee that already has 

an existing project website, or decides to 

develop a project website in the future. 

As explained in the NOPR, this 

additional publication method will 

ensure that the public is informed of 


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27Specifically, the Park Service suggests that the 

Commission consider partnering with the 

Department of Energy’s National Laboratories to 

develop standardized reporting of flow data, 

including scheduled recreational flow releases. The 

Park Service also encourages the Commission to 

consider a partnership with the Park Service to 

publicize information about public recreation 

opportunities at licensed hydropower projects on 

the National Rivers Project website. As discussed 

further below, we are satisfied that our existing 

publication requirements keep the public informed 

of recreation opportunities at licensed projects. 

Commission staff will continue to evaluate and 

include, where appropriate, license conditions that 

require licensees to notify the public of scheduled 

recreation flows on a case-by-case basis. 

recreational opportunities and 

recreation-related license conditions 

regardless of whether members of the 

public rely on a newspaper or the 

internet as their main information 

source. 

a. Availability of Information 

36. The Park Service recommends that 

the Commission ensure that the 

information it receives from licensees is 

available to the public, and develop 

standardized information about 

recreation facilities and flows at 

licensed projects.27 In addition, the Park 

Service recommends that the 

Commission require every licensee to 

create and maintain a project website 

that publicizes information about 

available public recreation 

opportunities. To this end, the Park 

Service recommends that all licensees 

be required to maintain a project 

website that, at minimum, provides: (i) 

Operating status of recreation facilities; 

(ii) notice of future recreation reviews 

and inspections, and the outcome of any 

such evaluations; (iii) recreation 

management plans, recreation-related 

reports, and the entire license 

instrument; and (iv) a map that provides 

standard Geographic Information 

System (GIS) layers identifying 

recreation facilities, public access, and 

the project boundary. 

37. As revised by this Final Rule, 

§§ 8.1 and 8.2 of the Commission’s 

regulations require licensees to 

publicize specific recreation use and 

availability information to the public for 

its licensed project through newspaper 

notices, project signage, its local office, 

and any existing licensee website. We 

are satisfied that the existing 

publication requirements provide a 

variety of ways to sufficiently inform 

the public of recreation and public 

access information. Therefore, we 

decline to adopt the Park Service’s 

recommendation that all licensees be 

required to create and maintain a project 

website. 

38. On occasion, the Commission has 

required a licensee to provide recreation 

information to the public on a recurring 

basis through telephone recordings or 

website updates (e.g., periodic 

notifications communicating 

recreational streamflow data, 

whitewater boating opportunities, or 

recreation site accessibility). However, 

we do not believe that a blanket 

requirement directing licensees to 

regularly notify the public of recreation 

flows or recreation site accessibility is 

appropriate for all licensed projects. In 

addition, members of the public may 

obtain information about a project’s 

recreational opportunities—including 

detailed information about recreation 

facility availability and use, project 

boundary maps, and inspection 

reports—by searching the project docket 

on the Commission’s eLibrary website, 

registering for the Commission’s 

e-Subscription service, and participating 

in publicly-noticed licensing and postlicensing proceedings, such as the 

consideration of a recreation plan or 

significant recreation-related license 

amendment. 

b. Newspaper Publication 

39. NHA supports the proposed 

changes to § 8.1, but asks the 

Commission to eliminate the newspaper 

publication requirement for licensees 

that publicly notice recreation-related 

license conditions by publication on a 

project website. In addition, where a 

licensee does not maintain a project 

website and there is no local newspaper, 

NHA posits that licensees should be 

allowed to post notice on municipal or 

county websites. 

