[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 151 (Friday, August 6, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43012-43013]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-20295]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration
[Docket No. RSPA-99-6045]


Pipeline Safety: Report of the Cost-Benefit Analysis Framework 
Working Group

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces a one day public meeting to be conducted 
by RSPA's Office of Pipeline Safety to review the final report of the 
Cost-Benefit Analysis Framework Working Group. This informal working 
group, consisting of representatives of the gas and hazardous liquid 
pipeline industry, the Federal government, and academics, developed a 
framework for use by RSPA to identify and compare the economic costs 
and benefits of alternative safety actions that could affect the 
regulated pipeline industry. RSPA invites representatives of the 
pipeline industry, state and local government, and the public to attend 
this meeting, make presentations, ask questions, and submit comments to 
the docket.

DATES: The public meeting will begin at 9:00 am on September 29, 1999, 
and end no later than 5:00 pm. Persons wishing to make a short 
presentation may pre-register by contacting Marvin Fell at (202) 366-
6205 to be placed on the speakers list. Persons not pre-registered will 
be allowed to make comments after the registered speakers have 
completed their presentations.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Room 8236-40, 
Washington, DC. Non-federal employee visitors are admitted into the DOT 
headquarters building through the southwest entrance at Seventh and E 
Streets, SW.

Information on Services for Individuals With Disabilities

    For information on facilities or services for individuals with 
disabilities or to request special assistance at the meeting contact 
Marvin Fell at (202) 366-6205.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marvin Fell, (202) 366-6205, or by e-
mail ([email protected]), regarding this notice. The report, A 
Collaborative Framework for Office of Pipeline Safety Cost-Benefit 
Analyses (Framework), will be available after August 11, 1999, for 
inspection and copying in the DOT Dockets Unit, 400 Seventh Street, SW, 
Washington, DC, between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm each business day. A copy 
of the Framework is also available over the Internet at the Office of 
Pipeline Safety's website, ops.dot.gov. A transcript of the public 
meeting will be available from the Dockets Unit approximately three 
weeks after the meeting.
    Written comments may be mailed or hand-delivered to the DOT Dockets 
Unit, Plaza 401, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, 
SW, Washington, DC 20590-0001. Comments may also be sent by e-mail to 
dms.dot.gov. Please refer to the docket number in your submission. 
Comments must be submitted by November 1, 1999.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Accountable Pipeline Safety and 
Partnership Act of 1996 requires RSPA to identify the costs and 
benefits associated with proposed gas and hazardous liquid pipeline 
regulations. Under the Act, the Secretary of Transportation must 
propose or issue a regulation only after making a reasoned 
determination that the benefits of the regulation justify its costs. 
OPS believes that a collaborative process is the optimal approach for 
meeting the statutory requirements for cost-benefit analysis and for 
improving the quality of information used in regulatory policy 
decisions.
    In the spring of 1997, RSPA's Office of Pipeline Safety formed the 
Cost-Benefit Analysis Framework Working Group (Working Group) to 
collaboratively develop guidelines for performing cost-benefit 
analyses. Members in this working group included representatives of 
RSPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the 
Department of the Interior (DOI), the American Petroleum Institute 
(API), the Gas Research Institute (GRI), the American Gas Association 
(AGA), the Interstate Natural Gas Association (INGAA), the American 
Public Gas Association (APGA), and the Carnegie-Mellon Research 
Institute. A number of hazardous liquid, natural gas distribution, and 
natural gas transmission companies.
    Members of the Working Group will discuss the cost-benefit 
framework report prepared by the Working Group at this public meeting. 
Members of the Working Group will also present a case study employing 
the cost-benefit framework to illustrate the application of the 
framework's process and guidance.

1. Potential Benefits for All Stakeholders

    Initial objectives for the Working Group were to explore members' 
perspectives and experiences with government cost-benefit analyses and 
to provide members with enough background and knowledge to enable 
effective participation. In meeting these objectives, the Working Group 
concluded that RSPA needed a documented framework with which to carry 
out pipeline safety cost-benefit analyses. Such a framework, its 
process and guidance, the Working Group believed, is necessary to 
enable all stakeholders to participate effectively in future pipeline 
safety initiatives. The Working Group anticipates that the framework 
will produce the following results:
     More informed decision making in public policy 
transactions.
     Clearer regulatory priorities and transparent tradeoffs 
between alternative outcomes.
     Identification of important factors besides economic 
efficiency for decision makers to consider, such as distributional 
equity or the potential for irreversible or unintended consequences.
     More efficient regulations that solve actual problems.
     More informed stakeholders, more efficient and effective 
interactions among stakeholders, and decreased

[[Page 43013]]

potential for prolonged conflicts and litigations.
     Promotion of mutual understanding and interests.

2. Guiding Principles

    In the early stages of their effort, the Working Group crafted a 
set of guiding principles for pipeline cost-benefit analyses. The 
Working Group agreed on fourteen principles that should guide the 
evaluation of pipeline safety cost-benefit analyses. RSPA intends to 
refine or modify these guiding principles whenever needed to be 
consistent with changes in economic theory and methods. Throughout the 
effort, the Working Group exercised care to ensure that the guiding 
principles and the cost-benefit framework reflect and are consistent 
with standard accepted economic concepts and practices. One major 
reference for the Working Group in developing the guiding principles 
and framework is the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) guidance 
for economic analyses.

3. Framework

    As envisioned by the Working Group, the framework consists of a 
process for interaction among stakeholders representing the government, 
industry, environmental, and safety constituencies, and the public. The 
Working Group's report, A Collaborative Framework for Office of 
Pipeline Safety Cost-Benefit Analyses, describes each of the major 
process components of the framework and gives detailed guidance to 
carry out each process component. The major process components in the 
framework are:
     Identifying and defining the target problem.
     Identifying all available alternatives for addressing the 
target problem.
     Defining the analytical baseline.
     Defining the scope of the analysis.
     Analyzing costs.
     Analyzing benefits.
     Interpreting and using cost-benefit results.
     Evaluating the value and effectiveness of the cost-benefit 
process.

4. Illustrative Case Study--Pipeline Mapping

    Since extensive cost data are available for RSPA's voluntary 
pipeline mapping initiative, the Working Group elected to do a cost-
benefit analysis of this initiative. This case study provided the 
Working Group a way to illustrate, test, and refine the framework. The 
Working Group report presents the analytical results of this case 
study, reviews the challenges inherent to the application of the 
framework to analyze the costs and benefits of the initiative, and 
describes the ``lessons learned.''
    RSPA invites discussions and comments on the Cost-Benefit Analysis 
Framework Working Group's final report, A Collaborative Framework for 
Office of Pipeline Safety Cost-Benefit Analyses.

    Issued in Washington, DC on August 2, 1999.
Richard B. Felder,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 99-20295 Filed 8-5-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P