[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 234 (Wednesday, December 6, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 62326-62329]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-29664]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 375

[Docket No. RM96-3-000; Order No. 585]


Delegation of Authority to the Secretary, the Director of the 
Office of Electric Power Regulation and the General Counsel

Issued: November 30, 1995.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is revising its 
regulations to expand delegations to the staff in the following areas: 
The Secretary would be authorized to toll the time for action on 
requests for rehearings and issue notices in compliance with section 
206(b) of the Federal Power Act, as amended by the Regulatory Fairness 
Act; the Director of the Office of Electric Power Regulation would be 
authorized to take appropriate action on uncontested interim electric 
rate motions that would result in lower rates, pending Commission 
action on settlement agreements; and the General Counsel would be 
authorized to grant uncontested applications for exempt wholesale 
generator status that do not present unusual or interpretation issues 
and to act on uncontested motions to withdraw EWG applications. Because 
of increased workload, the Commission is taking these actions in the 
interest of administrative efficiency.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule is effective January 5, 1996.

ADDRESSES: 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kasha Ciaglo, Office of the General 
Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington DC 20426, (202) 208-2165.


[[Page 62327]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In addition to publishing the full text of 
this document in the Federal Register, the Commission also provides all 
interested persons an opportunity to inspect or copy the contents of 
this document during normal business hours in the Public Reference Room 
at 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.
    The Commission Issuance Posting System (CIPS), an electronic 
bulletin board service, provides access to the texts of formal 
documents issued by the Commission. CIPS is available at no charge to 
the user and may be accessed using a personal computer with a modem by 
dialing (800) 856-3920. To access CIPS, set your communications 
software to 19200, 14400, 12000, 9600, 7200, 4800, 2400 or 1200 bps, 
full duplex no parity, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit. The full text of 
this order will be available on CIPS in ASCII and WordPerfect 5.1 
format. The complete text on diskette in WordPerfect format may also be 
purchased from the Commission's contractor, La Dorn Systems 
Corporation, also located in the Public Reference Room in 888 First 
Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.

I. Introduction

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is adopting new 
regulations amending: (1) 18 CFR 375.302 to authorize the Secretary to 
toll the time for action on requests for rehearing and issue notices in 
compliance with section 206(b) of the Federal Power Act (FPA), as 
amended by the Regulatory Fairness Act of 1988 (RFA);1 (2) 18 CFR 
375.308 to authorize the Director of the Office of Electric Power 
Regulation (Director) to take appropriate action on uncontested interim 
electric rate motions that would result in lower rates, pending 
Commission action on settlement agreements; and (3) 18 CFR 385.309 to 
authorize the General Counsel to grant uncontested applications for 
exempt wholesale generator (EWG) status that do not present unusual or 
interpretation issues and to act on uncontested motions to withdraw EWG 
applications.2 These amendments are necessary in the interest of 
administrative efficiency.

    \1\16 U.S.C. 824e(b) (1994).
    \2\Applications for the determination of EWG status are filed 
pursuant to section 32 of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 
1935, as amended by the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (PUHCA). 15 U.S.C. 
79z-5a (1994).
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II. Discussion

    In recent years, the Commission has experienced a significant 
increase in its electric program workload. In light of the Commission's 
new responsibilities under the Energy Power Act of 1992 and significant 
competitive changes occurring in the electric utility industry, the 
Commission anticipates further increases in electric items such as rate 
filings, complaints, declaratory orders, corporate regulation cases, 
and EWG applications.3

    \3\For example, there were 874 ER filings in fiscal year 1992, 
988 ER filings in fiscal year 1993, 1698 ER filings in fiscal year 
1994, and 1865 ER filings in fiscal year 1995.
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    The Commission is concerned about its ability to thoroughly and 
timely address the many significant technical, legal and policy issues 
that it will need to decide in the next few years4 while 
simultaneously avoiding a significant backlog of more routine items. 
The Commission believes that it can meet its increasing workload, but 
only by developing more efficient ways to process cases. To this end, 
the Commission is expanding delegations of authority to the Secretary, 
the Director, and the General Counsel (and their designees) to rule on 
routine, uncontested, non-policy matters. The delegations should reduce 
overall Commission time spent on more routine items and thus provide a 
greater opportunity to address the more significant issues and 
proceedings. Thus, the delegation regulations contained in subpart C of 
part 375 are amended by this rule as described below.

