Agency Information Collection Proposed Extension, 63098-63099 [2023-19929]
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63098
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 177 / Thursday, September 14, 2023 / Notices
Minutes: Minutes will be available at
the following website: https://
energy.gov/em/listings/chairs-meetings.
Signed in Washington, DC on September 8,
2023.
LaTanya Butler,
Deputy Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023–19871 Filed 9–13–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Energy Information Administration
Agency Information Collection
Proposed Extension
U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA), Department of
Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:
EIA invites public comment
on the proposed three-year extension,
with changes, to the Natural Gas Data
Collection Program, OMB Control
Number 1905–0175, as required under
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
The surveys covered by this request
include; Form EIA–176, Annual Report
of Natural and Supplemental Gas
Supply and Disposition; Form EIA–191,
Monthly Underground Natural Gas
Storage Report; Form EIA–191L,
Monthly Liquefied Natural Gas Storage
Report; Form EIA–757, Natural Gas
Processing Plant Survey; Form EIA–857,
Monthly Report of Natural Gas
Purchases and Deliveries to Consumers;
Form EIA–910, Monthly Natural Gas
Marketer Survey; and Form EIA–912,
Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report. The
Natural Gas Data Collection Program
provides information on natural gas
storage, supply, processing, distribution,
consumption, and prices, by sector,
within the United States.
DATES: EIA must receive all comments
on this proposed information collection
no later than November 13, 2023. If you
anticipate any difficulties in submitting
your comments by the deadline, contact
the email address listed in the
ADDRESSES section of this notice as soon
as possible.
ADDRESSES: Written comments may be
sent to: OOG.Surveys@eia.gov with the
subject line ‘‘Regarding EIA’s Natural
Gas Data Collection Package 60-Day
FRN.’’
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
SUMMARY:
If
you need additional information,
contact Michael Kopalek, U.S. Energy
Information Administration, telephone
(202) 586–4001, or by email at
Michael.Kopalek@eia.gov. The forms
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:47 Sep 13, 2023
Jkt 259001
and instructions are available on EIA’s
website at www.eia.gov/survey/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
information collection request contains:
(1) OMB No.: 1905–0175.
(2) Information Collection Request
Title: Natural Gas Data Collection
Program.
(3) Type of Request: Three-year
extension with changes.
(4) Purpose: The surveys included in
the Natural Gas Data Collection Program
collect information on natural gas
underground storage, supply,
processing, transmission, distribution,
consumption by sector, and consumer
prices. The data collected supports
public policy analyses and produces
estimates of the natural gas industry.
The statistics generated from these
surveys are published on EIA’s website,
https://www.eia.gov, and are used in
various EIA information products,
including the Weekly Natural Gas
Storage Report (WNGSR), Natural Gas
Monthly (NGM), Natural Gas Annual
(NGA), Monthly Energy Review (MER),
Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), and
Annual Energy Outlook (AEO).
(4a) Proposed Changes to Information
Collection:
Form EIA–176, Annual Report of
Natural and Supplemental Gas Supply
and Disposition
Form EIA–176 collects data on
natural, synthetic, and other
supplemental gas supplies, their
disposition, and certain revenues by
state. During the previous collection
package, EIA modified the survey
instructions to include Renewable
Natural Gas (RNG) producers who inject
high-Btu RNG into an interstate
pipeline, intra-state pipeline, or natural
gas distribution company system. As
such, EIA requests an increase in
respondent count and burden to
accommodate additions of new
respondents to the survey frame.
Form EIA–757, Natural Gas Processing
Plant Survey
Form EIA–757 collects information on
the capacity, status, and operations of
natural gas processing plants, and
monitors their constraints to natural gas
supplies during catastrophic events,
such as hurricanes. Schedule A of Form
EIA–757 collects baseline operating and
capacity information from all
respondents on a triennial basis or less
frequently. Schedule B is used on an
emergency standby basis and is
activated during natural disasters or
other energy disruptive events.
Schedule B collects data from a sample
of respondents in the affected areas.
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Frm 00049
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
EIA proposes to discontinue
collection of Form EIA–757 Schedule A,
and burden hours have been adjusted
downward accordingly. As part of the
Terms of Clearance of the package prior
to this, EIA has investigated potential
consolidation of the EIA–757 Schedule
A survey with another, more frequent
natural gas processing plant survey, the
EIA–64A Survey (OMB number 1905–
0057). As a result of this research, EIA
proposes that the EIA–64A Survey will
absorb several key data items from the
EIA–757 Schedule A Survey in order to
reduce overall respondent burden and
eliminate duplicative data collection
efforts. This resolves the prior Terms of
Clearance.
