In accordance with 5 CFR 1320,the revised information collection is approved.
table that charts list comparision
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
05/31/2019
36 Months From Approved
05/31/2016
83
0
6
321,506
0
635,037
0
0
0
FERC-500, in general. Most of the information collected by the FERC-500 is in the format of a written application for a license/relicense or exemption and is used by the Commission staff to determine the broad impact of the license application. Commission staff conducts systematic reviews of the prepared application with supplemental documentation provided by the solicitation of comments from other agencies and the public. These comments are received through the issuance of public notice and open meetings. These reviews ensure that the Federal Power Act, as amended by other statutory provisions, is formally administered to ensure compliance by the licensees. Greater environmental scrutiny, as well as a decision making process characterized by shared authorities, has assisted the development and utilization of hydropower as an essential renewable resource within the nation's energy mix. Projects coming up for relicense in the next several decades were originally licensed before the enactment of ECPA, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972 (the Clean Water Act), and the Coastal Zone Management Act.
After an application is filed, the Federal agencies with responsibilities under the FPA and other statutes, the states, Indian tribes, and other participants have opportunities to request additional studies and provide comments and recommendations. Federal agencies with mandatory conditioning authority also provide their conditions. The Commission staff may ask for additional information that it needs for its environmental analysis. All of this information is considered in the Commission staff's environmental review under NEPA. After a license is issued, the Commission monitors the licensee's compliance with the license conditions throughout the term of the license.
FERC-500 also includes comprehensive plans submitted by governmental and tribal entities, as well as annual conveyance reports.
Submission of the data is necessary to fulfill the requirements of the FPA in order for the Commission to make the required finding that the proposal is economically, technically, and environmentally sound, and is best adapted to a comprehensive plan for improving/developing a waterway or waterways.
FERC has reviewed the number of the license/re-license applications submitted during FY2012-2015 as well as the actual cost figures provided there by the filers; updated estimates for the number of annual responses and the average burden and cost per response are discussed below.
The reporting requirements have not changed. The change in number of estimated responses and burden is based on:
1. actual filings during FY2012-2015, and
2. the associated actual costs reported by those filers in license/re-license applications.
FERC then converted the cost figures reported by the filers to burden hours, using the estimated average hourly cost of wages plus benefits. Based on that data, the estimated annual number of license/re-license applications is increased to 9 (from 6), and the estimated average hourly burden per response is being reduced to 35,705.52 (from 105,839).
An applicant for a license/re-license is required to include an estimate of their cost to prepare the license application, which would include nearly all of the reporting requirements in FERC-500. Because the requirements for an exemption application are largely the same as that of a license application, the license application costs are a good estimate of the exemption application costs and of the overall burden of preparing license and exemption applications for projects greater than 5 MW.
To estimate the total annual burden for the upcoming three years, we averaged the reported license/re-license application costs for proposed projects greater than 5 MW filed in FY 2012 through FY 2015.
The average burden cost per application for a major license/re-license over the period FY 2012 through FY 2015 was approximately $2,570,797 . We estimate a cost (salary plus benefits) of $72/hour. Using this hourly cost estimate, the average burden for each major license/re-license application filed from FY 2012 to FY 2015 is 35,706 hours (a decrease from the previous estimate of 105,839.5 hours each). As described in this supporting statement, the decrease (of 66%) in the number of average burden hours per response for license/relicense applications for major projects is due to having more accurate data which was provided by the actual industry filers.
In addition, FERC has improved estimates for the annual number of conveyance reports and comprehensive plans and added them as separate ICs under this ICR.
$2,695,995
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
Sheila Lampitoc 202 502-6193
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.
IC16-4_500_542_FR pub 30day 2016-06368.pdf
FERC-500-supporting statement final 3-17-2016_pra review_5-24-2016.doc
500_regulations3-17-16.docx
FERC-500, Application (or Modification) for License/Relicense for Water Projects with Greater than 5 MW Capacity