60-Day Federal Register Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 97 / Thursday, May 19, 2016 / Notices
This notice announces a
Board meeting of the State Energy
Advisory Board (STEAB). The Federal
Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–
463; 86 Stat. 770) requires that public
notice of these meetings be announced
in the Federal Register.
DATES: June 14, 2016 9:00 a.m. to 5:30
p.m.; June 15, 2016 9:00 a.m. to 3:30
p.m.
ADDRESSES: Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Rd, Berkeley,
CA 94720 (Exact meeting room TBD).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michael Li, Policy Advisor, Office of
Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy, U.S. Department of Energy,
1000 Independence Ave. SW.,
Washington, DC 20585. Phone number
202–287–5189, and email Michael.li@
ee.doe.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose of the Board: To make
recommendations to the Assistant
Secretary for the Office of Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy
regarding goals and objectives,
programmatic and administrative
policies, and to otherwise carry out the
Board’s responsibilities as designated in
the State Energy Efficiency Programs
Improvement Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101–
440).
Tentative Agenda: Meet with and hear
from the team at the Lawrence Berkeley
Laboratory to get an overview of projects
based around energy efficiency and
reliability. Also to see how STEAB
members can be engaged in upcoming
projects lab members are working on.
Public Participation: The meeting is
open to the public. Written statements
may be filed with the Board either
before or after the meeting. Members of
the public who wish to make oral
statements pertaining to agenda items
should contact Monica Neukomm at the
address or telephone number listed
above. Requests to make oral comments
must be received five days prior to the
meeting; reasonable provision will be
made to include requested topic(s) on
the agenda. The Chair of the Board is
empowered to conduct the meeting in a
fashion that will facilitate the orderly
conduct of business.
Minutes: The minutes of the meeting
will be available for public review and
copying within 90 days on the STEAB
Web site, http://www.energy.gov/eere/
steab/state-energy-advisory-board.

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SUMMARY:

Issued at Washington, DC, on May 13,
2016.
LaTanya Butler,
Deputy Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016–11913 Filed 5–18–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Energy Information Administration
Agency Information Collection
Extension With Changes
U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA), Department of
Energy.
ACTION: Notice and request for OMB
review and comment.
AGENCY:

EIA, pursuant to the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and
with the approval of the Office of
Management and Budget, intends to
extend for 3 years, with changes, the
following forms:
• Form EIA–63B, ‘‘Photovoltaic
Module Shipments Report,’’
• Form EIA–411, ‘‘Coordinated Bulk
Power Supply Program Report,’’
• Form EIA–826, ‘‘Monthly Electric
Utility Sales and Revenue Report with
State Distributions,’’ (discontinued form
to be replaced by Form EIA–861M),
• Form EIA–860, ‘‘Annual Electric
Generator Report,’’
• Form EIA–860M, ‘‘Monthly Update
to the Annual Electric Generator
Report,’’
• Form EIA–861, ‘‘Annual Electric
Power Industry Report,’’
• Form EIA–861S, ‘‘Annual Electric
Power Industry Report (Short Form),’’
• Form EIA–861M, ‘‘Monthly Electric
Power Industry Report’’ (replaces Form
EIA–826),
• Form EIA–923, ‘‘Power Plant
Operations Report,’’ and
• Form EIA–930, ‘‘Balancing
Authority Operations Report.’’
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether
the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance
of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on respondents, including through the
use of automated collection techniques
or other forms of information
technology.
DATES: Comments regarding this
proposed information collection must
be received on or before July 18, 2016.
If you anticipate difficulty in submitting
comments within that period, contact
the person listed in ADDRESSES as soon
as possible.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Rebecca
Peterson. To ensure receipt of the
SUMMARY:

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comments by the due date, email is
recommended ([email protected]).
The postal mailing address is U.S.
Department of Energy, U.S. Energy
Information Administration, Mail Stop
EI–23, Forrestal Building, 1000
Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20585.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information
should be directed to Ms. Peterson at
the email address listed above.
Alternatively, Ms. Peterson may be
contacted on (202) 586–4509. The
proposed forms and instructions, along
with related information on this
clearance package, can be viewed at
http://www.eia.gov/survey/changes/
electricity/solar/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
information collection request contains
the following:
(1) OMB No. 1905–0129.
(2) Information Collection Request
Title: Form EIA–63B, ‘‘Photovoltaic
Module Shipments Report.’’
(3) Type of Request: Extension, with
changes, of a currently approved
collection.
(4) Purpose: The Form EIA–63B tracks
photovoltaic module manufacturing,
shipments, technology types, revenue
and related information. The data
collected on this form appear in various
EIA publications. The data are used by
the U.S. Department of Energy, the
Congress, other government and nongovernment entities, and the public to
monitor the current status and trends of
the photovoltaic industry and to
evaluate the future of the industry.
(4a) Proposed Changes: EIA proposes
to:
• Change the title of the survey to
Form EIA–63B, ‘‘Photovoltaic Module
Shipments Report.’’
• Change the reporting period from
annual to monthly.
• Reduce the monthly frame to
include only ‘large’ producers with the
intent of capturing at least 90% of peak
kilowatts shipped. Respondents
reporting total shipments of at least
100,000 peak kilowatts (kWp) during
the previous year will be surveyed
monthly.
• Survey the entire frame of all
known U.S. producers annually with a
short version of the form that collects
data only on Schedule 1, Contact
Information, Schedule 4, Photovoltaic
Module Source and Disposition, and
Schedule 7, Comments.
• In Schedule 3, Industry Status, add
Part E, Production Capacity for
Manufacturing Photovoltaic Modules, in
order to collect current and planned
maximum annual production capacity

