[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 102 (Thursday, May 25, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 33816]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-13115]


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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

May 19, 2000.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

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, 1999-June 30, 2000 index ceiling levels to 
compute their index ceiling levels for the period July 1, 2000 through 
June 30, 2001, 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 1998 to 1999, minus one 
percent, is 0.007598. Oil pipelines must multiply their July 1, 1999-
June 30, 2000 index ceiling levels by 1.007598 to compute their index 
ceiling levels for the period July 1, 2000 through June 30, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Ulevich, Office of Markets, 
Tariffs, and Rates, Corporate Applications, Group 2, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426, 
(202) 208-0678.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In addition to publishing the full text of 
this document in the Federal Register, the Commission provides all 
interested persons an opportunity to view and/or print the contents of 
this document via the Internet through FERC's Home Page (http://www./
ferc./fed.us) and in FERC's Public Reference Room during normal 
business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time) at 888 First 
Street, N.E., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426.
    From FERC's Home Page on the Internet, this information is 
available in both the Commission Issuance Posting System (CIPS) and the 
Records and Information management System (RIMS).
    CIPS provides access to the texts of formal documents issued by the 
Commission since November 14, 1994. CIPS can be accessed using the CIPS 
link or the Energy Information Online icon. The full text of this 
document is available on CIPS in ASCII and WordPerfect 8.0 format for 
viewing, printing, and/or downloading.
    RIMS contains images of documents submitted to an issued by the 
Commission after November 16, 1981. Documents from November 1995 to the 
present can be viewed and printed from FERC's Home page using the RIMS 
link or the Energy Information Online icon. Descriptions of documents 
back to November 16, 1981, are also available from RIMS-on-the-Web; 
requests for copies of these and other older documents should be 
submitted to the Public Reference Room.
    User assistance is available for RIMS, CIPS, and the Website during 
normal business hours from our Help line at (202) 208-222 (E-Mail to 
[email protected]) or the Public Reference at (202) 208-1371 (E-
Mail to public.reference [email protected]).
    During normal business hours, documents can also be viewed and/or 
printed in FERC's Public Reference Room where RIMS, CIPS, and the FERC 
Website are available. User assistance is also available.
    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 average PPI-FG index figure for 1998 was 130.7 and the 
annual average PPI-FG index figure for 1999 was 133.0.\1\ Thus, the 
percent change (expressed as a decimal) in the annual average PPI-FG 
from 1998 to 1999, minus one percent is 0.007598.\2\ Oil pipelines must 
multiply their July 1, 1999-June 30, 2000 index ceiling levels by 
1.007598 \3\ to compute their index ceiling levels for the period July 
1, 2000, through June 30, 2001, 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. The 
PPI data are also available via the Internet. The Internet address 
is http://www.fedstats.gov. This site contains data from a number of 
government agencies; to obtain the BLS data, click on agencies, then 
click on Bureau of Labor Statistics, then click on data, Most 
Requested Series, scroll to Producer Price Indexes-Commodities 
(Finished Goods), for the latest available data.
    \2\ [133.0-130.7]/130.7=0.017598-.01=0.007598.
    \3\ 1+(0.007598)=1.007598.
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    To obtain July 1, 1999-June 30, 2000 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 0.996415 
to obtain the July 1, 1995-June 30, 1996 ceiling levels. Then pipelines 
must multiply their July 1, 1995-June 30, 1996 ceiling levels by 
1.009124 to obtain the July 1, 1996-June 30, 1997 ceiling levels, and 
multiply the July 1, 1996-June 30, 1997 ceiling levels by 1.016583 to 
obtain the July 1, 1997-June 30, 1998 ceiling levels. Pipelines then 
must multiply the July 1, 1997-June 30, 1998 ceiling levels by 0.993808 
to obtain the July 1, 1998-June 30, 1999 ceiling levels. Then, 
pipelines must multiply the July 1, 1998-June 30, 1999 ceiling levels 
by 0.981654 to obtain the July 1, 1999-June 30, 2000 ceiling levels. 
Finally, pipelines must multiply the July 1, 1999-June 30, 2000 ceiling 
levels by 1.007698 to obtain the July 1, 2000-June 30, 2001 ceiling 
levels. See Explorer Pipeline Company, 71 FERC para. 61,416 at n.6 
(1995) for an explanation of how ceiling levels must be calculated.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-13115 Filed 5-24-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M