Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration

Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;

Comment Request

AGENCY: Energy Information Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Agency information collection activities: Proposed collection;

comment request.

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SUMMARY: The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is soliciting

comments concerning the proposed revision of the Form EIA-886,

``Alternative Fuel Vehicle Annual Report''.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before October 14,

1997. If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments, but find

it difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by this notice,

you should advise the contact listed below of your intention to do so

as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Jorge Luna-Camara, Energy Information

Administration, EI-525, Renewable Energy Branch, Forrestal Building,

U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20585-0650, Telephone (202)

426-1170; e-mail [email protected]; FAX (202) 426-1308.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or

copies of the form and instructions should be directed to Jorge Luna-

Camara at the address listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

II. Current Actions

III. Request for Comments

I. Background

In order to fulfill its responsibilities under the Federal Energy

Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-275) and the Department of

Energy Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91), the Energy Information

Administration (EIA) is obliged to carry out a central, comprehensive,

and unified energy data and information program. As part of this

program, EIA collects, evaluates, assembles, analyzes, and disseminates

data and information related to energy resource reserves, production,

demand, and technology, and related economic and statistical

information relevant to the adequacy of energy resources to meet

demands in the near and longer term future for the Nation's economic

and social needs.

The EIA, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and

respondent burden (required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

(Pub. L. 104-13)), conducts a presurvey consultation program to provide

the general public and other Federal agencies with an opportunity to

comment on proposed and/or continuing reporting forms. This program

helps to prepare data requests in the desired format, minimize

reporting burden, develop clearly understandable reporting forms, and

assess the impact of collection requirements on respondents. Also, EIA

will later seek approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

for the collections under Section 3507(h) of the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, Title 44, U.S.C. Chapter 35).

II. Current Actions

The EIA requests a three-year extension through January 31, 2001,

and

[[Page 43149]]

modifications to the form. The name of the form will be changed from

``Alternative Fuel Vehicles Supplier's Annual Report'' to ``Alternative

Fuel Vehicle Annual Report.''

This form currently is used to gather information on the supply of

``alternative fueled vehicles'' (AFV's). Specifically, the Form EIA-886

collects data annually on the number of AFV's which suppliers ``made

available'' in the previous calendar year, and the number of AFV's

which suppliers plan to ``make available'' in the following calendar

year. The EIA proposes to continue collecting this information.

Additionally, the EIA intends to begin collecting data on the number of

AFV's in use and their ``alternate transportation fuel'' (ATF)

consumption. In addition, the EIA intends to ask respondents three

voluntary questions regarding refueling facilities. These data will be

published annually in the Alternative to Traditional Transportation

Fuel publication. The data will also be available through the EIA home

page at WWW.EIA.DOE.GOV.

III. Request for Comments

Prospective respondents and other interested parties should comment

on the actions discussed in item II. The following guidelines are

provided to assist in the preparation of responses.

General Issues

A. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the

proper performance of the functions of the agency and does the

information have practical utility? Practical utility is defined as the

actual usefulness of information to or for an agency, taking into

account its accuracy, adequacy, reliability, timeliness, and the

agency's ability to process the information it collects.

B. What enhancements can EIA make to the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be collected?

As a Potential Respondent

A. Are the instructions and definitions clear and sufficient? If

not, which instructions require clarification?

B. Can data be submitted by the due date?

C. Public reporting burden for this collection is estimated to

average approximately four hours for the AFV providers part of the form

or the AFV users part of the form. However, there may be some

respondents which would be both (AFV providers as well as AFV users).

For these respondents the EIA estimates an average of approximately six

hours per response. Burden includes the total time, effort, or

financial resources expended to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose

or provide the information.

Please comment on (1) the accuracy of our estimate and (2) how the

agency could minimize the burden of the collection of information,

including the use of information technology.

D. EIA estimates that respondents will incur no additional costs

for reporting other than the hours required to complete the collection.

What is the estimated: (1) total dollar amount annualized for capital

and start-up costs, and (2) recurring annual costs of operation and

maintenance, and purchase of services associated with this data

collection?

E. Do you know of any other Federal, State, or local agency that

collects similar data? If you do, specify the agency, the data

element(s), and the methods of collection.

As a Potential User

A. Can you use data at the levels of detail indicated on the form?

B. For what purpose would you use the data? Be specific.

C. Are there alternate sources of data and do you use them? If so,

what are their deficiencies and/or strengths?

D. For the most part, information is published by EIA in U.S.

customary units, e.g., cubic feet of natural gas, short tons of coal,

and barrels of oil. Would you prefer to see EIA publish more

information in metric units, e.g., cubic meters, metric tons, and

kilograms? If yes, please specify what information (e.g., coal

production, natural gas consumption, and crude oil imports), the metric

unit(s) of measurement preferred, and in which EIA publication(s) you

would like to see such information.

Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized

and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the form. They also

will become a matter of public record.

Statutory Authority: Section 3506 (c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. No. 104-13).

Issued in Washington, D.C. July 29, 1997.

Lynda T. Carlson,

Agency Clearance Officer, Statistics and Methods Group, Energy

Information Administration.

[FR Doc. 97-21263 Filed 8-11-97; 8:45 am]

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