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to manufacture photovoltaic modules in
peak kilowatts.
• In Schedule 3, delete the words
‘‘system’’ and ‘‘cells’’ throughout the
schedule and only collect data relating
to ‘‘modules’’. The following are two
examples. On Schedule 3, Part A,
change ‘‘cell and/or module
manufacturing’’ to ‘‘module
manufacturing’’; change ‘‘module and/
or system design’’ to ‘‘module design.’’
• Change the name of Schedule 4
from ‘‘Photovoltaic Shipments Status’’
to ‘‘Photovoltaic Modules Source and
Disposition.’’ Collect the inventory of
photovoltaic modules at the beginning
of the monthly reporting period
(monthly or annually, depending on if
the respondent is a monthly or annual
respondent) instead of collecting the
inventory carried forward from the
previous year.
• Delete Schedule 4, Part A,
Photovoltaic Cell Data, which collected
cell data pertaining to inventory,
shipments, and revenue.
• Delete Schedule 4, Part B, question
(e), Energy Conversion Efficiency,
which collected the percent of power
converted per peak kilowatt.
• Delete the portion of Schedule 6,
Part B, U.S. Shipments (sales within the
United States excluding sales for resale)
by State, Sector and End Use, which
collected data on photovoltaic module
shipments by sector and by end use.
(5) Number of Survey Respondents:
Currently the estimated number of
respondents is 76. Under the new
proposed framework, there would be 16
monthly respondents and 60 annual
respondents.
(6) Annual Estimated Number of
Total Responses: Under the current
form, there are 76 annual responses.
Under the proposed new framework, the
number of responses would be 252
responses, including 192 monthly and
60 annually.
(7) Annual Estimated Number of
Burden Hours: The current annual
estimated burden is 885 hours. Under
the proposed changes, the estimated
burden would be reduced to 563 hours,
which represents a reduction of 322
burden hours from the prior renewal of
this collection. The burden reduction is
the result of the change to a monthly
collection (accounting for 90 percent of
the data) with remaining respondents
reporting annually; in addition,
questions related to photovoltaic cells
are being removed.
(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and
Recordkeeping Cost Burden: Additional
costs to respondents are not anticipated
beyond costs associated with response
burden hours. The information is
maintained in the normal course of

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business. The cost of burden hours to
the respondents is estimated to be
$40,547 (563 burden hours times $72.02
per hour). Therefore, other than the cost
of burden hours, EIA estimates that
there are no additional costs for
generating, maintaining and providing
the information.
(1) OMB No. 1905–0129.
(2) Information Collection Request
Title: Form EIA–411, ‘‘Coordinated Bulk
Power Supply Program Report.’’
(3) Type of Request: Extension, with
changes, of a currently approved
collection.
(4) Purpose: The Form EIA–411
collects information relating to the
reliability of the electric power system
in the lower 48 states, including
regional electricity supply and demand
projections for a 10-year advance
period, the characteristics and
frequency of outages occurring on the
Bulk Electric System, and other
information on the transmission system
and supporting facilities. The data are
collected from the regional reliability
entities by the North American Electric
Reliability Corp. (NERC),1 which then
organizes and edits the information and
submits the data to EIA.
(4a) Proposed Changes: EIA proposes
to:
• Discontinue the collection of
historical information associated with
demand, capacity, transactions, and
reserve margins in Schedule 3. EIA
proposes to delete Line Numbers 2a
through 2d in Schedule 3 Part A,
Projected Demand and Capacity—
Summer, and Part B, Projected Demand
and Capacity—Winter, relating to direct
control load management, interruptible
load, critical peak pricing with control,
and load as a capacity resource. EIA also
proposes to delete Line Number 4 in
Part A and Part B that collects
information on Total Demand Response.
EIA proposes to delete Line Number 7
in Part A and Part B that collects
information on the peak hour demand
plus available reserves. EIA proposes to
delete Line Numbers 10a through 10c
that collect information on capacity
transfers relating to imports and to
delete Line numbers 11a through 11c
that collect information on capacity
transfers relating to exports in both Part
A and Part B. EIA also proposes to
delete Line Number 16 that collects
information on ‘‘Target Reserve
Margin.’’
1 NERC is the official North American Electric
Reliability Corporation as designated by the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) pursuant to
the Energy Policy Act of 2005. EIA has had a longstanding relationship with NERC and its
predecessor for the collection of the EIA–411 data.