    \4\See Promoting Wholesale Competition Through Open Access Non-
Discriminatory Transmission Services by Public Utilities, and 
Recovery of Stranded Costs by Public Utilities and Transmitting 
Utilities, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 60 FR 17662 (Apr. 7, 
1995), IV FERC Stats. and Regs. para.32,514 (1995). Notice of 
Technical Conference and Request for Comments, Real-Time Information 
Networks, 60 FR 17726 (Apr. 7, 1995), IV FERC Stats. and Regs. 
para.35,530; and Inquiry Concerning Alternative Power Pooling 
Institutions Under the Federal Power Act, Notice of Inquiry and 
Request for Comments, 59 FR 54851 (Nov. 2, 1994), IV Stats. and 
Regs. para.35,529 (1994).
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A. Delegations to the Secretary Under Sec. 375.302

1. Rehearing for Purpose of Further Consideration
    Under 18 CFR 385.713(f), the Commission has 30 days within which to 
act on a request for rehearing of a Commission order, or the request is 
deemed denied. While the Commission makes every effort to dispose of 
requests for rehearing within 30 days, the difficulty of the issues 
raised or the timing of the 30-day period in relation to the 
Commission's scheduled meetings sometimes makes this impossible. In 
these instances, the Commission issues an order granting rehearing for 
the purpose of further consideration. The Secretary, or the Secretary's 
designee, will be authorized to toll the time for action on rehearings 
of Commission action under all of the Commission's statutes, not just 
the FPA. This authority will apply only to stand-alone rehearing 
requests. In other words, if a rehearing request is combined with any 
other request for Commission action, such as a request to intervene in 
a proceeding or for a stay of a proceeding, the Commission will 
continue to act on the rehearing request and the other requests 
contained in the filing, according to current procedures.
2. RFA Notices
    When the Commission institutes an investigation under section 206 
of the FPA, section 206(b) requires the Commission to provide its best 
estimate of when it will complete the proceeding.5 This is known 
as an RFA notice. Normally, the Commission, in its order instituting 
the investigation, directs the presiding judge to provide a report 
estimating when the judge will issue an initial decision. The 
Commission, based on the judge's report, then estimates when it 
believes it will be able to complete the case. The Commission's 
estimate is affected by when staff believes it will be able to present 
a final order to the Commission. RFA notices will now be delegated to 
the Secretary, or the Secretary's designee. The Secretary will estimate 
the expected date of a final order based on discussion with appropriate 
staff.

    \5\This requirement was added to section 206 by the Regulatory 
Fairness Act of 1988. See 16 U.S.C. 824e(b) (1994).
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B. Delegation to the Director Under Sec. 375.308

    When parties reach a settlement in an electric rate case calling 
for reductions in the rates in effect subject to refund, the selling 
public utility often files with the Commission for permission to charge 
lower settlement rates during the period when the Commission is 
evaluating the settlement agreement. This is to avoid further refunds 
that would be required if the Commission accepts the settlement. Such 
motions are almost always granted by the Commission. However, this 
currently requires the preparation of an interim electric rate order. 
The ability to take appropriate action on such interim rate motions 
that are uncontested will now be delegated to the Director, or the 
Director's designee. To the extent that a motion to charge interim 
rates is contested or is combined with any other request for Commission 
action, the 

[[Page 62328]]
Commission will continue to act on the motion according to current 
procedures.

C. Delegation to the General Counsel Under Sec. 375.309

    To date, the Commission has acted on over 200 EWG applications. The 
vast majority of these applications have not presented unusual issues 
or issues requiring the interpretation of section 32 of PUHCA. However, 
the preparation of EWG orders has been time-consuming. The 
responsibility to grant uncontested EWG applications will now be 
delegated to the General Counsel, or the General Counsel's designee. 
Applications presenting unusual or interpretation issues will continue 
to be brought to the Commission, as will any contested applications and 
applications in which staff recommends denial of EWG status.6

    \6\Because there is no rehearing available on EWG applications, 
denials will continue to be addressed by the Commission.
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    In addition, the General Counsel or the General Counsel's designee 
will be authorized to act on uncontested motions to withdraw 
applications for EWG status. Under 18 CFR 365.5, if the Commission has 
not acted upon an EWG application within 60 days, it will be deemed to 
have been granted. While most motions to withdraw EWG applications are 
granted by operation of law 15 days after filing pursuant to 18 CFR 
385.216(b), Commission action on a motion to withdraw an EWG 
application is necessary if the motion is contested or if the 60th day 
for action on the EWG application is sooner than the 15th day after the 
filing of the motion to withdraw. Contested motions to withdraw will be 
acted on by the Commission. However, this delegation will allow the 
General Counsel or the General Counsel's designee to act on uncontested 
motions in a timely fashion.

