[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 9, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29897-29898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09825]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC23-7-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725A(1B)); 
Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of information collection 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 the requirements and burden of 
the information collection FERC 725A(1B)--Mandatory Reliability 
Standards for the Bulk Power System. The Commission published a 60-day 
notice on March 2, 2023, in the Federal Register and received no 
comments.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due June 8, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on FERC-725A(1B) (identified by Docket 
No. IC23-7-000) 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 Number 1902-
0292 (Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System) 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 (identified by Docket No. 
IC23-7-000 and FERC-725A(1B)) to the Commission as noted below. 
Electronic filing through https://www.ferc.gov is preferred.
     Electronic Filing: Documents must be filed in acceptable 
native applications and print-to-PDF, but not in scanned or picture 
format.
     For those unable to file electronically, comments may be 
filed by USPS mail or by hand (including courier) delivery:
    [ssquf] Mail via U.S. Postal Service only, addressed to: Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First 
Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.
    [ssquf] Hand (including courier) delivery to: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission,12225 Wilkins 
Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852.
    Please reference the specific collection number(s) (FERC-725A(1B)) 
and/or title(s) (Communication of Operational Information between 
Natural Gas Pipelines and Electric Transmission Operators) in your 
comments.
    Instructions: OMB submissions must be formatted and filed in 
accordance with submission guidelines at: www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Using the search function under the ``Currently Under Review 
field,'' select ``Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,'' click 
``submit,'' and select ``comment'' to the right of the subject 
collection. FERC submissions must be formatted and filed in accordance 
with submission guidelines at: https://www.ferc.gov. For user 
assistance, contact FERC Online Support by email at 
[email protected], 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 https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/
overview.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at 
[email protected] and telephone at (202) 502-8663.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: FERC-725A(1B), (Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk 
Power System).
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0292.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-725A(1B) 
information collection requirements with no changes to the current 
reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

[[Page 29898]]

    Abstract: FERC-725A(1B).\1\ Under section 215 of the Federal Power 
Act (FPA), the Commission proposes to approve Reliability Standards 
TOP-010-1i (Real-time Reliability Monitoring and Analysis Capabilities) 
submitted by North American Electric Corporation (NERC). In this order, 
the Reliability Standards build on monitoring, real-time assessments 
and support effective situational awareness. The Reliability Standards 
accomplish this by requiring applicable entities to: (1) Provide 
notification to operators of real-time monitoring alarm failures; (2) 
provide operators with indications of the quality of information being 
provided by their monitoring and analysis capabilities; and (3) address 
deficiencies in the quality of information being provided by their 
monitoring and analysis capabilities. FERC-725A(1B) addresses 
situational awareness objectives by providing for operator awareness 
when key alarming tools are not performing as intended. These 
collections will improve real-time situational awareness capabilities 
and enhance reliable operations by requiring reliability coordinators, 
transmission operators, and balancing authorities to provide operators 
with an improved awareness of system conditions analysis capabilities, 
including alarm availability, so that operators may take appropriate 
steps to ensure reliability. These functions include planning, 
operations, data sharing, monitoring, and analysis.
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    \1\ The 725(1B) collection was created as a temporary collection 
number originally used at the time of the RD16-6-000, because OMB 
cannot review two pending requests with the same OMB control no. at 
a given time. The FERC 725A is again pending at OMB for an unrelated 
matter, thus we are renewing the temporary number and the related 
collection at this time.
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    Type of Respondent: Balancing Authority (BA), Transmission 
Operations (TOP) and Reliability Coordinators (RC).
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \2\ The Commission estimates the total 
annual burden and cost for this information collection in the table 
below.
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    \2\ ``Burden'' is 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 collection 
burden, refer to title 5 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3.

                                                          FERC-725A(1B)--Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System \3\
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                                                                    Number of    Annual  number                                                                                        Cost per
                Entity                       Requirements          respondents    of  responses   Total  number    Average burden &  cost per     Total annual burden hours & total   respondent
                                                                       \4\       per respondent   of  responses           response \5\                       annual cost                  ($)
                                                                            (1)             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4)...........................  (3) * (4) = (5)....................   (5) / (1)
                                                                                                            (3)
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BA \6\...............................  Annual reporting........              98               1              98  42 hrs.; $3,234.84............  4,116 hrs.; $317,014.32............   $3,234.84
TOP \7\..............................  Annual reporting........             168               1             168  40 hrs.; $3,080.80............  6,720 hrs.; $517,574.40............    3,080.80
BA/TOP...............................  Annual Record Retention.             266               1             266  2 hrs.; $84.70................  532 hrs.; $22,530.20...............       84.70
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Total Burden Hours Per Year            ........................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............................  10,836 hrs. $834,588.72............  ..........
 (Reporting).
Total Burden Hours Per Year (Record    ........................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............................  532 hrs.; $22,530.20...............  ..........
 Retention).
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    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 of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
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    \3\ Our estimates are based on the NERC Compliance Registry 
Summary of Entities and Functions as of November 4, 2022, which 
indicates there are 266 entities registered as BA and TOP.
    \4\ The number of respondents is the number of entities in which 
a change in burden from the current standards to the proposed 
standards exists, not the total number of entities from the current 
or proposed standards that are applicable.
    \5\ The estimated hourly costs (salary plus benefits) are based 
on Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) information, as of May 2022 (at 
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm, with updated benefits 
information for March 2022 at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm), for an electrical engineer (code 17-2071, $77.02/
hour), and for information and record clerks record keeper (code 43-
4199, $42.35/hour). The hourly figure for engineers is used for 
reporting; the hourly figure for information and record clerks is 
used for document retention.
    \6\ Balancing Authority (BA). The following Requirements and 
associated measures apply to balancing authorities: Requirement R1: 
A revised data specification and writing the required operating 
process/operating procedure; and Requirement R2: quality monitoring 
logs and the data errors and corrective action logs.
    \7\ Transmission Operations (TOP). The following Requirements 
and associated measures apply to transmission operators: Requirement 
R1: A revised data specification and writing the required operating 
process/operating procedure; and Requirement R3: alarm process 
monitor performance logs to maintain performance logs and corrective 
action plans.

    Dated: May 3, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-09825 Filed 5-8-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