40. We decline to eliminate the 

requirement that licensees publish 

notice of recreation-related license 

conditions in a local newspaper. As we 

noted in the NOPR, requiring licensees 

to publish notice in a local newspaper 

and, if applicable, on a project website 

ensures that the public is on notice of 

recreational opportunities and 

recreation-related license conditions or 

amendments regardless of whether a 

particular member of the public relies 

on a newspaper or the internet as their 

primary news source. Further, the 

possibility that newspaper publication 

will reach local community members 

that may not have reliable internet 

access outweighs the negligible time 

and expense necessary to publish a 

notice in a local newspaper. Licensees 

are not precluded from supplementing 

the required methods of public notice 

by also posting notice on municipal or 

country websites or at local government 

offices. 

c. Project Website Definition 

41. Pacific Gas and Electric Company 

(PG&E) asks the Commission to clarify 

which types of websites will be 

considered ‘‘project websites.’’ PG&E 

recommends that the Commission 

exclude from its definition ‘‘relicensing 

websites,’’ which it describes as 

websites maintained during the 

relicensing process for stakeholders to 

access documents associated with the 

pre-filing process and the relicensing 

application process. PG&E further 

explains that relicensing websites are 

generally targeted to the stakeholders 

participating in the relicensing process, 

and do not provide specific information 

about the recreation opportunities 

provided near or on project reservoirs. 

42. We agree that temporary websites 

developed specifically for a relicensing 

proceeding do not constitute the type of 

project website the Commission expects 

to be used for the purposes of § 8.1 

publication. To clarify, by using the 

term ‘‘project website,’’ the Commission 

intended to capture any existing 

website, or webpage, used by a licensee 

to communicate information to the 

public about recreation opportunities 

provided by a particular project over the 

duration of the project’s license. We 

anticipate that the information required 

by § 8.1 is the type of information that 

is already offered by many websiteready licensees in an electronic format 

or can be easily uploaded to an existing 

project webpage. 

2. Section 8.2—Posting of Project Lands 

as to Recreation Use and Availability of 

Information 

43. Section 8.2(a) requires the licensee 

to post at each public access point a 

visible sign that identifies: The project 

name, project owner, project number, 

directions to project areas available for 

public recreation, permissible times and 

activities, and other regulations 

regarding recreation use. Section 8.2(a) 

also requires licensees to post visible 

notice that project recreation facilities 

are open to all members of the public 

without discrimination. Section 8.2(b) 

directs the licensee to make available for 

inspection at its local offices the 

Commission-approved recreation plan 

and the entire license order indexed for 

easy reference to the recreation-related 

license conditions designated for 

publication in accordance with § 8.1 of 

the Commission’s regulations. As the 

Commission explained in Order 299, the 

rationale behind the types of public 

notice required by §§ 8.1 and 8.2 is twofold: (i) It puts prospective purchasers of 

land in the project vicinity on notice of 

the project’s public access and 


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28Order 299, 33 F.P.C. 1131. 29The Park Service asks the Commission to 

supplement recreation signage by encouraging 

licensees to provide on-site interpretive kiosks that 

explain the history of the project. As a general 

matter, we agree with the Park Service and 

encourage the use of interpretive kiosks or signage 

to educate visitors about a unique or important 

aspect of the project area (e.g., cultural resources, 

special-status species, etc.). However, installation of 

interpretive kiosks in addition to recreation-related 

signage is not appropriate or necessary for every 

licensed project. Commission staff will continue to 

consider the appropriateness of on-site interpretive 

kiosks on a project-by-project basis as part of any 

relevant licensing or amendment proceeding before 

the Commission. 

30 44 U.S.C. 3501–3521 (2012). 

31See 5 CFR 1320.12 (2018). 

32FERC–500 includes the reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements for ‘‘Application for 

License/Relicense for Projects with Capacity Greater 

Than 5MW.’’ 

33FERC–505 includes the reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements for ‘‘Small Hydropower 

Projects and Conduit Facilities including License/ 

Relicense, Exemption, and Qualifying Conduit 

Facility Determination.’’ 

34Licensees were required to file Form 80 reports 

by April 1, 2015, containing recreational use and 

development data compiled during the 2014 

calendar year. 

35For projects with more than one development, 

the licensee is required to submit a Form 80 report 

for each development. 

36These estimates, from the current OMBapproved inventory figures for Form 80, used 

$74.50 per hour for wages and benefits. The most 

recent OMB approval of the Form 80 was issued 

December 8, 2016. 

37These figures are annual averages (for 

Paperwork Reduction Act purposes) of the burden 

and cost for the six-year cycle for the Form 80. The 

most recent OMB approval of the Form 80 was 

issued December 8, 2016. 

