Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 210 / Monday, October 30, 2000 / Notices 64691

of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue,

SW., Room 4050, Regional Office

Building 3, Washington, DC 20202–

4651, or should be electronically mailed

to the internet address

OCIO_IMG_Issues@ed.gov, or should be

faxed to 202–708–9346.

Comments regarding burden and/or

the collection activity requirements,

contact Kathy Axt at her internet

address Kathy_Axt@ed.gov. Individuals

who use a telecommunications device

for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–

800–877–8339.

[FR Doc. 00–27720 Filed 10–27–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Environmental Management SiteSpecific Advisory Board, Los Alamos

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of open meeting.

SUMMARY: This notice announces a

meeting of the Environmental

Management Site-Specific Advisory

Board (EM SSAB), Los Alamos. The

Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub.

L. 92–463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that

public notice of these meetings be

announced in the Federal Register.

DATES: Wednesday, November 15, 2000,

6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: San Ildefonso Pueblo, Route

502.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ann

DuBois, Northern New Mexico Citizens’

Advisory Board, 1640 Old Pecos Trail,

Suite H, Santa Fe, NM 87505. Phone

(505) 989–1662; fax (505) 989–1752 or email: adubois@doeal.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of

the Board: The purpose of the Board is

to make recommendations to DOE and

its regulators in the areas of

environmental restoration, waste

management, and related activities.

Tentative Agenda

Opening Activities—6:00–6:30 p.m.—

Video ‘‘Closing the Circle’’

Public Comments 6:30–7:00 p.m.

Reports

Committee Reports:

Waste Management

Environmental Restoration

Monitoring and Surveillance

Community Outreach

Budget

Other Board business will be conducted

as necessary

This agenda is subject to change at

least one day in advance of the meeting.

Public Participation: The meeting is

open to the public. Written statements

may be filed with the Committee either

before or after the meeting. Individuals

who wish to make oral statements

pertaining to agenda items should

contact Ann DuBois at the address or

telephone number listed above.

Requests must be received five days

prior to the meeting and reasonable

provision will be made to include the

presentation in the agenda. The Deputy

Designated Federal Officer is

empowered to conduct the meeting in a

fashion that will facilitate the orderly

conduct of business. Each individual

wishing to make public comment will

be provided a maximum of five minutes

to present their comments at the

beginning of the meeting.

Minutes: Minutes of this meeting will

be available for public review and

copying at the Freedom of Information

Public Reading Room, 1E–190, Forrestal

Building, 1000 Independence Avenue,

SW., Washington, DC 20585 between 9

a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday–Friday, except

Federal holidays. Minutes will also be

available at the Public Reading Room

located at the Board’s office at 1640 Old

Pecos Trail, Suite H, Santa Fe, NM.

Hours of operation for the Public

Reading Room are 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

on Monday through Friday. Minutes

will also be made available by writing

or calling Ann DuBois at the Board’s

office address or telephone number

listed above. Minutes and other Board

documents are on the Internet at:

http:www.nnmcab.org.

Issued at Washington, DC on October 25,

2000.

Rachel M. Samuel,

Deputy Advisory Committee Management

Officer.

[FR Doc. 00–27744 Filed 10–27–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Proposed Collection;

Comment Request

AGENCY: Energy Information

Administration (EIA), Department of

Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Agency information collection

activities: proposed collection; comment

request.

SUMMARY: The EIA is soliciting

comments on the proposed new Form

EIA–910, ‘‘Monthly Natural Gas

Marketer Survey.’’

DATES: Comments must be filed on or

before December 29, 2000. If you

anticipate difficulty in submitting

comments within that period, contact

the person listed below as soon as

possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Roy Kass

(EI–44), ATTN: Form EIA–910, Forrestal

Building, U.S. Department of Energy,

Washington, D.C. 20585. Alternatively,

Mr. Kass may be reached by telephone

at 202–586–4790, by FAX at 202–586–

4420 or by e-mail at

roy.kass@eia.doe.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or a

copy of the form and instructions

should be directed to Mr. Kass at the

address listed above. The proposed

forms and instructions are also available

on the Internet at http://

www.eia.doe.gov/smg/eia910.pdf.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

