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OMB Control No: 1902-0276	ICR Reference No: 201511-1902-008
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 201409-1902-003
Agency/Subagency: FERC	Agency Tracking No: FERC-725Z
Title: FERC-725Z, (Final Rule in RM15-16) Mandatory Reliability Standards: IRO Reliability Standards
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 01/21/2016
	Date Received in OIRA: 12/01/2015
Terms of Clearance: In accordance with 5 CFR 1320, the information collection is approved for three years.

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	01/31/2019	36 Months From Approved	11/30/2017
Responses	6,661	0	6,315
Time Burden (Hours)	48,855	0	6,315
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Abstract: On August 8, 2005, The Electricity Modernization Act of 2005, which is Title XII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), was enacted into law. EPAct 2005 added a new section 215 to the Federal Power Act (FPA), which requires a Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) to develop mandatory and enforceable Reliability Standards, which are subject to Commission review and approval. Once approved, the Reliability Standards must be enforced by the ERO, subject to Commission oversight. In 2006, the Commission certified the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) as the ERO pursuant to FPA section 215. On March 16, 2007, in Order No. 693, pursuant to section 215(d) of the FPA, the Commission approved 83 of 107 proposed Reliability Standards, six of the eight proposed regional differences, and the NERC Glossary of Terms Used in Reliability Standards (NERC Glossary), including initial versions of the existing INT Reliability Standards. In NERC’s Petition for approval of the INT Reliability Standards NERC states that the purpose of the proposed Reliability Standards is to improve reliability by making transactions more apparent for reliability assessments and by clarifying which functional entities perform interchange authority tasks. The Petition further states that the interchange authority is the responsible entity that authorizes implementation of valid and balanced interchange schedules between balancing authority areas and ensures communication of interchange information for reliability assessment purposes. In Docket RD14-4, the burden related to Reliability Standard IRO-008-1 was included in new collection FERC-725Z. In this Final Rule in Docket RM15-16, burden is being added related to Reliability Standards IRO-001-4, IRO-002-4, IRO-008-2, IRO-010-2, IRO-014-3, and IRO-017-1.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 16 USC 825o Name of Law: Energy Policy Act of 2005

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
1902-AF05	Final or interim final rulemaking	80 FR 73977	11/27/2015

Federal Register Notices & Comments
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 2

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
(Final Rule in RM15-16) Rel. Stds. IRO-001-4, -002-4, -008-2, -010-2, -014-3, and -017-1
IRO-008-1 Reliability Standard

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to Agency Discretion
Annual Number of Responses	6,661	6,315	346
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	48,855	6,315	42,540
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

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

Burden Increase Due to: Miscellaneous Actions

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

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: In the Final Rule in RM15-16, FERC approves revisions to the Transmission Operations (TOP) and Interconnection Reliability Operations and Coordination (IRO) Reliability Standards, developed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization (ERO). The TOP and IRO Reliability Standards improve on the currently-effective standards by providing a more precise set of Reliability Standards addressing operating responsibilities and improving the delineation of responsibilities between applicable entities. The revised TOP Reliability Standards eliminate gaps and ambiguities in the currently-effective TOP requirements and improve efficiency by incorporating the necessary requirements from the eight currently-effective TOP Reliability Standards into three comprehensive Reliability Standards. Further, the standards clarify and improve upon the currently-effective TOP and IRO Reliability Standards by designating requirements in the proposed standards that apply to transmission operators for the TOP standards and reliability coordinators for the IRO standards. Thus, we conclude that there are benefits to clarifying and bringing efficiencies to the TOP and IRO Reliability Standards, consistent with the Commission’s policy promoting increased efficiencies in Reliability Standards and reducing requirements that are either redundant with other currently-effective requirements or have little reliability benefit.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $5,193

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]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Uncollected

Agency Contact: Enakpodia Agbedia 202 502-6750 enakpodia.agbedia@ferc.gov

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