67076 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 249 / Friday, December 28, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

1The Commission’s original Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking (NOPR), proposed to make three FERC

data collections, Forms 423, 714 and 715,

electronic. This Final Rule will require electronic

filing of the Form 423, but not yet change the

collection of the Forms 714 and 715. Comments

received in response to the NOPR indicated that

further consideration was warranted before

electronic filing of the Forms 714 and 715 is

ordered.

2Electronic Filing of FERC Form Nos. 423, 714

and 715, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 64 FR

60140 (Nov. 4, 1999), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 32,546

(1999).

Note 2: Information concerning the

existence of approved alternative methods of

compliance with this airworthiness directive,

if any, may be obtained from the ACO.

Special Flight Permits

(d) Special flight permits may be issued in

accordance with sections 21.197 and 21.199

of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR

21.197 and 21.199) to operate the aircraft to

a location where the requirements of this AD

can be done.

Documents That Have Been Incorporated by

Reference

(e) The propeller blade replacement and

propeller marking must be done in

accordance with Hamilton Sundstrand

Service Bulletin 247F–61–37, Revision 2,

dated September 7, 2001. This incorporation

by reference was approved by the Director of

the Federal Register in accordance with 5

U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. Copies may

be obtained from Hamilton Sundstrand, A

United Technologies Company, Publications

Manager, Mail Stop 2AM–EE50, One

Hamilton Road, Windsor Locks, CT 06096.

Copies may be inspected, by appointment, at

the FAA, New England Region, Office of the

Regional Counsel, 12 New England Executive

Park, Burlington, MA; or at the Office of the

Federal Register, 800 North Capitol Street,

NW., suite 700, Washington, DC.

Effective Date

(f) This amendment becomes effective on

January 14, 2002.

Issued in Burlington, Massachusetts, on

December 14, 2001.

Francis A. Favara,

Acting Manager, Engine and Propeller

Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service.

[FR Doc. 01–31328 Filed 12–27–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–U

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

18 CFR Parts 141 and 385

[Docket No. RM00–1–000; Order No. 622]

Electronic Filing of FERC Form No. 423

December 20, 2001.

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission (Commission) is

amending its regulations under the

Federal Power Act (FPA) to provide for

the electronic filing of its Form No. 423

(Form 423). Commencing with the

January 2002 filing, due March 15, 2002,

only electronic filings will be accepted;

the paper filing requirement will be

eliminated. The Commission has

developed the capacity to accept such

filings electronically and has

extensively tested the software and

related elements of the electronic filing

mechanism. This automation of the

Form 423 yields significant benefits to

respondents, the Commission and to the

electric industry as a whole. These

benefits include more timely analysis

and publication of the data, increased

data analysis capability, reduced cost of

data entry and retrieval and an overall

reduction in filing burden.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule is

effective January 28, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patricia W. Morris (Technical

Information), Office of Markets,

Tariffs and Rates, FERC, 888 First

Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426,

(202) 208–6990,

patricia.morris@ferc.fed.us

Bolton Pierce (Electronic System),

Office of Information Technology,

FERC, 888 First Street, NE.,

Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208–

1803, bolton.pierce@ferc.fed.us

S.L. Higginbottom (Legal Information),

Office of General Counsel, FERC, 888

First Street, NE., Washington, DC

20426, (202) 208–2168,

samuel.higginbottom@ferc.fed.us

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Before Commissioners: Pat Wood, III,

Chairman; William L. Massey, Linda

Breathitt, and Nora Mead Brownell.

[Docket No. RM00–1–000]

Electronic Filing of FERC Form No. 423,

Order No. 622; Final Rule

I. Introduction

This Final Rule revises parts 141 and

385 of the Commission’s regulations to

require the electronic filing of its FERC

Form No. 423 ‘‘Monthly Report of Cost

and Quality of Fuels for Electric Plants’’

(Form 423).1 The electronic data to be

filed, commencing with reports for the

month of January 2002, due no later

than March 19, 2002, will replace the

nearly 1000 pages of Form 423

information presently filed with the

Commission in hard copy every month.

There will be no further requirement for

a hard copy Form 423 filing. The

Commission has throughly tested the

software and related elements of the

electronic filing mechanism and finds

that the methodology and mechanics of

the system are ready for industry-wide

electronic filing of Form 423.