38As of September 30, 2018, the Commission 

currently has 480 licenses for projects with an 

installed capacity more than 5 MW (reporting 

requirements covered by FERC–500) and 573 

licenses for projects 5 MW or less (reporting 

requirements covered by FERC–505). 

recreation purposes; and (ii) it informs 

the general public of the location and 

terms of use of the project’s recreation 

facilities.28

a. Recreation Signage 

44. To streamline the amount of 

information that must appear on 

recreation signage, the NOPR proposed 

revisions to § 8.2(a) that would require 

signs to, at a minimum, identify: The 

project name and number, and a 

statement that the project is licensed by 

the Commission; the licensee name and 

contact information for obtaining 

additional project recreation 

information; and permissible times and 

activities. As explained in the NOPR, 

the revisions reduce the information 

licensees must include on recreation 

signage at each public access point and 

afford licensees greater flexibility to 

design signs that effectively 

communicate recreation information to 

the public. 

45. A number of commenters filed 

comments in support of this aspect of 

the Commission’s proposal.29 No 

negative comments were filed. The 

Final Rule retains the NOPR’s revisions 

to § 8.2(a). 

b. Recreation Document Availability 

46. The NOPR also proposed to revise 

§ 8.2(b) to require licensees with project 

websites to include on their websites 

copies of any approved recreation plan, 

recreation-related reports approved by 

the Commission, and the entire license 

instrument. This requirement would 

only apply to a licensee that already has 

an existing project website, or 

establishes a project website in the 

future. 

47. No negative comments were filed 

on this aspect of the Commission’s 

proposal. The Final Rule retains the 

NOPR’s revisions to § 8.2(b). 

IV. Regulatory Requirements 

A. Information Collection Statement 

48. The Paperwork Reduction Act 30

requires each federal agency to seek and 

obtain the Office of Management and 

Budget’s (OMB) approval before 

undertaking a collection of information 

(including reporting, record keeping, 

and public disclosure requirements) 

directed to ten or more persons or 

contained in a rule of general 

applicability. OMB regulations require 

approval of certain information 

collection requirements contained in 

final rules published in the Federal 

Register.31 Upon approval of a 

collection of information, OMB will 

assign an OMB control number and an 

expiration date. Respondents subject to 

the filing requirements of a rule will not 

be penalized for failing to respond to the 

collection of information unless the 

collection of information displays a 

valid OMB control number. 

49. Public Reporting Burden: By 

eliminating the Form 80 filing 

requirement, this Final Rule eliminates 

an existing data collection, FERC–80 

(OMB Control No. 1902–0106). In 

addition, the Final Rule modifies certain 

reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements included in FERC–500 

(OMB Control No. 1902–0058) 32 and 

FERC–505 (OMB Control No. 1902– 

0115).33

50. Under the most recent Form 80 

reporting cycle,34 346 licensees 

prepared and filed 843 Form 80 

reports.35 Every three years, the 

Commission is required to request from 

OMB an extension of any currently 

approved information collection. Since 

the Form 80 is only filed every six years, 

the most recent annual burden and cost 

figures provided to OMB were based on 

an estimate of 400 respondents. To 

determine the total number of responses 

per year for OMB submittal purposes, 

we multiplied the number of 

respondents (400) by the annual number 

of responses per respondent (0.167) to 

arrive at 67 responses per year. The 

Commission estimated the current 

public reporting burden to be an average 

of three hours per form, with an 

associated cost of approximately $224 

per form. Because the Form 80 is filed 

every six years, the estimated 

annualized cost to complete each form 

is $37.44, with a total annual cost for all 

licenses of approximately $14,974.50.36

This estimate includes the time required 

to review instructions, research existing 

data sources, and complete and review 

the collection of information. 

