22444 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 77 / Wednesday, April 22, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

25Regulations Implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Order No. 486, 

52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & Regs. 

Preambles 1986–1990 ¶ 30,783 (1987). 

26 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii). 

27 5 U.S.C. 601–612. 

28See NERC Petition Ex. G (Record of 

Development) at 257 of pdf file, providing link to: 

NERC Cost Effective Analysis Process (CEAP) Pilot 

for NERC Project 2007–11—Disturbance 

Monitoring—PRC–002–2 at 8 (Apr. 9, 2014). 

Street NE., Washington, DC 20426 

[Attention: Ellen Brown, email: 

DataClearance@ferc.gov, phone: (202) 

502–8663, fax: (202) 273–0873]. 

16. Comments concerning the 

information collection proposed in this 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and the 

associated burden estimates, should be 

sent to the Commission in this docket 

and may also be sent to the Office of 

Management and Budget, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs 

[Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission]. For 

security reasons, comments should be 

sent by email to OMB at the following 

email address: oira_submission@

omb.eop.gov. Please reference FERC– 

725G2 and the docket numbers of this 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Docket 

No. RM15–4–000) in your submission. 

IV. Environmental Analysis 

17. The Commission is required to 

prepare an Environmental Assessment 

or an Environmental Impact Statement 

for any action that may have a 

significant adverse effect on the human 

environment.25 This action has been 

categorically excluded under section 

380.4(a)(2)(ii) of the Commission’s 

regulations, addressing the collection of 

information.26

V. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

18. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 

1980 (RFA) 27 generally requires a 

description and analysis of proposed 

rules that will have significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. 

19. The Small Business 

Administration (SBA) revised its size 

standards (effective January 22, 2014) 

for electric utilities from a standard 

based on megawatt hours to a standard 

based on the number of employees, 

including affiliates. Under SBA’s new 

standards, some transmission owners 

and generation owners will possibly fall 

under the following category and 

associated size threshold: Electric bulk 

power transmission and control at 500 

employees; hydroelectric power 

generation at 500 employees; fossil fuel 

electric power generation at 750 

employees; nuclear electric power 

generation at 750 employees. 

20. The Commission estimates that 

the number of applicable small entities 

will be minimal due to the gross million 

volt amps (MVA) thresholds embedded 

into proposed Reliability Standard PRC– 

002–2, which focus information 

collection on bulk electric system 

facilities having Interconnection-wide 

impacts worthy of collecting. The 

proposed Reliability Standard applies to 

approximately 526 entities in the United 

States. The Commission estimates, 

applying the MVA thresholds above, 

that approximately 52 (or 10 percent of 

the 521) are small entities. The 

Commission estimates for these small 

entities, proposed Reliability Standard 

PRC–002–2 Requirement R1 may need 

to be evaluated and documented every 

five years with costs of $9,847 for each 

evaluation. From this set of small 

entities, the Commission estimates that 

five percent, or only two or three small 

entities, may be affected by the other 

requirements, i.e., Requirements R2 

through R12, of proposed Reliability 

Standard PRC–002–2. Based on a prior 

industry-sponsored survey, annual 

compliance costs will average 

$100,000–$160,000 for entities subject 

to these requirements.28 Accordingly, 

the Commission certifies that the 

proposed Reliability Standard will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

VI. Comment Procedures 

21. The Commission invites interested 

persons to submit comments on the 

matters and issues proposed in this 

notice to be adopted, including any 

related matters or alternative proposals 

that commenters may wish to discuss. 

Comments are due June 22, 2015. 

Comments must refer to Docket No. 

RM15–4–000, and must include the 

commenter’s name, the organization 

they represent, if applicable, and their 

address in their comments. 

22. The Commission encourages 

comments to be filed electronically via 

the eFiling link on the Commission’s 

Web site at http://www.ferc.gov. The 

Commission accepts most standard 

word processing formats. Documents 

created electronically using word 

processing software should be filed in 

native applications or print-to-PDF 

format and not in a scanned format. 

Commenters filing electronically do not 

need to make a paper filing. 

23. Commenters that are not able to 

file comments electronically must send 

an original of their comments to: 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

Secretary of the Commission, 888 First 

Street NE., Washington, DC 20426. 

24. All comments will be placed in 

the Commission’s public files and may 

be viewed, printed, or downloaded 

remotely as described in the Document 

Availability section below. Commenters 

on this proposal are not required to 

serve copies of their comments on other 

commenters. 

VII. Document Availability 

25. 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/or 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. 

