[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 220 (Thursday, November 16, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53489-53490]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24802]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket Nos. RD17-8-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725HH); 
Comment Request; Revision and Extension

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of revised information collection and request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or 
FERC) is soliciting public comment on revisions to the information 
collection, FERC-725HH (RF Reliability Standards) which will be 
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review of 
the information collection requirements.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due January 16, 
2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket Nos. RD17-8-000 
by either of the following methods:
    <bullet> eFiling at Commission's Web site: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp.
    <bullet> Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426.
    Instructions: All submissions must be formatted and filed in 
accordance with submission guidelines at: http://www.ferc.gov/help/submission-guide.asp. For user assistance, contact FERC Online Support 
by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#03656671606c6d6f6a6d66707673736c717743656671602d646c75"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="63050611000c0d0f0a0d06101613130c111723050611004d040c15">[email protected]</span></a>, or by phone at: (866) 208-3676 
(toll-free), or (202) 502-8659 for TTY.
    Docket: Users interested in receiving automatic notification of 
activity in this docket or in viewing/downloading comments and 
issuances in this docket may do so at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/docs-filing.asp.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5b1f3a2f3a18373e3a293a35383e1b1d1e0918753c342d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ca8eabbeab89a6afabb8aba4a9af8a8c8f9889e4ada5bc">[email protected]</span></a>, telephone at (202) 502-8663, and fax at (202) 
273-0873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: FERC-725HH, RF Reliability Standards.
    OMB Control Number: 1902-0256.
    Type of Request: Three-year approval of the FERC-725HH information 
collection requirements, as modified by Docket No. RD17-8-000.
    Abstract: The information collected by the FERC-725HH is required 
to implement the statutory provisions of section 215 of the Federal 
Power Act (FPA) (16 U.S.C. 824o). Section 215 of the FPA buttresses the 
Commission's efforts to strengthen the reliability of the interstate 
grid through the grant of new authority by providing for a system of 
mandatory Reliability Standards developed by the Electric Reliability 
Organization (ERO). In July 2006, the Commission certified the North 
American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) as the ERO.\1\ 
Reliability Standards that the ERO proposes to the Commission may 
include Reliability Standards that are proposed to the ERO by a 
Regional Entity.\2\ A Regional Entity is an entity that has been 
approved by the Commission to enforce Reliability Standards under 
delegated authority from the ERO.\3\ On March 17, 2011, the Commission 
approved a regional Reliability Standard submitted by the ERO that was 
developed by the ReliabilityFirst Corporation (RF).\4\
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    \1\ North American Electric Reliability Corp., 116 FERC 61,062 
(ERO Certification Order), 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).
    \2\ 16 U.S.C. 824o(e)(4).
    \3\ 16 U.S.C. 824o(a)(7) and (e)(4).
    \4\ Planning Resource Adequacy Assessment Reliability Standard, 
Order No. 747, 134 FERC 61,212 (2011).
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    RF promotes bulk electric system reliability in the Eastern 
Interconnection. RF is the Regional Entity responsible for compliance 
monitoring and enforcement in the RF region. In addition, RF provides 
an environment for the development of Reliability Standards and the 
coordination of the operating and planning activities of its members as 
set forth in the RF bylaws.
    There is one regional Reliability Standard in the RF region. The 
regional Reliability Standard requires planning coordinators within the 
RF geographical footprint to analyze, assess and document resource 
adequacy for load in the RF footprint annually, to utilize a ``one day 
in ten years'' loss of load criterion, and to document and post load 
and resource capability in each area or transmission-constrained sub-
area identified.
    <bullet> BAL-502-RFC-02 (Planning Resource Adequacy Analysis, 
Assessment and Documentation) \5\ establishes common criteria, based on 
``one day in ten year'' loss of load expectation principles, for the 
analysis, assessment, and documentation of resource adequacy for load 
in the RF region.
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    \5\ BAL-502-RFC-02 is included in the OMB-approved inventory for 
FERC-725H.
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    The Commission's request to OMB reflects the following:
    <bullet> Implementing the regional Reliability Standard BAL-502-RF-
03 and the retirement of regional Reliability Standard BAL-502-RFC-02 
\6\ which is discussed below.
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    \6\ Burden associated with BAL-502-RF-02 Reliability Standard 
was once contained in FERC-725H information collection (OMB Control 
No. 1902-0256). FERC-725H was discontinued on 3/6/2014. However, the 
requirements of BAL-502-RF-02 were still imposed on NERC entities. 
Those requirements are now being retired with no removal of burden 
(any associated burden was removed concurrent with the 
discontinuance).

