71788 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 233 / Tuesday, December 4, 2012 / Notices 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the extended collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; (c) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including through the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology. This information collection 

request pertains to the Human 

Reliability Program (HRP). This 

information collection request consists 

of forms that will certify to DOE that 

respondents were advised of the 

requirements for occupying or 

continuing to occupy a HRP position. 

The forms include: Human Reliability 

Program Certification (DOE F 470.3), 

Acknowledgement and Agreement to 

Participate in the Human Reliability 

Program (DOE F 470.4), Authorization 

and Consent to Release Human 

Reliability Program (HRP) Records in 

Connection with HRP (DOE F 470.5), 

Refusal of Consent (DOE F 470.6), and 

Human Reliability Program (HRP) 

Alcohol Testing Form (DOE F 470.7). 

The HRP is a security and safety 

reliability program for individuals who 

apply for or occupy certain positions 

that are critical to the national security. 

It requires an initial and annual 

supervisory review, medical assessment, 

management evaluation, and a DOE 

personnel security review of all 

applicants or incumbents. It is also used 

to ensure that employees assigned to 

nuclear explosive duties do not have 

emotional, mental, or physical 

conditions that could result in an 

accidental or unauthorized detonation 

of nuclear explosives. 

DATES: Comments regarding this 

proposed information collection must 

be received on or before February 4, 

2013. If you anticipate difficulty in 

submitting comments within that 

period, contact the person listed below 

as soon as possible. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be 

sent to Regina Cano, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of Health, Safety and 

Security (HS–50), 1000 Independence 

Ave. SW., Washington, DC 20585, 

telephone at (301) 903–3473, by fax at 

(301) 903–6961, or by email at 

regina.cano@hq.doe.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

copies of the information collection 

instrument and instructions should be 

directed to Regina Cano, U.S. 

Department of Energy, Office of Health, 

Safety and Security, HS–50, 1000 

Independence Ave. SW., Washington, 

DC 20585, telephone at (301) 903–3473, 

by fax at (301) 903–6961, or by email at 

regina.cano@hq.doe.gov. Information 

about the collection instrument may be 

obtained at: http://www.hss.doe.gov/ 

pra.html. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

information collection request contains: 

(1) OMB No. 1910–5122; (2) Information 

Collection Request Title: Human 

Reliability Program; (3) Type of Review: 

renewal; (4) Purpose: This collection 

provides for DOE management to ensure 

that individuals who occupy HRP 

positions meet program standards of 

reliability and physical and mental 

suitability; (5) Annual Estimated 

Number of Respondents: 43,960; (6) 

Annual Estimated Number of Total 

Responses: 43,999; (7) Annual 

Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 

3,873; (8) Annual Estimated Reporting 

and Recordkeeping Cost Burden; 

$349,002 (9) Response Obligation: 

Mandatory. 

Statutory Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2165; 42 

U.S.C. 2201; 42 U.S.C. 5814–5815; 42 U.S.C. 

7101 et seq. ; 50 U.S.C. 2401 et seq. ; E.O. 

10450, 3 CFR 1949–1953 Comp., p. 936, as 

amended; E.O. 10865, 3 CFR 1959–1963 

Comp., p. 398, as amended; 3 CFR Chap. IV. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on November 

21, 2012. 

Stephen A. Kirchhoff, 

Director, Office of Resource Management, 

Office of Health, Safety and Security. 

[FR Doc. 2012–29235 Filed 12–3–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Energy Information Administration 

Notice of Change to the Publication of 

Natural Gas Wellhead Prices 

AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information 

Administration (EIA), Department of 

Energy (DOE). 

ACTION: Notice of a discontinuation of 

series in the publication of natural gas 

wellhead prices and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: EIA is announcing the 

discontinuation of the natural gas 

wellhead price series. Beginning in 

January 2013, EIA will discontinue 

publishing wellhead prices, and will 

begin publishing a natural gas spot price 

at the Henry Hub and an NGL composite 

spot price at Mont Belvieu. Comments 

are invited on the proposed change. 

Please provide a description of your 

current use of the wellhead price data 

if applicable. 