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• One of the goals of collecting this
historical information on Schedule 3
was to provide a context to evaluate the
adequacy of planned reserve margins
from prior survey submissions.
However, significant differences
between operational reserve margins
and planned reserve margins has
rendered this historical information less
meaningful than originally intended.
Until a more comprehensive framework
for making such comparisons is
identified, EIA is proposing not to
collect this historical information.
• EIA currently collects the names of
planned transmission line terminal
locations in Schedule 6, Part B,
Characteristics of Projected
Transmission Line Additions. The
instructions for Line 5, Terminal
Location (From) and Line 6, Terminal
Location (To) will now ask the
respondent to report the state and
county, in addition to the name of the
terminal. This is a more standard way
of reporting locations.
(5) Estimated Number of Survey
Respondents: Nine respondents (the
eight NERC regional entities and NERC
Headquarters).
(6) Annual Estimated Number of
Total Responses: The annual estimated
number of total responses is 9.
(7) Annual Estimated Number of
Burden Hours: The annual estimated
burden is 1,098 hours, which represents
no change in burden hours from the
prior renewal of this collection.
(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and
Recordkeeping Cost Burden: Additional
costs to respondents are not anticipated
beyond costs associated with response
burden hours. The information is
maintained in the normal course of
business. The cost of burden hours to
the respondents is estimated to be
$79,078 (1,098 burden hours times
$72.02 per hour). Therefore, other than
the cost of burden hours, EIA estimates
that there are no additional costs for
generating, maintaining and providing
the information.
(1) OMB No. 1905–0129.
(2) Information Collection Request
Title: Form EIA–826, ‘‘Monthly Electric
Sales and Revenue with State
Distributions Report.’’ See ‘‘Information
Collection Request Title: Form EIA–
861M, ‘‘Monthly Electric Power Industry
Report’’ under SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION below.
(1) OMB No. 1905–0129.
(2) Information Collection Request
Title: Form EIA–860, ‘‘Annual Electric
Generator Report.’’
(3) Type of Request: Extension, with
changes, of a currently approved
collection.

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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 97 / Thursday, May 19, 2016 / Notices
(4) Purpose: Form EIA–860 collects
data on existing and planned electric
generation plants and associated
equipment including generators, boilers,
cooling systems, and environmental
control systems. Data are collected from
all existing units and from planned
units scheduled for initial commercial
operation within 10 years of the
specified reporting period (depending
on the type of plant).
(4a) Proposed Changes: EIA proposes
to:
• Collect additional information on
utility-scale electricity storage
(primarily batteries). Specifically, in
Schedule 2, Power Plant Data, EIA
proposes to add question 15, which asks
if the facility has energy storage
capabilities. Currently, EIA collects the
same design and operational data from
energy storage applications as it does
from conventional generators, despite
the fundamental differences between
them. The rapid growth in the number
and capacity of energy storage
applications along with their unique
operational characteristics is an
important consideration for collecting
information that is relevant to the
electric power markets. Based on
analysis from the Sandia National
Laboratory, EIA developed prospective
data elements and performed cognitive
testing on the ability of the industry to
report this information.
• On Schedule 2, EIA proposes to add
questions 16a, 16b, 16c, and 16d
regarding deliveries of natural gas. If a
facility has a connection to a local
distribution company (LDC), question
16a asks for the name of the LDC. If the
facility has a pipeline connection other
than to an LDC, question 16b asks for
the name(s) of the owner or operator of
each pipeline that connects directly to
the facility or that connects to a lateral
pipeline owned by this facility.
Question 16c asks if the facility has onsite storage of natural gas and, if so,
question 16d asks if the facility has the
capability to store the natural gas in the
form of liquefied natural gas. The
increasing reliance on natural gas as an
energy source for electricity requires a
better understanding of how natural gas
is distributed to electric generation
facilities and if storage is possible.
• In Schedule 3, Part B, add question
22, in order to collect the ‘‘Reference
Unit Power’’ (RUP) value for each
nuclear generator as of December 31 of
the data collection year. The
International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) requested that EIA provide this
information. EIA has primary
responsibility to provide U.S. data to the
IAEA. The IAEA needs the RUP for U.S.
reactors as it does from its other IAEA

