[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 7, 1999)] [Notices] [Pages 36681-36682] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 99-17112] [[Page 36681]] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. PL98-1-001] Public Access to Information and Electronic Filing; Comment Period on Staff Issue Paper on Electronic Filing June 30, 1999. agency: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. action: Notice of comment period on staff issue paper on electronic filing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- summary: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Staff (Staff) held a technical conference on electronic filings on June 24, 1999. Prior to the conference, Staff posted on its web site an issue paper containing Staff's analysis and preliminary recommendation on various electronic filing issues. At the conference, Staff stated that additional comments on the issue paper may be filed on or before July 15, 1999. This notice provides interested persons with an opportunity to file these comments. dates: Comments must be filed by close of business on July 15, 1999. addresses: Send comments to: Office of the Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426. for further information contact: Brooks Carter, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Room 42-29, Washington, D.C. 20426, (202) 501-8145, FAX: (202) 208-2425, E-Mail: brooks,[email protected]. Wilbur Miller, Office of the General Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Room 91-17, Washington, D.C. 20426, (202) 208-0953. 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, 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 assessed via Internet through FERC's Home Page (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. User assistance is available at 202-208-2474 or by E-mail to CipsM[email protected]. This document is also available through the Commission's Records and Information Management Systems (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 E-mail to RimsM[email protected]. Finally, the complete text on diskette in WordPerfect may be purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, RVJ International, RVJ International, Inc., is located in the Public Reference Room 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20426. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Notice of Comment Period on Staff Issue Paper on Electronic Filing Take notice that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) will allow comments to be filed on a staff issue paper on electronic filing issues on or before July 15, 1999. Staff posted the issue paper on the Commission's web site 10 days in advance of the Commission's June 24, 1999, Technical Conference on electronic filing. Staff announced at the conference that it would allow comments to be filed on the issue paper and is herein providing formal notice that any person interested in this docket may file comments, regardless of whether they participated in the technical conference. The issue paper contains Staff's analyses and preliminary recommendations for major electronic filing issues, including: (1) Filing Formats (2) Citation (3) Record Retention (4) Official Filing Date (5) Electronic Filing Authentication and Verification (Signatures) (6) Document Content Standards (for Electronic Submissions) (7) Electronic Filing Phase 1 Profile The recommendations are Staff's preliminary recommendations and do not constitute a proposal by the Commission. These preliminary recommendations are based in part on an analysis of comments received in response to a request for comments issued in Docket No. PL98-1-000 on May 13, 1998. They are available on the Commission's web site (http://www.ferc.fed.us/efi/efi.htm). Through this link, interested persons can access all information pertinent to Docket No. PL98-1, including comments and materials from all previous technical conferences. At the conference, Staff also demonstrated prototype screens for electronic filing. Interested persons may access the prototype at http://itdevl.ferc.fed.us/. There is a message board where interested persons can post comments on the prototype, including any suggested changes. Comments posted on the message board are viewable by anyone accessing the system. It is not necessary to formally submit message board comments to the Commission unless you want your comments included in the formal record of this proceeding. Comment Procedures The Commission invites interested persons to submit written comments on the matters and issues referenced in this notice, 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. on July 15, 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. PL98-1-001. 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 8.0 or below, MS Word Office 97 or lower version, or ASCII format. For diskette filing, include the following information on the diskette label: Docket No. PL98-1-001; the name of the filing entry; the software and version used to create the file; and the name and telephone number of a contact person. For Internet E-Mail submission, comments should be submitted to ``[email protected]'' in the following format. On the subject line, specify Docket No. PL98-1-001. 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 acknowledgement to the sender's E-Mail address upon [[Page 36682]] receipt. Questions 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, NE., Washington, D.C. 20426, during regular business hours. Additionally, comments may be viewed, printed, or downloaded remotely via the Internet through FERC's Home Page using the RIMS or CIPS links. RIMS contains all comments but only those comments submitted in electronic format are available on CIPS. User assistance is available at 202-208-2222, or by E-Mail to [email protected]. Linwood A. Watson, Jr., Acting Secretary. [FR Doc. 99-17112 Filed 7-6-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717-01-M