[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 246 (Wednesday, December 23, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 71043-71046]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-33985]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 284

[Docket No. RM96-1-011]


Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas 
Pipelines

December 17, 1998.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is proposing to amend 
Sec. 284.10 of its regulations governing standards for conducting 
business practices and electronic communication with interstate natural 
gas pipelines. The Commission is proposing to incorporate by reference 
the most recent version of the standards, Version 1.3 promulgated July 
31, 1998, by the Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB).

DATES: Comments are due January 22, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, 
N.E., Washington DC 20426.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael Goldenberg, Office of the General Counsel, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, 
(202) 208-2294
Marvin Rosenberg, Office of Economic Policy, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-1283
Kay Morice, Office of Pipeline Regulation, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-0507

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In addition to publishing the full text of 
this document in the Federal Register, the Commission also provides all

[[Page 71044]]

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, N.E., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426. The 
Commission Issuance Posting System (CIPS) provides access to the texts 
of formal documents issued by the Commission. CIPS can be accessed via 
Internet through FERC's Homepage (http://www.ferc.fed.us) using the 
CIPS Link or the Energy Information Online icon. The full text of this 
document will be available on CIPS in ASCII and WordPerfect 6.1 format. 
CIPS is also available through the Commission's electronic bulletin 
board service 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 1-800-856-3920, if dialing long distance. 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. User assistance is available at 202-208-2474 or by E-mail to 
[email protected].
    This document is also available through the Commission's Records 
and Information Management System (RIMS), an electronic storage and 
retrieval system of documents submitted to and issued by the Commission 
after November 16, 1981. Documents from November 1995 to the present 
can be viewed and printed. RIMS is available in the Public Reference 
Room or remotely via Internet through FERC's Homepage using the RIMS 
link or the Energy Information Online icon. User assistance is 
available at 202-208-2222, or by E-mail to [email protected].
    Finally, the complete text on diskette in WordPerfect format may be 
purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, RVJ International, 
Inc. RVJ International, Inc., is located in the Public Reference Room 
at 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is proposing 
to amend Sec. 284.10 of its regulations governing standards for 
conducting business practices and electronic communications with 
interstate natural gas pipelines. The Commission is proposing to adopt 
the most recent version, Version 1.3, of the consensus industry 
standards, promulgated by the Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB).

I. Background

    In Order Nos. 587, 587-B, 587-C, 587-G, and 587-H,1 the 
Commission adopted regulations to standardize the business practices 
and communication methodologies of interstate pipelines in order to 
create a more integrated and efficient pipeline grid. In those orders, 
the Commission incorporated by reference consensus standards developed 
by GISB, a private, consensus standards developer composed of members 
from all segments of the natural gas industry.
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    \1\ Standards For Business Practices Of Interstate Natural Gas 
Pipelines, Order No. 587, 61 FR 39053 (Jul. 26, 1996), III FERC 
Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles para. 31,038 (Jul. 17, 1996), 
Order No. 587-B, 62 FR 5521 (Feb. 6, 1997), III FERC Stats. & Regs. 
Regulations Preambles para. 31,046 (Jan. 30, 1997), Order No. 587-C, 
62 FR 10684 (Mar. 10, 1997), III FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations 
Preambles para. 31,050 (Mar. 4, 1997), Order No. 587-G, 63 FR 20072 
(Apr. 23, 1998), III FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles para. 
31,062 (Apr. 16, 1998), Order No. 587-H, 63 FR 39509 (July 23, 
1998), III FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles para. 31,063 
(July 15, 1998).
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    On November 9, 1998, GISB filed with the Commission its most recent 
revision of its standards, Version 1.3. GISB also provided a 
description of its ongoing activities.