II. Background

Form 423 information is collected

pursuant to sections 205 and 206 of the

Federal Power Act (FPA), as amended

by section 208 of the Public Utility

Regulatory Policies Act of 1978

(PURPA). The Commission collects

basic cost and quality of fuels data at

electric generating plants on the Form

423 and has used such data to conduct

fuel reviews, rate investigations and to

track market changes and trends. The

Commission’s Form 423 filing

requirements are found at 18 CFR

141.61

The Form 423 is a monthly

submission from approximately 200

electric utilities who sell electric power

under traditionally-regulated, cost-based

rates from approximately 500 power

plants.

III. Discussion

On October 28, 1999, the Commission

issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

(NOPR) in Docket RM00–1–000,

proposing that the Form 423 be filed

electronically.2 Respondents to the

NOPR commended the efforts of the

Commission in reducing the burden by

providing for electronic submissions of

the Form 423. Any concerns voiced by

respondents to the NOPR now have

been addressed and resolved.

The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) was

‘‘concerned that the hasty

implementation of electronic filing may

not provide all the expected benefits

and may impose greater transition costs

than are necessary.’’ EEI, and also

Southern Companies, thus encouraged

the Commission to carefully test all

software for a minimum of one year

with a group of volunteer reporting

companies before electronic filing was

made compulsory, and to allow

electronic filing via the Internet. The

Commission has, in fact, done such

testing. Testing began with just a few

filers over a year ago. Gradually more

and more filers were added and the

Commission is now receiving over 25%

of each month’s Form 423 filings

electronically; many of those filing are

EEI members who volunteered to help

develop the system. (Each month

respondents update their previous

month’s data to reflect the current

reporting month; only changes to the

prior month’s data need be made.) In an

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 249 / Friday, December 28, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 67077

3Regulations Implementing National

Environmental Policy Act, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17,

1987), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 30,783 (1987).

4 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii).

5 18 CFR 380.4(a)(5).

6 5 U.S.C. 601–612.

7 5 U.S.C. 601(3), citing to section 3 of the Small

Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 632. Section 3 of the Small

Business Act defines a ‘‘small-business concern’’ as

a business which is independently owned and

operated and which is not dominant in its field of

operation.

effort to assist each filer in entering and

submitting the most accurate data,

numerous checks and balances have

been incorporated into the system.

Moreover, filings are being transmitted

to the Commission via the Internet.

IV. Environmental Statement

Commission regulations require that

an environmental assessment or an

environmental impact statement be

prepared for any Commission action

that may have a significant adverse

effect on the human environment.3 No

environmental consideration is

necessary for the promulgation of a rule

that is clarifying, corrective, or

procedural, or that does not

substantially change the effect of

legislation or regulations being

amended,4 and also for information

gathering, analysis, and dissemination.5

This Final Rule does not substantially

change the effect of the regulation being

amended. In addition, the Final Rule

involves information gathering, analysis

and dissemination. Therefore, this Final

Rule falls within categorical exemptions

provided in the Commission’s

regulations. Consequently, neither an

environmental impact statement nor an

environmental assessment is required.

V. Regulatory Flexibility Act

In Mid-Tex Elect. Coop. v. FERC, 773

F. 2d 327 (D. C. Cir. 1985), the court

found that Congress, in passing the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA),6

intended agencies to limit their

consideration ‘‘to small entities that

would be directly regulated’’ by

proposed rules. Id. at 342. The court

further concluded that ‘‘the relevant

‘economic impact’ was the impact of

compliance with the proposed rule on

regulated small entities.’’ Id.

This Final Rule will reduce the

reporting burden and promote

consistent reporting practices for all

reporting companies. The Commission

received no comments regarding its

certification in the NOPR that the Final

Rule would not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities. Moreover, the

Commission again finds that most filing

entities regulated by the Commission do

not fall within the RFA’s definition of

a small entity 7 and that this Final Rule

will not have a significant economic

impact on a substantial number of small

entities.

VI. Information Collection Statement

The Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) regulations require that OMB

approve certain reporting and record

keeping (collections of information)

imposed by an agency. The information

collection requirements in this Final

Rule are contained in Form 423,

‘‘Monthly Report of Cost and Quality of

Fuels for Electric Plants’’ (OMB

approval No. 1902–0024). Form 423

most recently received OMB approval

on January 23, 2001 for the period

through January 2003. As part of the

renewal process, OMB was notified that

the Commission was developing and

testing a system for electronic

submission of the data. This electronic

filing initiative is part of the

Commission’s ongoing program to

reduce reporting requirements. As

explained below, the shift to electronic

filing of the Form 423 will reduce, by

about one-third, the burden on regulated

companies for maintaining and

reporting information under the

Commission’s Form 423 regulations.

