[Federal Register: July 31, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 148)]
[Notices]
[Page 44787-44791]
[DOCID:fr31jy08-86]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Investment Company Act Release No. 28341; 812-13152]

Cohen & Steers Advantage Income Realty Fund, Inc., et al.; Notice
of Application

July 24, 2008.
AGENCY: Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'').

ACTION: Notice of application under section 6(c) of the Investment
Company Act of 1940 (``Act'') for an exemption from section 19(b) of
the Act and rule 19b-1 under the Act.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Summary of Application: Applicants request an order to permit certain
closed-end investment companies to make periodic distributions of long-
term capital gains with respect to their outstanding common stock as
frequently as twelve times each year, and as frequently as
distributions are specified by or in accordance with the terms of any
outstanding preferred stock that such investment companies may issue.

Applicants: Cohen & Steers Advantage Income Realty Fund, Inc., Cohen &
Steers Closed-End Opportunity Fund, Inc., Cohen & Steers Dividend
Majors Fund, Inc., Cohen & Steers Global Income Builder, Inc., Cohen &
Steers Premium Income Realty Fund, Inc., Cohen & Steers Quality Income
Realty Fund, Inc., Cohen & Steers REIT and Preferred Income Fund, Inc.,
Cohen & Steers REIT and Utility Income Fund, Inc., Cohen & Steers
Select Utility Fund, Inc., Cohen & Steers Total Return Realty Fund,
Inc. and Cohen & Steers Worldwide Realty Income Fund, Inc. (together,
the ``Funds'') and Cohen & Steers Capital Management, Inc. (the
``Adviser'').

Filing Dates: January 3, 2005, April 5, 2007 and July 21, 2008.

Hearing or Notification of Hearing: An order granting the application
will be issued unless the Commission orders a hearing. Interested
persons may request a hearing by writing to the Commission's Secretary
and serving applicants with a copy of the request, personally or by
mail. Hearing requests should be received by the Commission by 5:30
p.m. on August 18, 2008, and should be accompanied by proof of service
on applicants, in the form of an affidavit or, for lawyers, a
certificate of service. Hearing requests should state the nature of the
writer's interest, the reason for the request, and the issues
contested. Persons who wish to be notified of a hearing may request
notification by writing to the Commission's Secretary.

ADDRESSES: Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street,
NE., Washington, DC 20549-1090; applicants, 280 Park Avenue, New York,
NY 10017, Attention: Francis C. Poli, Esq.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wendy Friedlander, Senior Counsel, at
(202) 551-6837, or James M. Curtis, Branch Chief, at<PHONE_NUMBER>
(Division of Investment Management, Office of Chief Counsel).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following is a summary of the
application. The complete application may be obtained for a fee at the
Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC
20549-1520 (telephone<PHONE_NUMBER>).

Applicants' Representations

    1. The Funds are registered closed-end investment companies.\1\ The
common stock issued by each Fund is listed on the New York Stock
Exchange. Some of the Funds have issued preferred stock; such preferred
stock is not listed on any exchange. Applicants believe that the
stockholders of each Fund are generally conservative, dividend-
sensitive investors who desire current income periodically and may
favor a fixed distribution policy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Applicants request that any order issued granting the relief
requested in the application also apply to any closed-end investment
company that in the future: (a) Is advised by the Adviser (including
any successor in interest) or by any entity controlling, controlled
by, or under common control (within the meaning of section 2(a)(9)
of the Act) with the Adviser; and (b) complies with the terms and
conditions of the requested order. A successor in interest is
limited to entities that result from a reorganization into another
jurisdiction or a change in the type of business organization.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2. The Adviser is registered under the Investment Advisers Act of
1940 and is