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member countries. Currently, EIA does
not collect RUP. EIA proposes to add a
question to collect information on RUP
to improve the accuracy of its estimates
of RUP, and to improve the United
States’ data submissions to the IAEA.
• In Schedule 3, Part B, Generator
Information—Operable Generators, EIA
proposes to remove question 23 that
asks for the minimum amount of time
needed to bring a generator from a nonspinning reserve status to full load. This
has been unduly burdensome to collect,
both on the respondents and on EIA
processing staff.
• In Schedule 3, Part B, also remove
question 29, which asks for the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) Obstacle
Number assigned to the turbines. This
also has been burdensome to collect.
• In Schedule 3, Part B, EIA proposed
to add question 30a and 30b, which asks
solar PV generators having fixed tilt
technologies or single-axis technologies
for their fixed azimuth angles and fixed
tilt angles. This will allow hourly timing
of electric supply to be better
understood.
• In Schedule 3, Part B, EIA proposed
to add new questions 32 and 33, which
asks all solar facilities if they have net
metering agreements or virtual net
metering agreements in place associated
with their solar generation. These
questions also ask facilities with net
metering or virtual net metering
agreements the capacity associated with
these agreements. This expansion will
enhance EIA’s estimation of total
distributed solar generation in the
United States.
• In Schedule 6, Part B, Boiler
Information—Air Emission Standards
and Control Strategies, plants with a
total steam-electric nameplate capacity
of at least 10 MW report their applicable
nitrogen oxides (NOX) and mercury
regulations and their existing and
proposed strategies for meeting these
regulations; plants with a total steamelectric nameplate capacity of at least
100 MW report their applicable sulfur
dioxide (SO2) regulations and their
existing and proposed strategies for
meeting these regulations. EIA proposes
standardizing reporting by having plants
with a total steam-electric nameplate
capacity between 10 and 100 MW also
report their applicable SO2 regulations
and their existing and proposed
strategies for meeting these regulations.
This expansion will enhance EIA’s
estimation of SO2 emissions by
electrical power plants.
• In Schedule 6, Part A, Boiler
Information—Plant Configuration and
Equipment Information, question 2, EIA
proposes to collect the actual and
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environmental equipment at electrical
power plants. This expansion will allow
EIA to provide a more comprehensive
inventory of environmental equipment.
(5) Estimated Number of Survey
Respondents: There are approximately
4,700 respondents.
(6) Annual Estimated Number of
Total Responses: The annual estimated
number of total responses is
approximately 4,700.
(7) Annual Estimated Number of
Burden Hours: The annual estimated
burden is 43,883 hours, which
represents an increase of 12,789 burden
hours from the prior renewal of this
collection. The change in burden is the
result of a 42-percent increase in the
number of respondents due to industry
developments as well as the addition of
questions concerning storage capacity,
solar generators, and several other areas.
(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and
Recordkeeping Cost Burden: Additional
costs to respondents are not anticipated
beyond costs associated with response
burden hours. The information is
maintained in the normal course of
business. The cost of burden hours to
the respondents is estimated to be
$3,160,454 (43,883 burden hours times
$72.02 per hour). Therefore, other than
the cost of burden hours, EIA estimates
that there are no additional costs for
generating, maintaining and providing
the information.
(1) OMB No. 1905–0129.
(2) Information Collection Request
Title: Form EIA–860M, ‘‘Monthly
Update to the Annual Electric Generator
Report’’
(3) Type of Request: Extension, with
changes, of a currently approved
collection.
(4) Purpose: Form EIA–860M collects
data on the status of proposed new
generators scheduled to begin
commercial operation within the
forward 12-month period; existing
generators scheduled to retire from
service within the forward 12-month
period; and existing generators that have
proposed modifications that are
scheduled for completion within one
month. The information is needed to
ensure a complete and accurate
inventory of the nation’s generating
fleet, for such purposes as reliability
and environmental analyses.
(4a) Proposed Change:
• EIA proposes adding questions 3a
through 3d to the end of Schedule 2,
Updates to Proposed New Generators:
Æ Questions 3a and 3b ask for each
newly operational solar generators if the
output from the generator is part of a net
metering agreement and, if so, how
much direct current (DC) capacity (in

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MW) is part of the net metering
agreement.
Æ Questions 3c and 3d ask for each
newly operational solar generators if the
output from the generator is part of a
virtual net metering agreement and, if
so, how much DC capacity (in MW) is
part of the virtual net metering
agreement.
The distinction between net metering
and virtual net metering is specified in
the proposed instructions to the form.
Responses to these proposed questions
would enhance EIA’s estimation of
distributed solar generation in the
United States.
(5) Estimated Number of Survey
Respondents: During a typical year
approximately 478 entities will file the
form for at least one month. However,
in any given month only about 200
entities fall within the reporting
threshold (i.e., have a new generator
that is within 12 months of entering
commercial operation) and are therefore
required to file the survey. Most
respondents file fewer than 12 forms a
year; the average for 2015 was 5.6 filings
per year per respondent. Based on this
historical reporting trend, the burden
estimates are sufficient based on a 12
month reporting cycle.
(6) Annual Estimated Number of
Total Responses: The annual estimated
number of total responses is 2,677.
(7) Annual Estimated Number of
Burden Hours: The annual estimated
burden is 830 hours, which represents
an increase of 138 burden hours from
the prior renewal of this collection. The
increase in burden is due to a 16percent increase in the number of
respondents who previously filed an
EIA–860M as well as the addition of
questions regarding net metering
agreements involving newly operable
solar generators.
(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and
Recordkeeping Cost Burden: Additional
costs to respondents are not anticipated
beyond costs associated with response
burden hours. The information is
maintained in the normal course of
business. The cost of burden hours to
the respondents is estimated to be
$59,777 (830 burden hours times $72.02
per hour). Therefore, other than the cost
of burden hours, EIA estimates that
there are no additional costs for
generating, maintaining and providing
the information.
(1) OMB No.: 1905–0129.
(2) Information Collection Request
Title: Form EIA–861, ‘‘Annual Electric
Power Industry Report.’’
(3) Type of Request: Extension, with
changes, of a currently approved
collection.

