[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 178 (Monday, September 14, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56597-56598]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-20170]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC20-10-000]


Commission Information Collections Activities (Ferc Form Nos. 2 
And 2-A); Comment Request; Extension; Errata Notice

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Errata notice for information collections and request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: 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 currently approved information 
collections, FERC Form No. 2 (Annual Report for Major Natural Gas 
Companies) and FERC Form No. 2-A (Annual Report for Non-Major Natural 
Gas Companies). This notice corrects and replaces the 30-day notice 
published on July 20, 2020. The 60-day notice was published on April 
30, 2020 and the initial 30-day notice published on July 20, 2020. The 
intial 30-day notice erroneously omitted the burden associated with a 
Final rule approved September 9, 2019. In order to correct the 
previously published notices, FERC is providing the opportunity for an 
additional 30-day comment period.

DATES: Comments on the collections of information are due October 14, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments on FERC Form Nos. 2 and 2-A 
to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) through www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Desk 
Officer. Please identify the OMB control numbers (1902-0028 and 1902-
0030) in the subject line. Your comments should be sent within 30 days 
of publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
    Please submit copies of your comments to the Commission (identified 
by Docket No. IC20-10-000) by one of the following methods:
     eFiling at Commission's Website: http://www.ferc.gov.
     U.S. Postal Service Mail: Persons unable to file 
electronically may mail similar pleadings to the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.
     Effective 7/1/2020, delivery of filings other than by 
eFiling or the U.S. Postal Service should be delivered to Health and 
Human Services, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
    Instructions: All submissions must be formatted and filed in 
accordance with submission guidelines at: https://www.ferc.gov/filing-instructions. For user assistance, contact FERC Online Support by email 
at ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or by phone at: (866) 208-3676 (toll-
free).
    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/docs-filing/docs-filing.asp.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at 
DataClearance@FERC.gov and telephone at (202) 502-8663.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: FERC Form No. 2, Annual Report for Major Natural Gas 
Companies, and FERC Form No. 2-A, Annual Report for Non-Major Natural 
Gas Companies.
    OMB Control Nos.: 1902-0028 (FERC Form No. 2), and 1902-0030 (FERC 
Form No. 2-A)
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC Form No. 2 and 
FERC Form No. 2-A information collections requirements without a change 
to the current reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
    Abstract: Pursuant to sections 8, 10 and 14 of the Natural Gas Act 
(NGA), (15 U.S.C. 717g, 717i, and 717m), the Commission is authorized 
to conduct investigations and collect and record data, and to prescribe 
rules and regulations concerning accounts, records and memoranda as 
necessary or appropriate for purposes of administering the NGA. The 
Commission may prescribe a system of accounts for jurisdictional 
companies and, after notice and opportunity for hearing, may determine 
the accounts in which particular outlays and receipts will be entered, 
charged or credited.
    The Commission collects FERC Form Nos. 2 and 2-A information as 
prescribed in 18 CFR 260.1 and 18 CFR 260.2. These forms provide 
information concerning a company's current performance, compiled using 
the Commission's Uniform System of Accounts (USofA).\1\ FERC Form No. 2 
is filed by ``Major'' natural gas companies that have combined natural 
gas transported or stored for a fee that exceeds 50 million Dekatherms 
in each of the three previous calendar years. FERC Form No. 2-A is 
filed by ``Non-Major'' natural gas companies that do not meet the 
filing threshold for the FERC Form No. 2, but have total gas sales or 
volume transactions that exceeds 200,000 Dekatherms in each of the 
three previous calendar years.\2\
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    \1\ See 18 CFR part 201 (Uniform System of Accounts Prescribed 
for Natural Gas Companies Subject to the Provisions of the Natural 
Gas Act).
    \2\ FERC Form Nos. 2 and 2-A are part of the ``Forms Refresh'' 
effort, which is a separate activity and not addressed here. See 
Revisions to the Filing Process for Commission Forms, 166 FERC ] 
61,027 (2019) (started in Docket No. AD15-11-000 and ongoing in 
Docket No. RM19-12-000). OMB issued its decisions on the Forms 
Refresh Final Rule in Docket No. RM19-12-000 on June 27, 2019.
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    The forms provide information concerning a company's financial and 
operational information. The forms contain schedules which include a 
basic set of financial statements: Comparative Balance Sheet, Statement 
of Income and Retained Earnings, Statement of Cash Flows, and the 
Statement of Comprehensive Income and Hedging Activities. Supporting 
schedules containing supplementary information are filed, including 
revenues and the related quantities of products sold or transported; 
account balances for various operating and maintenance expenses; 
selected plant cost data; and other information.
    The information collected assists the Commission in the 
administration of its jurisdictional responsibilities and is used by 
Commission staff, state regulatory agencies, customers, financial 
analysts and others in the review of the financial condition of 
regulated companies. The information is also used in various rate 
proceedings, industry analyses and in the Commission's audit programs 
and as appropriate, for the computation of annual charges. The 
information is made available to the public, interveners and all 
interested parties to assist in the proceedings before the Commission. 
For financial information to be useful to the Commission, it must be 
understandable, relevant, reliable and timely. The Form Nos. 2 and 2-A 
financial statements are prepared in accordance with the Commission's 
USofA and related regulations, and provide data that enables the 
Commission to develop and monitor cost-based rates, analyze costs of 
different services and classes of assets, and compare costs across 
lines of business. The use of the USofA permits natural gas companies 
to account for

