Reporting of Natural Gas Sales to the California Market

OMB Control No: 1902-0187	ICR Reference No: 200107-1902-001
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No:
Agency/Subagency: FERC	Agency Tracking No:
Title: Reporting of Natural Gas Sales to the California Market
Type of Information Collection: New collection (Request for a new OMB Control Number)	Common Form ICR:  No
Type of Review Request: Emergency	Approval Requested By: 08/07/2001
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 09/14/2001
Retrieve Notice of Action (NOA)	Date Received in OIRA: 07/27/2001
Terms of Clearance: The FERC Information Collection Request, titled "Reporting of Natural Gas Sales to the California Market," is approved through 1/31/02. Should FERC decide to resubmit the ICR for renewal, it must address the practical utility and burden issues described below. FERC should include an explicit discussion of the way in which it addresses these issues as part of its supporting statement. (1) Practical Utility: The order requires detailed transaction information on gas sales to California -- that is, a daily reporting of price and quantity for each component of gas sold to the California market. Several commenters have reported that they do not maintain the data in a way that allows them to disaggregate price/quantity information in this way. Based on the comments, we are concerned that this data collection would require significant data manipulation by the industry in order to responsd to the request. The resulting disaggregation is likely to be articifial -- and therefore not reliable for individual transactions -- and respondents are likely to vary in their choice of method for disaggregating transactions. Further, FERC indicates in the Order (RM01-9-000) that "the Commission is seeking information here to understand the operation of the market for gas sales into California, not to investigate the conduct of particular participants in that market.... In these circumstances, the Commission concludes that the publication of aggregated information is sufficient to accomplish the purposes for which the Commission is seeking the information." Given the potential data quality problems associated with disaggregated reporting and the questionable need for the disaggregated data, we are concerned that such data may have little practical utility. Should FERC decide to resubmit the ICR for renewal, it should justify its decision to continue to require reporting at a disaggregated level. 2) Burden: Commenters also believe FERC has significantly underestimated the burden. In particular, the commenters indicated that they would likly have to hire additional staff in order to respond to the data request because of the significant manipulation required to provide data in the format FERC is requesting. After consulting with respondents, FERC should evaluate its burden estimates for reporting and recordkeeping requirements. FERC should provide a list of the names, affiliations, and phone numbers of the respondents it contacted. Finally, the ICR currently pending covers final reporting requirements that FERC initially proposed in a May 18, 2001 draft order. FERC did not submit an ICR to OMB for the proposed reporting requiremetns in the May order; instead FERC submitted a request for emergency processing at the end of July, after taking final action on the Order. FERC should make efforts to ensure that future information collections are conducted in a manner consistent with the Paperwork_Reduction Act and the procedures outlined in 5 CFR 1320.

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	02/28/2002	02/28/2002
Responses	534	0	0
Time Burden (Hours)	19,847	0	0
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

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Abstract: FERC 721 data will be used by FERC to monitor natural gas prices in California. In particular, FERC wants to understand why the disparity in the price of natural gas has occurred in California and continued to exist while other markets including those that are supplied by the same producing areas have experiencedd a decline in prices. The information will assist FERC to determine what percentage of volumes sold into the California Market is domestically produced gas sold by marketers affiliated with pipelines and Local Distribution Companies in sales for resale, which are the only sales of gas now being made that the ...

Emergency Justfication:

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Authorizing Statute(s): None

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

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Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:

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Federal Register Notices & Comments

Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

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Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 1

IC Title Form No. Form Name Reporting of Natural Gas Sales to the California Market FERC721

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ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to New Statute	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA
Annual Number of Responses	534	0	0	534	0	0
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	19,847	0	0	19,847	0	0
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0	0	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Increase Due to:

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement:

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Annual Cost to Federal Government: $0

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Is the Supporting Statement intended to be a Privacy Impact Assessment required by the E-Government Act of 2002? No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? Uncollected

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? Uncollected

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? Uncollected

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Uncollected

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Common Form ICR:  No

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On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
		(a) It is necessary for the proper performance of agency functions;
		(b) It avoids unnecessary duplication;
		(c) It reduces burden on small entities;
		(d) It uses plain, coherent, and unambiguous language that is understandable to respondents;
		(e) Its implementation will be consistent and compatible with current reporting and recordkeeping practices;
		(f) It indicates the retention periods for recordkeeping requirements;
		(g) It informs respondents of the information called for under 5 CFR 1320.8 (b)(3) about:
			(i) Why the information is being collected;
			(ii) Use of information;
			(iii) Burden estimate;
			(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
			(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
			(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
		(h) It was developed by an office that has planned and allocated resources for the efficient and effective management and use of the information to be collected.
		(i) It uses effective and efficient statistical survey methodology (if applicable); and
		(j) It makes appropriate use of information technology.
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Certification Date: 07/27/2001

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