63098 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 177 / Thursday, September 14, 2023 / Notices 

Minutes: Minutes will be available at 

the following website: https://

energy.gov/em/listings/chairs-meetings. 

Signed in Washington, DC on September 8, 

2023. 

LaTanya Butler, 

Deputy Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2023–19871 Filed 9–13–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Energy Information Administration 

Agency Information Collection 

Proposed Extension 

AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information 

Administration (EIA), Department of 

Energy (DOE). 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: EIA invites public comment 

on the proposed three-year extension, 

with changes, to the Natural Gas Data 

Collection Program, OMB Control 

Number 1905–0175, as required under 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

The surveys covered by this request 

include; Form EIA–176, Annual Report 

of Natural and Supplemental Gas 

Supply and Disposition; Form EIA–191, 

Monthly Underground Natural Gas 

Storage Report; Form EIA–191L, 

Monthly Liquefied Natural Gas Storage 

Report; Form EIA–757, Natural Gas 

Processing Plant Survey; Form EIA–857, 

Monthly Report of Natural Gas 

Purchases and Deliveries to Consumers; 

Form EIA–910, Monthly Natural Gas 

Marketer Survey; and Form EIA–912, 

Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report. The 

Natural Gas Data Collection Program 

provides information on natural gas 

storage, supply, processing, distribution, 

consumption, and prices, by sector, 

within the United States. 

DATES: EIA must receive all comments 

on this proposed information collection 

no later than November 13, 2023. If you 

anticipate any difficulties in submitting 

your comments by the deadline, contact 

the email address listed in the 

ADDRESSES section of this notice as soon 

as possible. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be 

sent to: OOG.Surveys@eia.gov with the 

subject line ‘‘Regarding EIA’s Natural 

Gas Data Collection Package 60-Day 

FRN.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you need additional information, 

contact Michael Kopalek, U.S. Energy 

Information Administration, telephone 

(202) 586–4001, or by email at 

Michael.Kopalek@eia.gov. The forms 

and instructions are available on EIA’s 

website at www.eia.gov/survey/. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

information collection request contains: 

(1) OMB No.: 1905–0175. 

(2) Information Collection Request 

Title: Natural Gas Data Collection 

Program. 

(3) Type of Request: Three-year 

extension with changes. 

(4) Purpose: The surveys included in 

the Natural Gas Data Collection Program 

collect information on natural gas 

underground storage, supply, 

processing, transmission, distribution, 

consumption by sector, and consumer 

prices. The data collected supports 

public policy analyses and produces 

estimates of the natural gas industry. 

The statistics generated from these 

surveys are published on EIA’s website, 

https://www.eia.gov, and are used in 

various EIA information products, 

including the Weekly Natural Gas 

Storage Report (WNGSR), Natural Gas 

Monthly (NGM), Natural Gas Annual 

(NGA), Monthly Energy Review (MER), 

Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), and 

Annual Energy Outlook (AEO). 

(4a) Proposed Changes to Information 

Collection: 

Form EIA–176, Annual Report of 

Natural and Supplemental Gas Supply 

and Disposition 

Form EIA–176 collects data on 

natural, synthetic, and other 

supplemental gas supplies, their 

disposition, and certain revenues by 

state. During the previous collection 

package, EIA modified the survey 

instructions to include Renewable 

Natural Gas (RNG) producers who inject 

high-Btu RNG into an interstate 

pipeline, intra-state pipeline, or natural 

gas distribution company system. As 

such, EIA requests an increase in 

respondent count and burden to 

accommodate additions of new 

respondents to the survey frame. 

Form EIA–757, Natural Gas Processing 

Plant Survey 

Form EIA–757 collects information on 

the capacity, status, and operations of 

natural gas processing plants, and 

monitors their constraints to natural gas 

supplies during catastrophic events, 

such as hurricanes. Schedule A of Form 

EIA–757 collects baseline operating and 

capacity information from all 

respondents on a triennial basis or less 

frequently. Schedule B is used on an 

emergency standby basis and is 

activated during natural disasters or 

other energy disruptive events. 

Schedule B collects data from a sample 

of respondents in the affected areas. 