II. Current Actions

III. Request for Comments

I. Background

The Federal Energy Administration

Act of 1974 (FEA Act) (Pub. L. 93–275,

15 U.S.C. 761 et seq.) and the DOE

Organization Act (Pub. L. 95–91, 42

U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) require the EIA to

carry out a centralized, comprehensive,

and unified energy information

program. This program collects,

evaluates, assembles, analyzes, and

disseminates information on energy

resource reserves, production, demand,

technology, and related economic and

statistical information. To carry out this

program, section 13(b) of the FEA Act

(15 U.S.C. 772(b)) states that ‘‘All

persons owning or operating facilities or

business premises who are engaged in

any phase of energy supply or major

energy consumption shall make

available to the (Administrator) such

information and periodic reports,

records, documents, and other data,

relating to the purposes of this Act,

* * *’’

Under the authorities granted, EIA

conducts mandatory surveys of

companies involved in energy supply

and consumption. EIA’s current surveys

of energy suppliers include monthly

surveys of petroleum product resellers

and retailers, electric power supply and

marketing companies, and natural gas

supply companies. Collecting

information from all types of energy

supply companies provides EIA with

information used to accurately estimate

energy prices and quantities. Users of

EIA’s information include analysts in

Federal, State, and local governments,

as well as analysts in energy trade

associations, energy companies, the

media, consultants, and other private

organizations.

64692 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 210 / Monday, October 30, 2000 / Notices

The EIA, as part of its effort to comply

with the Paperwork Reduction Act of

1995 (Pub. L. 104–13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter

35), provides the general public and

other Federal agencies with

opportunities to comment on collections

of energy information conducted by or

in conjunction with the EIA. Any

comments received help the EIA to

prepare data requests that maximize the

utility of the information collected, and

to assess the impact of collection

requirements on the public. Also, the

EIA will later seek approval by the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) of the collections under Section

3507(a) of the Paperwork Reduction Act

of 1995.

EIA’s coverage of natural gas prices is

declining in states with active customer

choice programs as customers choose to

purchase gas from marketers rather than

local distribution companies. There are

significant variations in energy prices

paid in different states and by different

economic sectors within states. Data on

the price of natural gas sold by

marketers to residential and commercial

customers by state are required to assess

the gas industry’s performance and to

meet the needs of EIA’s data users. (See

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/

natural_gas/ng2/ng2main.html for more

information on EIA’s natural gas data

requirements.) The data requirements

were developed with careful

consideration of the public policy and

economic issues through a series of

focus groups conducted by EIA with

representatives from the natural gas

industry, State and Federal government

representatives, and through cognitive

interviews with industry

representatives. The requirements have

also been reconsidered based on

comments received in response to an

earlier Federal Register notice (65 FR

44524 issued on July 18, 2000) for

proposed Form EIA–905, ‘‘Monthly

Natural Gas Biller Survey.’’

Based upon these activities, EIA

revised the scope of the survey to collect

information necessary for developing

accurate estimates of state-level prices

paid by commercial and residential

consumers of natural gas. These

revisions should significantly reduce

the reporting requirements and

associated reporting burdens for the

survey respondents, while at the same

time providing the information needed

by EIA and its data users.

Changes from the earlier proposed

survey are: (1) Revenue and operational

data will only be required from natural

gas marketers, instead of the earlier

proposal requesting billing and

operational data from marketers, local

distribution companies, and their

associated billing agents, and (2)

respondent burden for completing the

survey has been significantly lowered

by reducing the amount of data to be

reported and by requesting data at the

state level rather by service area within

each state (or jurisdiction).

In the EIA–910 survey, initially data

will only be requested for both the

residential and commercial sectors in

five states (Georgia, Maryland, New

York, Ohio and Pennsylvania). EIA

conducted additional research to ensure

that the proposed survey would not

duplicate reliable information that EIA

could obtain through other means.

Preliminary research conducted of

public service/utilities commissions in

the five states indicate that monthly

revenue data are unavailable, except in

Georgia where marketers report revenue

for the residential sector only. Thus,

requesting respondents to complete this

form will not be a duplicate effort in

these five states.