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(4) Purpose: Form EIA–861 collects
annual information on the retail sale,
distribution, transmission and
generation of electric energy in the
United States and its territories. The
data include related activities such as
energy efficiency and demand response
programs. In combination with the Form
EIA–861S short form (see below) and
the monthly Form EIA–861M, this
annual survey provides coverage of
sales to ultimate customers of electric
power and related activities.
(4a) Proposed Changes: EIA proposes
to:
• In Schedule 1, Identification, under
the Respondent Type section, a new
respondent type entitled ‘‘Behind the
Meter’’ will be added. This respondent
type would be for entities that own/
operate renewable energy generating
facilities behind the utility meter that
generate power intended for on-site use
in a home, office building, or other
commercial facility.
• Add a question to Schedule 6, Part
A, Energy Efficiency, which asks a
respondent, in the event that they use a
Demand Side Management (DSM)
Administrator to report on the
respondent’s DSM programs, to select
that DSM Administrator from a
dropdown menu. Also, for DSM
Administrators respondents, move the
location of where the DSM
Administrators list what utilities they
are providing services for (currently in
Schedule 9, Footnotes) to Schedule 6,
Part A.
• In Schedule 7, Part A, Net Metering
Programs, add a question asking for the
capacity of small-scale storage
associated with net-metered distributed
capacity. Also in Schedule 7, Part B,
Non Net-Metered Distributed Generators
add a question on the capacity of smallscale storage associated with non-netmetered distributed capacity. EIA has
received a number of requests to collect
these data.
• In Schedule 7, Part A, Net Metering
Programs, add a question asking for the
virtual net- metered capacity and virtual
net-metered customer counts of net
metering programs. This question would
apply both to resources less than 1 MW
and resources in excess of 1 MW. One
of the emerging developments in the
solar PV market place are community
solar projects combined with virtual
net-metering agreements utilities have
with the customers. Virtual net metering
arrangements allow generation from
remotely sited generators to offset
customers’ monthly consumption and
results in a net bill to the customer. In
order to accurately account for this
generation, EIA needs to expand the net

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metering data collection to include
these situations.
• Change title of Schedule 7, Part B
from ‘‘Distributed and Dispersed
Generation’’ to ‘‘Non-net Metered
Distributed Generators.’’
• Eliminate all questions in Schedule
7B, Distributed and Dispersed
Generation, regarding dispersed
generation. Dispersed generators are
commercial and industrial generators
not connected/synchronized to the grid.
Dispersed generation questions
eliminated will include number of
generators, capacity, and technology
type. The amount of dispersed
generation capacity reported is small
and the ability of utilities to accurately
report this information is unclear, since
this capacity is not connected to utility
grids. In addition, the terms distributed
generation and dispersed generation
have been a source of confusion with
respondents and data users.
• Add end-use sectors to Schedule 7,
Part B, Distributed and Dispersed
Generation, in place of an aggregated
total. Also add an additional technology
(fuel cells) to Schedule 7, Part B.
• In the Form EIA–861 instructions,
examples of required respondents was
expanded for clarification to include
transmission owners, transmission
operators, and Third Party Owners of
solar PV (TPO). This is being done to
more explicitly clarify the types of
electric power industry entities required
to submit Form EIA–861.
(5) Estimated Number of Survey
Respondents: There are approximately
2,300 respondents.
(6) Annual Estimated Number of
Total Responses: The annual estimated
number of total responses is 2,295.
(7) Annual Estimated Number of
Burden Hours: The total annual
estimated burden is 29,261 hours,
which represents an increase of 5,138
burden hours from the prior renewal of
this collection. The change in burden is
primarily due to the addition of
questions regarding, among other things,
small-scale storage and virtual net
metered capacity.
(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and
Recordkeeping Cost Burden: Additional
costs to respondents are not anticipated
beyond costs associated with response
burden hours. The information is
maintained in the normal course of
business. The cost of burden hours to
the respondents is estimated to be
$2,107,377 (29,261 burden hours times
$72.02 per hour). Therefore, other than
the cost of burden hours, EIA estimates
that there are no additional costs for
generating, maintaining and providing
the information.
(1) OMB No. 1905–0129.

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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 97 / Thursday, May 19, 2016 / Notices
(2) Information Collection Request
Title: Form EIA–861M, ‘‘Monthly
Electric Power Industry Report’’
(replaces Form EIA–826). See
‘‘Information Collection Request Title:
Form EIA–826, Monthly Electric Sales
and Revenue with State Distributions
Report’’ under SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION above.
(3) Type of Request: New Collection.
(4) Purpose: Form EIA–861M will
collect monthly information from a
sample of electric utilities, energy
service providers, and distribution
companies that sell or deliver electric
power to end users. Data collected on
this form includes sales and revenue for
all end-use sectors (residential,
commercial, industrial, and
transportation). This survey is the
monthly complement to the annual data
collection from the universe of
respondents made by the short and long
form versions of the Form EIA–861
survey (see further below).
(4a) Proposed Changes: EIA proposes
to:
• Discontinue Form EIA–826 and
replace it with new Form EIA–861M,
‘‘Monthly Electric Power Industry
Report.’’ Data collected on the
discontinued Form EIA–826 will be
collected on the EIA–861M with the
following changes.
• In Schedule 1, Identification, under
the Respondent Type section, the
respondent types for State and
Municipal will be combined into one
category titled ‘‘State—Municipal.’’ A
new respondent type, ‘‘Behind the
Meter,’’ will be added. This respondent
type would be for entities that own/
operate renewable energy generating
facilities behind the utility meter that
generate power intended for on-site use
in a home, office building, or other
commercial facility.
• EIA proposes to add a new part,
Schedule 3, Part A, Net Metering
Programs, which will collect data
regarding net-metering programs,
including capacity, installations, storage
capacity, customers, and, if available,
energy sold back to the utility. These
data will be reported by state, balancing
authority, customer class, and
technology (photovoltaic, wind and
other).
• EIA also proposes on the new
Schedule 3, Part A, Net Metering
Programs, to add virtual net metered
capacity and customer counts both from
resources less than 1 Megawatt (MW)
and resources 1 MW or greater.
Emerging developments in the solar PV
market place include community solar
projects that are combined with ‘‘virtual
net metering’’ agreements between
utilities and end-use customers. Virtual