responsible for the overall management of each Fund. The Adviser is a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Cohen & Steers, Inc., a publicly traded
company whose common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol ``CNS.''
    3. Applicants represent that in connection with a meeting on March
7, 2007, the Boards of Directors (the ``Boards'') of each Fund,
including a majority of the members of each of the Boards who are not
``interested persons'' of each Fund as defined in section 2(a)(19) of
the Act (the ``Independent Directors''), reviewed information
regarding, among other things, the purpose and terms of a proposed
distribution policy and the relationship between a Fund's distribution
rate on its common stock under the policy and such Fund's total return
on net asset value (``NAV'') per share. Applicants state that the
Independent Directors of each Fund also considered what conflicts of
interest the Adviser and the affiliated persons of the Adviser and each
Fund might have with respect to the adoption or implementation of such
policy. Applicants further state that after considering such
information the Board, including the Independent Directors, of each
Fund approved a distribution policy with respect to its common stock
(the ``Plan'') and determined that such Plan is in the best interests
of such Fund and its common stockholders.
    4. Applicants state that the purpose of each Plan is to make fixed
periodic distributions to provide steady cash flow to Fund common
stockholders. Applicants represent that each Fund would distribute to
its respective common stockholders periodic, level distributions as
frequently as monthly, based on a fixed amount per share, a fixed
percentage of market price or a fixed percentage of the Fund's NAV per
common share, any of which may be adjusted from time to time.
Applicants state that the minimum annual distribution rate with respect
to a Fund's common stock under each Plan would be independent of the
Fund's performance during any particular period but would be expected
to correlate with the Fund's performance over time. Applicants explain
that each distribution on the common stock would be at the stated rate
then in effect, except for extraordinary distributions and potential
increases or decreases in the final dividend periods in light of the
Fund's performance for the entire calendar year and to enable the Fund
to comply with the distribution requirements of subchapter M of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the ``Code'') for the calendar year.
    5. Applicants state that prior to relying on the requested order
each Fund's Board, including a majority of its Independent Directors,
will adopt policies and procedures under rule 38a-1 under the Act that
(a) are reasonably designed to ensure that all notices required to be
sent to the Fund's stockholders pursuant to section 19(a) of the Act,
rule 19a-1 thereunder and condition IV. below (``Notices'') include the
disclosure required by rule 19a-1 and by condition II.A below, and that
all other written communications by the Fund or its agents described in
condition III.A below about the distributions under the Plan include
the disclosure required by condition III.A below and (b) require each
Fund to keep records that demonstrate its compliance with all of the
conditions of the requested order and that are necessary for such Fund
to form the basis for, or demonstrate the calculation of, the amounts
disclosed in its Notices.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ Applicants state that a future fund that relies on the
requested order will satisfy each of the representations in the
application except that such representations will be made in respect
of actions by the board of directors of such future fund and will be
made at a future time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applicants' Legal Analysis

    1. Section 19(b) generally makes it unlawful for any registered
investment company to make long-term capital gains distributions more
than once each year. Rule 19b-1 limits the number of capital gains
dividends, as defined in section 852(b)(3)(C) of the Code
(``distributions''), that a fund may make with respect to any one
taxable year to one, plus one additional capital gain dividend made in
whole or in part to avoid the excise tax under section 4982 of the
Code, plus a supplemental ``clean up'' distribution made pursuant to
section 855 of the Code not exceeding 10% of the total amount
distributed for the year.
    2. Section 6(c) provides that the Commission may exempt any person
or transaction from any provision of the Act to the extent that such
exemption is necessary or appropriate in the public interest and
consistent with the protection of investors and the purposes fairly
intended by the policy and provisions of the Act.
    3. Applicants state that the common stock of closed-end funds that
invest primarily in equity securities often trade in the market at a
discount to their NAV. Applicants believe that this discount may be
reduced if the Funds are permitted to pay relatively frequent
distributions on their common stock at a consistent rate, whether or
not those distributions include an element of long-term capital gains.
    4. Applicants state that the one of the concerns underlying section
19(b) and rule 19b-1 is that stockholders might be unable to
distinguish between frequent distributions of capital gains and
distributions from investment income. Applicants state, however, that
rule 19a-1 effectively addresses this concern by requiring that a
separate statement showing the sources of a distribution (e.g.,
estimated net income, net short-term capital gains, net long-term
capital gains and/or return of capital) accompany any distributions (or
the confirmation of the reinvestment of distributions) estimated to be
sourced in part from capital gains or capital. Applicants state that
the same information also is included in each Fund's annual reports to
stockholders and on its IRS Form 1099-DIV, which is sent to each common
and preferred stockholder who received distributions during the year.
    5. Applicants further state that each of the Funds will make the
additional disclosures required by the conditions set forth below and
will adopt compliance policies and procedures in accordance with rule
38a-1 prior to relying on the requested order to ensure that all
required Notices and disclosures are sent to stockholders. Applicants
argue that rule 19a-1, the Plans and the compliance policies will
ensure that each Fund's stockholders would be provided sufficient
information to understand that their periodic distributions are not
tied to the Fund's net investment income (which for this purpose is the
Fund's taxable income other than from capital gains) and realized
capital gains to date, and may not represent yield or investment
return. Accordingly, applicants assert that continuing to subject the
Funds to section 19(b) and rule 19b-1 would afford stockholders no
extra protection.
    6. Applicants assert that the application of rule 19b-1 to a Plan
actually could have an inappropriate influence on portfolio management
decisions. Applicants state that, in the absence of an exemption from
rule 19b-1, the adoption of a Plan imposes pressure on management (i)
not to realize any net long-term capital gains until the point in the
year that the Fund can pay all of its remaining distributions in
accordance with rule 19b-1, and (ii) not to realize any long-term
capital gains during any particular year in excess of the amount of the
aggregate pay-out for the year (since as a practical matter excess
gains must be distributed and accordingly would not be available

