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OMB Control No: 1902-0237	ICR Reference No: 202006-1902-003
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 201903-1902-010
Agency/Subagency: FERC	Agency Tracking No: FERC-912
Title: FERC-912, (Final Rule & Rehearing in RM19-15 & AD16-16) PURPA Section 210(m) Notification Requirements Applicable to Cogeneration and Small Power Production Facilities
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved with change	Conclusion Date: 12/15/2020
Retrieve Notice of Action (NOA)	Date Received in OIRA: 09/02/2020
Terms of Clearance: In accordance with 5 CFR 1320, the information collection is approved. Because the agency sought comments only on the changes associated with the order, the existing expiration date remains the same for this collection.

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	09/30/2022	09/30/2022	09/30/2022
Responses	39	0	9
Time Burden (Hours)	460	0	100
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Abstract: NOTE: When the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) and corresponding information collection request were submitted to OMB for Docket Nos. RM19-15 and AD16-16 (RIN1902-AF67), OMB review was pending for the regular renewal of the existing FERC Form No. 556. In addition, changes were not foreseen to the FERC-912 at the NOPR stage, so no ICR was submitted for FERC-912. Because only one item per OMB Control No. can be pending OMB review at a time and FERC-556 renewal was pending, we had to use a temporary (placeholder) information collection number (FERC-556A, OMB Control No. 1902-0316; ICR 201904-1902-001) in order to submit the NOPR to OMB on a timely basis. Due to ROCIS requirements (and to avoid an incorrect requirement for metadata showing an emergency request), the information for the NOPR and Final Rule are entered into the ROCIS metadata fields (for both FERC-556 and FERC-912) for the 60- and 30-day notices here. It also is required to indicate it's not related to a rulemaking but is in fact a Final Rule. RM19-15 & AD16-16. FERC issues its final rule approving certain revisions to its regulations (PURPA Regulations) implementing sections 201 and 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA). On September 19, 2019, the Commission issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) proposing to modify its PURPA Regulations. Those regulations were promulgated in 1980 and have been modified in only specific respects since then. Approximately 130 separate comments were submitted in response to the NOPR, several of which were submitted on behalf of multiple parties. In total, over 1,600 pages of comments were submitted, and in addition thousands of pages of exhibits were attached to the comments. In this Order, FERC is updating its PURPA regulations. FERC also made changes and clarifications in the rehearing Order 872-A, that are addressed here and in the updated supporting statement. FERC-912 in general. The use of FERC-912 is necessary to provide the Commission with the information needed to determine whether an order is appropriate to either terminate or reinstate the purchasing or selling of energy under PURPA section 210(m). The Commission's implementing regulations, found in 18 CFR Part 292, provide the following procedures: §292.310 an electric utility's application for the termination of its obligation to purchase energy from a QF, §292.311 an affected entity or person's application to the Commission for an order reinstating the electric utility's obligation to purchase energy from a QF, §292.312 an electric utility's application for the termination of its obligation to sell energy and capacity to QFs, and §292.313 an affected entity or person's application to the Commission for an order reinstating the electric utility's obligation to sell energy and capacity to QFs. Note that the reinstatement of an electric utility's obligation to sell or purchase electric power to/from a QF depends on a Commission determination that the qualifications that relieved the utility from the obligation of purchase or sale are no longer met. The Commission uses the information collected by FERC-912 to determine if an order is appropriate and required under PURPA section 210(m). Without this collection of information, the Commission would not be able to carry out its obligations under PURPA section 210(m).

Authorizing Statute(s): PL: Pub.L. 95 - 617 2601 Name of Law: Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978
PL: Pub.L. 109 - 58 1253 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:
	Not associated with rulemaking

Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	84 FR 53246	10/04/2019
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	85 FR 54638	09/02/2020
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? Yes

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

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
PURPA Section 210(m) Notification Requirements Applicable to Cogeneration and Small Power Production Facilities

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to Agency Discretion
Annual Number of Responses	39	9	30
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	460	100	360
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

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

Burden Increase Due to: Changing Regulations

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

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: Given the FERC’s expressed intent in the NOPR to propose revisions to PURPA Regulations that more closely adhere to the goals and terms of PURPA, we considered comments regarding whether these proposals are consistent with the requirements of PURPA. Based on that review and further consideration, we adopt the following changes to the proposals in the NOPR, among certain others described below: • we establish a rebuttable presumption, rather than a per se rule, that locational marginal prices (LMPs) may reflect a purchasing electric utility’s avoided energy costs; • we provide that any competitive solicitations used to establish avoided capacity costs must adhere to the Commission’s Allegheny standard for evaluating competitive solicitations; • we clarify that the FERC’s existing PURPA Regs. already require that states, to the extent practicable, must account for reduced loads in setting QF capacity rates; • we clarify terminology we used in the NOPR relating to the determination of whether small power production facilities are separate facilities to focus not on whether they are separate facilities, but rather to mirror the statutory language and thus focus on whether they are at “the same site”; • we clarify in the regs.that protests may be made to initial self-certifications and applications for FERC certification, but only to self-recertifications and applications for Commission recertification making substantive changes to the existing certification; • we identify additional factors that can be considered for small power production QFs located more than one but less than 10 miles apart, such as evidence of shared control systems, common permitting and land leasing, and shared step-up transformers; • we revise the regulations to lower the rebuttable presumption of small power production QFs’ nondiscriminatory access to 5 MW, rather than 1 MW as proposed in the NOPR, and include factors that a small power production QF sized greater than 5 MW could rely on to rebut the presumption that it has nondiscriminatory access to markets defined in PURPA sections 210(m)(1); and • we revise the proposed requirements to establish a legally enforceable obligation (LEO) to provide that with regard to the issue of obtaining permits, QFs need only have applied for all required permits, instead of being required to have already obtained those permits. FERC also made changes and clarifications in Order 872-A.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $523,462

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

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. No

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. 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? No

Agency Contact: Nishi Parekh 202 502-8325

View ICR - OIRA Conclusion