Interested persons may obtain

information on the reporting

requirements by contacting the Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888

First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426

(Attention: Michael Miller, Office of the

Chief Information Officer, (202) 208–

1415) or from the Office of Management

and Budget, Room 10202 NEOB,

Washington, DC 20503 (Attention: Desk

Officer for the Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission, (202) 395–

3087, fax: (202) 395–7285).

The regulated entity shall not be

penalized for failure to respond to this

collection of information unless the

collection of information displays a

valid OMB control number.

Title: FERC Form No. 423, ‘‘Monthly

Report of Cost and Quality of Fuels for

Electric Plants.’’

Action: Revision of a Currently

Approved Collection.

OMB Control No.: 1902–0024.

Respondents: Every electric power

producer having electric generating

plants with a rated steam-electric

generating capacity of 50 megawatts or

greater during the reporting month.

Frequency of Responses: Monthly.

Reporting Burden: At the time of OMB

renewal in January 2001, there were

monthly filings for approximately 636

electric plants. With an average overall

response rate of 1.5 hours per monthly

report, the total respondent burden was

11,448 hours (636 x 1.5 x 12). Currently

there are 584 monthly filings, a

reduction of 52 filings due largely to

waivers since granted by the

Commission to those utilities operating

solely under market-based rates, with a

total annual respondent burden of

10,512 hours (584 x 1.5 x 12). These 584

monthly filings will now be submitted

electronically, reducing the average

burden to 1.0 hour per monthly report,

for a total respondent burden of 7,008

hours (584 x 1.0 x 12). This is a

reduction of 3,504 respondent burden

hours (10,512 hours—7,008 hours), or a

reduction of roughly one third.

The burden reduction realized by the

Federal government is just as dramatic.

Previously the estimated annualized

Form 423 cost to the Federal

government was stated as $190,000

(approximately 1.6 FTE), however with

electronic filing the annual cost is only

$29,260 (approximately 0.25 FTE).

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. These new

electronic filing requirements conform

to the Commission’s plan for efficient

information collection, communication

and management within the electric

power industry. The changes will

contribute to well-informed decisionmaking and streamlined workload

processing.

Interested persons may obtain

information on the reporting

requirements by contacting the

following: Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, 888 First Street, NE,

Washington, DC 20426, Attention:

Michael Miller, Office of the Chief

Information Officer, Phone: (202) 208–

1415, fax: (202) 273–0873, e-mail:

mike.miller@ferc.fed.us.

For the submission of comments

concerning the collection of information

and the associated burden estimates,

please send your comments to the

contact listed above or to the Office of

Management and Budget, Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Washington DC, 20503 (Attention: Desk

Officer for the Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission, phone (202)

395–3087, fax: (202) 395–7285).

VII. Document Availability

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

FERC’s home page (http://www.ferc.gov)

and in FERC’s Public Reference Room

67078 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 249 / Friday, December 28, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

8 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

9 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).

during normal business hours (8:30 a.m.

to 5 p.m. Eastern time) at 888 First

Street, NE, Room 2A, Washington, DC

20426.

From FERC’s home page on the

Internet, this information is available in

both the Commission Issuance Posting

System (CIPS) and the Records and

Information Management System

(RIMS).

—CIPS provides access to the texts of

formal documents issued by the

Commission since November 14, 1994.

—CIPS can be accessed using the

CIPS link or the Energy Information

Online icon. The full text of this

document is available on CIPS in ASCII

and WordPerfect 8.0 format for viewing,

printing, and/or downloading.

—RIMS contains images of documents

submitted to and issued by the

Commission after November 16, 1981.

Documents from November 1995 to the

present can be viewed and printed from

FERC’s Home Page using the RIMS link

or the Energy Information Online icon.

Descriptions of documents back to

November 16, 1981, are also available

from RIMS-on-the-Web; requests for

copies of these and other older

documents should be submitted to the

Public Reference Room.