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net metering arrangements allow
generation from remotely sited
generators to offset customers’ monthly
consumption and results in a net bill to
the customer. In order to accurately
account for this generation, EIA needs to
expand the net metering data collection
to include these situations.
• EIA proposes to delete the current
Schedule 3, Part B, Net Metering, whose
current data elements and additional
data elements will be collected on the
new proposed Schedule 3, Part A, Net
Metering Programs. In place of the
previous Part B, EIA will add a new
Schedule 3, Part B, Non Net-Metered
Distributed Generators, which will
collect the number and capacity of nonnet-metered distributed generators by
technology and sector. The addition of
these data will improve EIA’s ability to
make monthly estimates of generation
from solar photovoltaic (PV) resources.
• EIA proposes on both Schedule 3,
Part A (Net Metering Programs) and Part
B (Non Net-Metered Distributed
Generators), to collect the capacity of
small-scale storage associated with net
metered and non-net metered
distributed capacity. EIA has received
an increasing number of requests to
collect these data.
• EIA proposes to eliminate Schedule
3, Part C, Advanced Metering, relating
to advanced utility meters. These data
will no longer be collected on a monthly
basis. These data were changing rapidly
in previous years as utilities were
participating in American Reinvestment
and Recovery Act (ARRA) projects.
Currently the data are not moving
rapidly year-over-year and EIA expects
a further year-over-year decline in
future years. This eliminates the need to
look at it monthly. These data will
continue to be collected annually on
Form EIA–861.
(5) Estimated Number of Survey
Respondents: There are approximately
620 respondents.
(6) Annual Estimated Number of
Total Responses: The annual estimated
number of total responses is 7,440.
(7) Annual Estimated Number of
Burden Hours: The annual estimated
burden is 15,178 hours, which
represents an increase of 6,415 burden
hours from the prior renewal of this
collection. The increase in burden is
due to growth in the number of
respondents due to industry
developments and the addition of
questions regarding capacity.
(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and
Recordkeeping Cost Burden: Additional
costs to respondents are not anticipated
beyond costs associated with response
burden hours. The information is
maintained in the normal course of

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business. The cost of burden hours to
the respondents is estimated to be
$1,093,120 (15,178 burden hours times
$72.02 per hour). Therefore, other than
the cost of burden hours, EIA estimates
that there are no additional costs for
generating, maintaining and providing
the information.
(1)OMB No. 1905–0129.
(2) Information Collection Request
Title: Form EIA–861S, ‘‘Annual Electric
Power Industry Report (Short Form).’’
(3) Type of Request: Extension, with
changes, of a currently approved
collection.
(4) Purpose: Form EIA–861S collects
a limited set of information annually
from 1,100 small companies involved in
the retail sale of electricity. A complete
set of annual data are collected from
2,300 larger companies on the Form
EIA–861(long form) and monthly data
are collected on the Form EIA–861M
(see above). The smaller utilities that
currently report on the EIA–861S are
required to complete the EIA–861 (long
form) once every five years to provide
updated information for the statistical
estimation of uncollected data.
(4a) Proposed Change:
• EIA plans to extend the time
interval in which small utilities on the
EIA–861S (short form) must complete
the EIA–861 (long form) from 5 years to
8 years. EIA has conducted a statistical
analysis of this proposal and the results
indicate that the reporting interval can
be extended to 8 years without
adversely affecting the statistical
estimation of uncollected data, i.e.,
sector level (residential, commercial,
industrial, and transportation) sales,
revenue, and customer count by state.
The change will also reduce burden on
smaller utilities.
(5) Estimated Number of Survey
Respondents: There are approximately
1,100 respondents.
(6) Annual Estimated Number of
Total Responses: The annual estimated
number of total responses is 1,100.
(7) Annual Estimated Number of
Burden Hours: The annual estimated
burden is 833 hours, which represents
a reduction of 3 burden hours from the
prior renewal of this collection.
(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and
Recordkeeping Cost Burden: Additional
costs to respondents are not anticipated
beyond costs associated with response
burden hours. The information is
maintained in the normal course of
business. The cost of burden hours to
the respondents is estimated to be
$59,993 (833 burden hours times $72.02
per hour). Therefore, other than the cost
of burden hours, EIA estimates that
there are no additional costs for

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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 97 / Thursday, May 19, 2016 / Notices