51. This Final Rule eliminates certain 

information collection and 

recordkeeping requirements. The 

removal of the Form 80 report 

eliminates the estimated annual 

information collection burden (201 

hours) and cost ($14,974.50) associated 

with FERC–80 (OMB Control No. 1902– 

0106).37

52. In addition, the revisions to §§ 8.1 

and 8.2, associated with the FERC–500 

and FERC–505 information 

collections,38 are intended to modernize 

licensee public notice practices, clarify 

recreational signage requirements, and 

provide flexibility to assist licensees’ 

compliance with these requirements. 

With regard to modernized public 

notice practices, the revisions require 

licensees that have a project website to 

(1) publish notice on its website of 

license conditions related to recreation; 

and (2) maintain on its website copies 

of any approved recreation plan, 

recreation-related reports, and the 

license instrument. If a licensee does 

not have a project website, the website 

publication requirements would not 

apply. Accordingly, there is a slight 

increase in the reporting requirements 

and burden for FERC–500 and FERC– 

505. 

53. The estimated changes to the 

burden and cost of the information 

collections affected by this Final Rule 

follow. 


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39Hourly costs are based on Bureau of Labor 

Statistics figures for May 2017 wages in Sector 22— 

Utilities (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_

22.htm) and December 2017 benefits (https://

www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf). For web 

developers (code 15–1134), the estimated average 

hourly cost (salary plus benefits) is $53.53. 

40The figures are annualized figures contained in 

the current OMB inventory for FERC–80. While 

OMB requires existing information collections to be 

submitted for approval every three years, the 

Commission’s hydropower licenses are only 

required to submit the Form 80 every six years. 

Therefore, the estimated figures for the entire sixyear Form 80 cycle would be a total of 400 

respondents, spending an estimated three hours per 

report, for a total of 1,200 hours. Form 80 will be 

discontinued. 

41This figure indicates that a respondent files a 

Form 80 once every six years. 

42We assume approximately 90 percent of the 

480 licenses for projects with an installed capacity 

of more than 5 MW (i.e., an estimated 432 licenses) 

have project websites. 

43We assume approximately 50 percent of the 

573 licenses for projects 5 MW or less (i.e., an 

estimated 287 licenses) have project websites. 

44Regulations Implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Order No. 486, 

FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 30,783 (1987) (crossreferenced at 41 FERC ¶ 61,284). 

45 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii) (2018). 

46 5 U.S.C. 601–612 (2012). 

47 5 U.S.C. 603(c) (2012). 

48 5 U.S.C. 605(b) (2012). 

49 13 CFR 121.101 (2018). 

50SBA Final Rule on ‘‘Small Business Size 

Standards: Utilities,’’ 78 FR 77343 (Dec. 23, 2013). 

51The North American Industry Classification 

System (NAICS) is an industry classification system 

that Federal statistical agencies use to categorize 

businesses for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, 

and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. 

economy. United States Census Bureau, North 

American Industry Classification System, https://

www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/ (accessed April 

11, 2018). 

52 13 CFR 121.201, Sector 22, Utilities (2018). 

ANNUAL CHANGES IMPLEMENTED BY THE FINAL RULE IN RM18–14–000 39

Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses 

per 

respondent 

Total number 

of responses 

Average burden hours & cost 

per response Total annual burden hours 

& total annual cost 

Cost per 

respondent 

($) 

(1) (2) (1) × (2) = (3) (4) (3) × (4) = 5 (5) / (1) 

FERC–80 (reduction) 40 ....... 400 41 0.167 67 (rounded) ...... 3 hrs.; $224 (rounded); (reduction).201 hrs.; $14,974.50 (rounded); (reduction).$224 (reduction). 

FERC–500 ........................... 42 432 1 432 .................... 0.5 hr.; $26.77 (rounded) ....... 216 hrs.; $11,565 (rounded) ... $26.77 (rounded). 

FERC–505 ........................... 43 287 1 287 .................... 0.5 hr.; $26.77 (rounded) ....... 144 hrs.; $7,683 (rounded) ..... $26.77 (rounded). 

54. Titles: FERC–80 (Licensed 

Hydropower Development Recreation 

Report), FERC–500 (Application for 

License/Relicense for Water Projects 

with More than 5 Megawatt (MW) 

Capacity), and FERC–505 (Small 

Hydropower Projects and Conduit 

Facilities including License/Relicense, 

Exemption, and Qualifying Conduit 

Facility Determination). 