II. Discussion

    The Commission is proposing to adopt Version 1.3 of GISB's 
consensus standards with an implementation date on the first of the 
month occurring 90 days after publication of the final rule in the 
Federal Register. Version 1.3 of the GISB standards updates and 
improves the standards, with the principal changes occurring in the 
areas of confirmation practices, further standardization of the 
information provided on pipeline Internet web sites, and revisions to 
the data sets.2 Commission adoption of these standards will 
keep the Commission regulations current.
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    \2\ The following reflects the changes from the Version 1.2 
standards previously adopted by the Commission. The list does not 
include the intra-day nomination standards that already were adopted 
in Order No. 587-H. Revised standards are: 1.3.3, 1.3.14, 1.3.24, 
1.3.27, 2.3.9, 2.3.16, 2.3.20, and 4.3.16. New standards are: 1.3.35 
through 1.3.38, 1.3.45, 1.3.46, 3.3.22, 4.1.16 through 4.1.21, 4.2.1 
through 4.2.8, and 4.3.17 through 4.3.35. Revised data sets are: 
1.4.1 through 1.4.6, 2.4.1 through 2.4.6, 3.4.1 through 3.4.3, 5.4.1 
through 5.4.9, 5.4.11 through 5.4.13, 5.4.16, and 5.4.17. New data 
sets are: 1.4.7 and 3.4.4.
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    Because the Version 1.3 standards include the nomination and intra-
day nomination standards adopted by the Commission in Order No. 587-H, 
separate reference to these standards in the regulations is no longer 
necessary and is proposed to be removed. The Commission also is 
continuing its previous practice by proposing to exclude standards 
2.3.29 dealing with operational balancing agreements (OBAs), 2.3.30 
dealing with netting and trading of imbalances, and 4.3.4 dealing with 
retention of electronic data. The Commission has issued its own 
regulations in these areas,3 so that incorporation of the 
GISB standards is unnecessary and may cause confusion as to the 
applicable Commission requirements.
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    \3\ 18 CFR 284.10(c)(2)(i) (OBAs), (c)(2)(ii) (netting and 
trading of imbalances), and (c)(3)(v) (record retention).
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    GISB approved the standards under its consensus 
procedures.4 As the Commission found in Order No. 587, 
adoption of consensus standards is appropriate because the consensus 
process helps ensure the reasonableness of the standards by requiring 
that the standards draw support from a broad spectrum of all segments 
of the industry. Moreover, since the industry itself has to conduct 
business under these standards, the Commission's regulations should 
reflect those standards that have the widest possible support. In 
Sec. 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act 
(NTT&AA) of 1995, Congress affirmatively requires federal agencies to 
use technical standards developed by voluntary consensus standards 
organizations, like GISB, as means to carry out policy objectives or 
activities.5
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    \4\ This process first requires a super-majority vote of 17 out 
of 25 members of GISB's Executive Committee with support from at 
least two members from each of the five industry segments--
interstate pipelines, local distribution companies, gas producers, 
end-users, and services (including marketers and computer service 
providers). For final approval, 67% of GISB's general membership 
must ratify the standards.
    \5\ Pub L. 104-113, Sec. 12(d), 110 Stat. 775 (1996), 15 U.S.C. 
272 note (1997).
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    In addition, in Order No. 587-G, the Commission deferred 
implementation of its OBA regulation6 and its imbalance 
trading regulation 7 until GISB had an opportunity to 
develop standards related to OBAS and imbalance trading. GISB reports 
that it has approved a model Operational Balancing Agreement and that 
its OBA standards are completed.8 In a contemporaneous 
order, the Commission is establishing an April 1, 1999 date for the 
pipelines to comply with the regulation requiring them to enter into 
OBAs with interconnecting interstate and intrastate pipelines.
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    \6\ 18 CFR 284.10(c)(2)(i).
    \7\ 18 CFR 284.10(c)(2)(ii).
    \8\ GISB's November 9, 1998 filing, Docket No. RM96-1-010, 
Appendix 5.
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    GISB is continuing to work on its standards relating to imbalance 
trading, and according to GISB's schedule, these standards are 
scheduled for completion

[[Page 71045]]

by the end of 1998.9 Since development of imbalance trading 
standards is not yet complete, the Commission will not establish a firm 
implementation date for its imbalance trading regulation. However, 
given the importance of imbalance trading, the Commission expects such 
implementation to take place prior to the 1999 heating season.
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    \9\ GISB's November 9, 1998 filing, Docket No. RM96-1-010, 
Appendix 5.
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III. Notice of Proposed Use of Standards

    Office of Management and Budget Circular A-119 (Sec. 11) (February 
10, 1998) provides that federal agencies publish a request for comment 
in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) when the agency is seeking to 
issue or revise a regulation that contains a standard identifying 
whether a voluntary consensus standard or a government-unique standard 
is being proposed. In this NOPR, the Commission is proposing to use 
Version 1.3 (July 31, 1998) of the voluntary consensus standards 
developed by GISB.