EIA proposes to discontinue 

collection of Form EIA–757 Schedule A, 

and burden hours have been adjusted 

downward accordingly. As part of the 

Terms of Clearance of the package prior 

to this, EIA has investigated potential 

consolidation of the EIA–757 Schedule 

A survey with another, more frequent 

natural gas processing plant survey, the 

EIA–64A Survey (OMB number 1905– 

0057). As a result of this research, EIA 

proposes that the EIA–64A Survey will 

absorb several key data items from the 

EIA–757 Schedule A Survey in order to 

reduce overall respondent burden and 

eliminate duplicative data collection 

efforts. This resolves the prior Terms of 

Clearance. 

EIA–757 Schedule B, which is a 

standby survey, is active in instances of 

a natural disaster or incident resulting 

in widespread closures of natural gas 

processing plants. However, since the 

agency has not elected to activate the 

survey at any point in the last six years 

(two clearance cycles), EIA is reducing 

the requested burden hours by 50% to 

allow an activation once every three 

years, rather than twice every three 

years. 

Form EIA–857, Monthly Report of 

Natural Gas Purchases and Deliveries 

to Consumers 

Form EIA–857 collects data on the 

quantity and cost of natural gas 

delivered to distribution systems and 

the quantity and revenue of natural gas 

delivered to consumers by end-use 

sector, on a monthly basis by state. EIA 

is increasing the requested burden to 

accommodate increased sample 

coverage, parallel to the increased scope 

of the EIA–176, the universe from which 

this survey’s sample is drawn. 

Form EIA–912, Weekly Natural Gas 

Storage Report 

Form EIA–912 collects information on 

weekly inventories of natural gas in 

underground storage facilities. EIA is 

slightly decreasing the requested burden 

to more accurately reflect demonstrated 

sample sizes over the past six years. 

Forms EIA–191, Monthly Underground 

Natural Gas Storage Report, EIA–191L, 

Monthly Underground Natural Gas 

Storage Report, and EIA–910, Monthly 

Natural Gas Marketer Survey, Have No 

Changes 

(5) Annual Estimated Number of 

Respondents: 3,045; 

(6) Annual Estimated Number of 

Total Responses: 15,993; 

(7) Annual Estimated Number of 

Burden Hours: 56,776; 

(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and 

Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $4,959,951 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 177 / Thursday, September 14, 2023 / Notices 63099 

(56,776 burden hours times $87.36 per 

hour.) 

EIA estimates that respondents will 

have no additional costs associated with 

the surveys other than the burden hours 

and the maintenance of the information 

during the normal course of business. 

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. 

Signed in Washington, DC, on September 

11, 2023. 

Samson A. Adeshiyan, 

Director, Office of Statistical Methods and 

Research, U.S. Energy Information 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2023–19929 Filed 9–13–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

National Nuclear Security 

Administration 

Amended Record of Decision for the 

Production of Tritium in Commercial 

Light Water Reactors 

AGENCY: National Nuclear Security 

Administration, Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Amended record of decision. 

SUMMARY: The National Nuclear 

Security Administration (NNSA), a 

semi-autonomous agency within the 

Department of Energy (DOE), is 

announcing this amendment to the June 

22, 2016, Record of Decision (ROD) for 

the Final Supplemental Environmental 

Impact Statement for the Production of 

Tritium in a Commercial Light Water 

Reactor (CLWR SEIS) (DOE/EIS–0288– 

S1). NNSA is amending the 2016 

decision in partnership with the 

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). TVA 

is considering increasing the number of 

TPBARs irradiated in their reactors at 

Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN) using 

tritium-producing burnable absorber 

rods (TPBARs). NNSA initially decided 

to implement the CLWR SEIS Preferred 

Alternative, Alternative 6, which allows 

for the irradiation of up to a total of 

5,000 TPBARs every 18 months using 

TVA reactors at both the Watts Bar and 

Sequoyah sites. Subsequent to the 

CLWR SEIS, WBN Unit 1 increased 

tritium production under Unit 1 License 

Amendment #107 (July 2016) and Unit 

2 tritium production was authorized 

under Unit 2 License Amendment #27 

(May 2019). Hence, TVA and NNSA are 

now opting to choose the previously 

analyzed CLWR SEIS Alternative 4, 

which allows for the irradiation of up to 

a total of 5,000 TPBARs every 18 

months at the Watts Bar site using Watts 

Bar Units 1 and 2. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on NNSA’s NEPA process, 

please contact Mr. James Sanderson, 

NEPA Compliance Officer, National 

Nuclear Security Administration, Office 

of General Counsel, Telephone (202) 