55. Action: Deletion of information 

collection (FERC–80), and revisions to 

existing collections FERC–500 and 

FERC–505. 

56. OMB Control Nos.: 1902–0106 

(FERC–80), 1902–0058 (FERC–500), and 

1902–0115 (FERC–505). 

57. Respondents: Hydropower 

licensees, including municipalities, 

businesses, private citizens, and forprofit and not-for-profit institutions. 

58. Frequency of Information: 

Ongoing (FERC–500 and FERC–505). 

59. Necessity of Information: The 

revised regulations eliminate 

unnecessary reporting requirements, 

modernize licensee public notice 

practices, and clarify recreational 

signage requirements. 

60. Internal Review: The Commission 

has reviewed the revisions and has 

determined they are necessary. These 

requirements conform to the 

Commission’s need for efficient 

information collection, communication, 

and management within the energy 

industry. The Commission has specific, 

objective support for the burden 

estimates associated with the 

information collection requirements. 

61. Interested persons may obtain 

information on the reporting 

requirements by contacting the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 

First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426 

[Attention: Ellen Brown, Office of the 

Executive Director], by email to 

DataClearance@ferc.gov, by phone (202) 

502–8663, or by fax (202) 273–0873. 

62. Comments concerning the 

collections of information and the 

associated burden estimates may also be 

sent to: Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget, 725 17th 

Street NW, Washington, DC 20503 

[Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission]. Due to 

security concerns, comments should be 

sent electronically to the following email address: oira_submission@

omb.eop.gov. Comments submitted to 

OMB should refer to FERC–80, FERC– 

500, and FERC–505 and OMB Control 

Nos. 1902–0106 (FERC–80), 1902–0058 

(FERC–500), and 1902–0115 (FERC– 

505). 

B. Environmental Analysis 

63. The Commission is required to 

prepare an Environmental Assessment 

or an Environmental Impact Statement 

for any action that may have a 

significant effect on the human 

environment.44 Excluded from this 

requirement are rules that are clarifying, 

corrective, or procedural, or that do not 

substantially change the effect of 

legislation or the regulations being 

amended.45 This Final Rule updates the 

Commission’s recreation-related 

regulations by clarifying public notice 

and signage requirements, and 

eliminating unnecessary reporting 

requirements. Because this rule is 

clarifying and procedural in nature, 

preparation of an Environmental 

Assessment or Environmental Impact 

Statement is not required. 

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

64. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 

1980 (RFA) 46 generally requires a 

description and analysis of final rules 

that will have significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The RFA mandates 

consideration of regulatory alternatives 

that accomplish the stated objectives of 

a rulemaking while minimizing any 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities.47

In lieu of preparing a regulatory 

flexibility analysis, an agency may 

certify that a final rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities.48

65. The Small Business 

Administration’s (SBA) Office of Size 

Standards develops the numerical 

definition of a small business.49 The 

SBA size standard for electric utilities 

(effective January 22, 2014) is based on 

the number of employees, including 

affiliates.50 Under SBA’s current size 

standards, a hydroelectric power 

generator (NAICS code 221111) 51 is 

small if, including its affiliates, it 

employs 500 or fewer people.52

66. This Final Rule directly affects all 

hydropower licensees that are currently 

required to file the Form 80. The Final 

Rule removes the Form 80 filing 

requirement, eliminating (for small and 

large entities) the cost of $224 


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53 In the Information Collection section, we 

estimated the average burden and cost per 

respondent to be approximately 30 minutes and 

$26.77 per year. 54 5 U.S.C. 804(2) (2012). 

associated with filing the Form 80 every 

six years. 

67. In addition, the revisions to §§ 8.1 

and 8.2 of the Commission’s regulations 

would directly affect all hydropower 

licensees of projects that offer existing 

or potential recreational use 

opportunities. These revisions are 

intended to modernize licensee public 

notice practices, clarify recreational 

signage requirements, and provide 

flexibility to assist licensees’ 

compliance with these requirements. 