26. 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 of this 

document, excluding the last three 

digits in the docket number field. 

27. User assistance is available for 

eLibrary and the Commission’s Web site 

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. Email 

the Public Reference Room at 

public.referenceroom@ferc.gov. 

By direction of the Commission. 

Issued: April 16, 2015. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–09219 Filed 4–21–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

18 CFR Part 40 

[Docket No. RM15–9–000] 

Protection System, Automatic 

Reclosing, and Sudden Pressure 

Relaying Maintenance Reliability 

Standard 

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal Power 

Act, the Commission proposes to 

approve a revised Reliability Standard, 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 77 / Wednesday, April 22, 2015 / Proposed Rules 22445 

1 16 U.S.C. 824o (2012). 

2 Interpretation of Protection System Reliability 

Standard, Order No. 758, 138 FERC ¶ 61,094, 

clarification denied, 139 FERC ¶ 61,227 (2012). 

3 16 U.S.C. at 824o(c) and (d). 

4See id. at 824o(e). 

5North American Electric Reliability Corp., 116 

FERC ¶ 61,062, order on reh’g & compliance, 117 

FERC ¶ 61,126 (2006), aff’d sub nom. Alcoa, Inc. 

v. FERC, 564 F.3d 1342 (D.C. Cir. 2009). 

6 Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk 

Power System, Order No. 693, FERC Stats. & Regs. 

¶ 31,242, at PP 1474, 1492, 1497, and 1514, order 

on reh’g, Order No. 693–A, 120 FERC ¶ 61,053 

(2007). 

7See Order No. 758, 138 FERC ¶ 61,094 at P 12. 

NERC has addressed the Commission’s concerns 

stated in Order No. 758 through a series of projects 

modifying the PRC–005 standard. See Protection 

System Maintenance Reliability Standard, Order 

No. 793, 145 FERC ¶ 61,253 (2013) (approving 

Reliability Standard PRC–005–2, which 

incorporated specific minimum maintenance 

activities and maximum time intervals for 

maintenance of individual components of the 

protection systems and load shedding equipment 

affecting the bulk electric system); Protection 

System Maintenance Reliability Standard, Order 

No. 803,150 FERC ¶ 61,039 (2015) (approving PRC– 

005–3 and directing NERC to develop a 

modification to include maintenance and testing of 

supervisory relays associated with relevant 

autoreclosing relay schemes). 

8Proposed Reliability Standard PRC–005–4 is not 

attached to the NOPR; however, the complete text 

of the proposed Reliability Standard is available on 

the Commission’s eLibrary document retrieval 

system in Docket No. RM15–9–000 and is posted on 

NERC’s Web site, available at: http://

www.nerc.com. 

9See NERC Petition at 3, 9. 

10 Id. at 3. NERC describes sudden pressure relays 

as relays which ‘‘respond to changes in pressure 

and are utilized as protective devices for power 

transformers,’’ and which may ‘‘detect rapid 

changes in gas pressure, oil pressure, or oil flow 

that are indicative of faults within the transformer 

equipment.’’ Id. at 13. NERC notes that in addition 

Continued 

PRC–005–4 (Protection System, 

Automatic Reclosing and Sudden 

Pressure Relaying Maintenance), 

developed and submitted by the North 

American Electric Reliability 

Corporation (NERC). In addition, the 

Commission proposes to approve one 

new definition and four revised 

definitions referenced in the proposed 

Reliability Standard, as well as NERC’s 

proposed violation risk factors, violation 

severity levels, and implementation 

plan. Consistent with Order No. 758, the 

proposed Reliability Standard requires 

applicable entities to test and maintain 

certain sudden pressure relays as part of 

a protection system maintenance 

program. 

DATES: Comments are due June 22, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Comments, identified by 

docket number, may be filed in the 

following ways: 

• Electronic Filing through http://

www.ferc.gov. Documents created 

electronically using word processing 

software should be filed in native 

applications or print-to-PDF format and 

not in a scanned format. 

• Mail/Hand Delivery: Those unable 

to file electronically may mail or handdeliver comments to: Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the 

Commission, 888 First Street NE., 

Washington, DC 20426. 

Instructions: For detailed instructions 

on submitting comments and additional 

information on the rulemaking process, 

see the Comment Procedures Section of 

this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tom Bradish (Technical Information), 

Office of Electric Reliability, Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 

First Street NE., Washington, DC 

20426, (301) 665–1391, Tom.Bradish@

ferc.gov. 

