Agency Information Collection Proposed Extension
| Published date | 14 September 2023 |
| Record Number | 2023-19929 |
| Citation | 88 FR 63098 |
| Pages | 63098-63099 |
| Issuer | Energy Department,Energy Information Administration |
| Section | Notices |
Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 177 (Thursday, September 14, 2023)
[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]
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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.
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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