User assistance is available for RIMS,

CIPS, and the web site during normal

business hours from our Help line at

(202) 208–2222 (e-mail to

WebMaster@ferc.fed.us) or the Public

Reference Room at (202) 208–1371 (email to

public.referenceroom@ferc.fed.us).

During normal business hours,

documents can also be viewed and/or

printed in FERC’s Public Reference

Room, where RIMS, CIPS, and the FERC

web site are available. User assistance is

also available.

VIII. Effective Date and Congressional

Notification

This Final Rule will take effect

January 28, 2002. The Commission has

determined, with the concurrence of the

Administrator of the Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs of

the Office of Management and Budget,

that this rule is not a ‘‘major rule’’

within the meaning of section 251 of the

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act of 1996.8 The Commission

will submit the Final Rule to both

Houses of Congress and the General

Accounting Office.9

List of Subjects

18 CFR Part 141

Electric power, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

18 CFR Part 385

Administrative practice and

procedure. Electric power, Penalties,

Pipelines, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

By the Commission.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,

Acting Secretary.

In consideration of the foregoing, the

Commission amends parts 141 and 385,

Chapter I, Title 18, of the Code of

Federal Regulations, as follows:

PART 141—STATEMENTS AND

REPORTS (SCHEDULES)

1. The authority citation for part 141

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 79; 16 U.S.C. 791a828c, 2601–2645; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C.

7101–7352.

2. Section 141.61 is revised, to read as

follows:

§ 141.61 FERC Form No. 423, Monthly

report of cost and quality of fuels for

electric plants.

(a) Who must file. Every electric

power producer having electric

generating plants with a stream-electric

generating capacity of 50 megawatts or

greater during the reporting month must

file with the Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission for each such plant the

FERC Form No. 423, ‘‘Monthly Report of

Cost and Quality of Fuels for Electric

Plants,’’ pursuant to the General

Instructions set out in this form.

(b) When to file and what to file. This

report must be filed on or before the

45th day after the end of each reporting

month. This report must be filed with

the Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission as prescribed in § 385.2011

of this chapter and as indicated in the

General Instructions set out in this form,

and must be properly completed and

verified. Filing on electronic media

pursuant to § 385.2011 of this chapter

will be required commencing with the

report required to be submitted for the

reporting month of January 2002.

PART 385—RULES OF PRACTICE AND

PROCEDURE

3. The authority citation for part 385

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 551–557; 15 U.S.C.

717–717z, 3301–3432; 16 U.S.C 791a-825r,

2601–2645; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 7101–

7352; 49 U.S.C. 60502; 49 App. U.S.C. 1–85

(1988).

4. Section 385.2011 is amended by

adding paragraph (a)(8), to read as

follows:

§ 385.2011 Procedures for filing on

electronic media (Rule 2011).

(a) * * *

(8) FERC Form No. 423, Monthly

Report of Cost and Quality of Fuels for

Electric Plants.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 01–32006 Filed 12–27–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

20 CFR Parts 416 and 422

RIN 0960–AF31

Supplemental Security Income;

Disclosure of Information to Consumer

Reporting Agencies and Overpayment

Recovery Through Administrative

Offset Against Federal Payments

AGENCY: Social Security Administration.

ACTION: Final rules.

SUMMARY: We are modifying our

regulations dealing with the recovery of

supplemental security income (SSI)

overpayments made under title XVI of

the Social Security Act (the Act). The

modifications reflect statutory authority

for the Social Security Administration

(SSA) to selectively refer information

about SSI overpayments to consumer

reporting agencies and to recover SSI

overpayments through administrative

offset by the Department of the Treasury

against other Federal payments to which

the overpaid individual may be entitled.

These collection practices would be

limited to overpayments made to a

person after he or she attained age 18

that are determined to be otherwise

unrecoverable under section 1631(b) of

the Act after the individual ceases to be

a beneficiary under title XVI of the Act.

DATES: These regulations will be

effective on January 28, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patricia Hora, Social Insurance

Specialist, Office of Process and

Innovation Management, Social Security

Administration, 2109 West Low Rise

Building, 6401 Security Boulevard,

Baltimore, MD 21235–6401, (410) 965–

7183 or TTY (410) 966–5609 for

information about these rules. For

information on eligibility or claiming

benefits, call our national toll-free

number, 1–800–772–1213 or TTY 1–

800–325–0778 or visit our Internet site,

Social Security Online, at http://

www.ssa.gov/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

1631(b) of the Act prescribes the