IV. Information Collection Statement

    The following collections of information contained in this proposed 
rule have been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for review under Section 3507(d) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507(d). The Commission solicits comments on the 
Commission's need for this information, whether the information will 
have practical utility, the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, 
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondents' 
burden, including the use of automated information techniques. The 
following burden estimates include the costs for complying with GISB's 
Version 1.3 standards which update and improve the existing Version 1.2 
standards. The burden estimates are primarily related to start-up for 
implementing the latest version of the standards and data sets and will 
not be on-going costs.

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                                                                     Number of
                 Data collection                     Number of     responses per     Hrs. per      Total number
                                                    respondents     respondent       response         of hrs.
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FERC-545........................................              93               1              38           3,534
FERC-549C.......................................              93               1           2,610         242,730
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Total Annual Hours for Collection
    (Reporting and Recordkeeping, (if appropriate) = 246,264.
    Information Collection Costs: The Commission seeks comments on the 
costs to comply with these requirements. It has projected the average 
annualized cost per respondent to be the following:

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                                             FERC-545        FERC-549C
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Annualized Capital/Startup Costs........          $2,008        $137,888
Annualized Costs (Operations &
 Maintenance)...........................               0               0
                                         -------------------------------
      Total Annualized Costs............           2,008         137,888
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    OMB regulations\10\ require OMB to approve certain information 
collection requirements imposed by agency rule. The Commission is 
submitting notification of this proposed rule to OMB.

    \10\ 5 CFR 1320.11.

    Title: FERC-545, Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Change (Non-Formal); 
FERC-549C, Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas 
Pipelines.
    Action: Proposed collections.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0154, 1902-0174.
    Respondents: Business or other for profit (Interstate natural gas 
pipelines (Not applicable to small business.))
    Frequency of Responses: One-time implementation (business 
procedures, capital/start-up).
    Necessity of Information: This proposed rule, if implemented, would 
upgrade the Commission's current business practice and communication 
standards to the latest edition approved by GISB (Version 1.3). The 
implementation of these standards is necessary to increase the 
efficiency of the pipeline grid.
    The information collection requirements of this proposed rule will 
be reported directly to the industry users. The implementation of these 
data requirements will help the Commission carry out its 
responsibilities under the Natural Gas Act to monitor activities of the 
natural gas industry to ensure its competitiveness and to assure the 
improved efficiency of the industry's operations. The Commission's 
Office of Pipeline Regulation will use the data in rate proceedings to 
review rate and tariff changes by natural gas companies for the 
transportation of gas, for general industry oversight, and to 
supplement the documentation used during the Commission's audit 
process.
    Internal Review: The Commission has reviewed the requirements 
pertaining to business practices and electronic communication with 
natural gas interstate pipelines and made a determination that the 
proposed revisions are necessary to establish a more efficient and 
integrated pipeline grid. Requiring such information ensures both a 
common means of communication and common business practices which 
provide participants engaged in transactions with interstate pipelines 
with timely information and uniform business procedures across multiple 
pipelines. These requirements conform to the Commission's plan for 
efficient information collection, communication, and management within 
the natural gas industry. The Commission has assured itself, by means 
of its internal review, that there is specific, objective support for 
the burden estimates associated with the information requirements.

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    Interested persons may obtain information on the reporting 
requirements by contacting the following: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426, [Attention: 
Michael Miller, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Phone: 
(202)208-1415, fax: (202)273-0873 email: [email protected]].
    Comments concerning the collection of information(s) and the 
associated burden estimate(s), should be sent to the contact listed 
above and to the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, Washington, D.C. 20503 [Attention: Desk Officer 
for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, phone: (202)395-3087, 
fax: (202)395-7285]

