In accordance with 5 CFR 1320, the information collection is approved for three years.
table that charts list comparision
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
05/31/2016
36 Months From Approved
07/31/2015
2,370
0
2,040
1,829,523
0
1,827,313
126,725
0
126,725
On August 8, 2005, The Electricity Modernization Act of 2005, which is Title XII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), was enacted into law. EPAct 2005 added a new section 215 to the FPA, which requires a Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) to develop mandatory and enforceable Reliability Standards, which are subject to Commission review and approval. Once approved the Reliability Standards may be enforced by the ERO, subject to Commission oversight.
On March 16, 2007, in Order No. 693, pursuant to section 215(d) of the FPA, the Commission approved 83 of 107 proposed Reliability Standards, six of the eight proposed regional differences, and the NERC Glossary of Terms Used in Reliability Standards (NERC Glossary), which includes NERC's FAC-003-1 Transmission Vegetation Management Program. In approving FAC-003-1, the Commission directed the ERO to make or consider directives in the next version of the standard. The ERO was to determine the minimum clearance distance needed to prevent sustained vegetation outages, appropriate inspection cycles, applicability of sub 200kV transmission lines such as to not impose a great burden on transmission owners.
On December 22, 2011, NERC submitted a petition pursuant to directives associated with Order No. 693 for FAC-003-2 Transmission Vegetation Management. NERC's petition requested the Commission approve FAC-003-2 and its implementation plan.
As part of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR), building on the material filed by NERC, several actions will be needed by transmission owners. With the proposed FAC-003-2, transmission owners will need to review their existing policy/procedures to determine how they may change with the new version of the standard. Also, the applicability of FAC-003-2 will add additional sub 200kV lines that are part of an Interconnection Reliability Operating Limit (IROL) or part of a Major WECC Transfer Path. With the new applicability, transmission owners will need to add those lines to their inspection programs and record keeping obligations.
The quarterly reporting on sustained vegetation transmission outage will continue under the new standard as a compliance obligation.
Failure to follow requirements and compliance of proposed FAC-003-2 could lead to additional sustained outages due to tree-line contact and identification of trends through responsible reporting. These types of failures could jeopardize system reliability. Vegetation contact with transmission lines were major factors in two significant blackouts in WECC territory in 1996 and August 2003 northeast blackout.
The Commission adopted FAC-003-2 which will cause an increase in burden. The increase in burden is necessary to ensure that all transmission lines identified as important to system reliability are protected against encroachment of vegetation that could lead to sustained outage. The exact method of providing the protection against encroachments is left to the discretion of the transmission owners. Through the addition of new applicable transmission lines, yearly right of way inspections, and accurate recordkeeping, the occurrence of sustained outages due to vegetation will remain low and when they do occur they will be properly recorded.
These tasks are deemed necessary in order to maintain the reliable operation of nation's transmission lines.
Changes to the current burden hour inventory:
We request to change the existing burden hour inventory based on the proposed burden hours in question 12 of the supporting statement. The one-time burden hours will be averaged over three years and removed from this collection after year three (5,280 hour/3=1,760 hours).
We also added the reoccurring burden hours to the collection (550 hours annually). The total burden hour increase is 2,310 hours for each of the next three years (1,760 hours + 550 hours = 2,310).
$2,250
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
David O'Conner 202 502-6695
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 Supporting Statement for RM12-4 Final Rule (4-8-13).docx
RM12-4 Final Rule News Release (3-21-13).pdf
FERC-725A, Mandatory Reliability Standards for Bulk-Power System