to satisfy pay-out requirements in following years), notwithstanding
that purely investment considerations might favor realization of long-
term gains at different times or in different amounts. Applicants thus
assert that no purpose is served by the distortion in the normal
operation of a periodic distribution plan required in order to comply
with rule 19b-1, and that the order requested by the applicants would
minimize the anomalous effects of rule 19b-1 by enabling the Funds to
realize long-term capital gains as often as investment considerations
dictate without fear of violating rule 19b-1.
    7. Applicants note that section 19(b) and rule 19b-1 also were
intended to prevent certain improper sales practices, including, in
particular, the practice of urging an investor to purchase shares of a
fund on the basis of an upcoming capital gains dividend (``selling the
dividend''), where the dividend would result in an immediate
corresponding reduction in NAV and would be in effect a taxable return
of the investor's capital. Applicants assert that this concern should
not apply to closed-end investment companies, such as the Funds, which
do not continuously distribute shares. According to applicants, if the
underlying concern extends to secondary market purchases of stock of
closed-end funds that are subject to a large upcoming capital gains
dividend, adoption of a Plan actually helps minimize the concern by
avoiding, through periodic distributions, any buildup of large end of
the year distributions.
    8. In addition, applicants assert that rule 19b-1 may force the
fixed regular periodic distributions under a Plan to be funded with
returns of capital \3\ (to the extent net investment income and
realized short-term capital gains are insufficient to fund the
distribution), even though realized net long-term capital gains
otherwise could be available. To distribute all of a fund's long-term
capital gains within the limits in rule 19b-1, a fund may be required
to make total distributions in excess of the annual amount called for
by its Plan, or to retain and pay taxes on the excess amount.
Applicants believe that the application of rule 19b-1 to a fund's
periodic distribution plan may create pressure to limit the realization
of long-term capital gains based on considerations unrelated to
investment goals.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Return of capital as used in the application means return of
capital for financial accounting purposes and not for tax accounting
purposes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    9. Applicants state that Revenue Ruling 89-81 under the Code
requires that a fund that has both common stock and preferred stock
outstanding designate the types of income, e.g., investment income and
capital gains, in the same proportion as the total distributions
distributed to each class for the tax year. To satisfy the
proportionate designation requirements of Revenue Ruling 89-81,
whenever a fund has realized a long-term capital gain with respect to a
given tax year, the fund must designate the required proportionate
share of such capital gain to be included in common and preferred stock
dividends. Applicants state that although rule 19b-1 allows a fund some
flexibility with respect to the frequency of capital gains
distributions, a fund might use all of the exceptions available under
the rule for a tax year and still need to distribute additional capital
gains allocated to the preferred stock to comply with Revenue Ruling
89-81.
    10. Applicants assert that the potential abuses addressed by
section 19(b) and rule 19b-1 do not arise with respect to preferred
stock issued by a closed-end fund. Applicants assert that such
distributions are fixed or determined in periodic auctions by reference
to short-term interest rates rather than by reference to performance of
the issuer, and Revenue Ruling 89-81 determines the proportion of such
distributions that are comprised of the long-term capital gains.
    11. Applicants also submit that the ``selling the dividend''
concern is not applicable to preferred stock, which entitles a holder
to no more than a periodic dividend at a fixed rate or the rate
determined by the market, and, like a debt security, is priced based
upon its liquidation value, dividend rate, credit quality, and
frequency of payment. Applicants state that investors buy preferred
shares for the purpose of receiving payments at the frequency bargained
for, and do not expect the liquidation value of their shares to change.
    12. Applicants request an order under section 6(c) granting an
exemption from section 19(b) and rule 19b-1 to permit each Fund's
common stock to distribute periodic capital gains dividends (as defined
in section 852(b)(3)(C) of the Code) as often as monthly in any one
taxable year in respect of its common stock and as often as specified
by or determined in accordance with the terms thereof in respect of its
preferred stock.