586–1402; or by email to 

jim.sanderson@nnsa.doe.gov. This 

Amended Record of Decision is 

available on the internet at https://

energy.gov/nepa. The 2016 ROD, the 

CLWR SEIS, and related NEPA 

documents are available on the DOE 

NEPA website at https://

www.energy.gov/nepa/doeenvironmental-impact-statements. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NNSA is 

the lead Federal agency responsible for 

maintaining and enhancing the safety, 

security, reliability, and performance of 

the United States (U.S.) nuclear 

weapons stockpile. Tritium, a 

radioactive isotope of hydrogen, is an 

essential component of every weapon in 

the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and 

must be replenished periodically due to 

its short half-life. In March 1999, DOE 

published the 1999 EIS, which 

addressed the production of tritium in 

the TVA’s Watts Bar and Sequoyah 

nuclear reactors using TPBARs. The 

1999 EIS assessed the potential 

environmental impacts of irradiating up 

to 3,400 TPBARs per reactor per fuel 

cycle (a fuel cycle lasts about 18 

months). On May 14, 1999, DOE 

published the ROD for the 1999 EIS (64 

FR 26369) in which it announced its 

decision to enter into an agreement with 

TVA to irradiate TPBARs in the Watts 

Bar Unit 1 reactor (Watts Bar 1) in Rhea 

County, Tennessee, near Spring City; 

and Sequoyah Units 1 and 2 reactors 

(Sequoyah 1 and 2) in Hamilton County, 

Tennessee, near Soddy-Daisy. In 2002, 

TVA received license amendments from 

the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) to irradiate TPBARs 

in those reactors. (However, TVA’s 

license for the Sequoyah reactors no 

longer allows for the irradiation of 

TPBARs.) Since 2003, TVA has been 

irradiating TPBARs for NNSA by 

irradiating TPBARs only in Watts Bar 1. 

(In 2020, TVA began irradiating TPBARs 

in Watts Bar 2.) After irradiation, NNSA 

transports the TPBARs to the Tritium 

Extraction Facility at the DOE Savannah 

River Site in South Carolina. NNSA’s 

Interagency Agreement with TVA to 

irradiate TPBARs is in effect until the 

earlier of either (a) November 30, 2035, 

or (b) the date TVA no longer has a 

pressurized water reactor in operation. 

NNSA prepared the 2016 CLWR SEIS 

to update the environmental analyses in 

the 1999 Final Environmental Impact 

Statement for the Production of Tritium 

in a Commercial Light Water Reactor 

(DOE/EIS–0288; the 1999 EIS). The 2016 

CLWR SEIS provides analysis of the 

potential environmental impacts from 

TPBAR irradiation based on a 

conservative estimate of the tritium 

permeation rate through the TPBAR 

cladding, NNSA’s revised estimate of 

the maximum number of TPBARs 

necessary to support the current and 

projected future tritium supply 

requirements, and a maximum 

production scenario of irradiating no 

more than a total of 5,000 TPBARs every 

18 months. NNSA initially decided to 

implement the Preferred Alternative, 

Alternative 6, which allows for the 

irradiation of up to a total of 5,000 

TPBARs every 18 months using TVA 

reactors at both the Watts Bar and 

Sequoyah sites. Although near-term 

tritium requirements could likely be met 

with the irradiation of 2,500 TPBARs 

every 18 months, at the time, this 

decision provided the greatest flexibility 

to meet potential future needs that 

could arise from various plausible but 

unexpected events. Subsequent to the 

2016 SEIS, WBN Unit 1 increased the 

irradiation of TPBARs under Unit 1 

License Amendment #107 (July 2016) 

and Unit 2 TPBAR irradiation was 

authorized under Unit 2 License 

Amendment #27 (May 2019). Hence, 

TVA and NNSA are now opting to 

choose the previously analyzed CLWR 

SEIS Alternative 4, which allows for the 

irradiation of up to a total of 5,000 

TPBARs every 18 months at the Watts 

Bar site using Watts Bar 1 and 2. TVA 

noted new information or circumstances 

relevant to environmental concerns that 

could potentially have a bearing on the 

current proposal or its impacts. This 

new information was analyzed in a 

February 6, 2023 TVA memorandum, 

‘‘Determination of NEPA Adequacy, 

Production of Tritium in a Commercial 

Light Water Nuclear Reactor (Watts Bar 

Nuclear Plant), Tennessee Valley 

Authority.’’ In this memo, TVA 

addressed their recent review of the 


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