Document ID: FERC-2008-1711-0004
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: Contract Reporting Requirements of Intrastate Natural Gas Companies: Proposed Standardized Electronic Information Collection and Extending Time for Comments
Posted Date: 2009-09-03T04:00Z

[Federal Register: September 3, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 170)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 45576-45578]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03se09-15]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 284

[128 FERC ] 61,187; Docket No. RM09-2-000]

 
Contract Reporting Requirements of Intrastate Natural Gas 
Companies; Notice Requesting Comments on Proposed Standardized 
Electronic Information Collection and Extending Time for Comments on 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

August 26, 2009.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Energy.

ACTION: Notice of proposed standardized electronic information 
collection and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A) (2006), 
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) is 
soliciting public comment on the proposed standardized electronic 
information collection to be used by Natural Gas Policy Act (NGPA) 
section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines for submitting the quarterly 
transactional reports proposed in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 
issued on July 16, 2009 and published on July 29, 2009 (74 FR 37658) in 
this docket. This notice also extends the deadline for comments on the 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, so that all comments will be due on the 
same date.

[[Page 45577]]

DATES: Comments on the proposed standardized electronic information 
collection are due November 2, 2009.
    Comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published on July 29, 
2009 (74 FR 37658) are now also due November 2, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be filed either electronically (eFiled) or in 
paper format, and should refer to Docket No. RM09-2-000. Documents must 
be prepared in an acceptable filing format and in compliance with 
Commission submission guidelines at http://www.ferc.gov/help/
submission-guide.asp.
    Comments may be eFiled. The eFiling option under the Documents & 
Filings tab on the Commission's Web page (http://www.ferc.gov) directs 
users to the eFiling Web page. First-time users should follow the 
eRegister instructions on the eFiling tab on the Web page to establish 
a user name and password before eFiling. Filers will receive an e-
mailed confirmation of their eFiled comments.
    Commenters filing electronically should not make a paper filing. 
Commenters that are not able to file electronically must send an 
original and 14 paper copies of the filing to: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street, 
NE., Washington, DC 20426.
    Parties interested in receiving automatic notification of activity 
in this docket may do so through eSubscription. The eSubscription 
option under the Documents & Filings tab on the Commission's Web page 
directs users to the eSubscription Web page. Users submit the docket 
numbers of the filings they wish to track and will subsequently receive 
an e-mail notification each time a filing is made under the submitted 
docket numbers. First-time users will need to establish a user name and 
password before eSubscribing.
    Filed comments and FERC issuances may be viewed, printed, and 
downloaded remotely from the Commission's Web site. The eLibrary link 
found at the top of most of the Commission's Web pages directs users to 
FERC's eLibrary. From the eLibrary tab on the Web page, choose General 
Search, and in the Docket Number space provided, enter RM09-2, then 
click the Submit button at the bottom of the page. For help with any of 
the Commission's electronic submission or retrieval systems, contact 
FERC Online Support via e-mail at: ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or 
telephone toll-free: (866) 208-3676 (TTY (202) 502-8659).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Miller may be reached by 
telephone at (202) 502-8415, by fax at (202) 273-0873, and by e-mail at 
michael.miller@ferc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    1. On July 16, 2009, the Commission issued a Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (NOPR) \1\ in this docket proposing to revise the contract 