V. Environmental Analysis

    The Commission is required to prepare an Environmental Assessment 
or an Environmental Impact Statement for any action that may have a 
significant adverse effect on the human environment.\11\ The Commission 
has categorically excluded certain actions from these requirements as 
not having a significant effect on the human environment.\12\ The 
actions proposed to be taken here fall within categorical exclusions in 
the Commission's regulations for rules that are clarifying, corrective, 
or procedural, for information gathering, analysis, and dissemination, 
and for sales, exchange, and transportation of natural gas that 
requires no construction of facilities.\13\ Therefore, an environmental 
assessment is unnecessary and has not been prepared in this rulemaking.
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    \11\ Order No. 486, Regulations Implementing the National 
Environmental Policy Act, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & 
Regs. Preambles 1986-1990 para.30,783 (1987).
    \12\ 18 CFR 380.4.
    \13\ See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii), 380.4(a)(5), 380.4(a)(27).
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VI. Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) \14\ generally 
requires a description and analysis of final rules that will have 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The proposed regulations would impose requirements only on interstate 
pipelines, which are not small businesses, and, these requirements are, 
in fact, designed to reduce the difficulty of dealing with pipelines by 
all customers, including small businesses. Accordingly, pursuant to 
Sec. 605(b) of the RFA, the Commission hereby certifies that the 
regulations proposed herein will not have a significant adverse impact 
on a substantial number of small entities.
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    \14\ 5 U.S.C. 601-612.
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VII. Comment Procedures

    The Commission invites interested persons to submit written 
comments on the matters and issues proposed in this notice to be 
adopted, including any related matters or alternative proposals that 
commenters may wish to discuss.
    The original and 14 copies of such comments must be received by the 
Commission before 5:00 p.m. January 22, 1999. Comments should be 
submitted to the Office of the Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington D.C. 20426 and should 
refer to Docket No. RM96-1-011.
    In addition to filing paper copies, the Commission encourages the 
filing of comments either on computer diskette or via Internet E-Mail. 
Comments may be filed in the following formats: WordPerfect 6.1 or 
lower version, MS Word Office 97 or lower version, or ASCII format.
    For diskette filing, include the following information on the 
diskette label: Docket No. RM 96-1-011; the name of the filing entity; 
the software and version used to create the file; and the name and 
telephone number of a contact person.
    For Internet E-Mail submittal, comments should be submitted to 
``[email protected]'' in the following format. On the subject 
line, specify Docket No. RM96-1-011. In the body of the E-Mail message, 
include the name of the filing entity; the software and version used to 
create the file, and the name and telephone number of the contact 
person. Attach the comment to the E-Mail in one of the formats 
specified above. The Commission will send an automatic acknowledgment 
to the sender's E-Mail address upon receipt. Questions or comments on 
electronic filing should be directed to Brooks Carter at 202-501-8145, 
E-Mail address [email protected].
    Commenters should take note that, until the Commission amends its 
rules and regulations, the paper copy of the filing remains the 
official copy of the document submitted. Therefore, any discrepancies 
between the paper filing and the electronic filing or the diskette will 
be resolved by reference to the paper filing.
    All written comments will be placed in the Commission's public 
files and will be available for inspection in the Commission's Public 
Reference room at 888 First Street, N.E., Washington D.C. 20426, during 
regular business hours. Additionally, comments may be viewed and 
printed remotely via the Internet through FERC's Homepage using the 
RIMS link or the Energy Information Online icon. User assistance is 
available at 202-208-2222, or by E-Mail to [email protected].

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 284

    Continental shelf, Incorporation by reference, Natural gas, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    By direction of the Commission.
David P. Boergers,
Secretary.

    In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission proposes to amend 
Part 284, Chapter I, Title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, as set 
forth below.

PART 284--CERTAIN SALES AND TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS UNDER THE 
NATURAL GAS POLICY ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED AUTHORITIES

    1. The authority citation for Part 284 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 717-717w, 3301-3432; 42 U.S.C 7101-7532; 43 
U.S.C 1331-1356.

    2. In section 284.10, paragraphs (b)(1)(i) through (v) are revised 
to as follows:


Sec. 284.10  Standards for pipeline business operations and 
communications.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (i) Nominations Related Standards (Version 1.3, July 31, 1998);
    (ii) Flowing Gas Related Standards (Version 1.3, July 31, 1998) 
with the exception of Standards 2.3.29 and 2.3.30;
    (iii) Invoicing Related Standards (Version 1.3, July 31, 1998);
    (iv) Electronic Delivery Mechanism Standards (Version 1.3, July 31, 
1998) with the exception of Standard 4.3.4; and
    (v) Capacity Release Related Standards (Version 1.3, July 31, 
1998).
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 98-33985 Filed 12-22-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P