generating, maintaining and providing
the information.
(1) OMB No. 1905–0129.
(2) Information Collection Request
Title: Form EIA–923, ‘‘Power Plant
Operations Report.’’
(3) Type of Request: Extension, with
changes, of a currently approved
collection.
(4) Purpose: Form EIA–923 collects
information from electric power plants
in the United States. Data collected
include electric power generation,
energy source consumption, end of
reporting period fossil fuel stocks, as
well as the quality and cost of fossil fuel
receipts.
(4a) Proposed Changes: EIA proposes
to:
• On Schedule 2, Cost and Quality of
Fuel Purchases—Plant Level, Part A,
Contract Information, Purchases and
Cost, and Part B, Quality of Fuel and
Transportation, change the way natural
gas receipts are collected. Currently this
information is collected by supplier and
individual contract. EIA proposes to
collect receipts data by pipeline for all
individual pipelines servicing a plant.
In the case of Part A, respondents would
break down their costs into total
delivered costs excluding fixed charges,
and pipeline capacity reservation and
other fixed charges. The object of this
change is to collect more useful
information and to reduce the reporting
burden.
• On Schedule 4, Part A, Fossil Fuel
Stocks at the End of the Reporting
Period for Coal, Petroleum Coke,
Distillate Fuel Oil, and Residual Fuel
Oil, remove the data protection for coal
and petroleum stocks held at power
plants and related facilities. Plant-level
stocks data would be publicly released
(as is other plant-specific data, such as
generation) seven weeks after the end of
the reporting month. The passage of
time during the seven week time period
between collection and publication
limits any competitive harm that would
result from releasing the data, and its
release will provide more detailed
market information to policy-makers
and industry analysts.
• On Schedule 4, Part A, Fossil Fuel
Stocks at the End of the Reporting
Period for Coal, Petroleum Coke,
Distillate Fuel Oil, and Residual Fuel
Oil, institute the same reporting
thresholds, generator nameplate
capacity with a primary fuel of coal
greater than 50 MW or total generator
nameplate capacity with a primary fuel
of any combination of natural gas,
residual fuel oil, distillate fuel oil, or
petroleum coke greater than 200 MW, as
on Schedule 2, Costs and Quality of

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Fuel Purchases—Plant Level. This
change will make the fuel receipts data
(Schedule 2) and stock data (Schedule
4) consistent with each other and create
a single respondent pool for the two
schedules. The number of plants
reporting on Schedule 4, Part A will be
reduced. The change will also increase
the quality of fuel stocks data collected
on Schedule 4, Part A because the fuel
stocks data that is reported by plants
falling under the Schedule 2 threshold
tends to be difficult to quality check.
Also to achieve consistency across
schedules, kerosene and jet fuel stocks
will no longer be collected on Schedule
4.
• On Schedule 8, Part D, Monthly
Cooling System Information, collect the
cooling system information data on a
monthly rather than an annual basis.
The survey currently collects 12 months
of cooling water operating data once a
year. Under this proposal, monthly
respondents would provide cooling
system information data monthly, rather
than providing 12 months of cooling
data on the 923 supplemental form. The
change is not expected to affect
reporting burden.
• Additionally, EIA plans to reduce
the current monthly sample via a more
efficient model-based cutoff design. It
will significantly reduce the number of
monthly respondents (from 2,108
respondents to 1,323) while maintaining
the ability to effectively estimate data
for out-of-sample power plants, i.e.
power plants that only report data on an
annual basis. This will also reduce the
number of supplemental respondents
from 1,632 to 1,056. The new sample
design is expected to lower the overall
burden and still produce aggregate
statistics that meet EIA publication
standards.
• EIA also proposes to collect data
from plants whose operating status is
TS, ‘‘operating under test conditions
(not in commercial service)’’ if those
plants are in fact collecting revenues
from the sale of electricity. This change
would allow EIA get more complete
data on U.S. generation and sales.
(5) Estimated Number of Survey
Respondents: There are approximately
7,328 respondents. The monthly form is
filed by 1,323 respondents; the annual
form is filed by 6,005 respondents; and
the supplemental form is filed by 1,056
respondents. (Those same 1,056
supplemental respondents also file the
monthly form and are included in the
1,323 respondents on the monthly
form).
(6) Annual Estimated Number of
Total Responses: The annual estimated
number of total responses is 22,937.

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(7) Annual Estimated Number of
Burden Hours: The annual estimated
burden is 55,283 hours, which
represents a reduction of 16,029 burden
hours from the prior renewal of this
collection. The change in burden is
primarily due to the removal of
questions related to cooling water and
frame modification resulting in fewer
respondents.
(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and
Recordkeeping Cost Burden: Additional
costs to respondents are not anticipated
beyond costs associated with response
burden hours. The information is
maintained in the normal course of
business. The cost of burden hours to
the respondents is estimated to be
$3,981,482 (55,283 burden hours times
$72.02 per hour. Therefore, other than
the cost of burden hours, EIA estimates
that there are no additional costs for
generating, maintaining and providing
the information.
(1) OMB No. 1905–0129.
(2) Information Collection Request
Title: Form EIA–930, ‘‘Balancing
Authority Operations Report’’
(3) Type of Request: Extension, with
changes, of a currently approved
collection.
(4) Purpose: Form EIA–930 collects
hourly electric power operating data
from Balancing Authorities in the
contiguous United States.2 The data
include:
• Hourly demand
• Hourly next-day demand forecast
• Hourly net generation
• Hourly actual interchange with each
interconnected Balancing Authority
The purpose of this survey is to
enable EIA to make available a
comprehensive set of the current day’s
system demand data on an hourly basis
and the prior day’s basic hourly electric
system operating data on a daily basis.
Besides providing a basic measure of the
current status of electric systems and
the United States electric industry as a
whole, the data can be used to compare
actual system demand with the dayahead forecast thereby providing a
measure of the accuracy of the
forecasting used to commit resources. In
addition, the EIA–930 data are key in
addressing smart grid related issues
such as integrating wind and solar
generation, improving the coordination
of natural gas and electric short-term
2 A Balancing Authority is ‘‘The responsible
entity that integrates resource plans ahead of time,
maintains load-interchange-generation balance
within a Balancing Authority Area, and supports
Interconnection frequency in real time.’’ (NERC,
Glossary of Terms Used in NERC Reliability
Standards, December 21, 2012.) In most, but not all
cases, a balancing authority is an electric utility
company or a Regional Transmission Organization