We expect the clarified signage 

requirements to benefit licensees by 

providing them more flexibility to 

design recreation-related signage 

strategies that best fit the needs of their 

individual projects. To modernize 

public notice practices, the revisions 

will require licensees that have a project 

website, or develop one in the future, to 

publish and maintain certain recreationrelated information on its website. If a 

licensee does not have a project website, 

the website publication requirements 

would not apply. Therefore, there is a 

slight increase in the information 

collection reporting requirements and 

burden for FERC–500 and FERC–505.53

However, we do not anticipate the 

impact on affected entities, regardless of 

their status as a small or large entity, to 

be significant. 

68. Based on this understanding, 

pursuant to section 605(b) of the RFA, 

the Commission certifies that this Final 

Rule will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. Accordingly, 

no regulatory flexibility analysis is 

required. 

D. Document Availability 

69. In addition to publishing the full 

text of this document in the Federal 

Register, the Commission provides all 

interested persons an opportunity to 

view and print the contents of this 

document via the Internet through the 

Commission’s Home Page (http://

www.ferc.gov) and in the Commission’s 

Public Reference Room during normal 

business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

Eastern time) at 888 First Street NE, 

Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426. 

70. From the Commission’s Home 

Page on the Internet, this information is 

available on eLibrary. The full text of 

this document is available on eLibrary 

in PDF and Microsoft Word format for 

viewing, printing, and/or downloading. 

To access this document in eLibrary, 

type the docket number excluding the 

last three digits of this document in the 

docket number field. 

71. User assistance is available for 

eLibrary and the Commission’s website 

during normal business hours from the 

Commission’s Online Support at (202) 

502–6652 (toll free at 1–866–208–3676) 

or email at ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, 

or the Public Reference Room at (202) 

502–8371, TTY (202) 502–8659. E-mail 

the Public Reference Room at 

public.referenceroom@ferc.gov. 

E. Effective Date and Congressional 

Notification 

72. This regulation is effective March 

28, 2019. The Commission has 

determined, with the concurrence of the 

Administrator of the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs of 

OMB, that this rule is not a ‘‘major rule’’ 

as defined in section 251 of the Small 

Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act of 1996.54 This rule is 

being submitted to the Senate, House, 

Government Accountability Office, and 

Small Business Administration. 

List of Subjects 

18 CFR Part 8 

Electric power, Recreation and 

recreation areas, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

18 CFR Part 141 

Electric power, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

By direction of the Commission. 

Commissioner McIntyre is not voting on this 

order. 

Commissioner McNamee is voting present. 

Issued: December 20, 2018. 

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr., 

Deputy Secretary. 

In consideration of the foregoing, the 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

amends parts 8 and 141, chapter I, title 

18, Code of Federal Regulations, as 

follows: 

PART 8—RECREATIONAL 

OPPORTUNITIES AND DEVELOPMENT 

AT LICENSED PROJECTS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 8 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 551–557; 16 U.S.C. 

791a–825r; 42 U.S.C. 7101–7352. 

■ 2. Revise § 8.1 to read as follows: 

§ 8.1 Publication of license conditions 

relating to recreation. 

Following the issuance or amendment 

of a license, the licensee shall make 

reasonable efforts to keep the public 

informed of the availability of project 

lands and waters for recreational 

purposes, and of the license conditions 

of interest to persons who may be 

interested in the recreational aspects of 

the project or who may wish to acquire 

lands in its vicinity. Such efforts shall 

include, but are not limited to: the 

publication of notice in a local 

newspaper once each week for 4 weeks, 

and publication on any project website, 

of the project’s license conditions which 

relate to public access to and the use of 

the project waters and lands for 

recreational purposes, recreational 

plans, installation of recreation and fish 

and wildlife facilities, reservoir water 

surface elevations, minimum water 

releases or rates of change of water 

releases, and such other conditions of 

general public interest as the 

Commission may designate in the order 

issuing or amending the license. 

■ 3. Revise § 8.2 to read as follows: 

§ 8.2 Posting of project lands as to 

recreational use and availability of 

information. 