Julie Greenisen (Legal Information), 

Office of the General Counsel, Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 

First Street NE., Washington, DC 

20426, (202) 502–6362, 

julie.greenisen@ferc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Pursuant to section 215 of the 

Federal Power Act (FPA),1 the 

Commission proposes to approve a 

revised Reliability Standard, PRC–005– 

4 (Protection System, Automatic 

Reclosing and Sudden Pressure 

Relaying Maintenance), developed and 

submitted by the North American 

Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), 

the Commission-certified Electric 

Reliability Organization (ERO). In 

addition, the Commission proposes to 

approve one new definition and four 

revised definitions referenced in the 

proposed Reliability Standard, as well 

as NERC’s proposed violation risk 

factors, violation severity levels, and 

implementation plan. Consistent with 

Order No. 758,2 the proposed Reliability 

Standard requires applicable entities to 

test and maintain certain sudden 

pressure relays as part of a protection 

system maintenance program. 

I. Background 

A. Regulatory Background 

2. Section 215 of the FPA requires a 

Commission-certified ERO to develop 

mandatory and enforceable Reliability 

Standards, subject to Commission 

review and approval.3 Once approved, 

the Reliability Standards may be 

enforced by the ERO subject to 

Commission oversight, or by the 

Commission independently.4 In 2006, 

the Commission certified NERC as the 

ERO pursuant to FPA section 215.5

3. In 2007, the Commission approved 

an initial set of Reliability Standards 

submitted by NERC, including initial 

versions of four protection system and 

load-shedding-related maintenance 

standards: PRC–005–1, PRC–008–0, 

PRC–011–0, and PRC–017–0.6 In 

addition, the Commission directed 

NERC to develop a revision to PRC– 

005–1 incorporating a maximum time 

interval during which to conduct 

maintenance and testing of protection 

systems, and to consider combining into 

one standard the various maintenance 

and testing requirements for all of the 

maintenance and testing-related 

standards for protection systems, 

underfrequency load shedding (UFLS) 

equipment and undervoltage load 

shedding (UVLS) equipment. 

4. In February 2012, the Commission 

issued Order No. 758 in response to 

NERC’s request for approval of its 

interpretation of Requirement R1 of the 

then-current version of the protection 

system maintenance standard, 

Reliability Standard PRC–005–1. In that 

order, the Commission accepted NERC’s 

proposed interpretation of Requirement 

R1, which interpretation provided 

guidance on the types of protection 

system equipment to which the 

Reliability Standard did or did not 

apply. In reviewing NERC’s 

interpretation, the Commission raised 

several concerns about potential gaps in 

the coverage of PRC–005–1, including a 

concern that the standard as written 

may not include all components that 

serve in some protective capacity.7

B. NERC Petition and Proposed 

Standard PRC–005–4 

5. On December 18, 2014, NERC 

submitted a petition seeking approval of 

proposed Reliability Standard PRC– 

005–4, which would add to the 

applicability of Reliability Standard 

PRC–005–3 those sudden pressure 

relays that NERC has identified as 

having a potential effect on the reliable 

operation of the Bulk-Power System.8

NERC states that these revisions were 

developed to satisfy NERC’s 

commitment to develop modifications 

to PRC–005 that would address the 

Commission’s concerns, as set out in 

Order No. 758, regarding the lack of 

maintenance requirements for nonelectrical sensing relays (such as sudden 

pressure relays) that could affect the 

reliable operation of the Bulk-Power 

System.9

6. NERC states that sudden pressure 

relays ‘‘are designed to quickly detect 

faults on the Bulk-Power System 

transformer equipment that may remain 

undetected by other Protection Systems, 

and can operate to limit any potential 

damage on the equipment.’’ 10 NERC 


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to detecting faults, certain sudden pressure relays 

can trip the associated transformer circuitry in 

response to the fault conditions. 11 Id. at 3–4. 

12 Id. at 4. 

13 Id. at 10. 

14 Id. 

15NERC Petition at 11, Ex. E, Sudden Pressure 

Relays and Other Devices that Respond to NonElectrical Quantities: Supplemental Information to 

Support Project 2007–17.3: Protection System 

Maintenance and Testing, NERC SPCS (Oct. 31, 

2014) (SPCS Supplemental Report). 

16NERC Petition at 12. 

17NERC proposes to modify the definitions of 

Protection System Maintenance Program, 

Component Type, Component, and Countable Event 

to reflect the addition of sudden pressure relays to 

the scope of a required maintenance program. NERC 

Petition at 15–16. 

