SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR COAL SURVEY FORMS
PART B
(EIA-3, 5, 7A, and 8A)
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is requesting a change to the disclosure policy for the following four coal survey forms:
EIA-3 “Quarterly Coal Consumption and Quality Report, Manufacturing and Transformation/Processing Coal Plants and Commercial and Institutional Coal Users”
EIA-5 “Quarterly Coal Consumption and Quality Report – Coke Plants”
EIA-7A “Coal Production and Preparation Report”
EIA-8A “Coal Stocks Report”
No changes are proposed for the standby forms:
EIA-1 “Weekly Coal Monitoring Report – General Industries and Blast Furnaces”
EIA-4 “Weekly Coal Monitoring Report – Coke Plants”
EIA-6Q “Quarterly Coal Report”
EIA-20 “Weekly Coal Monitoring Report, Coal Burning Utilities and Independent Power Producers”
1. Description of the Survey Plan
EIA coal surveys are conducted at the site, company, and mine level. At the site level, EIA uses Forms EIA-3 and EIA-5. EIA utilizes Form EIA-8A to collect data at the company level. Form EIA-7A is sent to individual mines and all data are reported at the mine level. All surveys are mandatory pursuant to Section 13(b) of the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-275).
Forms EIA-3 and EIA-5
Respondents of Forms EIA-3 and EIA-5 are expected to submit no later than 30 days after the end of the reporting quarter. The reporting quarters are as follows: First Quarter, January 1- March 31; Second Quarter, April 1 - June 30; Third Quarter, July 1 - September 30; Fourth Quarter, October 1 - December 31. If respondents are delayed in submitting their survey(s), then the non-respondents are notified by email on a weekly basis for the first three weeks following the due date to file the report. For those surveys that are still outstanding at that time, the survey manager will begin making calls to the survey preparers, then their superiors, to increase awareness about the delinquent survey.
Forms EIA-7A and EIA-8A
Respondents of Forms EIA-7A and EIA-8A, both annual surveys, must submit completed forms no later than April 1 of the year following the reporting year. If respondents are delayed in submitting their survey(s), emails are used to notify non-respondents. For those surveys that are still outstanding at that time, the survey manager will begin making calls to the survey preparers, then their superiors, to increase awareness about the delinquent survey. Special attention is given to large mines reporting on the EIA-7A and the MSHA Form 7000-2, "Quarterly Mine Employment and Coal Production Report".
Standby Forms EIA-1, EIA-4, EIA-6Q, and EIA-20
Standby Forms will be employed during coal supply disruptions. When these emergency situations arise, EIA will notify OMB and submit the appropriate ICR revisions along with supporting documents and information regarding the supporting reasons and change in reporting burden as deemed necessary in order to activate the surveys. Depending on the circumstances of the coal disruption, EIA may require only a subset of the U.S. coal respondents that meet specific criteria to submit the surveys. All required respondents will be individually notified by EIA. Completed forms should be sent via email to an address that EIA shall specify at the time the respondent is notified of its obligation to file the form.
A report week is defined as a calendar week beginning 12:01 A.M. on Sunday and ending at midnight on the following Saturday. A telephone call will be made to collect the data on each form beginning each Monday of each report week during the coal supply disruption.
2. Sampling Methodology and Estimation Procedures
There is no sampling in these surveys, and the number of respondents equals the universe frame for all survey forms with the following exceptions:
Form EIA-7A does not require mines with non-anthracite annual production of less than 25,000 short tons, anthracite coal mines that produced less than 10,000 short tons and preparation plants recording fewer than 5,000 person hours annually to file a report.
Form EIA-3 does not require plants or entities consuming in less than 1,000 short tons of coal annually to file a report.
Form EIA-8A does not require companies (coal brokers, coal traders, and coal terminals) that owned less than 10,000 tons of coal stocks at the end of the reporting year and didn’t export any coal originating in the United States during the reporting year to file. Companies that take custody (physical possession) of the coal and transport, but never own, the coal need not file.
Entities below the thresholds shown above are out of scope for reporting on these surveys.
3. Maximizing the Response Rate
To help ensure maximum response, EIA uses a two-pronged approach for the surveys with an Internet Data Collection (IDC) system (EIA-3 and EIA-7A).
Approximately 7 to 10 business days before the start of the next reporting period, respondents on the latest respondent list are sent an email inquiring whether they will continue to submit, or if not, to reply with the name, telephone number, and e-mail address of the new preparer. This advance query helps EIA keep its list of e-mail addresses and names current. It is important to keep email addresses up to date because most communication is done via email messages.
Email messages are sent to remind respondents of an upcoming due date. Then, once the due date has passed, EIA sends email messages indicating overdue survey forms. If a respondent still does not submit the form, the company is contacted by telephone. For those surveys that are still outstanding at that time, the survey manager will begin making calls to the survey preparers, then their superiors, to increase awareness about the delinquent survey. Finally, EIA sends a noncompliance letter requesting submission by a specific date.
Currently, Form EIA-8A is collected using a Secure File Transfer (SFT). EIA plans to transition to an IDC system for the EIA-8A in the near future, depending on available resources.
4. Test of the Procedures
Internet-based forms have been successfully used by EIA since 2004. EIA draws upon respondent feedback and experiences on other EIA data surveys to improve edits, methodology, operations, and procedures.
5. Statistical Consultations
The data collection for the Form EIA-20 would be done by contracted services if surveys are needed. The data collection for the Forms EIA-3, EIA-5, EIA-7A, and EIA-8A is done by the Office of Oil, Gas, and Coal Supply Statistics (OGCSS), Office of Energy Statistics, with contractor assistance. The OGCSS will also handle Forms EIA-1, EIA-4, and EIA-6Q, if activated. The OGCSS conducts analysis of all forms. For more information, please contact Tejasvi Raghuveer at (202) 586-8926.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | wwa |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-28 |