Document ID: FERC-2015-1259-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Rule
Title: Protection System, Automatic Reclosing, and  Sudden Pressure Relaying Maintenance Reliability Standard
Posted Date: 2015-09-24T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 185 (Thursday, September 24, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57526-57531]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-24280]

[[Page 57526]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 40

[Docket No. RM15-9-000, Order No. 813]

Protection System, Automatic Reclosing, and Sudden Pressure 
Relaying Maintenance Reliability Standard

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal Power Act, the Commission approves 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). In addition, the Commission approves one new definition and 
four revised definitions referenced in the proposed Reliability 
Standard, as well as the assigned violation risk factors and violation 
severity levels, and the associated 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: This rule will become effective November 23, 2015.

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:

Order No. 813

Final Rule (Issued September 17, 2015)

    1. Pursuant to section 215 of the Federal Power Act (FPA),\1\ the 
Commission approves 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 approves 
one new definition and four revised definitions referenced in the 
Reliability Standard, as well as the assigned violation risk factors 
and violation severity levels, and the proposed implementation plan. 
Consistent with Order No. 758,\2\ Reliability Standard PRC-005-4 
requires applicable entities to test and maintain certain sudden 
pressure relays as part of a protection system maintenance program.
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    \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).
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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\
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    \3\ 16 U.S.C. at 824o(c) and (d).
    \4\ See id. at 824o(e).
    \5\ North 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).
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    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.
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    \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).
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    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 provided guidance on the types of protection system equipment 
to which the Reliability Standard did or did not apply. In reviewing 
NERC's interpretation, however, 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\
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    \7\ See Order No. 758, 138 FERC ] 61,094 at P 12. NERC has been 
addressing the 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).
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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 stated 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 non-electrical sensing relays (such as sudden pressure 
relays) that could affect the reliable operation of the Bulk-Power 
System.\9\
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    \8\ Reliability Standard PRC-005-4 is not attached to the Final 
Rule; however, the complete text of the 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.
    \9\ See NERC Petition at 3, 9.
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    6. NERC stated 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

[[Page 57527]]

stated 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 proposed revisions to PRC-005-
3 that will require entities to document and implement programs for 
maintenance of applicable sudden pressure relays.\11\
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    \10\ Id. at 3. NERC described 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 noted that in addition to detecting faults, certain sudden 
pressure relays can trip the associated transformer circuitry in 
response to the fault conditions.
    \11\ Id. at 3-4.
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    7. NERC explained 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 stated 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 present 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 in-depth 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.
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    \12\ Id. at 4.
    \13\ Id. at 10.
    \14\ Id.
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    8. NERC also explained that the SPCS developed a Supplemental 
Report in response to comments and questions from the Commission staff 
about its initial recommendations. 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.
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    \15\ NERC Petition at 11, Ex. E (NERC SPCS, Sudden Pressure 
Relays and Other Devices that Respond to Non-Electrical Quantities: 
Supplemental Information to Support Project 2007-17.3: Protection 
System Maintenance and Testing (Oct. 31, 2014) (SPCS Supplemental 
Report)).
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    9. NERC stated 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 maintained in its petition that 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 maintained 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\
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    \16\ NERC Petition at 12.
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    11. NERC explained that Reliability Standard PRC-005-4 has been 
modified to include ``Sudden Pressure Relaying'' devices (newly-
defined) as part of an applicable entity's protection system 
maintenance program.\17\ NERC further explained that Reliability 
Standard PRC-005-4's maintenance requirements would apply to a sudden 
pressure relay that trips an interrupting device to isolate the 
equipment it is monitoring, but that it ``does not include other non-
electric sensing devices, pressure relays that only initiate an alarm, 
or pressure relief devices.'' \18\ In addition, NERC explained 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 bulk electric system 
generating unit would be determined in circumstances involving a 
Reserve Sharing Group.
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    \17\ NERC also proposed 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.
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    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, and adds compliance dates for the new 
requirements for applicable sudden pressure relays. NERC asked 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 explained 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. Finally, NERC stated 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.

C. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

    15. On April 22, 2015, the Commission issued a Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (NOPR) proposing to approve Reliability Standard PRC-005-4, 
along with the new definition of Sudden Pressure Relaying, the four 
revised definitions referenced in the standard, and the assigned 
violation risk factors and violation severity levels.\19\ The 
Commission agreed with NERC that the identified sudden pressure relays 
should be included in an adequate protection system maintenance 
program, and stated its belief that inclusion of these devices in such 
a maintenance program would enhance reliability.\20\ However, the 
Commission also noted its continuing concern that ``misoperation of 
other types of non-electrical sensing relays or devices, such as 
pressure sensing devices associated with air blast or SF6 circuit 
breaker arc extinguishing systems, could affect the reliable operation 
of the Bulk-Power System.'' \21\ While the Commission did

[[Page 57528]]

not propose any revisions to the standard based on these concerns, it 
noted its expectation that Commission staff would continue to explore 
the issue with NERC.\22\
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    \19\ Protection System, Automatic Reclosing, and Sudden Pressure 
Relaying Maintenance Reliability Standard, Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking, 80 FR 22444 (Apr. 22, 2015), 151 FERC ] 61,026, (2015) 
(NOPR).
    \20\ Id. PP 15-16.
    \21\ Id. P 17.
    \22\ Id.
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    16. Comments on the NOPR were filed by NERC, the Edison Electric 
Institute (EEI), the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association 
(NRECA), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Southern Company Services, 
Inc. (Southern Companies), and Eric S. Morris. Dominion Resources 
Services, Inc. filed a motion to intervene in this rulemaking, but did 
not file substantive comments. Ameren submitted late-filed comments on 
August 31, 2015.

II. Discussion

    17. Pursuant to section 215(d)(2) of the FPA, the Commission 
approves 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 (as 
discussed further below). We find that Reliability Standard PRC-005-4 
will enhance reliability by requiring the inclusion of certain sudden 
pressure relays 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. Moreover, we note that all of the commenters 
that addressed the issue support approval of PRC-005-4, as well as the 
associated definitions and violation risk factors and violation 
severity levels.\23\
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    \23\ One commenter, Eric S. Morris, does not directly address 
the Commission's proposed approval of PRC-005-4, but instead raises 
generic questions concerning the severity of fines imposed by NERC, 
and the lack of a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether 
reliability or security have improved following NERC's certification 
as the ERO. Because Mr. Morris has not raised any issues relevant to 
this rulemaking, we will not address his comments further here, but 
note that the Commission recently addressed issues related to NERC's 
overall performance and continued certification as the ERO in its 
Order on the Electric Reliability Organization's Five-Year 
Performance Assessment. See North American Electric Reliability 
Corp., 149 FERC ] 61,141 (2014).
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    18. Below we discuss the following matters: (1) continued 
assessment of reliability gaps associated with non-electrical sensing 
devices; and (2) alignment of implementation plans with other versions 
of PRC-005.

A. Continued Assessment of Non-Electrical Sensing Devices NOPR

    19. The Commission indicated in the NOPR that it continued to have 
some concern ``that the misoperation of other types of non-electrical 
sensing relays or devices, such as pressure sensing devices associated 
with air blast or SF6 circuit breaker arc extinguishing systems, could 
affect the reliable operation of the Bulk-Power System.'' \24\ While 
the Commission recognized that the SPCS Report found no situations ``in 
which misoperation of a density switch or sensor [i.e., pressure 
sensing device] in response to a system disturbance had contributed to 
a cascading event,'' the Commission nevertheless noted its expectation 
that Commission staff would continue to explore the issue with NERC. 
The Commission pointed out that NERC's 2013 and 2014 State of 
Reliability reports indicated ``that AC substation equipment failures 
remain among the leading causes of Bulk Power System problems.'' \25\
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    \24\ NOPR, 151 FERC ] 61,026 at P 17.
    \25\ Id.
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Comments
    20. NERC agrees with the Commission's proposal to continue to work 
with Commission staff ``to explore misoperations of particular types of 
non-electrical sensing relays or devices . . . to assess the impact of 
this equipment on the reliable operation of the Bulk-Power System.'' 
\26\ While EEI supports NERC's commitment to continue to examine the 
misoperations issue, EEI maintains that the SPCS Report provided a 
``comprehensive and thorough response to the Commission's concerns'' as 
set out in Order No. 758, and asks that the Commission not issue any 
further directives or modifications related to PRC-005 at this 
time.\27\
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    \26\ NERC Comments at 2.
    \27\ EEI Comments at 4-5.
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    21. With respect to the Commission's expressed concern regarding 
density switches or sensors, EEI notes that the SPCS report found no 
operating experience in which misoperation of such a device contributed 
to a cascading event, and further found that ``density switches 
typically respond to an abnormal equipment condition and take[] action 
to protect the equipment from excessive loss of life rather than for 
the purpose of initiating fault clearing or mitigating an abnormal 
system condition to support reliable operation of the Bulk-Power 
System.'' \28\ EEI also states that NERC's 2014 AC Substation Equipment 
Failure Report supports EEI's position that no maintenance gap exists 
with respect to density switches, as the report found that although 
``failures of some of these devices may result in a breaker tripping, 
they are more properly considered as control failures, and typically 
are not associated with increased transmission outage severity.'' \29\ 
Finally, EEI states that NERC's 2015 State of Reliability Report 
provides ``no indication that these devices have been implicated or 
otherwise identified as having any contributing factor in affecting 
reliable of operation of the Bulk-Power System.'' \30\
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    \28\ Id. at 3 (quoting Consideration of Comments: Project 2007-
17.3 Protection System Maintenance and Testing (PRC-005-X) (October 
20, 2014) http://www.nerc.com/pa/Stand/Prjct200717_3PrtctnSstmMntnceANDTstnPhs3/Project_2007-17.3_PRC-005-4_Summary-of_Comments_20140930.pdf).
    \29\ Id. at 4 (citing AC Substation Equipment Failure Report, 
NERC ACSEFT, December 2014, Circuit Breaker, Relay/Trip Coil, p. 
10).
    \30\ Id.
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Commission Determination
    22. As proposed in the NOPR, we approve Reliability Standard PRC-
005-4 without any directives or modifications. As we stated in the 
NOPR, we find the proposed addition to the standard of those sudden 
pressure relays identified by the SPCS Report as potentially having an 
impact on the reliability of the Bulk-Power System sufficient to 
address the concerns we raised in Order No. 758 at this time.
    23. We decline to make any further findings, as EEI suggests, as to 
the comprehensiveness of the SPCS Report or otherwise take a position 
on whether a maintenance reliability gap currently exists with respect 
to non-electrical sensing devices. Instead, we acknowledge NERC's 
agreement to continue to work with Commission staff to explore and 
assess the misoperations of particular types of non-electrical sensing 
relays or devices in relation to the reliable operation of the Bulk-
Power System. As with any aspect of NERC's and the Commission's 
reliability oversight obligations, we expect that when reliability gaps 
are identified, NERC would seek to address each gap through 
modification of a Reliability Standard or other appropriate means.