II. Current Actions

The proposed survey will collect

state-level monthly data for both the

residential and commercial sectors.

Specifically, respondents will report the

number of customers, volumes of

natural gas sold (in either therms or

thousand cubic feet), and revenues. The

data will be collected in states with

active customer choice programs.

Respondents will be provided with

options for reporting by the submission

of paper forms and electronic reporting.

In the first year, data will be collected

only for Georgia, Maryland, New York,

Ohio and Pennsylvania. The survey may

be expanded in later years to require

reporting for additional states as

participation in customer choice

programs rises and as EIA identifies

increasing coverage problems in its

natural gas price data.

Information collected in the proposed

EIA–910 will be treated as confidential

and will not be disclosed to the public

to the extent permitted by law that the

information satisfies the criteria for

exemption in the Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552,

the DOE regulations 10 CFR 1004.11,

implementing the FOIA, and the Trade

Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1905. This is the

same treatment given to confidential

data collected in other EIA surveys of

energy companies.

The data collected from marketers

who sell natural gas to residential and

commercial customers will be compiled

and incorporated into EIA’s monthly

and annual natural gas publications.

The data will also be used in EIA’s

modeling and analytical efforts, and to

answer questions from Federal

policymakers, Congress, and the general

public. The data are not intended to be

collected for regulatory purposes and no

rulemaking is involved.

III. Request for Comments

Prospective respondents and other

interested parties should comment on

the actions discussed in item II. The

following guidelines are provided to

assist in the preparation of comments.

General Issues

A. Is the proposed collection of

information necessary for the proper

performance of the functions of the

agency and does the information have

practical utility? Practical utility is

defined as the actual usefulness of

information to or for an agency, taking

into account its accuracy, adequacy,

reliability, timeliness, and the agency’s

ability to process the information it

collects.

B. What enhancements can be made

to the quality, utility, and clarity of the

information to be collected?

As a Potential Respondent to the

Request for Information

A. Are the instructions and

definitions clear and sufficient? If not,

which instructions need clarification?

B. Can the information be submitted

by the due date?

C. Initially, it is expected that

potential survey respondents will

require 40 hours to prepare for this new

survey. After that, reporting burden is

estimated to average 2 hours per month

for each state for which a marketer

reports. This is similar to the burden

estimates for other energy supply

monthly surveys that EIA conducts. EIA

expects that all information needed for

reporting should be part of the normal

business records of the potential

respondents. The estimated burden

includes the total time necessary to

provide the requested information. In

your opinion, how accurate are the

burden estimates?

D. EIA estimates that the only cost to

a respondent is for the time it will take

to prepare for and complete the survey.

Will a respondent incur any other startup costs for reporting, or any recurring

annual costs for operation, maintenance,

and purchase of services associated with

the information collection?

E. What additional actions could be

taken to minimize the burden of this

collection of information? Such actions

may involve the use of automated,

electronic, mechanical, or other

technological collection techniques or

other forms of information technology.

F. Does any other Federal, State, or

local agency collect similar information

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 210 / Monday, October 30, 2000 / Notices 64693

that would be useful for developing the

accurate and independent natural gas

data that would be available from the

proposed survey? If so, specify the

agency, the data element(s), the methods

of collection, and the name and phone

number of someone that EIA may

contact for additional information.

As a Potential User of the Information

to be Collected

A. Is the information useful at the

levels of detail to be collected?

B. For what purpose(s) would the

information be used? Be specific.

C. Are there alternate sources for the

information and are they useful? If so,

please specify the sources and their

weaknesses and/or strengths?

Comments submitted in response to

this notice will be summarized and/or

included in the request for OMB

approval of the form. The comments

also will become a matter of public

record.

Statutory Authority: Section 3506(c)(2)(A)

of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

(Pub. L. No. 104–13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

Issued in Washington, DC, October 23,

2000.

Stanley R. Freedman,

Acting Director, Statistics and Methods

Group, Energy Information Administration.

[FR Doc. 00–27743 Filed 10–27–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. ER01–173–000]

Arizona Public Service Company;

Notice of Filing

October 25, 2000.