18 Id. at 18. 

states that the ‘‘misoperation of sudden 

pressure relays that initiate tripping in 

response to fault conditions can impact 

the reliability of the Bulk-Power 

System,’’ and accordingly proposes 

revisions to PRC–005–3 that will require 

entities to document and implement 

programs for maintenance of applicable 

sudden pressure relays.11

7. NERC explains that, consistent with 

Order No. 758, NERC’s System 

Protection and Control Subcommittee 

(SPCS) performed a technical study ‘‘to 

determine which devices that respond 

to non-electrical quantities should be 

addressed within PRC–005 identified 

devices.’’ 12 NERC states that the SPCS 

considered a broad range of devices that 

respond to non-electrical quantities, 

starting with the list of ninety-four 

devices included in the IEEE Standard 

Electrical Power System Device 

Function Numbers, then applying 

‘‘multiple layers of analysis to each 

device to select the ones that can affect 

the reliability of the Bulk-Power 

System.’’ 13 The SPCS first determined 

that only those devices that initiate 

action to clear faults or mitigate 

abnormal system conditions presented a 

risk to the Bulk-Power System. Next, the 

SPCS eliminated those devices that 

were ‘‘previously considered as a result 

of the revised definition of Protection 

System or those that are clearly not 

protective devices, such as primary 

equipment and control devices.’’ 14

Finally, the SPCS conducted an indepth analysis of the remaining devices, 

and concluded that only one category— 

sudden pressure relays that are utilized 

in a trip application—should be 

included in the revised PRC–005–4. 

8. NERC also explains that the SPCS 

developed a Supplemental Report in 

response to comments and questions 

about its initial recommendations from 

the Commission staff. These comments 

and questions focused on whether PRC– 

005 should include turbine generator 

vibration monitors and circuit breaker 

arc extinguishing systems.15 The SPCS 

Supplemental Report, issued on October 

31, 2014, examined these two kinds of 

devices and provided information on 

events during which these devices 

operated or failed to operate. The 

Supplemental Report concluded that 

neither device affected the reliable 

operation of the Bulk-Power System. 

9. NERC states that the standard 

drafting team that was tasked with 

developing the modifications to PRC– 

005 in response to Order No. 758 

adopted the SPCS Report’s 

recommendations, both as to the scope 

of additional relays included, and as to 

the required minimum maintenance 

activities and maximum maintenance 

intervals for these relays. 

10. NERC maintains that proposed 

Reliability Standard PRC–005–4 will 

enhance reliability by extending the 

coverage of an applicable entity’s 

protection system maintenance program 

to include sudden pressure relaying 

components. NERC further maintains 

that the proposed standard satisfies the 

Commission’s concerns as raised in 

Order No. 758 ‘‘by including . . . 

sudden pressure relays that detect [a] 

fault on Bulk-Power System transformer 

equipment and trip in response to fault 

conditions, as recommended by the 

SPCS Report.’’ 16

11. NERC explains that proposed 

Reliability Standard PRC–005–4 has 

been modified to include a new 

definition for ‘‘Sudden Pressure 

Relaying,’’, as well as four revised 

definitions as part of an applicable 

entity’s protection system maintenance 

program.17 NERC further explains that 

the proposed standard would include a 

sudden pressure relay that trips an 

interrupting device to isolate the 

equipment it is monitoring, but ‘‘does 

not include other non-electric sensing 

devices, pressure relays that only 

initiate an alarm, or pressure relief 

devices.’’ 18 In addition, NERC explains 

that the revised standard replaces the 

term ‘‘Special Protection System’’ with 

the term ‘‘Remedial Action Scheme,’’ to 

align the standard with NERC’s 

employment of the latter term moving 

forward, and revises Applicability 

section 4.2.6.1 to address how the 

largest BES generating unit would be 

determined in circumstances involving 

a Reserve Sharing Group. 

12. NERC’s proposed implementation 

plan for PRC–005–4 incorporates the 

phased-in implementation period 

approved for PRC–005–2, which has a 

twelve year phase-in period, with the 

addition of compliance dates for the 

new requirements for applicable sudden 

pressure relays. NERC asks that PRC– 

005–4 become effective the first day of 

the first calendar quarter following 

Commission approval. Reliability 

Standard PRC–005–3 would be retired 

immediately prior to PRC–005–4 

becoming effective. 

13. NERC explains that the evidence 

retention period for PRC–005–4 is 

shorter than that required in the 

preceding versions of the standard, as it 

requires entities to maintain records for 

one maintenance cycle, rather than two 

cycles, if the interval of the maintenance 

activity is longer than the audit cycle. 

