[Federal Register: May 13, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 93)]
[Notices]               
[Page 27527]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13my08-28]                         


[[Page 27527]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC08-521-001, FERC-521]

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

May 6, 2008.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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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 of this information collection requirement. 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 February 19, 2008 (73 FR 9108-09) and has made this notation in its 
submission to OMB.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due by June 9, 
2008.

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. 
Comments to OMB should be filed electronically, c/o oira--
submission@omb.eop.gov and include the OMB Control No. as a point of 
reference. The Desk Officer may be reached by telephone at 202-395-
4650. A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, Office of the Executive Director, ED-34, 
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. IC08-521-001.
    Documents filed electronically via the Internet must be prepared in 
the acceptable filing format and in compliance with the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission's submission guidelines. Complete filing 
instructions and acceptable filing formats are available at (http://
www.ferc.gov/help/submission-guide/electronic-media.asp). To file the 
document electronically, access the Commission's Web site at http://
www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp), 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 acknowledgement to 
the sender's e-mail address upon receipt of comments.
    All comments may be viewed, printed or downloaded remotely via the 
Internet through FERC's homepage using the eLibrary link. For user 
assistance, contact ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov or toll-free at (866) 
208-3676 or for TTY, contact (202) 502-8659.

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-521 ``Payments for Benefits from 
Headwater Improvements''.
    2. Sponsor: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
    3. Control No.: 1902-0087.
    The Commission is now requesting that OMB approve with a three-year 
extension of the expiration date, with no changes to the existing 
collection. The information filed with the Commission is mandatory.
    4. Necessity of the Collection of Information: The information is 
used by the Commission to implement the statutory provisions of section 
10(f) of the Federal Power Act (FPA). The FPA authorizes the Commission 
to determine headwater benefits received by downstream hydropower 
project owners. Headwater benefits are the additional energy production 
possible at a downstream hydropower project resulting from the 
regulation of river flows by an upstream storage reservoir.
    When the Commission completes a study of a river basin, it 
determines headwater benefits charges that will be apportioned among 
the various downstream beneficiaries. A headwater benefits charge, and 
the cost incurred by the Commission to complete an evaluation are paid 
by downstream hydropower project owners. In essence, the owners of non-
federal hydropower power projects that directly benefit from a 
headwater(s) improvement must pay an equitable portion of the annual 
charges for interest, maintenance, and depreciation of the headwater 
project to the U.S. Treasury. The regulations provide for the 
apportionment of these costs between the headwater project and 
downstream projects based on a downstream energy gains and propose 
equitable apportionment methodology that can be applied to all river 
basins in which headwater improvements are built. The data the 
Commission requires owners of non-federal hydropower projects to file 
for determining annual charges is specified in 18 Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) Part 11.
    5. Respondent Description: The Commission estimates that it will 
receive annually on average 3 filings per year.
    6. Estimated Burden: 120 total hours, 3 respondents (average per 
year), 1 response per respondent, and .40 hours per response (average).
    7. Estimated Cost Burden to respondents: The estimated total cost 
to respondents is $7,291. (120 hours / 2080 x $126,384.)

    Statutory Authority: Section 10(f) of the Federal Power Act, 16 
U.S.C. 803.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E8-10611 Filed 5-12-08; 8:45 am]

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