Take notice that on October 20, 2000,

Arizona Public Service Company (APS)

tendered for filing a revision to its Open

Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) in

order to include the Protocols Manual of

the Arizona Independent Scheduling

Administrator Association (AISAA)

under Part IV of its OATT.

APS requests an effective date of

November 1, 2000.

A copy of this filing has been served

on the Arizona Corporation

Commission, AISAA, Salt River Project

Merchant Group and Pinnacle West

Marketing & Trading. Copies of the

filing can be viewed on APS’ OASIS

website, www.azpsoasis.com.

Any person desiring to be heard or to

protest such filing should file a motion

to intervene or protest with the Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888

First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426,

in accordance with Rules 211 and 214

of the Commission’s Rules of Practice

and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211 and

385.214). All such motions and protests

should be filed on or November 8, 2000.

Protests will be considered by the

Commission to determine the

appropriate action to be taken, but will

not serve to make protestants parties to

the proceedings. Any person wishing to

become a party must file a motion to

intervene. Copies of this filing are on

file with the Commission and are

available for public inspection. This

filing may also be viewed on the

Internet at http://www.ferc.fed.us/

online/rims.htm (call 202–208–2222 for

assistance). Beginning November 1,

2000, comments and protests may be

filed electronically via the internet in

lieu of paper. See, 18 CFR

385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions

on the Commission’s web site at

http://www.ferc.fed.us/efi/doorbell.htm.

David P. Boergers,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–27776 Filed 10–27–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. RT01–35–000]

Avista Corporation, et al.; Notice of

Filing

October 24, 2000.

Take notice that on October 23, 2000,

Avista Corporation, the Bonneville

Power Administration, Idaho Power

Company, The Montana Power

Company, Nevada Power Company,

PacifiCorp, Portland General Electric

Company, Puget Sound Energy, Inc. and

Sierra Pacific Power Company

(collectively, the filing utilities) filed a

‘‘Supplemental Compliance Filing and

Request for Declaratory Order Pursuant

to Order 2000’’ at the Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission (Commission)

under the Commission’s Order 2000 and

in accordance with 18 CFR

385.207(a)(2). Among other things, this

filing describes the filing utilities’

proposal to form a regional transmission

organization (referred to as RTO West)

that complies with the requirements of

the Commission’s Order 2000. The filing

also requests an expedited declaratory

order from the Commission that certain

aspects of the proposal, including the

proposed governance documents and

the scope and configuration of RTO

West, are in accordance with applicable

requirements under Order 2000.

Any person desiring to be heard or to

protest such filing should file a motion

to intervene or protest with the Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888

First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C.

20426, in accordance with Rules 211

and 214 of the Commission’s Rules of

Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211

and 385.214). All such motions and

protests should be filed on or before

November 20, 2000. Protests will be

considered by the Commission to

determine the appropriate action to be

taken, but will not serve to make

protestants parties to the proceedings.

Any person wishing to become a party

must file a motion to intervene. Copies

of this filing are on file with the

Commission and are available for public

inspection. This filing may also be

viewed on the Internet at http://

www.ferc.fed.us/online/rims.htm (call

202–208–2222 for assistance).

Beginninng November 1, 2000,

comments and protests may be filed

electronically via the internet in lieu of

paper. See, 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii)

and the instructions on the

Commission’s web site at http://

www.ferc.fed.us/efi/doorbell.htm.

David P. Boergers,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–27767 Filed 10–27–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. ER00–945–001]

Central Power and Light Company;

Notice of Filing

October 24, 2000.

Take notice that on October 13, 2000,

Central Power and Light Company (CPL)

submitted for filing Facility Schedule

No. 3 to the November 29, 1999

Interconnection Agreement between

CPL and Sharyland Utilities, L.P.

(Sharyland), establishing a new point of

interconnection between the Sharyland

and CPL systems.

CPL requests that the amendment to

the Interconnection Agreement be

accepted to become effective as of

August 4, 2000. Accordingly, CPL

requests waiver of the Commission’s

notice requirements.

CPL states that a copy of the filing

was served on Sharyland and the Public

Utility Commission of Texas.

Any person desiring to be heard or to

protest such filing should file a motion