Document ID: FERC-2019-0708-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals
Posted Date: 2019-06-21T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 120 (Friday, June 21, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29194-29195]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-13238]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC19-19-000]

Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-542); Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of 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 submitting its information collection FERC-542 (Pipeline 
Rates: Rate Tracking) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review of the information collection requirements. Any interested 
person may file comments directly with OMB and should address a copy of 
those comments to the Commission as explained below. The Commission 
previously published a Notice in the Federal Register (4/10/2019) 
requesting public comments. The Commission received no public comments 
and is making this notation in its submittal to OMB.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due July 22, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by the OMB Control No. 
1902-0070 (FERC-542), should be sent via email to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs: oira_submission@omb.gov, Attention: 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Desk Officer.
    A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Commission, in 
Docket No. IC19-19-000, by either of the following methods:
     eFiling at Commission's website: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp.
     Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission,

[[Page 29195]]

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 ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, 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 
DataClearance@FERC.gov, telephone at (202) 502-8663, and fax at (202) 
273-0873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: FERC-542, Gas Pipelines Rates: Rate Tracking.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0070.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-542 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting 
requirements.
    Abstract: The information collected by FERC-542 is used by the 
Commission to implement the statutory provisions of Title IV of the 
Natural Gas Policy Act (NGPA), 15 U.S.C. 3301-3432, and sections 4, 5, 
and 16 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) (Pub. L.75-688) (15 U.S.C. 717-
717w). These statutes allow the Commission to collect natural gas 
transmission cost information from interstate natural gas pipelines for 
the purpose of verifying that these costs, which are passed on to 
customers, are just and reasonable.
    Natural gas pipelines are required by the Commission to track their 
transportation costs to allow for the Commission's review and, where 
appropriate, approve the pass-through of these costs to pipeline 
customers. FERC-542 accounts for costs involving: (1) Research, 
development, and deployment expenditures; (2) annual charge 
adjustments; and (3) periodic rate adjustments.
    FERC-542 filings may be submitted at any time or on a regularly 
scheduled basis in accordance with the pipeline company's tariff. 
Filings may be either: (1) Accepted; (2) suspended and set for hearing; 
(3) minimal suspension; or (4) suspended for further review, such as 
technical conference or some other type of Commission action.
    The Commission implements these filing requirements in the Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) under 18 CFR part 154, 154.107, 154.4, 154.7, 
154.201, and 154.401-154.403.
    Type of Respondents: Jurisdictional Natural Gas Pipelines.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \1\ The Commission estimates the total 
burden and cost \2\ for this information collection as follows:
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    \1\ ``Burden'' is 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 Title 5 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3.
    \2\ FERC staff estimates that industry costs for salary plus 
benefits are similar to Commission costs. The cost figure is the 
FY2018 FERC average annual salary plus benefits ($164,820/year or 
$79/hour).

                                                      FERC-542 (Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Tracking)
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                                                 Annual  number
                                    Number of     of  responses   Total number     Average burden  hours &    Total annual burden  hours   Cost ($) per
      FERC data collection         respondents         per        of responses        cost  per response       & total annual  cost ($)     respondent
                                                   respondent                                                          (rounded)             (rounded)
                                            (1)             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4)........................  (3) * (4) = (5)...........       (5) / (1)
                                                                            (3)
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FERC-542.......................              90               2             180  2 hrs; $158................  360 hrs; $28,440..........            $316
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    Total......................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ...........................  360 hrs; $28,440..........  ..............
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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: June 13, 2019.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-13238 Filed 6-20-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P