reporting requirements for (1) intrastate pipelines providing 
interstate services pursuant to section 311 of the NGPA; \2\ and (2) 
Hinshaw pipelines providing interstate services subject to the 
Commission's NGA section 1(c) jurisdiction pursuant to blanket 
certificates issued under Sec.  284.224 of the Commission's 
regulations. Specifically, the NOPR proposed to amend Sec.  284.126(b) 
of the Commission's regulations to require that NGPA section 311 and 
Hinshaw pipelines make quarterly reports that contain, for each 
transportation and storage service provided during the preceding 
calendar quarter, the following information:
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    \1\ Contract Reporting Requirements of Intrastate Natural Gas 
Companies, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 32,644 (2009) (NOPR) published in 
the Federal Register on July 29, 2009 (74 FR 37658).
    \2\ 15 U.S.C. 3372.
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    i. The full legal name, and identification number, of the shipper 
receiving the service, including whether there is an affiliate 
relationship between the pipeline and the shipper;
    ii. The type of service performed (i.e., firm or interruptible 
transportation, storage, or other service);
    iii. The rate charged under each contract, specifying the rate 
schedule/name of service and docket where the rates were approved. The 
report should separately state each rate component set forth in the 
contract (i.e. reservation, usage, and any other charges);
    iv. The primary receipt and delivery points covered by the 
contract, including the industry common code for each point;
    v. The quantity of natural gas the shipper is entitled to 
transport, store, or deliver under each contract;
    vi. The duration of the contract, specifying the beginning and 
ending month and year of the current agreement;
    vii. Total volumes transported, stored, injected, or withdrawn for 
the shipper; and
    viii. Total revenues received from the shipper. The report should 
separately state revenues received under each rate component.
    2. In order to make the proposed quarterly reports more accessible 
to the public, the NOPR also proposed requiring that the reports be 
filed in a standardized electronic format to be developed by the 
Commission staff. In the NOPR, the Commission stated that it was ``in 
the process of developing a standardized electronic format for making 
the reports proposed in this NOPR. Once that process is complete, the 
Commission will make the standardized format available for public 
comment.'' \3\
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    \3\ NOPR, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 32,644 at P 29.
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    3. By this notice, the Commission is requesting comment on the 
proposed quarterly reports. Attached to this Notice as an Appendix are:
    i. A table that shows all the data elements (fields) that would be 
collected each quarter for each shipper that a filing entity provides 
with transportation or storage service. The table is not an example of 
the collection instrument or how the Commission intends to collect the 
information.
    ii. A Data Dictionary and associated units of measure that defines 
what each element means and its characteristics (e.g. text field with 
10 characters, e-mail address, numerical field, and relationship to 
other elements).
    iii. Instructions to assist filers to report the data each quarter.
    4. The Commission seeks comment on its proposal to adopt for 
reporting purposes an XML Schema.\4\ Under the XML approach, filing 
entities submitting their quarterly data would be required to submit an 
XML filing package \5\ that conforms to the XML Schema developed and 
maintained by FERC. Filers would be allowed to submit their XML filing 
packages using the existing eFiling portal. Once submitted, the XML 
filing package would undergo quality checks to see if it conforms to 
the XML Schema. Filing entities would receive an e-mail confirmation if 
the filing is successful or needs to be corrected. This approach is 
similar to that being developed for electronic tariffs in Docket No. 
RM01-

