OMB COAL 2014 Part B Final 030714

Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods

This document reflects the statistical methods used for the following surveys:

EIA-3 “Quarterly Survey of Non-Electric Sector Coal Data”

EIA-6 “Emergency Coal Supply Survey”

EIA-7A “Annual Survey of Coal Production and Preparation”

EIA-8A “Annual Survey of Coal Stocks and Coal Exports”

EIA-20 “Emergency Weekly Coal Monitoring Survey for Coal Burning 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 Form EIA-3 and standby Form EIA-20. EIA utilizes Form EIA-8A and standby Form EIA-6 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).

Form EIA-3

Respondents are expected to submit Form EIA-3 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), emails are used to notify non-respondents on a weekly basis for the first three weeks following the survey due date. For those surveys that are still outstanding after this three-week-period, 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 after the email notification period, the survey manager will begin making calls to the survey preparers, then their superiors, to increase awareness about the delinquent survey. More follow-up is given to large coal mines to report on the EIA-7A so as to increase production coverage.

Standby Forms EIA-6 and EIA-20

Standby Forms EIA-6 and EIA-20 will be employed during coal supply disruptions. 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 notified individually 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. Forms must be submitted no later than 5pm eastern time each Monday after the seven-day reporting period. The reporting period is Saturday midnight to Saturday midnight.

2. Sampling Methodology and Estimation Procedures

The respondents are those listed in the universe frames for all survey forms with the following exceptions:

• Mines with non-anthracite annual production of less than 25,000 short tons and preparation plants recording fewer than 5,000 person- hours during the reporting year are not required to file Form EIA-7A. In addition, anthracite coal mines that produced less than 10,000 short tons during the reporting year are not required to file Form EIA-7A.

• Form EIA-3 does not require a report from all sites that use less than 1,000 short tons of coal annually. The year includes the current reporting quarter and the previous three quarters.

• Form EIA-8A does not require companies (coal brokers, coal traders, and coal terminals) that owned less than 10,000 tons of coal stocks originating in the United States on December 31 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, also need not file.

Imputation for unit and item non-response is only done for the Form EIA-7A survey. EIA employs imputation for the following EIA-7A variables, among others:

• recoverable coal reserves

• recovery percent

• open market sales

• open market revenue from sales

• captive market sales

• captive market revenue from sales

• total disposition of coal

• productive capacity

EIA hopes to improve its imputation methodology to more accurately estimate for missing data.

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 end of the 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.

• Before the due date, email messages are sent to remind respondents of an upcoming submission. Then, once the due date has passed, EIA sends email messages indicating the overdue survey forms. If a respondent still does not submit the form, the company is contacted by telephone. 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 collection of data has been successfully used by EIA since 2004. EIA draws upon respondent feedback and experiences on other EIA internet collection 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 an emergency situation occurs. The data collections for the Forms EIA-3, EIA-7A, and EIA-8A are done by the Office of Oil, Gas, and Coal Supply Statistics (OGCSS), Office of Energy Statistics, with contractor assistance. The OGCSS will also handle the Form EIA-6 survey, if activated. The OGCSS team constantly evaluates form instructions and examines the accuracy of the resulting data submissions. For more information, please contact Tejasvi Raghuveer at (202) 586-8926.