For maintenance activities where the 

interval is shorter than the audit cycle, 

documentation is to be retained for all 

maintenance activities since the 

previous audit. 

14. NERC states that the violation risk 

factors proposed in PRC–005–4 track 

those in previous versions of the 

standard, and that the violation severity 

levels have been revised to include the 

additional component (sudden pressure 

relays) in a manner consistent with the 

approach taken for PRC–005–3. 

II. Discussion 

15. Pursuant to section 215(d)(2) of 

the FPA, the Commission proposes to 

approve Reliability Standard PRC–005– 

4, as well as the new definition of 

Sudden Pressure Relaying, the four 

revised definitions referenced in the 

proposed standard, the assigned 

violation risk factors and violation 

severity levels, and the proposed 

implementation plan. We believe that 

proposed Reliability Standard PRC– 

005–4 will enhance reliability by 

requiring the inclusion of sudden 

pressure relays of certain criteria that 

are utilized in a trip application as part 

of the protection system maintenance 

program, and by requiring entities to 

undertake minimum required 

maintenance activities at maximum 

defined maintenance intervals. 

16. NERC has relied on the SPCS’s 

determination that the only nonelectrical sensing devices that can 

impact reliable operation of the BulkPower System are the sudden pressure 

relays that can detect rapid changes in 

gas pressure, oil pressure, or oil flow 

that are indicative of faults within the 

transformer equipment, and can trip 

associated transformer circuitry to 

isolate the transformer and limit the 

potential damage of the equipment. We 

agree that these relays should be 

included in an adequate protection 

system maintenance program. 

17. However, we continue to have 

some concern that the misoperation of 

other types of non-electrical sensing 

relays or devices, such as pressure 


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19SPCS Supplemental Report at 4. 

20 44 U.S.C. 3507(d) (2006). 

21 5 CFR 1320.11 (2012). 

22See 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2)(iv). 

23See Order No. 803, 150 FERC ¶ 61,039 at PP 

37–38. 

24This figure reflects the generator owners, 

transmission owners, and distribution providers 

identified in the NERC Compliance Registry as of 

February 27, 2015. 

25The figure is taken from the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics at http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_

22.htm; Occupation Code: 17–2071). 

sensing devices associated with air blast 

or SF6 circuit breaker arc extinguishing 

systems, could affect the reliable 

operation of the Bulk-Power System. 

These non-electrical sensing devices are 

utilized in this context to give an 

indication that the circuit breaker may 

be unable to operate as designed on the 

Bulk-Power System. With regard to 

these types of devices, the SPCS stated 

that, ‘‘there is no operating experience 

in which misoperation of a density 

switch or sensor [i.e, pressure sensing 

device] in response to a system 

disturbance has contributed to a 

cascading event.’’ 19 However, we 

expect Commission staff to continue 

exploring this issue with NERC, 

particularly in light of the findings in 

NERC’s 2014 and 2013 State of 

Reliability reports that AC substation 

equipment failures remain among the 

leading causes of Bulk Power System 

problems. 

III. Information Collection Statement 

18. The following collection of 

information contained in this Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking is subject to 

review by the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) under section 3507(d) of 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(PRA).20 OMB’s regulations require 

approval of certain information 

collection requirements imposed by 

agency rules.21 Upon approval of a 

collection(s) 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 

these collections of information unless 

the collections of information display a 

valid OMB control number. 

19. We solicit comments on the 

Commission’s need for this information, 

whether the information will have 

practical utility, the accuracy of the 

burden estimates, ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected or retained, 

and any suggested methods for 

minimizing respondents’ burden, 

including the use of automated 

information techniques. Specifically, 

the Commission asks that any revised 

burden or cost estimates submitted by 

commenters be supported by sufficient 

detail to understand how the estimates 

are generated. 

20. The Commission proposes to 

approve Reliability Standard PRC–005– 

4, which will replace PRC–005–3 

(Protection System and Automatic 

Reclosing Maintenance). The proposed 

Reliability Standard expands the 

existing standard to cover sudden 

pressure relays that meet certain 

criteria, thereby imposing mandatory 

minimum maintenance activities and 

maximum maintenance intervals for the 

applicable relays. Because the specific 

requirements were designed to reflect 

common industry practice, entities are 

not expected to experience a meaningful 

change in actual maintenance and 

documentation practices. However, each 

applicable entity will have to perform a 

one-time review of sudden pressure 

relays that detect rapid changes in gas 

pressure, oil pressure, or oil flow that 

are indicative of faults within 

transformer equipment, and, if it has 

applicable sudden pressure relay 

devices, review current maintenance 

programs to ensure that they meet the 

requirements of proposed standard 

PRC–005–4. Accordingly, all additional 

information collection costs are 

expected to be limited to the first year 

of implementation of the revised 

standard. 