III. Conclusion

    As explained above, in the interests of administrative efficiency, 
we will amend: (1) 18 CFR 375.302 to add that the Secretary, or the 
Secretary's designee, is authorized to toll the time for action on 
stand-alone requests for rehearing, and to issue RFA notices; (2) 18 
CFR 375.308 to authorize the Director, or the Director's designee, to 
act on uncontested, stand-alone interim electric rate motions that 
would result in lower rates, pending Commission action on settlement 
agreements; and (3) 18 CFR 375.309 to authorize the General Counsel, or 
the General Counsel's designee, to grant uncontested EWG applications 
not involving unusual or interpretation issues, and to act on 
uncontested motions to withdraw EWG applications.

IV. Environmental Statement

    Commission regulations require that an environmental assessment or 
an environmental impact statement be prepared for any Commission action 
that may have a significant adverse effect on the human 
environment.7 The Commission has categorically excluded certain 
actions from this requirement as not having a significant effect on the 
human environment.8 No environmental consideration is necessary 
for the promulgation of a rule that is clarifying, corrective, or 
procedural.9 As explained above, this final rule is procedural and 
ministerial in nature, and promotes internal administrative efficiency. 
Accordingly, no environmental consideration is necessary.

    \7\Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy 
Act, Order No. 486, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. and 
Regs. Regulations Preambles 1986-1990 para.30,783 (1987) (codified 
at 18 CFR part 380).
    \8\18 CFR 380.4.
    \9\18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii).
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V. Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act10 requires rulemakings either 
to contain a description and analysis of the impact the rule will have 
small entities or a certification that the rule will not have a 
substantial economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The Commission certifies that promulgating this rule does not represent 
a major Federal action having a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities. Therefore, no regulatory 
flexibility analysis is required.

    \10\ 5 U.S.C. 601-612 (1994).
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VI. Information Collection Statement

    The Paperwork Reduction Act of 199511 authorizes the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) to review and approve information 
collection requirements imposed by agency rule. These requirements are 
submitted by Federal agencies in accordance with OMB's 
regulations,12 as appropriate. However, this order neither 
contains new information collection requirements nor modifies existing 
information collection requirements in the Commission's regulations. 
Therefore, this final rule is not subject to OMB approval. A copy of 
this rule will be sent to OMB for informational purposes only.

    \11\44 U.S.C. 3507 et seq. (1994).
    \12\5 CFR Part 1320.
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VII. Administrative Findings and Effective Date

    The Administrative Procedure Act (APA)13 requires rulemakings 
to be published in the Federal Register. The APA also mandates that an 
opportunity for comments be provided when an agency promulgates 
regulations. However, notice and comment are not required under the APA 
when the agency for good cause finds that notice and public procedure 
thereon are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public 
interest.14 The Commission finds that notice and comment are 
unnecessary for this rulemaking. As explained above, this final rule is 
procedural and ministerial in nature and is being promulgated to 
advance internal administrative efficiency. The Commission is merely 
amending its rules to improve the efficiency with which certain routine 
items are processed.

    \13\5 U.S.C. 551-559 (1994).
    \14\5 U.S.C. 553(B) (1994).
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    The Commission will make this rule effective January 5, 1996.

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 375

    Authority delegations (Government agencies), Electric power rates, 
Electric utilities, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    By the Commission.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
    In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission amends part 375, 
chapter I of title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, as set forth below.

PART 375--THE COMMISSION

    1. The authority citation for part 375 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 551-557; 15 U.S.C. 717-717w, 3301-3432; 16 
U.S.C. 791-825r, 2601-2645; 42 U.S.C. 7101-7352.

    2. In Sec. 375.302, paragraphs (v) and (w) are added to read as 
follows:


Sec. 375.302  Delegations to the Secretary.

* * * * *
    (v) Toll the time for action on requests for rehearing.
    (w) Issue notices in compliance with section 206(b) of the Federal 
Power Act.
    3. In Sec. 375.308, paragraph (a) is amended by adding paragraph 
(a)(4) to read as follows:


Sec. 375.308  Delegations to the Director of the Office of Electric 
Power Regulation.

* * * * *
    (a) * * *
    (4) Take appropriate action on uncontested interim electric rate 

[[Page 62329]]
    motions that would result in lower rates, pending Commission action on 
settlement agreements.
* * * * *
    4. In Sec. 375.309, paragraph (g) is added to read as follows:


Sec. 375.309  Delegations to the General Counsel.

* * * * *
    (g) Grant uncontested applications for exempt wholesale generator 
status that do not involve unusual or interpretation issues and to act 
on uncontested motions to withdraw such applications.
[FR Doc. 95-29664 Filed 12-5-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P