OMB files this comment in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.11(c) of the Paperwork Reduction Act and is withholding approval of this collection at this time. This OMB action is not an approval to conduct or sponsor an information collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The agency shall examine public comment in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and will include in the supporting statement of the next ICR, to be submitted to OMB at the final rule stage, a description of how the agency has responded to any public comments on the ICR. This action has no effect on any current approvals.
table that charts list comparision
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
02/28/2014
36 Months From Approved
02/28/2014
333
0
333
13,300
0
13,300
0
0
0
The FERC-542 contains the following information collections: (1) Research, development, and deployment expenditures; (2) annual charge adjustments (ACA) and (3) periodic rate adjustments. This Information Collection Request only deals with number 2, annual charge adjustments. The Commission does not propose any changes to the other information collection requirements and in this package only provides details on the annual charge adjustments.
The Commission is required to "assess and collect fees and annual charges in any fiscal year in amounts equal to all of the costs incurred by the Commission in that fiscal year." To accomplish this, the Commission created the annual charges program, which is designed to recover the costs of administering the natural gas, oil, and electric programs by calculating the costs of each program, net of filing fees, and properly allocating them among the three programs. This proceeding applies only to the recovery of annual charges assessed to entities in the natural gas program.
Pipelines are entitled to recover these annual charges from their customers, and they have two options for doing so. First, upon Commission approval, a Pipeline may adjust its rates annually to recover the annual charges through an ACA clause. Second, a Pipeline may seek to recover its annual charges through its general transportation rates. This proceeding proposes to modify only the first method, i.e., recovery of annual charges through an ACA clause, as it is widely used among Pipelines.
Order No. 472 recognized that although the Commission generally disfavors the use of tracking mechanisms, it is appropriate that Pipelines be permitted to pass through these annual charges directly to customers. Accordingly, the Commission provided Pipelines an option of passing along the annual charges to customers through a surcharge to their transportation rates reflected in the ACA clause. The Commission's requirements for Pipelines that choose to utilize an ACA clause are codified in section 154.402 of the Commission's regulations.
The one time collection of information is necessary to reduce existing regulatory burden on the natural gas pipeline industry by not requiring approximately 145 annual filings.
There is a one-time increase in burden (averaged over three years) which is necessary to implement the burden reduction measures (reduced number of required filings in future years) proposed in the rule.
$575,748
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
Laura Kane 202 502-8653
Reginfo record details
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
FINAL (RM12-14) NOPR Supporting Statement 3_11_2013.doc
CFR-2012-title18-vol1-sec154-402.pdf
FERC-542, Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Tracking