EIA–757 Schedule B, which is a
standby survey, is active in instances of
a natural disaster or incident resulting
in widespread closures of natural gas
processing plants. However, since the
agency has not elected to activate the
survey at any point in the last six years
(two clearance cycles), EIA is reducing
the requested burden hours by 50% to
allow an activation once every three
years, rather than twice every three
years.
Form EIA–857, Monthly Report of
Natural Gas Purchases and Deliveries
to Consumers
Form EIA–857 collects data on the
quantity and cost of natural gas
delivered to distribution systems and
the quantity and revenue of natural gas
delivered to consumers by end-use
sector, on a monthly basis by state. EIA
is increasing the requested burden to
accommodate increased sample
coverage, parallel to the increased scope
of the EIA–176, the universe from which
this survey’s sample is drawn.
Form EIA–912, Weekly Natural Gas
Storage Report
Form EIA–912 collects information on
weekly inventories of natural gas in
underground storage facilities. EIA is
slightly decreasing the requested burden
to more accurately reflect demonstrated
sample sizes over the past six years.
Forms EIA–191, Monthly Underground
Natural Gas Storage Report, EIA–191L,
Monthly Underground Natural Gas
Storage Report, and EIA–910, Monthly
Natural Gas Marketer Survey, Have No
Changes
(5) Annual Estimated Number of
Respondents: 3,045;
(6) Annual Estimated Number of
Total Responses: 15,993;
(7) Annual Estimated Number of
Burden Hours: 56,776;
(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and
Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $4,959,951
E:\FR\FM\14SEN1.SGM
14SEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 177 / Thursday, September 14, 2023 / Notices
(56,776 burden hours times $87.36 per
hour.)
EIA estimates that respondents will
have no additional costs associated with
the surveys other than the burden hours
and the maintenance of the information
during the normal course of business.
Comments are invited on whether or
not: (a) The proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of agency functions,
including whether the information will
have a practical utility; (b) EIA’s
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and
assumptions used, is accurate; (c) EIA
can improve the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information it will collect;
and (d) EIA can minimize the burden of
the collection of information on
respondents, such as automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
Statutory Authority: 15 U.S.C. 772(b)
and 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.
Signed in Washington, DC, on September
11, 2023.
Samson A. Adeshiyan,
Director, Office of Statistical Methods and
Research, U.S. Energy Information
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023–19929 Filed 9–13–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
National Nuclear Security
Administration
Amended Record of Decision for the
Production of Tritium in Commercial
Light Water Reactors
National Nuclear Security
Administration, Department of Energy.
ACTION: Amended record of decision.
AGENCY:
The National Nuclear
Security Administration (NNSA), a
semi-autonomous agency within the
Department of Energy (DOE), is
announcing this amendment to the June
22, 2016, Record of Decision (ROD) for
the Final Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement for the Production of
Tritium in a Commercial Light Water
Reactor (CLWR SEIS) (DOE/EIS–0288–
S1). NNSA is amending the 2016
decision in partnership with the
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). TVA
is considering increasing the number of
TPBARs irradiated in their reactors at
Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN) using
tritium-producing burnable absorber
rods (TPBARs). NNSA initially decided
to implement the CLWR SEIS Preferred
Alternative, Alternative 6, which allows
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SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:47 Sep 13, 2023
Jkt 259001
for the irradiation of up to a total of
5,000 TPBARs every 18 months using
TVA reactors at both the Watts Bar and
Sequoyah sites. Subsequent to the
CLWR SEIS, WBN Unit 1 increased
tritium production under Unit 1 License
Amendment #107 (July 2016) and Unit
2 tritium production was authorized
under Unit 2 License Amendment #27
(May 2019). Hence, TVA and NNSA are
now opting to choose the previously
analyzed CLWR SEIS Alternative 4,
which allows for the irradiation of up to
a total of 5,000 TPBARs every 18
months at the Watts Bar site using Watts
Bar Units 1 and 2.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
information on NNSA’s NEPA process,
please contact Mr. James Sanderson,
NEPA Compliance Officer, National
Nuclear Security Administration, Office
of General Counsel, Telephone (202)
586–1402; or by email to
jim.sanderson@nnsa.doe.gov. This
Amended Record of Decision is
available on the internet at https://
energy.gov/nepa. The 2016 ROD, the
CLWR SEIS, and related NEPA
documents are available on the DOE
NEPA website at https://
www.energy.gov/nepa/doeenvironmental-impact-statements.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NNSA is
the lead Federal agency responsible for
maintaining and enhancing the safety,
security, reliability, and performance of
the United States (U.S.) nuclear
weapons stockpile. Tritium, a
radioactive isotope of hydrogen, is an
essential component of every weapon in
the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and
must be replenished periodically due to
its short half-life. In March 1999, DOE
published the 1999 EIS, which
addressed the production of tritium in
the TVA’s Watts Bar and Sequoyah
nuclear reactors using TPBARs. The
1999 EIS assessed the potential
environmental impacts of irradiating up
to 3,400 TPBARs per reactor per fuel
cycle (a fuel cycle lasts about 18
months). On May 14, 1999, DOE
published the ROD for the 1999 EIS (64
FR 26369) in which it announced its
decision to enter into an agreement with
TVA to irradiate TPBARs in the Watts
Bar Unit 1 reactor (Watts Bar 1) in Rhea
County, Tennessee, near Spring City;
and Sequoyah Units 1 and 2 reactors
(Sequoyah 1 and 2) in Hamilton County,
Tennessee, near Soddy-Daisy. In 2002,
TVA received license amendments from
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) to irradiate TPBARs
in those reactors. (However, TVA’s
license for the Sequoyah reactors no
longer allows for the irradiation of
TPBARs.) Since 2003, TVA has been
PO 00000
Frm 00050
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
63099
irradiating TPBARs for NNSA by
irradiating TPBARs only in Watts Bar 1.
