83 FR 5616 - Commission Information Collection Activities; (FERC-582); Comment Request; Extension

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 27 (February 8, 2018)

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the currently approved information collection, FERC- 582 (Electric Fees, Annual Charges, Waivers, and Exemptions) which will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a review of the information collection requirements.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 27 (Thursday, February 8, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5616-5617]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02533]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC18-4-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities; (FERC-582); Comment 
Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of information collection and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting 
public comment on the currently approved information collection, FERC-
582 (Electric Fees, Annual Charges, Waivers, and Exemptions) which will 
be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a review 
of the information collection requirements.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due April 9, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. 18-4-000) 
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, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE, 
Washington, DC 20426.


[[Page 5617]]


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 
[email protected], 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 
[email protected], telephone at (202) 502-8663, and fax at (202) 
273-0873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Electric Fees, Annual Charges, Waivers, and Exemptions.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0132
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-582 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting 
requirements.
    Abstract: The information required by FERC-582 is contained within 
18 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 381 \1\ and Part 382.\2\
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    \1\ Title 18 CFR, Sections 381.105, 381.106, 381.108, 381.302, 
and 381.305.
    \2\ Title 18 CFR, Sections 382.102, 382.103, 382.105, 382.106, 
and 382.201.
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    The Commission uses the FERC-582 to implement the statutory 
provisions of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act of 1952 (IOAA) 
\3\ which authorizes the Commission to establish fees for its services. 
In addition, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 (OBRA) \4\ 
authorizes the Commission to assess and collect fees and annual charges 
in any fiscal year in amounts equal to all the costs incurred by the 
Commission in that fiscal year.
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    \3\ 31 U.S.C. 9701.
    \4\ 42 U.S.C. 7178.
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    To comply with the FERC-582 respondents submit to the Commission 
the sum of the megawatt-hours (MWh) of all unbundled transmission 
(including MWh delivered in wheeling transactions and MWh delivered in 
exchange transactions) and the megawatt-hours of all bundled wholesale 
power sales (to the extent the bundled wholesale power sales were not 
separately reported as unbundled transmission). The data collected 
within the FERC-582 is drawn directly from the FERC Form 1 \5\ 
transmission data. The Commission sums the costs of its electric 
regulatory program and subtracts all electric regulatory program filing 
fee collections to determine the total collectible electric regulatory 
program costs. Then, the Commission uses the data submitted under FERC-
582 to determine the total megawatt-hours of transmission of electric 
energy in interstate commerce.
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    \5\ Annual Report of Major Electric Utility (OMB Control No. 
1902-0021).
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    Respondents (e.g. public utilities, power marketers) subject to 
these annual charges must submit FERC-582 data to the Commission by 
April 30 of each year.\6\ The Commission issues bills for annual 
charges to respondents. Then, respondents must pay the charges within 
45 days of the Commission's issuance of the bill.
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    \6\ 18 CFR 382.201.
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    Respondents file requests for waivers and exemptions of fees and 
charges \7\ based on need. The Commission's staff uses the filer's 
financial information to evaluate the request for a waiver or exemption 
of the obligation to pay a fee or an annual charge.
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    \7\ 18 CFR 381 and 382.
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    Estimate of Annual Burden: \8\ The Commission estimates the total 
Public Reporting Burden for this information collection as:
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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.
    \9\ Includes requirements of 18 CFR Part 381.105 (methods of 
payment), Part 381.106 (waiver), Part 381.108 (exemption), Part 
381.302 (declaratory order), Part 381.303 (review of DOE remedial 
order), Part 381.304 (DOE denial of adjustment, and Part 381.305 
(OGC interpretation).
    \10\ The Commission staff thinks that the average respondent for 
this collection is similarly situated to the Commission, in terms of 
salary plus benefits. Based upon FERC's 2017 annual average of 
$158,754 (for salary plus benefits), the average hourly cost is 
$76.50/hour.

                                             FERC-82--Electric Fees; Annual Charges; Waivers; and Exemptions
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                                               Annual  number
                                  Number of     of  responses   Total  number     Average burden cost per     Total annual burden hours      Cost per
                                 respondents         per        of  responses             response                 & total annual           respondent
                                                 respondent
                                          (1)             (2)  (1) x (2) = (3)  (4)........................  (3) * (4) = (5)...........  (5) / (1) = (5)
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FERC-582 \9\.................              67               1               67  1 hour; $76.50.............  67 hours; $5,125.50.......           $76.50
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    The total estimated annual cost burden to respondents is $5,125.50 
[67 hours * $76.50/hour \10\ = $5,125.50]
    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: February 2, 2018.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-02533 Filed 2-7-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P