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[[Page 53490]]

    On September 7, 2017, NERC and RF filed a joint petition in Docket 
No. RD17-8-000 \7\ requesting Commission approval of: (a) Regional 
Reliability Standard BAL-502-RF-03 (Planning Resource Adequacy 
Analysis, Assessment and Documentation), and (b) the retirement of 
regional Reliability Standard BAL-502-RFC-02.\6\ The petition states: 
``Proposed regional Reliability Standard BAL-502-RF-03 establishes 
common criteria, based on ``one day in ten year'' loss of Load 
expectation principles, for the analysis, assessment, and documentation 
of Resource Adequacy for Load in the ReliabilityFirst region.'' NERC's 
and RF's joint filing was noticed on September 8, 2017, with 
interventions, comments and protests due on or before October 10, 2017. 
In this document, we provide estimates of the burden and cost related 
to those revisions to FERC-725HH.
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    \7\ The joint petition and exhibits are posted in the 
Commission's eLibrary system in Docket No. RD17-8-000.
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    Type of Respondents: Planning coordinators.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \8\ Details follow on the changes 
related to Docket No. RD17-8-000.
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    \8\ Burden is defined as the total time, effort, or financial 
resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or 
disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. For 
further explanation of what is included in the information 
collection burden, refer to 5 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3.
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    Estimate of Changes to Burden Due to Docket No. RD17-8: The joint 
petition requested Commission approval of regional Reliability Standard 
BAL-502-RF-03 and retirement of regional Reliability Standard BAL-502-
RFC-02. The estimated effects on burden and cost \9\ are as follows:
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    \9\ For BAL-502-RF-03, the hourly cost (for salary plus 
benefits) uses the figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 
three positions involved in the reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements. These figures include salary (http://bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm) and benefits (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm) and are:
    <bullet> Manager (Occupation Code 11-0000): $81.52/hour.
    <bullet> Engineer (Occupation Code 17-2071): $68.12/hour.
    <bullet> File Clerk (Occupation Code 43-4071): $32.74/hour.
    The hourly cost for the reporting requirements ($60.79) is an 
average of the cost of a manager, an engineer, and a file clerk.
    \10\ The number of respondents is derived from the NERC 
Compliance Registry as of October 2, 2017 for the burden associated 
with the proposed regional Reliability Standard BAL-502-RF-03.

                                         FERC-725HH, RF Reliability Standards, Changes in Docket No. RD17-8-000
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                                    Number of      Annual number                                                 Total annual burden
             Entity                respondents      of responses   Annual number of  Average burden hours and   hours and total annual      Cost per
                                       \10\        per respondent      responses       cost per response ($)           cost ($)          respondent ($)
                                             (1)              (2)   (1) * (2) = (3)  (4).....................  (3) * (4) = (5)........   (5) / (1) = (6)
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                                                  Proposed Regional Reliability Standard BAL-502-RF-03
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Planning Coordinators..........                2                1                 2  16 hrs.; $973...........  32 hrs.; $1,945........              $973
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    Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Commission, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden and 
cost of the collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information collection; and (4) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.

    Dated: November 9, 2017.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-24802 Filed 11-15-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


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