(In 2020, TVA began irradiating TPBARs
in Watts Bar 2.) After irradiation, NNSA
transports the TPBARs to the Tritium
Extraction Facility at the DOE Savannah
River Site in South Carolina. NNSA’s
Interagency Agreement with TVA to
irradiate TPBARs is in effect until the
earlier of either (a) November 30, 2035,
or (b) the date TVA no longer has a
pressurized water reactor in operation.
NNSA prepared the 2016 CLWR SEIS
to update the environmental analyses in
the 1999 Final Environmental Impact
Statement for the Production of Tritium
in a Commercial Light Water Reactor
(DOE/EIS–0288; the 1999 EIS). The 2016
CLWR SEIS provides analysis of the
potential environmental impacts from
TPBAR irradiation based on a
conservative estimate of the tritium
permeation rate through the TPBAR
cladding, NNSA’s revised estimate of
the maximum number of TPBARs
necessary to support the current and
projected future tritium supply
requirements, and a maximum
production scenario of irradiating no
more than a total of 5,000 TPBARs every
18 months. NNSA initially decided to
implement the Preferred Alternative,
Alternative 6, which allows for the
irradiation of up to a total of 5,000
TPBARs every 18 months using TVA
reactors at both the Watts Bar and
Sequoyah sites. Although near-term
tritium requirements could likely be met
with the irradiation of 2,500 TPBARs
every 18 months, at the time, this
decision provided the greatest flexibility
to meet potential future needs that
could arise from various plausible but
unexpected events. Subsequent to the
2016 SEIS, WBN Unit 1 increased the
irradiation of TPBARs under Unit 1
License Amendment #107 (July 2016)
and Unit 2 TPBAR irradiation was
authorized under Unit 2 License
Amendment #27 (May 2019). Hence,
TVA and NNSA are now opting to
choose the previously analyzed CLWR
SEIS Alternative 4, which allows for the
irradiation of up to a total of 5,000
TPBARs every 18 months at the Watts
Bar site using Watts Bar 1 and 2. TVA
noted new information or circumstances
relevant to environmental concerns that
could potentially have a bearing on the
current proposal or its impacts. This
new information was analyzed in a
February 6, 2023 TVA memorandum,
‘‘Determination of NEPA Adequacy,
Production of Tritium in a Commercial
Light Water Nuclear Reactor (Watts Bar
Nuclear Plant), Tennessee Valley
Authority.’’ In this memo, TVA
addressed their recent review of the
E:\FR\FM\14SEN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 177 (Thursday, September 14, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63098-63099]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-19929]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Energy Information Administration
Agency Information Collection Proposed Extension
AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of
Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: EIA invites public comment on the proposed three-year
extension, with changes, to the Natural Gas Data Collection Program,
OMB Control Number 1905-0175, as required under the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995. The surveys covered by this request include; Form EIA-176,
Annual Report of Natural and Supplemental Gas Supply and Disposition;
Form EIA-191, Monthly Underground Natural Gas Storage Report; Form EIA-
191L, Monthly Liquefied Natural Gas Storage Report; Form EIA-757,
Natural Gas Processing Plant Survey; Form EIA-857, Monthly Report of
Natural Gas Purchases and Deliveries to Consumers; Form EIA-910,
Monthly Natural Gas Marketer Survey; and Form EIA-912, Weekly Natural
Gas Storage Report. The Natural Gas Data Collection Program provides
information on natural gas storage, supply, processing, distribution,
consumption, and prices, by sector, within the United States.
DATES: EIA must receive all comments on this proposed information
collection no later than November 13, 2023. If you anticipate any
difficulties in submitting your comments by the deadline, contact the
email address listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice as soon as
possible.