Applicants' Conditions

    Applicants agree that, with respect to each Fund seeking to rely on
the order, the order will be subject to the following conditions:
    I. Compliance Review and Reporting: The Fund's chief compliance
officer will: (a) Report to the Fund Board, no less frequently than
once every three months or at the next regularly scheduled quarterly
board meeting, whether (i) the Fund and the Adviser have complied with
the conditions to the requested order, and (ii) a Material Compliance
Matter, as defined in rule 38a-1(e)(2), has occurred with respect to
compliance with such conditions; and (b) review the adequacy of the
policies and procedures adopted by the Fund no less frequently than
annually.
    II. Disclosures to Fund Stockholders:
    A. Each Notice to the holders of the Fund's common stock, in
addition to the information required by section 19(a) and rule 19a-1:
    1. Will provide, in a tabular or graphical format:
    (a) The amount of the distribution, on a per common share basis,
together with the amounts of such distribution amount, on a per common
share basis and as a percentage of such distribution amount, from
estimated: (A) Net investment income; (B) net realized short-term
capital gains; (C) net realized long-term capital gains; and (D) return
of capital or other capital source;
    (b) The fiscal year-to-date cumulative amount of distributions, on
a per common share basis, together with the amounts of such cumulative
amount, on a per common share basis and as a percentage of such
cumulative amount of distributions, from estimated: (A) Net investment
income; (B) net realized short-term capital gains; (C) net realized
long-term capital gains; and (D) return of capital or other capital
source;
    (c) The average annual total return in relation to the change in
NAV for the 5-year period (or, if the Fund's history of operations is
less than five years, the time period commencing immediately following
the Fund's first public offering) ending on the last day of the month
prior to the most recent distribution declaration date compared to the
current fiscal period's annualized distribution rate expressed as a
percentage of NAV as of the last day of the month prior to the most
recent distribution declaration date; and
    (d) The cumulative total return in relation to the change in NAV
from the last completed fiscal year to the last day of the month prior
to the most recent distribution declaration date compared to the fiscal
year-to-date cumulative distribution rate expressed as a percentage of
NAV as of the last day of the month prior to the most recent
distribution declaration date.
    Such disclosure shall be made in a type size at least as large and
as

