Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 103 / Tuesday, May 29, 2001 / Notices 29097

inimical to the common defense and

security.

This subsequent arrangement will

take effect no sooner than fifteen days

after the date of publication of this

notice.

Dated: May 21, 2001.

Trisha Dedik,

Director, International Policy and Analysis

for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, Office

of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation.

[FR Doc. 01–13391 Filed 5–25–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

National Nuclear Security

Administration; Notice of Intent To

Establish the National Nuclear Security

Administration Advisory Committee

(NNSA AC)

In accordance with section 9(a)(2) of

the Federal Advisory Committee Act

(Pub. L. No. 92–463), and in accordance

with Title 41 of the Code of Federal

Regulations, section 101–6.1015(a), this

notice of intent to establish the National

Nuclear Security Administration

Advisory Committee. This intent is to

establish follows consultation with the

Committee Management Secretary of the

General Services Administration,

pursuant to 41 CFR Subpart 101–6.10.

The purpose of the Committee is to

provide the Administrator for Nuclear

Security with advice, information, and

recommendations on NNSA mission

performance, needs, and priorities. The

Committee will provide an organized

forum for the community to provide

advice and input to programs

concerning nonproliferation, stockpile

stewardship and naval reactor issues,

and their related technology, research

and development.

Committee members have been

identified; they were selected to ensure

an appropriately-balanced membership

to bring into account a diversity of

viewpoints, including representatives

from universities, industry, and others

who may significantly contribute to the

deliberations of the Committee.

Advance notice of all meetings of this

Committee will be published in the

Federal Register.

The establishment of the National

Nuclear Security Administration

Advisory Committee has been

determined to be compelled by

consideration of national security,

essential to the conduct of Department

of Energy business, and in the public

interest.

Further information regarding this

Committee may be obtained from Dr.

Maureen McCarthy, Chief Scientist,

National Nuclear Security

Administration, Washington, DC 20585,

phone (202) 586–5555.

Issued in Washington, DC, May 23, 2001.

James N. Solit,

Advisory Committee Management Officer.

[FR Doc. 01–13495 Filed 5–25–01; 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 Forms EIA–911A–C,

‘‘Surveys to Assess Effects of

Interruptions of Natural Gas Supplies.’’

DATES: Comments must be filed on or

before July 30, 2001. If you anticipate

difficulty in submitting comments

within that period, contact the person

listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to William

Trapmann, (EI–44), ATTN: Form EIA–

911, Forrestal Building, U.S.

Department of Energy, Washington, DC

20585. Alternatively, Mr. Trapmann

may be reached by telephone at 202–

586–6408, by FAX at 202–586–4420 or

by e-mail at

william.trapmann@eia.doe.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or a

copy of the forms and instructions

should be directed to Mr. Trapmann at

the address listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

II. Current Actions

III. Request for Comments

I. Background

The Federal Energy Administration

Act of 1974 (FEA Act) (Pub. L. No. 93–

275, 15 U.S.C. 761 et seq.) and the DOE

Organization Act (Pub. L. No. 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 (Secretary) 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. Conducting the

surveys provides EIA with information

used to accurately estimate United

States energy supplies. 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.

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.

During the past two winters, EIA has

fielded emergency surveys to collect

information for addressing increasing

volatility in natural gas supplies and

prices. Most recently, in order to assess

interactions of the natural gas and

distillate energy markets during the

2000/2001 winter heating season

(October–March) and to answer

questions on the effects that ‘‘fuelswitching’’ customers (i.e., those that

switch between natural gas and

petroleum products) have on demand

and prices, EIA needed to collect

information that was not then available.

To satisfy the information needs, EIA

fielded the following surveys:

• Form EIA–911A, ‘‘Biweekly Gas

Supplier Survey’’

Form EIA–911A was used to collect

information on a biweekly basis from a

sample of companies that deliver

natural gas regarding delivered volumes

and interruptions of service for the

January through March portion of the

heating season. For each two-week

period, data were collected on deliveries

(firm, non-firm); interruptions (volumes

29098 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 103 / Tuesday, May 29, 2001 / Notices

and hours interrupted, both firm and

non-firm); and customers interrupted.

• Form EIA–911B, ‘‘Biweekly

Petroleum Product Suppliers Sales

Report’’ For the same period, EIA

collected information on a biweekly

basis from petroleum product suppliers

regarding customers serviced; volumes

(gallons) sold by product to customers

with fuel-switching capabilities; total

retail and wholesale volumes sold by

product, and beginning and ending

secondary-system inventories by

product.

• Form EIA–911C, ‘‘Biweekly Natural

Gas And Petroleum Customer Survey’’

Also, EIA collected information on a

biweekly basis from energy customers

with fuel-switching capabilities

regarding natural gas and petroleum

product deliveries; voluntary and

involuntary interruptions of natural gas

deliveries (volumes and hours);

substitutions of petroleum products as

fuel in place of natural gas; and

inventories of distillate fuel oil and

other petroleum fuels.

For both the 1999/2000 and 2000/

2001 heating seasons, EIA needed to

request OMB approval on an emergency

basis to collect natural gas information.

The data collected was used to respond

to requests from the Secretary of Energy

and Congress.

II. Current Actions

Given the need for emergency

approvals for the past two heating

seasons and the likelihood of

recurrences of volatile natural gas

supplies and prices, EIA is requesting

comments on three forms for which EIA

will request contingency stand-by OMB

approval for use in the event of future

natural gas supply or price emergencies.

EIA will request approval from OMB for

the three surveys through August 31,

2004, to collect data during the winter

heating season (October–March) if an

emergency arises (e.g., large spikes in

the price of natural gas or heating oil, a

Congressional request, or a severe cold

spell that results in low stocks of

heating fuels). EIA will request that

OMB approve the forms on a stand-by

basis so that EIA would be able to

implement them immediately when

circumstances warrant. EIA’s proposal

allows the public to comment on the

forms in a non-emergency setting,

permits OMB time to review the forms

without the time constraints of an

emergency request, and allows EIA to

have forms in place ready to address

information needs in the event of

significant supply and/or price

volatility.

The EIA Administrator shall

determine when conditions warrant

implementing one or more of the

proposed forms. At that time, EIA

would notify OMB of the decision and

would use the form(s) if OMB did not

object. The geographic area(s) (e.g,

specific States, U.S. regions, etc.) to be

surveyed and the frequency (e.g.,

biweekly, monthly, etc.) of the data

being collected would be determined by

the Administrator at the time of a

triggering event. The EIA does not

anticipate the need for these forms on a

national basis and does not believe that

given existing and anticipated staff and

resources that the forms would be

implemented on a national basis.

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. Are the proposed collections 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. Reporting burden is estimated to

average:

EIA–911A = 2 hours per reporting

period,

EIA–911B = 1 hour per reporting

period, and

EIA–911C = 2 hours per reporting

period.

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 surveys.

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 these

collections 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

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, D.C., May 21, 2001.

Jay H. Casselberry,

Agency Clearance Officer, Statistics and

Methods Group, Energy Information

Administration

[FR Doc. 01–13392 Filed 5–25–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. IC01–523–001, FERC–523]

Information Collection Submitted for

Review and Request for Comments

May 22, 2001.

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Notice of submission for review

by the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission (Commission)

has submitted the energy information

collection listed in this notice to the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) for review under provisions of

section 3507 of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (Public Law 104–