ADDRESSES: Written comments may be sent to: [email protected] with
the subject line ``Regarding EIA's Natural Gas Data Collection Package
60-Day FRN.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you need additional information,
contact Michael Kopalek, U.S. Energy Information Administration,
telephone (202) 586-4001, or by email at [email protected]. The
forms and instructions are available on EIA's website at www.eia.gov/survey/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request
contains:
(1) OMB No.: 1905-0175.
(2) Information Collection Request Title: Natural Gas Data
Collection Program.
(3) Type of Request: Three-year extension with changes.
(4) Purpose: The surveys included in the Natural Gas Data
Collection Program collect information on natural gas underground
storage, supply, processing, transmission, distribution, consumption by
sector, and consumer prices. The data collected supports public policy
analyses and produces estimates of the natural gas industry. The
statistics generated from these surveys are published on EIA's website,
https://www.eia.gov, and are used in various EIA information products,
including the Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report (WNGSR), Natural Gas
Monthly (NGM), Natural Gas Annual (NGA), Monthly Energy Review (MER),
Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), and Annual Energy Outlook (AEO).
(4a) Proposed Changes to Information Collection:
Form EIA-176, Annual Report of Natural and Supplemental Gas Supply and
Disposition
Form EIA-176 collects data on natural, synthetic, and other
supplemental gas supplies, their disposition, and certain revenues by
state. During the previous collection package, EIA modified the survey
instructions to include Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) producers who
inject high-Btu RNG into an interstate pipeline, intra-state pipeline,
or natural gas distribution company system. As such, EIA requests an
increase in respondent count and burden to accommodate additions of new
respondents to the survey frame.
Form EIA-757, Natural Gas Processing Plant Survey
Form EIA-757 collects information on the capacity, status, and
operations of natural gas processing plants, and monitors their
constraints to natural gas supplies during catastrophic events, such as
hurricanes. Schedule A of Form EIA-757 collects baseline operating and
capacity information from all respondents on a triennial basis or less
frequently. Schedule B is used on an emergency standby basis and is
activated during natural disasters or other energy disruptive events.
Schedule B collects data from a sample of respondents in the affected
areas.
EIA proposes to discontinue collection of Form EIA-757 Schedule A,
and burden hours have been adjusted downward accordingly. As part of
the Terms of Clearance of the package prior to this, EIA has
investigated potential consolidation of the EIA-757 Schedule A survey
with another, more frequent natural gas processing plant survey, the
EIA-64A Survey (OMB number 1905-0057). As a result of this research,
EIA proposes that the EIA-64A Survey will absorb several key data items
from the EIA-757 Schedule A Survey in order to reduce overall
respondent burden and eliminate duplicative data collection efforts.
This resolves the prior Terms of Clearance.
EIA-757 Schedule B, which is a standby survey, is active in
instances of a natural disaster or incident resulting in widespread
closures of natural gas processing plants. However, since the agency
has not elected to activate the survey at any point in the last six
years (two clearance cycles), EIA is reducing the requested burden
hours by 50% to allow an activation once every three years, rather than
twice every three years.
Form EIA-857, Monthly Report of Natural Gas Purchases and Deliveries to
Consumers
Form EIA-857 collects data on the quantity and cost of natural gas
delivered to distribution systems and the quantity and revenue of
natural gas delivered to consumers by end-use sector, on a monthly
basis by state. EIA is increasing the requested burden to accommodate
increased sample coverage, parallel to the increased scope of the EIA-
176, the universe from which this survey's sample is drawn.
Form EIA-912, Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report
Form EIA-912 collects information on weekly inventories of natural
gas in underground storage facilities. EIA is slightly decreasing the
requested burden to more accurately reflect demonstrated sample sizes
over the past six years.
Forms EIA-191, Monthly Underground Natural Gas Storage Report, EIA-
191L, Monthly Underground Natural Gas Storage Report, and EIA-910,
Monthly Natural Gas Marketer Survey, Have No Changes
(5) Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: 3,045;
(6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: 15,993;
(7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 56,776;
(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden:
$4,959,951
[[Page 63099]]
(56,776 burden hours times $87.36 per hour.)
EIA estimates that respondents will have no additional costs
associated with the surveys other than the burden hours and the
maintenance of the information during the normal course of business.
Comments are invited on whether or not: (a) The proposed collection
of information is necessary for the proper performance of agency
functions, including whether the information will have a practical
utility; (b) EIA's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions
used, is accurate; (c) EIA can improve the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information it will collect; and (d) EIA can minimize
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, such as
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Statutory Authority: 15 U.S.C. 772(b) and 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.
Signed in Washington, DC, on September 11, 2023.
Samson A. Adeshiyan,
Director, Office of Statistical Methods and Research, U.S. Energy
Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023-19929 Filed 9-13-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