prominent as the estimate of the sources of the current distribution;
and
    2. Will include the following disclosure:
    (a) ``You should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's
investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the
terms of the Fund's Plan'';
    (b) ``The fund estimates that it has distributed more than its
income and net realized capital gains; therefore, a portion of your
distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur
for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the
Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not
necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be
confused with `yield' or `income' ''; and
    (c) ``The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this
Notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting
purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for [accounting
and] tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment
experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject
to changes based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form
1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these
distributions for federal income tax purposes.''
    Such disclosure shall be made in a type size at least as large as
and as prominent as any other information in the Notice and placed on
the same page in close proximity to the amount and the sources of the
distribution.
    B. On the inside front cover of each report to shareholders under
rule 30e-1 under the Act, the Fund will:
    1. Describe the terms of the Plan (including the fixed amount or
fixed percentage of the distributions and the frequency of the
distributions);
    2. Include the disclosure required by condition II.A.2.a above;
    3. State, if applicable, that the Plan provides that the Board may
amend or terminate the Plan at any time without prior notice to Fund
shareholders; and
    4. Describe any reasonably foreseeable circumstances that might
cause the Fund to terminate the Plan and any reasonably foreseeable
consequences of such termination.
    C. Each report provided to stockholders under rule 30e-1 and in
each prospectus filed with the Commission on Form N-2 under the Act,
will provide the Fund's total return in relation to changes in NAV in
the financial highlights table and in any discussion about the Fund's
total return.
    III. Disclosure to Stockholders, Prospective Stockholders and Third
Parties:
    A. The Fund will include the information contained in the relevant
Notice, including the disclosure required by condition II.A.2 above, in
any written communication (other than a Form 1099) about the Plan or
distributions under the Plan by the Fund, or agents that the Fund has
authorized to make such communication on the Fund's behalf, to any Fund
common stockholder, prospective common stockholder or third-party
information provider;
    B. The Fund will issue, contemporaneously with the issuance of any
Notice, a press release containing the information in the Notice and
will file with the Commission the information contained in such Notice,
including the disclosure required by condition II.A.2 above, as an
exhibit to its next filed Form N-CSR; and
    C. The Fund will post prominently a statement on its (or its
adviser's) Web site containing the information in each Notice,
including the disclosure required by condition II.A.2 above, and will
maintain such information on such Web site for at least 24 months.
    IV. Delivery of 19(a) Notices to Beneficial Owners: If a broker,
dealer, bank or other person (``financial intermediary'') holds common
stock issued by the Fund in nominee name, or otherwise, on behalf of a
beneficial owner, the Fund: (a) Will request that the financial
intermediary, or its agent, forward the Notice to all beneficial owners
of the fund's stock held through such financial intermediary; (b) will
provide, in a timely manner, to the financial intermediary, or its
agent, enough copies of the Notice assembled in the form and at the
place that the financial intermediary, or its agent, reasonably
requests to facilitate the financial intermediary's sending of the
Notice to each beneficial owner of the fund's stock; and (c) upon the
request of any financial intermediary, or its agent, that receives
copies of the Notice, will pay the financial intermediary, or its
agent, the reasonable expenses of sending the Notice to such beneficial
owners.
    V. Additional Board Determinations for Funds Whose Stock Trades at
a Premium: If:
    A. The Fund's common stock has traded on the exchange that it
primarily trades on at the time in question at an average premium to
NAV equal to or greater than 10%, as determined on the basis of the
average of the discount or premium to NAV of the Fund's common stock as
of the close of each trading day over a 12-week rolling period (each
such 12-week rolling period ending on the last trading day of each
week); and
    B. The Fund's annualized distribution rate for such 12-week rolling
period, expressed as a percentage of NAV as of the ending date of such
12-week rolling period, is greater than the Fund's average annual total
return in relation to the change in NAV over the 2-year period ending
on the last day of such 12-week rolling period; then:
    1. At the earlier of the next regularly scheduled meeting or within
four months of the last day of such 12-week rolling period, the Board
including a majority of the Independent Directors:
    (a) Will request and evaluate, and the Adviser will furnish, such
information as may be reasonably necessary to make an informed
determination of whether the Plan should be continued or continued
after amendment;
    (b) Will determine whether continuation, or continuation after
amendment, of the Plan is consistent with the Fund's investment
objective(s) and policies and in the best interests of the Fund and its
stockholders, after considering the information in condition V.B.1.a
above; including, without limitation:
    (1) Whether the Plan is accomplishing its purpose(s);
    (2) The reasonably foreseeable effects of the Plan on the Fund's
long-term total return in relation to the market price and NAV of the
Fund's common shares; and
    (3) The Fund's current distribution rate, as described in condition
V.B above, compared to with the Fund's average annual total return over
the 2-year period, as described in condition V.B, or such longer period
as the Board deems appropriate; and
    (c) Based upon that determination, will approve or disapprove the
continuation, or continuation after amendment, of the Plan; and
    2. The Board will record the information considered by it and the
basis for its approval or disapproval of the continuation, or
continuation after amendment, of the Plan in its meeting minutes, which
must be made and preserved for a period of not less than six years from
the date of such meeting, the first two years in an easily accessible
place.
    VI. Public Offerings: The Fund will not make a public offering of
the Fund's common stock other than:
    A. A rights offering below net asset value to holders of the Fund's
common stock;
    B. An offering in connection with a dividend reinvestment plan,
merger,

consolidation, acquisition, spin-off or reorganization of the Fund; or
    C. An offering other than an offering described in conditions VI.A
and VI.B above, unless, with respect to such other offering:
    1. The Fund's average annual distribution rate for the six months
ending on the last day of the month ended immediately prior to the most
recent distribution declaration date \4\, expressed as a percentage of
NAV per share as of such date, is no more than 1 percentage point
greater than the Fund's average annual total return for the 5-year
period ending on such date \5\; and
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ If the Fund has been in operation fewer than two years, the
measured period will begin immediately following the Fund's first
public offering.
    \5\ If the Fund has been in operation fewer than five years, the
measured period will begin immediately following the Fund's first
public offering.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2. The transmittal letter accompanying any registration statement
filed with the Commission in connection with such offering discloses
that the Fund has received an order under section 19(b) to permit it to
make periodic distributions of long-term capital gains with respect to
its common stock as frequently as twelve times each year, and as
frequently as distributions are specified in accordance with the terms
of any outstanding preferred stock that such Fund may issue.
    VII. Amendments to Rule 19b-1: The requested relief will expire on
the effective date of any amendment to rule 19b-1 that provides relief
permitting certain closed-end investment companies to make periodic
distributions of long-term capital gains with respect to their
outstanding common stock as frequently as twelve times each year.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Investment Management,
under delegated authority.
Florence E. Harmon,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-17539 Filed 7-30-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010-01-P


[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52080-52081]
[FR Doc No: 2019-21337]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC19-45-000]

Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC Form 580)
Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of information collection and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (PRA), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission
or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the currently approved
information collection, FERC Form 580 (Interrogatory on Fuel and Energy
Purchase Practices Pursuant to Section 205 of the Federal Power Act).