B. Aligning PRC-005 Implementation Plans NOPR

    24. In the NOPR, the Commission proposed to approve NERC's 
implementation plan for PRC-005-4, which incorporates the phased-in 
implementation period approved for PRC-005-2, with additional 
compliance dates for applicable sudden pressure relays. The Commission 
also proposed

[[Page 57529]]

to approve NERC's proposed effective date for PRC-005-4, which would go 
into effect on the first day of the first calendar quarter following 
Commission approval.
Comments
    25. NRECA, Southern Companies, TVA, and Ameren, who otherwise 
support approval of PRC-005-4, ask the Commission to consider rejecting 
NERC's proposed implementation plan for the revised standard, and to 
instead consider postponing the start dates for this and earlier 
versions of the standard. These commenters explain that several 
versions of PRC-005 have recently been approved or are under 
development, and that, as a result, ``implementation of the various 
versions of PRC-005 will burden the industry in the continued need to 
modify associated maintenance and testing programs.'' \31\ Similarly, 
the Southern Companies ``join in the concern that the implementation of 
these various PRC-005 versions risk burdening the industry with the 
need to continuously modify associated maintenance and testing programs 
to track the implementation of the associated various timelines, 
requiring additional costs and multiple revisions to their Protection 
System Maintenance Programs within a very short period of time, likely 
resulting in unnecessary expenditures for the sake of compliance and 
not for reliability improvements.'' \32\
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    \31\ NRECA Comments at 3.
    \32\ Southern Companies Comments at 6.
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    26. NRECA asks the Commission to consider two proposed approaches 
to allow for the alignment of implementation schedules for the revised 
version of PRC-005:

    1. Postpone implementation of PRC-005-3, PRC-005-3(i), PRC-005-4 
and PRC-005-5 to coincide with the beginning of implementation of 
PRC-005-6.
    2. Defer action on PRC-005-3(i), PRC-005-3(ii), PRC-005-4 and 
PRC-005-5 to be considered concurrently with PRC-005-6.