DATES: Comments must be filed by 

February 4, 2013. If you anticipate 

difficulty in submitting comments 

within that period, contact the person 

listed below as soon as possible. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should be 

mailed to Jose Villar, EI–24, Forrestal 

Building, U.S. Department of Energy, 

1000 Independence Ave. SW., 

Washington, DC 20585. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information 

should be directed to Jose Villar at 

(jose.villar@eia.gov) or telephone at 

202–586–9613. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

II. Discussion 

III. Current Actions 

I. Background 

The Federal Energy Administration 

Act of 1974 (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 statistics. This information is 

used to assess the adequacy of energy 

resources to meet both near- and longerterm domestic demands. 

EIA requests public comment on the 

discontinuation of the natural gas 

wellhead price data in an effort to 

reduce data and conceptual issues 

associated with the series. 

Historically, the EIA published 

natural gas wellhead prices on an 

annual basis by state and on a monthly 

basis nationally. EIA has defined the 

wellhead price as the per-unit value at 

the mouth of the well (i.e., the wellhead 

price is considered to be the sales price 

obtainable from a third party in an arm’s 

length transaction). These data appeared 

in the Natural Gas Monthly, http:// 

www.eia.gov/naturalgas/monthly/, the 

Natural Gas Annual, http:// 

www.eia.gov/naturalgas/annual/, and 

others. 

II. Discussion 

EIA will terminate its natural gas 

wellhead price series in December 2012 

in an effort to reduce data quality and 

conceptual issues associated with the 

series. The data quality issues 

associated with the wellhead price 

series are closely related to the data 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with 

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 233 / Tuesday, December 4, 2012 / Notices 71789 

quality problems that resulted in the 

termination of the survey Form EIA–895 

Annual Quantity and Value of Natural 

Gas Production Report in 2012. The 

Form EIA–895 was designed to obtain 

monthly information on an annual and 

voluntary basis from the appropriate 

state agencies that collect data related to 

natural gas production. EIA 

discontinued the Form EIA–895 as a 

result of disparities in the quality of the 

data submissions and problems with 

enforcement and compliance with 

survey requirements. Some examples of 

these quality and compliance issues 

included delayed survey responses and 

incomplete submissions of key 

requested data elements that directly 

affected the EIA wellhead price 

estimation, such as associated volumes 

and revenues of marketed natural gas 

production. Since the termination of the 

Form EIA–895, EIA has explored 

possibilities for continuing the wellhead 

price series while also avoiding the 

shortcomings of the discontinued 

survey. 

Conceptual issues associated with the 

wellhead price also contribute to the 

data quality problems. The wellhead 

price is defined as the per-unit value of 

natural gas at the mouth of the well. 

However, in practice, the concept of the 

wellhead price is problematic as a result 

of the complexities of the long-term and 

short-term transactions that occur 

between natural gas producers, 

processors, marketers, and consumers 

along the natural gas value chain, as 

well as to the heterogeneity of natural 

gas production at the wellhead. The 

differing quality and thermal content of 

natural gas at the wellhead makes 

comparison of prices resulting from 

transactions across differing regions 

difficult because it is often unclear 

whether the gas in a given transaction 

contains marketable hydrocarbon 

liquids or unmarketable 

nonhydrocarbon gases. Natural gas 

production and revenue data supplied 

by the states is not sufficiently detailed 

for making these kinds of distinctions. 

As an alternative upstream price, EIA 

has explored using spot or bidweek 

prices from established hubs, such as 

prices for natural gas at the Henry Hub 

in Louisiana and the prices of selected 

NGLs at the Mont Belvieu location in 

Texas. Natural gas spot price 

information could resolve some of the 

issues associated with obtaining 

upstream wellhead prices for natural gas 

because these prices result from 

transactions for pipeline quality gas, 

which is a well-defined, uniform 

commodity. In theory, a wellhead price 

could be derived from nearby spot 

prices, assuming that transportation, 

processing, and related costs are known 

or knowable. However, obtaining this 

kind of information about the natural 

gas value chain leading to the market 

hub would likely be burdensome, and 

EIA currently has no plans to undertake 

such an analysis. As a result, EIA has 

begun to publish natural gas spot prices 

at the Henry Hub and a composite NGL 

price, excluding liquids produced at 

crude oil refineries, at the Mont Belvieu 

market location. 