21. Proposed Reliability Standard 

PRC–005–4 reduces the evidence 

retention requirements approved in 

previously-approved versions of the 

standard, and now requires entities to 

maintain documentation of maintenance 

activities for only one maintenance 

cycle (a maximum of twelve years) if the 

maintenance interval is longer than the 

audit cycle. For maintenance activities 

where the interval is shorter than the 

audit cycle, documentation is to be 

retained for all maintenance activities 

since the previous audit. While the 

potential data retention requirement 

exceeds the three-year period that is 

routinely allowed for regulations 

requiring record retention under the 

OMB regulations implementing the 

PRA,22 the maximum evidence 

retention period has been reduced from 

24 years to a maximum of 12 years as 

a result of the Commission’s prior 

request for comment on the 

reasonableness of the evidence retention 

period in earlier versions of the 

standard, and appears to reflect the 

minimum time needed to ensure 

compliance with maintenance 

requirements.23

22. Public Reporting Burden: Affected 

entities must perform a one-time review 

of their existing sudden pressure relay 

schemes and associated maintenance 

programs to ensure that the programs 

contain at a minimum the activities 

required by Reliability Standard PRC– 

005–4. If the existing maintenance 

program does not meet the criteria in 

Reliability Standard PRC–005–4, the 

entity will have to make certain 

adjustments to the program. 

23. Our estimate below assumes that 

the number of unique applicable entities 

(distribution providers, generator 

owners and transmission owners, or a 

combination of those) in the United 

States is approximately 1,287 24 and the 

time required to do the one-time review 

will be approximately eight hours. The 

estimate further assumes that the onetime review would be performed by an 

engineer at a rate of $65.34 per hour.25

RM15–9–000 (MANDATORY RELIABILITY STANDARDS: RELIABILITY STANDARD PRC–005–4) 

Number of 

respondents 

Annual 

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) 

One-time review of sudden pressure 

relay maintenance program and adjustment ................................................ 1,287 1 1,287 8 

$523 

10,296 

$673,101 

$523 


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26The FERC–725P1 is a temporary collection 

established so the Commission can submit this 

proposed rulemaking to OMB on time. However, 

the burden contained in this rulemaking should be 

contained in FERC–725G (OMB Control No. 1902– 

0252). Commission staff plans eventually to move 

this burden to FERC–725G. 

27 5 U.S.C. 601–12. The number of small 

distribution providers required to comply with 

PRC–005–4 may decrease significantly. In March 

2015, the Commission approved revisions to the 

NERC Rules of Procedure to implement NERC’s 

‘‘risk based registration’’ program, which raised the 

registry threshold for distribution providers from a 

25 MW to 75 MW peak load. North American 

Electric Reliability Corp., 150 FERC ¶ 61,213 (2015). 

28The Small Business Administration sets the 

threshold for what constitutes a small business. 

Public utilities may fall under one of several 

different categories, each with a size threshold 

based on the company’s number of employees, 

including affiliates, the parent company, and 

subsidiaries. For the analysis in this NOPR, we are 

using a 500 employee threshold for each affected 

entity. Each entity is classified as Electric Bulk 

Power Transmission and Control (NAICS code 

221121). 

29Regulations Implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Order No. 486, 

FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 30,783 (1987). 30 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii). 

Title: FERC–725P1,26 Mandatory 

Reliability Standards: Reliability 

Standard PRC–005–4. 

Action: Proposed Collection of 

Information. 

OMB Control No: To be determined. 

Respondents: Business or other forprofit and not-for-profit institutions. 

Frequency of Responses: One time. 

Necessity of the Information: The 

proposed Reliability Standard PRC– 

005–4, if adopted, would implement the 

Congressional mandate of the Energy 

Policy Act of 2005 to develop 

mandatory and enforceable Reliability 

Standards to better ensure the reliability 

of the nation’s Bulk-Power System. 

Specifically, the proposal would ensure 

that transmission and generation 

protection systems affecting the 

reliability of the bulk electric system are 

maintained and tested. 