[[Page 56598]]

similar transactions and events in a consistent manner, and to 
communicate those results to the Commission on a periodic basis. 
Comparability of data and financial statement analysis for a particular 
entity from one period to the next, or between entities, within the 
same industry, would be difficult to achieve if each company maintained 
its own accounting records using dissimilar accounting methods and 
classifications to record similar transactions and events. In summary, 
without the information collected in the forms, it would be difficult 
for the Commission to ensure, as required by the NGA, that a pipeline's 
rates remain just and reasonable, respond to Congressional and outside 
inquires, and make decisions in a timely manner. On April 30, 2020, the 
Commission published a Notice in the Federal Register in Docket No. 
IC20-10-000 requesting public comments.\3\ The Commission received no 
public comments.
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    \3\ 85 FR 23954.
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    Note: This notice replaces and corrects the 30-day notice published 
on July 20, 2020 (85FR43831); no public comments were received. The 
burden and cost estimates have been corrected to include the industry 
burden of preparing and submitting in XBRL carried over from RM19-12 
(approved by OMB 9/2019). The changes are reflected within the table 
below.
    Type of Respondent: Major and Non-Major Natural Gas Companies.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \4\ The Commission estimates the annual 
public reporting burden and cost \5\ for the information collections as 
shown in the following table:
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    \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. For 
further explanation of what is included in the information 
collections burden, refer to 5 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3.
    \5\ The Commission staff believes the FERC FTE (full-time 
equivalent) average cost for wages plus benefits is representative 
of the corresponding cost for the industry respondents. Based upon 
the FERC's 2019 average cost for salary plus benefits, the average 
hourly cost is $80/hour.

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                                                        Annual number
  Information collections (FERC Form      Number of     of responses    Total number     Average burden & cost     Total annual burden      Annual cost
                 No.)                    respondents         per        of  responses      ($) per response        hours & cost ($) \6\         per
                                                         respondent                                                                       respondent ($)
                                                  (1)             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4).....................  (3) * (4) = (5)........       (5) / (1)
                                                                                  (3)
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                                                        Form No. 2--representing 100 respondents
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Burden to Comply with Filing                      100               1             100  1,671.67 hrs.; $133,734.  167,167 hrs.;                   133,734
 Requirement.                                                                                                     $13,373,360.
Burden to Prepare and Submit in XBRL              100               1             100  42.66 hrs.; $3,413......  4,266 hrs.; $341,280...           3,413
 (represented using the same number
 of respondents and responses
 normally received annually).
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    Form No. 2 Total.................             100               1             100  1,714.32 hrs.; $137,147.  171,433 hrs.;                   137,147
                                                                                                                  $13,714,700.
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                                                        Form No. 2-A--representing 81 respondents
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Burden to Comply with Filing                       81               1              81  296 hrs.; $23,680.......  23,976 hrs.; $1,918,080          23,680
 Requirement.
Burden to Prepare and Submit in XBRL               81               1              81  42.66 hrs.; $3,413......  3,455.46 hrs.; $276,453           3,413
 (represented using the same number
 of respondents and responses
 normally received annually).
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    Form No. 2-A Total...............              81               1              81  338.66 hrs.; $27,093....  27,431.46 hrs.; $2,194,          27,093
                                                                                                                  533.
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     The number of annual responses related to the FERC Form 
Nos. 2 and 2-A is 181 responses.
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    \6\ Every cost figure in this column is rounded to the nearest 
dollar.
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     The industry burden of complying with the filing 
requirement is 167,167 hours (rounded) for FERC Form No. 2 and 23,976 
hours for FERC Form No. 2-A.
     The industry burden of preparing and submitting in XBRL 
carried over from RM19-12 (approved by OMB 9/2019) 100 hours per form 
for the first year plus 14 hours per form for the remaining 2 years. 
The annual estimated total XBRL hours (100 + 14 + 14 = 128; 128 hrs./3 
yrs. = 42.66 hrs. per respondent per response) is 4,266 hours for FERC 
Form No. 2 and 3,455.46 hours for FERC Form No. 2-A.
    Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collections of 
information are 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 collections of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance 
the quality, utility and clarity of the information collections; and 
(4) ways to minimize the burden of the collections of information on 
those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.

    Dated: September 8, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-20170 Filed 9-11-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


