Commission Information Collection Activities, Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Submitted for OMB Review

AGENCY:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

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 the current expiration date. 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 January 28, 2003 (68 FR 4183-84) and has made this notation in its submission to OMB.

DATES:

Comments on the collection of information are due by May 14, 2003.

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, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503. The Desk Officer may be reached by telephone at 202-395-7856. A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of the Executive Director, ED-30, 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, such comments should be submitted to the Office of the Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426 and should refer to Docket No. IC03-539-001.

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 acknowledgment 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 the e-mail address.

All comments may be viewed, printed or downloaded remotely via the Internet through FERC's homepage using the FERRIS link. User assistance for FERRIS is available at 202-502-8222, or by e-mail to Webmaster@ferc.gov. or the Public Reference at (202)-8371 Press 0, TTY (202) 502-8659 or by e-mail to public.reference.room@ferc.gov.

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-539 “Gas Pipeline Certificates: Import/Export”

2. Sponsor: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

3. Control No. 1902-0062.

The Commission is now requesting that OMB approve a three-year extension of the expiration date, with no changes to the existing collection. The information filed with the Commission is mandatory. Requests for confidential treatment of the information are provided for under Section 388.112 of the Commission's regulations.

4. Necessity of the Collection of Information: Submission of the information is necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its responsibilities in implementing the statutory provisions of Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA), 15 U.S.C. 717-717w. Section 3 requires prior authorization before exporting or importing natural gas from or to the United States. Section 3 authorizes the Commission to grant an application, in whole or in part, with modifications and upon terms and conditions as the Commission may find necessary or appropriate. The 1992 amendments to Section 3 of the NGA concern the importation or exportation from/to a nation which has a free trade agreement with the United States. With the passage of both the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, the construction, operation and sitting of import or export facilities are also the subject of the Commission's regulatory focus.

In Order No. 608, 64 FR 51209-51222 (September 22, 1999), the Commission created voluntary procedures whereby prospective applicants could use a collaborative process to resolve significant issues prior to filing an application. This collaborative process allows applicants and interested parties to come together and come to mutual agreements that may help to defuse some of the controversial issues which may otherwise arise once an application has been filed with the Commission. The pre-filing consultation process combines efforts to address NGA issues with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process into a single pre-filing collaborative process that also includes the administrative processes associated with the Clean Water Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Endangered Species Act and other relevant statutes. Combining the pre-filing consultation and environmental review into a single pre-filing process simplifies and expedites the authorization of gas facilities and services.

The Commission uses the information to determine the appropriateness of the proposed facilities and their proposed location. The determination involves among other things, an examination of adequacy of design, cost, reliability, redundancy and environmental acceptability. The information is necessary for the Commission to make a determination that the facilities and location are consistent with the public interest. The Commission implements these filing requirements in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) under 18 CFR part 153.

5. Respondent Description: The respondent universe currently comprises 12 companies (on average) subject to the Commission's jurisdiction

6. Estimated Burden: 2,886 total hours, 12 respondents(average), 1 response per respondent, 241 hours per response (average).

7. Estimated Cost Burden to respondents: 2,886 hours / 2080 hours per years × $117,041 per year = $162,394. The cost per respondent is equal to $13,533.00.

Statutory Authority: Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act, 15 U.S.C. 717-717w.