

[Federal Register: December 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 241)]
[Notices]               
[Page 75521-75522]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15de06-46]                         

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[IC06-715-001, FERC 715]

 
Commission Information Collection Activities, Proposed 
Collection; Comment Request; Extension

December 8, 2006.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of section 3507 of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507, the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission (Commission) has submitted the information 
collection described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for review and extension of this information collection requirement. 
Any interested person may file comments directly with OMB and should 
address a copy of those comments to the Commission as explained below. 
The Commission received no comments in response to an earlier Federal 
Register notice of August 30, 2006 (71 FR 51589-51590) and has made 
this notation in its submission to OMB.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due by January 16, 
2007.

ADDRESSES: Address comments on the collection of information to the 
Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Desk Officer. 
Comments to OMB should be filed electronically, c/o 
oira_submission@omb.eop.gov and include the OMB Control No. as a point of 

reference. The Desk Officer may be reached by telephone at 202-395-
4650. A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, Office of the Executive Director, ED-34, 
Attention: Michael Miller, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. 
Comments may be filed either in paper format or electronically. Those 
persons filing electronically do not need to make a paper filing. For 
paper filings an original and 14 copies, of such comments should be 
submitted to the Secretary of the Commission, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426 and should 
refer to Docket No. IC07-715-001.
    Documents filed electronically via the Internet must be prepared in 
WordPerfect, MS Word, Portable Document Format, or ASCII format. To 
file the document, access the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov
 and click on ``Make an E-Filing,'' and then follow the 

instructions for each screen. First time users will have to establish a 
user name and password. The Commission will send an automatic 
acknowledgement to the sender's e-mail address upon receipt of 
comments. User assistance for electronic filings is available at 202-
502-8258 or by e-mail to efiling@ferc.gov. Comments should not be 
submitted to this e-mail address.
    All comments may be viewed, printed or downloaded remotely via the 
Internet through FERC's homepage using the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the 
docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket number 
field to access the document. For user assistance, contact 
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or toll-free at (866) 208-3676 or for TTY, 

contact (202) 502-8659.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Miller may be reached by 
telephone at (202) 502-8415, by fax at (202) 273-0873, and by e-mail at 
michael.miller@ferc.gov.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Description

    The information collection submitted for OMB review contains the 
following:
    1. Collection of Information: FERC 715 ``Annual Transmission 
Planning and Evaluation Report''
    2. Sponsor: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
    3. Control No.: 1902-0171
    The Commission is now requesting that OMB approve and extend the 
expiration date for an additional three years with no changes to the 
existing collection. The information filed with the Commission is 
mandatory.
    4. Necessity of the Collection of Information: Submission of the 
information is necessary for the Commission to carry out its 
responsibilities in implementing the statutory provisions of section 
213(b) of the Federal Power Act (FPA), as amended by the Energy Policy 
Act of 1992. Through Section 213(b) Congress requires the Commission to 
collect annually from transmitting utilities, certain transmission 
system information and make it available to potential transmission 
providers, customers and state regulatory authorities. This information 
collection also supports the Commission's responsibilities under 
Sections 202, 207, 210-213, 304, 309 and 311 of the FPA, as amended (49 
Stat. 838; 16 U.S.C. 791a-825r). The Commission's FERC-715 filing 
requirements are published in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 18 
CFR 141.300.
    Through the FERC-715, the Commission gathers basic electric 
transmission system information. The Commission staff use the FERC-715 
information to evaluate available transmission capacity and assess 
transmission reliability. Electrical transmission customers and 
transmission dependent utilities use the information, in conjunction 
with other

[[Page 75522]]

information sources, to assess transmission availability. Federal and 
private agencies use the information in transmission simulations to 
test the impact of changes to the transmission system, necessary to 
improve system functioning. FERC-715 filing instructions are provided 
on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filings/elibrary.asp
.

    Some or all of the information collected on the FERC-715 may be 
treated as Critical Energy Infrastructure Information (CEII) (see Order 
630, OMB Control No. 1902-0197). CEII is information concerning 
proposed or existing critical infrastructure (physical or virtual) 
that:
    1. Relates to the production, generation, transmission or 
distribution of energy;
    2. Could be useful to a person planning an attack on critical 
infrastructure;
    3. Is exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of 
Information Act; and
    4. Gives strategic information beyond the location of the critical 
infrastructure.

CEII is not available to the public. The Commission has established 
procedures for gaining access to CEII that would otherwise not be 
available under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. These 
actions are necessary to keep highly sensitive infrastructure 
information out of the public domain thus decreasing the likelihood 
that such information could be used to plan and execute terrorist 
attacks.
    5. Respondent Description: The respondent universe currently 
comprises 85 companies (on average) subject to the Commission's 
jurisdiction.
    6. Estimated Burden: 9,913 total hours, 85 respondents (average), 1 
response per respondent, and 117 hours per response (average)
    7. Estimated Cost Burden to respondents: 9,913 hours/2080 hours per 
years x $117,321 per year = $ 559,136. The cost per respondent is equal 
to $6,578.
    Statutory Authority: Statutory provisions of sections 4, 5, 7, 8, 
10, 14, 16, and 20 of the Natural Gas Act (NPA) 15 U.S.C. 717-717w and 
Title II, section 311 and sections 501 and 504 of the Natural Gas 
Policy Act (Pub. L. 95-621).

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E6-21383 Filed 12-14-06; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