Historically, EIA has estimated 

preliminary values for the monthly U.S. 

natural gas wellhead price using a timeseries econometric model, which 

incorporates data from historical 

wellhead prices, the New York 

Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) futures 

final settlement price for near-month 

delivery at the Henry Hub, and reported 

spot market prices at four major trading 

hubs: Carthage, Texas; Katy, Texas; 

Waha, Texas; and El Paso non-Bondad, 

New Mexico (see Natural Gas Monthly, 

Appendix A, June 2012, for details). 

These model-based estimates were 

replaced with the data submissions 

reported on the Form EIA–895, when 

the data became available. Wellhead 

prices have been estimated using this 

model through 2012. However, the 

growth in natural gas production in 

other parts of the contiguous U.S. 

outside of Texas has reduced the 

reliability of the model estimates. 

Moreover, with the discontinuation of 

the Form EIA–895, updating these 

estimates with reported values is no 

longer feasible. 

EIA proposes discontinuation of the 

wellhead price series because wellhead 

price data is not readily available and 

spot price information can provide a 

reasonable substitute. Further, obtaining 

wellhead price information would 

require a comprehensive study that 

could prove costly and burdensome to 

the public and seems impractical given 

current resource constraints. Absent a 

source of wellhead price information, 

EIA cannot objectively verify its modelbased wellhead price estimates of the 

national average wellhead price. 

Finally, natural gas spot and bidweek 

prices, in conjunction with NGL spot 

prices, provide a reasonable proxy for 

upstream natural gas prices. 

III. Current Actions 

In September 2012, EIA began 

publishing the Henry Hub natural gas 

spot price and a Mont Belvieu NGL 

composite spot price in the Natural Gas 

Monthly. Beginning in January 2013, 

EIA will discontinue publishing 

wellhead prices. 

Statutory Authority: Section 13(b) of the 

Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974, 

Pub. L. 93–275, codified at 15 U.S.C. 772(b). 

Issued in Washington, DC, on November 

28, 2012. 

Stephanie Brown, 

Director, Office of Survey Development and 

Statistical Integration, U.S. Energy 

Information Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2012–29232 Filed 12–3–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

Combined Notice of Filings 

Take notice that the Commission has 

received the following Natural Gas 

Pipeline Rate and Refund Report filings: 

Filings Instituting Proceedings 

Docket Numbers: RP13–306–000. 

Applicants: Ryckman Creek 

Resources, LLC. 

Description: Notice of Withdrawal. 

Filed Date: 11/27/12. 

Accession Number: 20121127–5146. 

Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 12/10/12. 

Docket Numbers: RP13–311–000. 

Applicants: Cimarron River Pipeline, 

LLC. 

Description: Cimarron River Pipeline, 

LLC submits Cash Out Refund Report. 

Filed Date: 11/27/12. 

Accession Number: 20121127–5049. 

Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 12/10/12. 

Docket Numbers: RP13–312–000. 

Applicants: Alliance Pipeline L.P. 

Description: December 2012 Capacity 

Auction to be effective 12/1/2012. 

Filed Date: 11/27/12. 

Accession Number: 20121127–5200. 

Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 12/10/12. 

Any person desiring to intervene or 

protest in any of the above proceedings 

must file in accordance with Rules 211 

and 214 of the Commission’s 

Regulations (18 CFR 385.211 and 

385.214) on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern 

time on the specified comment date. 

Protests may be considered, but 

intervention is necessary to become a 

party to the proceeding. 

Filings in Existing Proceedings 

Docket Numbers: RP12–1113–001. 

Applicants: Ryckman Creek 

Resources, LLC. 

Description: Ryckman Creek 

Compliance Filing to be effective 12/1/ 

2012. 

Filed Date: 11/27/12. 

Accession Number: 20121127–5162. 

Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 12/10/12. 

Docket Numbers: RP12–490–001. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with