(a) Following the issuance or 

amendment of a license, the licensee 

shall post and maintain at all points of 

public access required by the license (or 

at such access points as are specifically 

designated for this purpose by the 

licensee) and at such other points as are 

subsequently prescribed by the 

Commission on its own motion or upon 

the recommendation of a public 

recreation agency operating in the 

project vicinity, a conspicuous sign that, 

at a minimum, identifies: the FERC 

project name and number, and a 

statement that the project is licensed by 

the Commission; the licensee name and 

contact information for obtaining 

additional project recreation 

information; and permissible times and 

activities. In addition, the licensee shall 

post at such locations conspicuous 

notice that the recreation facilities are 

open to all members of the public 

without discrimination. 

(b) The licensee shall make available 

for inspection at its local offices in the 

project vicinity, and on any project 

website, the approved recreation plan, 

any recreation-related reports approved 

by the Commission, and the entire 

license instrument, properly indexed for 

easy reference to the license conditions 

designated for publications in § 8.1. 

§ 8.11 [Removed] 

■ 4. Remove § 8.11. 

PART 141—STATEMENTS AND 

REPORTS (SCHEDULES) 

■ 5. The authority citation for part 141 

continues to read as follows: 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 248 / Friday, December 28, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 67069 

1The 2015 Act was enacted as part of the 

Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, Public Law 114–74 

(Nov. 2, 2015). 2OMB, Implementation of the Federal Civil 

Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements 

Act of 2015, February 24, 2016. https://obamaw

hitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/ 

memoranda/2016/m-16-06.pdf. 3 DHS published a correction to the IFR on 

August 23, 2016 to correct one amendatory 

instruction. See 81 FR 57442. 

4OMB, Implementation of the 2017 annual 

adjustment pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties 

Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 

2015, December 16, 2016. https://obama

whitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/ 

memoranda/2017/m-17-11_0.pdf. 

5OMB, Implementation of Penalty Inflation 

Adjustments for 2018, Pursuant to the Federal Civil 

Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements 

Act of 2015, December 15, 2017. https://

www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ 

M-18-03.pdf. 

6Public Law 82–414, as amended (INA). The INA 

contains provisions that impose penalties on 

persons, including carriers and aliens, who violate 

specified provisions of the INA. While CBP is 

responsible for enforcing various provisions of the 

INA and assessing penalties for violations of those 

provisions, all the penalty amounts CBP can assess 

for violations of the INA are set forth in one section 

of title 8 of the CFR—8 CFR 280.53. For a complete 

list of the INA sections for which penalties are 

assessed, in addition to a brief description of each 

violation, see the IFR preamble at 81 FR 42989– 

42990. 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 79; 15 U.S.C. 717– 

717z; 16 U.S.C. 791a–828c, 2601–2645; 31 

U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 7101–7352. 

§ 141.14 [Removed] 

■ 6. Remove § 141.14. 

[FR Doc. 2018–28250 Filed 12–27–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

19 CFR Part 4 

[CBP Dec. 18–16] 

RIN 1651–AB32 

Civil Monetary Penalty Adjustments for 

Inflation 

AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection, DHS. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This rule adjusts for inflation 

the amounts that U.S. Customs and 

Border Protection (CBP) can assess as 

civil monetary penalties for the 

following two violations—transporting 

passengers coastwise for hire by certain 

vessels (known as Bowaters vessels) that 

do not meet specified conditions; and 

employing a vessel in a trade without a 

required Certificate of Documentation. 

These adjustments are being made in 

accordance with the Federal Civil 

Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act 

Improvements Act of 2015 (2015 Act) 

which was enacted on November 2, 

2015. Other CBP civil penalty amounts 

were adjusted pursuant to this 2015 Act 

in rule documents published in the 

Federal Register on July 1, 2016; 

January 27, 2017; December 8, 2017; and 

April 2, 2018, but the adjustments for 

these two civil penalties were 

inadvertently left out of those 

documents. 