[[Page 45578]]

5-000. See http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/etariff.asp.\6\
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    \4\ The XML schema is a method by which the filing entities can 
communicate information to the Commission. The schema proscribes the 
metadata elements and the textual information that must be included 
in the filing package. The data elements included in the XML filing 
package are required to properly identify the nature of the FERC-
549D, organize the FERC-549D database, and maintain the proper 
relationship of elements in relation to other elements.
    \5\ Filing entities would develop the XML filing package in 
accordance with the Commission's XML Schema. Open source and fee-
based software is available to convert data in a spreadsheet and 
other documents into the XML filing package. The latest versions of 
Text Editors and Word Processing application may also have the 
capability to create the XML filing package.
    \6\ See also Common FAQs about XML at http://xml.silmaril.ie/.
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    5. In addition, the Commission seeks comment on whether an ASP.NET 
Web-based form is more appropriate. Under the ASP.NET approach, the 
Commission would create a Web-based form that would be accessible to 
filers on the FERC Web site. Filing entities would not use the eFiling 
portal to submit their data. The Web-based form would be formatted and 
contain blank fields that filing entities can fill in with data for 
each shipper it provides with transportation or storage service each 
quarter. Once submitted, the data would undergo quality checks. Filing 
entities would receive an e-mail confirmation if the submission is 
successful or needs to be corrected.
    Comments are also invited on the following issues:
    1. Problems in measuring data elements collected in the table and 
data dictionary;
    2. Terms and definitions of the elements in the table, data 
dictionary and instructions;
    3. Whether the units of measure are appropriate;
    4. Whether the instructions are clear or require modification;
    5. The accuracy of the agency's burden estimate of the proposed 
collection of information;
    6. Ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the 
information to be collected;
    7. Ways to minimize respondent information collection burden; and
    8. The most effective way for the Commission to present the 
collected information to the public on the FERC Web site.
    6. A paper version of the table with proposed data elements, 
instructions, and data dictionary, are attached as the Appendix to this 
Notice, but they are not being printed in the Federal Register. The 
Appendix is available on the FERC's eLibrary (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-
filing/elibrary.asp) by searching Docket No. RM09-2, and through the 
FERC Public Reference Room. Interested parties may also request paper 
copies of the table, instructions, and data dictionary by contacting 
Michael Miller by telephone at (202) 502-8415, by fax at (202) 273-
0873, or by e-mail at michael.miller@ferc.gov.
    7. Comments on the proposed standardized electronic information 
collection and related burden estimate, including any related matters 
or alternative proposals that commenters may wish to discuss, must be 
submitted by 60 days after publication of this Notice in the Federal 
Register. The Commission shall also delay the date on which comments on 
the NOPR are due to the same date, in order to permit parties to 
include comments on the standardized electronic information collection 
within their comments on the NOPR.
    Burden Statement: The proposed survey targets respondents who 
directly serve wholesale and retail customers. The Commission estimated 
in the NOPR that on an annual basis the burden to comply with this 
proposed rule will be as follows:

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                                                 Number of        Number of     Average  burden
                                                respondents     responses  per     hours  per      Total annual
                                                  annually        respondent        response       burden hours
                                                         (1)              (2)              (3)   (1) x (2) x (3)
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FERC-549D...................................             125                4              3.5            1,750
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    Because of the various staffing levels that will be involved in 
preparing the documentation (legal, technical and support) the 
Commission is using an hourly rate of $150 to estimate the costs for 
filing and other administrative processes (reviewing instructions, 
searching data sources, completing and transmitting the collection of 
information). The estimated total annual cost to respondents is 
anticipated to be $262,500 [1,750 Total Annual Burden Hours times $150 
per hour equals $262,500]. The cost per respondent is $2,100.
    8. The reporting burden includes the total time, effort, or 
financial resources expended to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, 
or provide the information including: (1) Reviewing instructions; (2) 
developing, acquiring, installing, and utilizing technology and systems 
for the purposes of collecting, validating, verifying, processing, 
maintaining, disclosing and providing information; (3) adjusting the 
existing ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and 
requirements; (4) training personnel to respond to a collection of 
information; (5) searching data sources; (6) completing and reviewing 
the collection of information; and (7) transmitting, or otherwise 
disclosing the information.
    9. The respondent's cost estimate is based on salaries for 
professional and clerical support, as well as direct and indirect 
overhead costs. Direct costs include all costs directly attributable to 
providing this information, such as administrative costs and the cost 
for information technology. Indirect or overhead costs are costs 
incurred by an organization in support of its mission. These costs 
apply to activities which benefit the whole organization rather than 
any one particular function or activity.

    By direction of the Commission.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.

    Note: The Appendix (table with proposed FERC-549D data elements, 
instructions, and data dictionary) will not be printed in the 
Federal Register. The Appendix is available on the FERC's eLibrary 
(http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibrary.asp) by searching Docket 
No. RM09-2-000, and through the FERC Public Reference Room.

[FR Doc. E9-21108 Filed 9-2-09; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717-01-P