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due December 2,
2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC19-45-
000) by either of the following methods:
     eFiling at Commission's website: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp
     Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE,
Washington, DC 20426.
    Instructions: All submissions must be formatted and filed in
accordance with submission guidelines at: http://www.ferc.gov/help/submission-guide.asp. For user assistance, contact FERC Online Support
by email at<EMAIL_ADDRESS>or by phone at:<PHONE_NUMBER>
(toll-free), or<PHONE_NUMBER> for TTY.
    Docket: Users interested in receiving automatic notification of
activity in this docket or in viewing/downloading comments and
issuances in this docket may do so at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/docs-filing.asp.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at
<EMAIL_ADDRESS>telephone at<PHONE_NUMBER>, and fax at (202)
273-0873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: FERC Form 580, (Interrogatory on Fuel and Energy Purchase
Practices Pursuant to Section 205 of the Federal Power Act).
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0137.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC Form 580 with no
changes to the current reporting requirements.
    Abstract: The Commission collects FERC Form 580 information every
other year as required under Section 205(f)(2) of the FPA as amended by
Section 208 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978
(PURPA). The Commission uses the information collected through the FERC
Form 580 interrogatory to review utility purchase and cost recovery
practices through automatic adjustment clauses (AACs) in order to
ensure efficient use of resources.\1\ The Commission uses the
information to evaluate costs in individual rate filings and to
supplement periodic utility audits. The public also uses the
information in this manner. Without the FERC Form 580 interrogatory,
the Commission would not have the requisite information available to
conduct the necessary review the FPA mandates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ By using the data in FERC Form 580, the Commission is able
to review utility purchase and cost recovery practices and ensure
the resources are in compliance with Commission regulations in 18
CFR 35.14
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Type of Respondents: The filing must be submitted by all FERC-
jurisdictional utilities owning and/or operating at least one steam-
electric generating station of 50 MW or greater capacity or having a
majority ownership interest in a jointly-owned steam-electric
generating station of at least 50 MW. A jurisdictional utility without
a cost-based tariff on file with the Commission is not required to file
the form.
    Estimate of Annual Burden.\2\ The Commission estimates the annual
\3\ public reporting burden and cost \4\ for the information collection
as:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ Burden is defined as the total time, effort, or financial
resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or
disclose or provide information to or for a federal agency. See 5
CFR 1320 for additional information on the definition of information
collection burden.
    \3\ The FERC Form 580 interrogatory is conducted every two
years.
    \4\ The estimates for cost per response are derived using the
2019 FERC average salary plus benefits of $167,091/year (or $80.00/
hour). Commission staff finds that the work done on this information
collection is typically done by wage categories like those at FERC.

                  FERC Form 580 (Interrogatory on Fuel and Energy Purchase Practices Pursuant to Section 205 of the Federal Power Act)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Annual  number                                                                              Annual  cost
                                  Number of     of  responses   Total number     Average burden and      Total annual burden hours and          per
                                 respondents         per        of responses     cost per  response            total annual cost            respondent
                                                 respondent                                                                                ($)
                                          (1)             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4)...................  (3) * (4) = (5)..................       (5) / (1)
                                                                          (3)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Respondents with FACs \5\....              29             0.5            14.5  103 hrs.; $8,240......  1,493.5 hrs.; $119,480.00........       $4,120.00
Respondents with AACs, but no               9             0.5             4.5  20 hrs.; $1,600.......  90 hrs.; $7,200.00...............             800
 FACs.
Respondents with no AACs nor               28             0.5              14  2 hrs.; $160..........  28 hrs.; $2,240.00...............           80.00
 FACs.
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
    Total....................  ..............  ..............              33  ......................  1,611.5 hrs.; $128,920.00........  ..............
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collection of
information are necessary for the proper performance of the functions
of the Commission, including whether the information will have
practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimates of the
burden and cost of the collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance
the quality, utility and clarity of the information collection; and (4)
ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ Fuel Adjustment Clause (FAC)

    Dated: September 25, 2019.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-21337 Filed 9-30-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P