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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 97 / Thursday, May 19, 2016 / Notices
operations, and expanding the use of
demand response, storage, and electric
vehicles in electric system operations.
(4a) Proposed Changes: EIA proposes
to:
• Change the amount of time within
which the respondents must report.
Currently respondents must submit
their data within 60 minutes of the end
of the data hour. The proposal is to
change that to within 30 minutes of the
end of the data hour. This change would
be consistent with the observed
reporting capabilities of the
respondents.
• Require respondents to report
hourly sub-regional actual demand
when these values are produced in the
normal course of business within a
month of the operating day.
• Require respondents to report
hourly net generation by standard fuel
type categories.
Also, EIA requests comments on
whether it should continue its current
policy of limited withholding of small
Balancing Authority data for two days.
(5) Estimated Number of Survey
Respondents: The annual estimated
number of respondents is 66.
(6) Annual Estimated Number of
Total Responses: The annual estimated
number of total responses is 24,090.
(7) Annual Estimated Number of
Burden Hours: The annual estimated
burden is 3,960 hours, which represents
an increase of 1,618 burden hours from
the prior renewal of this collection. The
increase in burden is due to the
expansion of the form to collect net
generation by standard fuel type.
(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and
Recordkeeping Cost Burden: Additional
costs to respondents are not anticipated
beyond costs associated with response
burden. The information is maintained
in the normal course of business. The
cost of burden hours to the respondents
is estimated to be $285,199 (3,960
burden hours times $72.02 per hour).
Therefore, other than the cost of burden
hours, EIA estimates that there are no
additional costs for generating,
maintaining and providing the
information.

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Statutory Authority: Section 13(b) of the
Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974,
Pub. L. 93–275, codified at 15 U.S.C. 772(b).
Issued in Washington, DC, on May 12,
2016.
Nanda Srinivasan,
Director, Office of Survey Development and
Statistical Integration, U.S. Energy
Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2016–11911 Filed 5–18–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FRL 9946–65–OGC]

Intent To Grant a Co-Exclusive Patent
License
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of intent to grant a coexclusive license; request for public
comment.
AGENCY:

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 207
(Patents) and 37 CFR part 404 (U.S.
Government patent licensing
regulations), EPA hereby gives notice of
its intent to grant an exclusive, royaltybearing, revocable license to practice the
invention described and claimed in the
U.S. patent number 7,279,103 entitled,
PROCESS FOR THE PURIFICATION OF
ACIDIC METAL-BEARING WASTE
WATERS TO PERMISSABLE
DISCHARGE LEVELS WITH
RECOVERY OF MARKETABLE METAL
PRODUCTS, filed September 13, 2005
and issued October 9, 2007, to PRD
Tech, Incorporated, Cincinnati, Ohio.
The proposed exclusive license will
contain appropriate terms, limitations,
and conditions to be negotiated in
accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37
CFR 404.5 and 404.7 of the U.S.
Government patent licensing
regulations.
EPA will negotiate the final terms and
conditions and grant the exclusive
license, unless within 30 days from the
date of this notice EPA receives, at the
address below, written objections to the
grant, together with supporting
documentation. The documentation
from objecting parties having an interest
in practicing the above patent should
include an application for an exclusive
or nonexclusive license with the
information set forth in 37 CFR 404.8.
The EPA Patent Attorney and other
EPA officials will review all written
responses and then make
recommendations on a final decision to
the Director or Deputy Director of the
National Risk Management Research
Laboratory who have been delegated the
authority to issue patent licenses under
EPA Delegation 1–55.
DATES: Comments must be received by
June 20, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments to
Laura Scalise, Patent Attorney, Office of
General Counsel (Mail Code 2377A),
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone: (202)
564–8303; email address: scalise.laura@
epa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Laura Scalise, Patent Attorney, Office of
SUMMARY:

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General Counsel (Mail Code 2377A),
Environmental Protection Agency,
Washington, DC 20460, telephone (202)
564–8303.
Dated: May 6, 2016.
Wendy Blake,
Associate General Counsel, General Law
Office.
[FR Doc. 2016–11841 Filed 5–18–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–OAR–2003–0120; FRL–9946–64–
OAR]

Proposed Information Collection
Request; Comment Request; National
Volatile Organic Compound Emission
Standards for Automobile Refinish
Coatings
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is planning to submit an
information collection request (ICR),
‘‘National Volatile Organic Compound
Emission Standards for Automobile
Refinish Coatings’’ (EPA ICR No.
1765.08, OMB Control No. 2060–0353)
to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review and approval in
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et
seq.). Before doing so, the EPA is
soliciting public comments on specific
aspects of the proposed information
collection as described below. This is a
proposed extension of the ICR, which is
currently approved through November
30, 2016. An Agency may not conduct
or sponsor and a person is not required
to respond to a collection of information
unless it displays a currently valid OMB
control number.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on
or before July 18, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
referencing Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–
OAR–2003–0120, online using
www.regulations.gov (our preferred
method), by email to a-and-r-docket@
epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA Docket
Center (EPA/DC), Environmental
Protection Agency, Mail Code 28221T,
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.,
Washington, DC 20460.
The EPA’s policy is that all comments
received will be included in the public
docket without change, including any
personal information provided, unless
the comment includes profanity, threats,
information claimed to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other
SUMMARY:

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