24. Internal review: The Commission 

has reviewed revised Reliability 

Standard PRC–005–4 and made a 

determination that approval of this 

standard is necessary to implement 

section 215 of the FPA. The 

Commission has assured itself, by 

means of its internal review, that there 

is specific, objective support for the 

burden estimates associated with the 

information requirements. 

25. Interested persons may obtain 

information on the reporting 

requirements by contacting the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, Office 

of the Executive Director, 888 First 

Street NE., Washington, DC 20426 

[Attention: Ellen Brown, email: 

DataClearance@ferc.gov, phone: (202) 

502–8663, fax: (202) 273–0873]. 

26. Comments concerning the 

information collections proposed in this 

NOPR and the associated burden 

estimates should be sent to the 

Commission in this docket and may also 

be sent to the Office of Management and 

Budget, Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs [Attention: Desk 

Officer for the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission]. For security 

reasons, comments should be sent by 

email to OMB at the following email 

address: oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. 

Please reference the docket number of 

this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(Docket No. RM15–9–000) in your 

submission. 

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis 

27. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 

1980 (RFA) 27 generally requires a 

description and analysis of Proposed 

Rules that will have significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. Proposed 

Reliability Standard PRC–005–4 is 

expected to impose an additional, onetime burden on 1,287 entities 

(distribution providers, generator 

owners, and transmission owners, or a 

combination thereof). Comparison of the 

applicable entities with FERC’s small 

business data indicates that 

approximately 789 of the 1,287 entities 

are small entities, or 61.31 percent of 

the respondents affected by this 

proposed Reliability Standard.28

28. On average, each small entity 

affected may have a one-time cost of 

$523, representing a one-time review of 

the program for each entity, consisting 

of 8 man-hours at $65.34/hour, as 

explained above in the information 

collection statement. We do not 

consider this cost to be a significant 

economic impact for small entities. 

Accordingly, the Commission certifies 

that proposed Reliability Standard PRC– 

005–4 will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. The 

Commission seeks comment on this 

certification. 

V. Environmental Analysis 

29. The Commission is required to 

prepare an Environmental Assessment 

or an Environmental Impact Statement 

for any action that may have a 

significant adverse effect on the human 

environment.29 The Commission has 

categorically excluded certain actions 

from this requirement as not having a 

significant effect on the human 

environment. Included in the exclusion 

are rules that are clarifying, corrective, 

or procedural or that do not 

substantially change the effect of the 

regulations being amended.30 The 

actions proposed herein fall within this 

categorical exclusion in the 

Commission’s regulations. 

VI. Comment Procedures 

30. The Commission invites interested 

persons to submit comments on the 

matters and issues proposed in this 

notice to be adopted, including any 

related matters or alternative proposals 

that commenters may wish to discuss. 

Comments are due June 22, 2015. 

Comments must refer to Docket No. 

RM15–9–000, and must include the 

commenter’s name, the organization 

they represent, if applicable, and 

address. 

31. The Commission encourages 

comments to be filed electronically via 

the eFiling link on the Commission’s 

Web site at http://www.ferc.gov. The 

Commission accepts most standard 

word processing formats. Documents 

created electronically using word 

processing software should be filed in 

native applications or print-to-PDF 

format and not in a scanned format. 

Commenters filing electronically do not 

need to make a paper filing. 

32. Commenters that are not able to 

file comments electronically must send 

an original of their comments to: 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

Secretary of the Commission, 888 First 

Street NE., Washington, DC 20426. 

33. All comments will be placed in 

the Commission’s public files and may 

be viewed, printed, or downloaded 

remotely as described in the Document 

Availability section below. Commenters 

on this proposal are not required to 

serve copies of their comments on other 

commenters. 

VII. Document Availability 

34. 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/or 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. 

35. 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 of this 


Rmajette on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 77 / Wednesday, April 22, 2015 / Proposed Rules 22449 

document excluding the last three digits 

in the docket number field. 

36. User assistance is available for 

eLibrary and the Commission’s Web site 

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. Email 

the Public Reference Room at 

public.referenceroom@ferc.gov. 

By direction of the Commission. 

Issued: April 16, 2015. 

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr., 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–09228 Filed 4–21–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Food and Drug Administration 

21 CFR Part 73 

[Docket No. FDA–2015–C–1154] 

E. & J. Gallo Winery; Filing of Color 

Additive Petition 

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, 

HHS. 

ACTION: Notice of petition. 

SUMMARY: The Food and Drug 

Administration (FDA or we) is 

announcing that we have filed a 

petition, submitted by E. & J. Gallo 

Winery, proposing that the color 

additive regulations be amended to 

provide for the safe use of mica-based 

pearlescent pigments as color additives 

in certain distilled spirits. 

