IC18-14, 30-day Notice, pub. in Fed. Reg.

47914

Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 184 / Friday, September 21, 2018 / Notices
Comments filed with OMB,
identified by OMB Control No. 1902–
0242, should be sent via email to the
Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs: [email protected].
Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission Desk Officer.
A copy of the comments should also
be sent to the Commission, in Docket
No. IC18–14–000, 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.
Instructions: All submissions must be
formatted and filed in accordance with
submission guidelines at: http://
www.ferc.gov/help/submissionguide.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/docsfiling/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.
ADDRESSES:

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. IC18–14–000]

Commission Information Collection
Activities (FERC Form No. 552);
Comment Request; Extension
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of information collection
and request for comments.
AGENCY:

In compliance with the
requirements of 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
Form No. 552 (Annual Report of Natural
Gas Transactions) and submitting the
information collection to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
review. Any interested person may file
comments directly with OMB and
should address a copy of those
comments to the Commission as
explained below. On July 9, 2018, the
Commission published a Notice in the
Federal Register in Docket No. IC18–
14–000 requesting public comments.
The Commission received no comments.
DATES: Comments on the collection of
information are due October 22, 2018.
SUMMARY:

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: FERC Form No. 552, Annual
Report of Natural Gas Transactions.
OMB Control No.: 1902–0242.
Type of Request: Three-year extension
of the FERC Form No. 552 information
collection requirements with no changes
to the current reporting requirements.
Abstract: The Commission uses the
information collected in the FERC Form
No. 552 1 to provide greater
transparency into the size of the
physical natural gas market and the use
of physical fixed-price and index-based
natural gas transactions. This
information assists the Commission and
the public in assessing whether index
prices are the result of a robust market
of fixed-price transactions.
FERC Form No. 552 had its genesis in
the Energy Policy Act of 2005,2 which
added section 23 of the Natural Gas Act
(NGA). Section 23 of the NGA, among
other things, directs the Commission ‘‘to
facilitate price transparency in markets
for the sale or transportation of physical
natural gas in interstate commerce,
having due regard for the public
interest, the integrity of those markets,
and the protection of consumers.’’ 3
Type of Respondents: Wholesale
natural gas market participants.
Estimate of Annual Burden: 4 The
Commission estimates the average
annual burden and cost 5 for this
information collection as follows.

FERC FORM NO. 552, ANNUAL REPORT OF NATURAL GAS TRANSACTIONS
Category

Number of
respondents

Annual
number of
responses per
respondent

Total
number
of responses

Average
burden hours
and cost ($)
per response

Total annual burden
hours and cost
($)

Annual cost
per
respondent
($) (rounded)

(1)

(2)

(1) * (2) = (3)

(4)

(3) * (4) = (5)

(5) ÷ (1)

daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES

Wholesale natural
gas market participants .....................

675

1

675

20 hrs.; 6 $1,683.60

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

1 FERC Form No. 552 is prescribed in 18 CFR
260.401.
2 Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 109–58,
sections 1261 et seq., 119 Stat. 594 (2005).
3 15 U.S.C. 717t–2(a)(1)(2006).
4 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. Refer to 5
CFR 1320.3 for additional information.
5 Costs (for wages and benefits) are based on wage
figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for
May 2017 (at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/
naics2_22.htm) and benefits information (for
December 2017, issued March 20, 2018, at https://
www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm). The staff
estimates that 75% of the work is done by a
financial analyst (code 13–2051) at an hourly cost

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18:43 Sep 20, 2018

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13,500 hrs.; $1,136,430

$1,684

of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Dated: September 13, 2018.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018–20620 Filed 9–20–18; 8:45 am]
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of $64.35 (for wages plus benefits), and 25% of the
work is done by legal staff members (code 23–0000)
at an hourly cost of $143.68 (for wages plus
benefits). Therefore the weighted cost (for wages
plus benefits) is rounded to $84.18/hour [or
($64.35/hour × 0.75) + ($143.68/hour × 0.25)].
6 Commission staff estimates the average annual
burden per respondent to be 20 hours (rather than
the prior estimate of ten hours). There are no
changes to the reporting requirements.

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