U.s. Energy Information Administration 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice pertains to Forms EIA-3, the Quarterly Coal Consumption and Quality ReportManufacturing and Transformation/ Processing Coal Plants and Commercial and Institutional Coal Users; EIA-5, the Quarterly Coal Consumption and Quality ReportCoke Plants; EIA-7A, the Coal Production and Preparation ReportCoal Mines and Preparation Plants; and EIA-8A, the Coal Stocks ReportTraders and Brokers. DOE's proposed changes will release or publish data received from mandatory respondents that is not company identifiable, and does not satisfy the criteria for an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act or satisfy the requirements of the Trade Secrets Act. No changes are proposed for the standby surveys Forms: EIA-1, Weekly Coal Monitoring ReportGeneral Industries and Blast Furnaces; EIA-4, Weekly Coal Monitoring ReportCoke Plants; EIA-6Q, Quarterly Coal ReportCoal Producers and Distributors; and EIA-20, Weekly Coal Monitoring Report of Coal Burning Utilities and Independent Power Producers. Prior to 2011, data reported on Forms EIA-1, EIA-3, EIA-4, EIA-5, EIA-6Q, EIA-8A, and EIA-20 were protected to the extent it satisfied exemption criteria under the Freedom of Information Act and the Trade Secrets Act. Disclosure limitation procedures were applied to all data. The data protection policy for Form EIA-7A was similar except that the name and address of the responding company, the mine or plant type, and location were considered public information. Effective January, 2011, EIA changed the data protection policy for Forms EIA-3, EIA-5, EIA-7A and EIA-8A from protecting the data as described above, to release all data reported in company identifiable form with the exception of cost data. Cost data are protected and not released in company identifiable form to the extent it satisfies exemption criteria under the Freedom of Information Act and the Trade Secrets Act. Disclosure limitation procedures (suppression methods) are applied to protect against the identifiability of the reported cost data. No changes were made to the pre-2011 protection policy for Forms EIA-1, EIA-4, EIA-6Q, and EIA-20. The U.S. Energy Information Administration proposes to change and strengthen the data protection provisions on Forms EIA-3, EIA-5, EIA-7A and EIA-8A. Currently, data reported on these forms are not protected except for certain selected cost and revenue data elements. For Forms EIA-3, EIA-5 and EIA-8A, EIA proposes to protect company information reported on these forms from public release in identifiable form to the extent it satisfies exemption criteria under the Freedom of Information Act and the Trade Secrets Act. However, disclosure limitation procedures will not be applied to the Stateand regional-level, statistical, and quantity data published from these surveys. Thus, there may be some statistics that are based on data from fewer than three respondents that may affect the identifiability of reported data. Disclosure limitation procedures will be applied to cost data reported on Forms EIA-3 and EIA-5 and revenue data reported on Forms EIA-7A and EIA-8A. With regards to Form EIA-7A only, the name and address of the responding company, the mine or plant type, and location will continue to be considered public information. These data elements will continue to be released in EIA's public use files and will not be protected from disclosure in identifiable form when releasing statistical aggregate (State-level) information. These data elements are currently released on the EIA Web site in the Form EIA-7A public use file, along with company identifiable MSHA data, which are also not protected. All other information reported on Form EIA-7A will be protected from public release in identifiable form to the extent it satisfies exemption criteria under the Freedom of Information Act and the Trade Secrets Act. All proposed changes to the data protection provisions for Forms EIA-3, EIA-5, EIA-7A and EIA-8A will be retroactive and apply to data reported for calendar years 2011 and 2012. Applying this change retroactively to data reported for 2011 preserves the continuity of certain data series and provides continuity for the main components of EIA's pre-2011 data protection policy.

EIA has submitted a request to revise a currently-approved data collection under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). EIA proposes changes to the data collection requirements for the Forms EIA-861, ``Annual Electric Power Industry Report,'' EIA-923, ``Power Plant Operations Report,'' and the proposed creation of the Form EIA-861S, ``Annual Electric Power Industry Report (Short).'' All collection instruments are under OMB Control Number 1905-0129. The Form EIA-861 proposal is to modify the survey frame from a census of approximately 3,300 entities to a sample of approximately 2,200 entities and to estimate the total sales, revenues, and customer counts by sector. The Form EIA-861S proposal will collect data from the approximately 1,100 respondents that will no longer report on the Form EIA-861. The Form EIA-861S will collect a limited amount of sales, revenue, and customer count data and, for certain respondents, data on time-based rate customers and advanced meter reading (Advanced Metering Infrastructure/Automatic Meter Reading). Once every 5 years, the Form EIA-861S respondents will be asked to complete the Form EIA-861 in lieu of Form EIA-861S for sampling methodology purposes. The Form EIA-923 proposal involves modifying the reporting requirements for only Schedule 2, which collects cost and quality data of fossil fuel purchases at electricity generating plants. The proposal is to raise the reporting threshold to 200 megawatts (MW) of nameplate capacity for power plants primarily fueled by natural gas, petroleum coke, distillate fuel oil, and residual fuel oil. EIA will remove the reporting requirement for self-produced and minor fuels, i.e., blast furnace gas, other manufactured gases, kerosene, jet fuel, propoane, and waste oils. The reporting threshold for coal plants will remain at 50 MW of nameplate capacity.