DATES: The color additive petition was 

filed on March 19, 2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Salome Bhagan, Center for Food Safety 

and Applied Nutrition (HFS–265), Food 

and Drug Administration, 5100 Paint 

Branch Pkwy., College Park, MD 20740– 

3835, 240–402–3041. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under 

section 721(d)(1) of the Federal Food, 

Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 

379e(d)(1)), we are giving notice that we 

have filed a color additive petition (CAP 

5C0302), submitted by E. & J. Gallo 

Winery, c/o Keller and Heckman LLP, 

Three Embarcadero Center, Suite 1420, 

San Francisco, CA 94111. The petition 

proposes to amend the color additive 

regulations in § 73.350 Mica-based 

pearlescent pigments (21 CFR 73.350) to 

provide for the safe use of mica-based 

pearlescent pigments at a level of up to 

0.07 percent by weight in distilled 

spirits containing not less than 18 

percent and not more than 25 percent 

alcohol by volume, and to remove the 

current exclusion for distilled spirit 

mixtures containing more than 5 

percent wine on a proof gallon basis. 

We have determined under 21 CFR 

25.32(k) that this action is of a type that 

does not individually or cumulatively 

have a significant effect on the human 

environment. Therefore, neither an 

environmental assessment nor an 

environmental impact statement is 

required. 

Dated: April 15, 2015. 

Dennis M. Keefe, 

Director, Office of Food Additive Safety, 

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. 

[FR Doc. 2015–09248 Filed 4–21–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4164–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Internal Revenue Service 

26 CFR Parts 1, 301, and 602 

[REG–103281–11] 

RIN 1545–BK06 

Tax on Certain Foreign Procurement 

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 

Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: This document contains 

proposed regulations under section 

5000C of the Internal Revenue Code 

relating to the 2 percent tax on 

payments made by the U.S. government 

to foreign persons pursuant to certain 

contracts. The proposed regulations 

affect U.S. government acquiring 

agencies and foreign persons providing 

certain goods or services to the U.S. 

government pursuant to a contract. This 

document also contains proposed 

regulations under section 6114, with 

respect to foreign persons claiming an 

exemption from the tax under an 

income tax treaty. 

DATES: Written or electronic comments 

and requests for a public hearing must 

be received by July 21, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Send submissions to: 

CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG–103281–11), 

Internal Revenue Service, Room 5203, 

P.O. Box 7604, Ben Franklin Station, 

Washington, DC 20044. Submissions 

may be hand-delivered Monday through 

Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 

4 p.m. to CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG–103281– 

11), Courier’s Desk, Internal Revenue 

Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20224; or sent 

electronically via the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov (IRS REG–103281– 

11). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Concerning the proposed regulations, 

Kate Hwa at (202) 317–6934, or for 

questions related to tax treaties, Rosy 

Lor at (202) 317–6933; concerning 

submissions of comments, 

Oluwafunmilayo Taylor, (202) 317– 

5179, (not toll-free numbers). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

The collection of information 

contained in this notice of proposed 

rulemaking has been submitted to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for review in accordance with 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3507(d)). Comments on the 

collection of information should be sent 

to the Office of Management and 

Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for the 

Department of the Treasury, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Washington, DC 20503, with copies to 

the Internal Revenue Service, Attn: IRS 

Reports Clearance Officer, 

SE:W:CAR:MP:T:T:SP, Washington, DC 

20224. Comments on the collection of 

information should be received by June 

22, 2015. Comments are specifically 

requested concerning: 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the IRS, 

including whether the information will 

have practical utility; 

The accuracy of the estimated burden 

associated with the proposed collection 

of information; 

How the quality, utility, and clarity of 

the information to be collected may be 

enhanced; 

How the burden of complying with 

the proposed collection of information 

may be minimized, including through 

the application of automated collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology; and 

Estimates of capital or start-up costs 

and costs of operation, maintenance, 

and purchase of services to provide 

information. 

The collection of information in the 

proposed regulations is contained in a 

number of provisions including 

§§ 1.5000C–2, 1.5000C–3, and 1.5000C– 

4. Responses to these collections of 

information are required to verify the 

status of foreign persons to whom 

specified Federal procurement 

payments subject to the section 5000C 

tax are made; to obtain a benefit (to 

claim an exemption to, or a reduction 

in, withholding); and to facilitate tax 

compliance (to verify entitlement to an 


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