    Both TVA and Southern Companies support NRECA's proposal to 
postpone implementation of all yet-to-be implemented versions of PRC-
005 to align with the beginning of implementation of PRC-005-6 (i.e., 
the last PRC-005 revision under development).
Commission Determination
    27. We decline, without prejudice, to postpone the proposed start 
date for implementation of PRC-005-4, or to alter the already-approved 
implementation plans and start dates for PRC-005-3. While we are 
sympathetic to commenters' concerns about the several versions of PRC-
005 that have been or may be going into effect in a relatively short 
period, we are reluctant to consider postponing implementation of an 
approved standard (PRC-005-3) or deferring consideration of an 
otherwise beneficial standard (PRC-005-4) based on prospective versions 
of the standard that have yet to be filed. Thus, while we are aware 
that additional versions of the standard are being developed,\33\ we 
cannot accurately predict when those versions will come before us and 
cannot properly evaluate the impact of postponing implementation of the 
two most recent versions of the standard. Accordingly, we decline 
without prejudice the requests pertaining to the implementation plans 
and start dates for PRC-005.
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    \33\ We note that NERC recently posted a draft version of PRC-
005-6 for balloting, which includes a proposed implementation plan 
that would make all versions of PRC-005, from version 3 onward, 
effective on the same day PRC-005-6 becomes effective. See 
Implementation Plan: Project 2007-17.4 PRC-005 FERC Order No. 803 
Directive PRC-005-6, available at http://www.nerc.com/pa/Stand/Project%20201505%20PRC005%20Order%20No%20803%20Directives%20DL/PRC-005-6_Implementation_Plan_clean_2015Jul24.pdf.
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III. Information Collection Statement

    28. The following collection of information contained in this Final 
Rule is subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
under Section 3507(d) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA).\34\ 
OMB's regulations require approval of certain information collection 
requirements imposed by agency rules.\35\ 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.
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    \34\ 44 U.S.C. 3507(d) (2006).
    \35\ 5 CFR 1320.11 (2012).
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    29. The Commission solicited comments on the need for and purpose 
of the information contained in Reliability Standard PRC-005-4, 
including 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. The Commission received no 
comments regarding the need for the information collection or the 
burden estimates associated with PRC-005-4 as described in the Notice 
of Proposed Rulemaking.
    30. The Final Rule approves Reliability Standard PRC-005-4, which 
will replace PRC-005-3 (Protection System and Automatic Reclosing 
Maintenance). The 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.
    31. 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,\36\ 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.\37\
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    \36\ See 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2)(iv).
    \37\ See Order No. 803, 150 FERC ] 61,039 at PP 37-38.
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    32. Public Reporting Burden: Affected entities must perform a one-
time review

[[Page 57530]]

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.
    33. 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 \38\ and the time required to do the one-time 
review will be approximately eight hours. The estimate further assumes 
that the one-time review would be performed by an engineer at a rate of 
$65.34 per hour.\39\
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    \38\ This figure reflects the generator owners, transmission 
owners, and distribution providers identified in the NERC Compliance 
Registry as of February 27, 2015.
    \39\ The figure is taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics at 
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm; Occupation Code: 17-
2071.

                                      RM15-9-000 (Mandatory Reliability Standards: Reliability Standard PRC-005-4)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                           Total annual
                                                             Number of     Annual number   Total number   Average burden  burden hours &     Cost per
                                                            respondents    of responses    of responses   (hours) & cost   total annual   respondent ($)
                                                                          per respondent                   per response        cost
                                                                     (1)             (2)     (1)*(2)=(3)             (4)     (3)*(4)=(5)         (5)/(1)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One-time review of sudden pressure relay maintenance               1,287               1           1,287               8          10,296            $523
 program and adjustment.................................                                                            $523        $673,101
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    Title: FERC-725P1,\40\ Mandatory Reliability Standards: Reliability 
Standard PRC-005-4.
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    \40\ The 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.
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    Action: Proposed Collection of Information.
    OMB Control No: To be determined.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit and not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Frequency of Responses: One time.
    Necessity of the Information: Reliability Standard PRC-005-4 is 
part of the implementation of 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, Reliability Standard PRC-005-4 helps to ensure 
that transmission and generation protection systems affecting the 
reliability of the Bulk-Power System are maintained and tested.
    34. Internal review: The Commission has reviewed 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.
    35. 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].
    36. Comments concerning the information collections approved in 
this Final Rule 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 Final Rule (Docket No. RM15-9-000) or the 
collection number (FERC-725P1) in your submission.

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis

    37. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) \41\ generally 
requires a description and analysis of final rules that will have 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
Reliability Standard PRC-005-4 is expected to impose an additional, 
one-time 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 Reliability 
Standard.\42\
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    \41\ 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).
    \42\ The 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 Final 
Rule, 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).
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    38. 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 Reliability Standard PRC-005-4 will not have 
a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. Accordingly, no regulatory flexibility analysis is required.

V. Environmental Analysis

    39. 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.\43\ 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,

[[Page 57531]]

or procedural or that do not substantially change the effect of the 
regulations being amended.\44\ The actions taken herein fall within 
this categorical exclusion in the Commission's regulations.
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    \43\ Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969, Order No. 486, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 30,783 (1987).
    \44\ 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii).
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VI. Document Availability

    40. 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.
    41. 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.
    42. 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 Commission's public reference room 
at public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.

    By the Commission.

    Issued: September 17, 2015.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-24280 Filed 9-23-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P