[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 100 (Friday, May 23, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28464-28465]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-13604]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. RM93-11-000]


Revisions to Oil Pipeline Regulations Pursuant to the Energy 
Policy Act of 1992

Issued May 19, 1997.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of annual change in the producer price index for 
finished goods, minus one percent.

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SUMMARY: The Commission is issuing the index that oil pipelines must 
apply to their July 1, 1996-June 30, 1997 rate ceiling levels to 
compute their rate ceiling levels for the period July 1, 1997 through 
June 30, 1998, in accordance with 18 CFR 342.3(d). This index, which is 
the percent change (expressed as a decimal) in the annual average 
Producer Price Index for Finished Goods from 1995 to 1996, minus one 
percent, is .016583. Oil pipelines must multiply their July 1, 1996-
June 30, 1997 rate ceiling levels by 1.016583 to compute their rate 
ceiling levels for the period July 1, 1997 through June 30, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michelle Veloso, Office of Economic Policy, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-
2008.

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 at 888 First Street, N.E., 
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 (202) 208-1397 if dialing locally, or 1-800-856-3720 if dialing 
long distance. To access CIPS, set your communications software to use 
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 document 
will be available on CIPS indefinitely; it can be found in ASCII and 
WordPerfect 6.1 format. The complete text on diskette in WordPerfect 
format may also be purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, La 
Dorn Systems Corporation, also located in the Public Reference Room at 
888 First Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20426.
    The Commission's regulations include a methodology for oil 
pipelines to change their rates through use of an index system that 
establishes ceiling levels for such rates. The index system as set 
forth at 18 CFR 342.3 is based on the annual change in the Producer 
Price Index for Finished Goods (PPI-FG), minus one percent. The 
regulations provide that each year the Commission will publish an index 
reflecting the final change in the PPI-FG, minus one percent, after the 
final PPI-FG is made available by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 
of each calendar year.
    The annual PPI-FD index figure for 1995 was 127.9 and the annual 
average PPI-FG index figure for 1996 was 131.3.\1\ Thus, the percent 
change

[[Page 28465]]

(expressed as a decimal) in the annual average PPI-FG from 1995 to 
1996, minus one percent, is .016583.\2\ Oil pipelines must multiply 
their July 1, 1996-June 30, 1997 rate ceiling levels by 1.016583 to 
compute their rate ceiling levels for the period July 1, 1997 through 
June 30, 1998, in accordance with 18 CFR 342.3(d).
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    \1\ The final figure for the annual average PPI-FG is published 
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in mid-May of each year. This 
figure is publicly available from the Division of Industrial Prices 
and Price Indexes of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, at (202) 606-
7705, and is available in print in August in Table 1 of the annual 
data supplement to the BLS publication Producer Price Indexes.
    \2\ [131.3-127.9]/127.9 = .026583-.01 = .016583.
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    To obtain July 1, 1997-June 30, 1998 ceiling levels, pipelines must 
first calculate their ceiling levels for the January 1, 1995-June 30, 
1995 index period, by multiplying their December 31, 1994 rates by 
1.002175. Pipelines must then multiply those ceiling levels by 0.996514 
to obtain the July 1, 1995-June 30, 1996 ceiling levels, and then 
multiply those ceiling levels by 1.009124 to obtain the July 1, 1996-
June 30, 1997 ceiling levels. Finally, pipelines must multiply the July 
1, 1996-June 30, 1997 ceiling levels by 1.016583 to obtain the July 1, 
1997-June 30, 1998 ceiling levels. See Explorer Pipeline Company, 71 
FERC para. 61416 n.6 (1995) for an explanation of how ceiling levels 
must be calculated.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-13604 Filed 5-22-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-M