EIA has submitted an information collection request to the OMB for extension under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The information collection requests a three-year extension of its Petroleum Marketing Program, OMB Control Number 1905-0174. The proposed collection will collect basic data necessary to meet EIA's legislative mandates as well as the needs of EIA's public and private customers. Data collected include costs, sales, prices, and distribution of crude oil and petroleum products. The data are used for analyses, publications, and multi-fuel reports. Respondents are refiners, first purchasers, gas plant operators, resellers/retailers, motor gasoline wholesalers, suppliers, distributors and importers. EIA intends to extend for three years the petroleum marketing survey forms listed below:

The EIA is soliciting comments on the proposed reinstatement, and three-year approval to the Form GC-859, ``Nuclear Fuel Data Survey'' (previously designated as the Form RW-859, ``Nuclear Fuel Data Survey'') that EIA is developing for submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) required that the DOE enter into Standard Contracts with all generators or owners of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste of domestic origin in 1983. This data collection evolved from an Appendix to this Standard Contract. Appendix B to the Standard Contract required that spent nuclear fuel discharge, storage, and projection information be collected annually. The annual version of the Form RW-859 survey was collected for the survey years from 1983 through 1995. Due to budgetary constraints, the survey was collected periodically for survey years 1998 and 2002, covering multi-year periods. The survey containing data as of December 31, 2002 was collected during 2003 and is the most recent data on spent nuclear fuel discharges and storage available within DOE. Lack of funding resulted in the form being discontinued in 2009. With the transfer of certain functions between Offices of the DOE and with the need to collect data for other Offices within DOE, the data collection authorization is now under the auspices of the Office of the General Counsel (GC) and the form will be redesignated as the Form GC-859. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

This notice replaces the notice published April 11, 2012 at 77 FR 21756 regarding the extension of the collection of information for the Petroleum Supply Reporting System. The EIA, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, intends to extend for three years with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the Petroleum Supply Reporting System. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

The EIA, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, intends to extend for three years, Form NWPA-830G ``Appendix G Standard Remittance Advice for Payment of Fees (including Annex A to Appendix G),'' with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982 required that the DOE enter into Standard Contracts with all generators or owners of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste of domestic origin. Form NWPA- 830G is part of the Standard Contract for Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and/or High-Level Radioactive Waste. Generators and owners of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste of domestic origin pay fees into the nuclear waste fund based on net electricity generated and sold as defined in the Standard Contract. Together, forms ``Appendix G'' and ``Annex A to Appendix G'' are commonly referred to as Remittance Advice (RA) forms. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

The EIA invites public comment on a proposed collection of information that EIA is developing for submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The EIA is soliciting comments on the proposed reinstatement of the Forms EIA-871A-J, ``2012 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey.'' The Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-275, 15 U.S.C. 761 et seq.) and the DOE Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91, 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) require the EIA to carry out a centralized, comprehensive, and unified energy information program. This program collects, evaluates, assembles, analyzes, and disseminates information on energy resource reserves, production, demand, technology, and related economic and statistical information. This information is used to assess the adequacy of energy resources to meet near and longer-term domestic demands. The EIA, as part of its effort to comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), provides the general public and other Federal agencies with opportunities to comment on collections of energy information conducted by or in conjunction with the EIA. Any comments received help the EIA to prepare data requests that maximize the utility of the information collected, and to assess the impact of collection requirements on the public. Also, the EIA will later seek approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Section 3507(a) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) has been conducted nine times covering the years 1979, 1983 and 1986 under the name of the ``Nonresidential Buildings Energy Consumption Survey,'' and years 1989, 1992, 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007 under the current name, ``Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey.'' CBECS collects baseline data on energy consumption and expenditures in commercial buildings, and on the energy-related characteristics of those buildings. To obtain this information, interviews are conducted for a sample of commercial buildings representing the 50 States and the District of Columbia. For buildings in the survey, data are collected on the types, amount and cost of energy consumed in the building, how the energy is used, structural characteristics of the buildings, activities conducted inside the buildings that relate to energy use, building ownership and occupancy, energy conservation measures, and energy-using equipment. The information will be collected using computer assisted interviewing for the 2012 CBECS; interviews will be conducted both in-person and by telephone. For those buildings that cannot provide energy consumption data for the building, the data will be obtained in a follow-up survey (historically a mail survey) from the suppliers of electricity, natural gas, fuel oil and/or district heat to the building, after receiving permission from the building owner, manager or tenant. This survey to the energy suppliers is mandatory. The data obtained from the CBECS are available to the public in a variety of EIA electronic tables and reports at https://www.eia.gov/ emeu/cbecs. Public use files that have been screened to protect the identity of the individual respondents are also available electronically at the above web address. Selected data from the surveys are also published in the Annual Energy Review.

EIA, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, intends to extend for three years the petroleum marketing survey forms listed below with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB): EIA-14, ``Refiners' Monthly Cost Report;'' EIA-182, ``Domestic Crude Oil First Purchase Report;'' EIA-782A, ``Refiners'/Gas Plant Operators' Monthly Petroleum Product Sales Report;'' EIA-782C, ``Monthly Report of Prime Supplier Sales of Petroleum Products Sold For Local Consumption;'' EIA-821, ``Annual Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales Report;'' EIA-856, ``Monthly Foreign Crude Oil Acquisition Report;'' EIA-863, ``Petroleum Product Sales Identification Survey;'' EIA-877, ``Winter Heating Fuels Telephone Survey;'' EIA-878, ``Motor Gasoline Price Survey;'' EIA-888, ``On-Highway Diesel Fuel Price Survey;'' Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.