DATES: This rule is effective on 

December 28, 2018. The adjusted 

penalty amounts will be applicable for 

penalties assessed after December 28, 

2018 if the associated violations 

occurred after November 2, 2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Millie Gleason, Office of Field 

Operations, U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection. Phone: (202) 325–4291. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Statutory and Regulatory Background 

On November 2, 2015, the President 

signed into law the Federal Civil 

Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act 

Improvements Act of 2015 (Pub. L. 114– 

74 section 701 (Nov. 2, 2015)) (2015 

Act).1 The 2015 Act amended the 

Federal Civil Penalties Inflation 

Adjustment Act of 1990 (28 U.S.C. 2461 

note) (1990 Inflation Adjustment Act) to 

improve the effectiveness of civil 

monetary penalties and to maintain 

their deterrent effect. The 2015 Act 

required agencies to: (1) Adjust the level 

of civil monetary penalties with an 

initial ‘‘catch-up’’ adjustment through 

issuance of an interim final rule (IFR) 

and (2) make subsequent annual 

adjustments for inflation. Through the 

‘‘catch-up’’ adjustment, agencies were 

required to adjust the maximum 

amounts of civil monetary penalties to 

more accurately reflect inflation rates. 

The 2015 Act directed the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) to issue 

guidance to agencies on implementing 

the initial ‘‘catch-up’’ adjustment. The 

2015 Act required that agencies publish 

their IFRs in the Federal Register no 

later than July 1, 2016 and that the 

adjusted amounts were to take effect no 

later than August 1, 2016. 

For the subsequent annual 

adjustments, the 2015 Act requires 

agencies to increase the penalty 

amounts by a cost-of-living adjustment. 

The 2015 Act directs OMB to provide 

guidance to agencies each year to assist 

agencies in making the annual 

adjustments. The 2015 Act requires 

agencies to make the annual 

adjustments no later than January 15 of 

each year and to publish the 

adjustments in the Federal Register. 

The Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS) undertook a review of 

the civil penalties that DHS and its 

components administer to determine 

which penalties would need 

adjustments. On July 1, 2016, DHS 

published an IFR adjusting the civil 

monetary penalties with an initial 

‘‘catch-up’’ adjustment, as required by 

the 2015 Act. See 81 FR 42987. DHS 

calculated the adjusted penalties based 

upon nondiscretionary provisions in the 

2015 Act and upon guidance issued by 

OMB on February 24, 2016.2 The 

adjusted penalties were effective for 

civil penalties assessed after August 1, 

2016 (the effective date of the IFR) 

where the associated violations 

occurred after November 2, 2015 (the 

date of enactment of the 2015 Act).3 On 

January 27, 2017, DHS published a final 

rule adopting as final the civil monetary 

penalty adjustment methodology from 

the IFR and making the 2017 annual 

inflation adjustment pursuant to the 

2015 Act and upon guidance OMB 

issued to agencies on December 16, 

2016.4 See 82 FR 8571. On April 2, 2018, 

DHS published a final rule making the 

2018 annual inflation adjustment 

pursuant to the 2015 Act and the 

guidance OMB issued to agencies on 

December 15, 2017.5 See 83 FR 13826. 

As discussed in Section II below, 

several civil monetary penalties 

assessed by CBP and subject to the 2015 

Act were inadvertently omitted from 

these DHS rulemakings. 

II. CBP Penalties 

CBP assesses or enforces penalties 

under various titles of the United States 

Code (U.S.C.) and the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR). These penalties 

include civil monetary penalties for 

certain violations of title 8 of the CFR 

pursuant to the Immigration and 

Nationality Act of 1952,6 as well as 

certain civil monetary penalties for 

customs violations for laws codified in 

title 19 of the U.S.C. and the CFR. CBP 

assesses many of the title 19 penalties 

under the Tariff Act of 1930, as 

amended, and as discussed in the IFR 

preamble at 81 FR 42987, the 2015 Act 

specifically exempts Tariff Act penalties 

from the inflation adjustment 

requirements in the 2015 Act. For that 

reason, DHS did not list those penalties 

in the tables of CBP penalty adjustments 

in the DHS rulemakings. There are also 

various other monetary penalties found 

throughout the U.S.C. and CFR which 

CBP may seek to issue or enforce but 

which were not included in the tables 

because they fall within the purview of 


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