[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 101 (Thursday, May 24, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28748-28749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-13093]


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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 18, 2001.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

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, 2000-June 30, 2001 index ceiling levels to 
compute their index ceiling levels for the period July 1, 2001 through 
June 30, 2002, in

[[Page 28749]]

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 1999 to 2000, minus one percent, is 
0.027594. Oil pipelines must multiply their July 1, 2000-June 30, 2001 
index ceiling levels by 1.027594 to compute their index ceiling levels 
for the period July 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Notice of Annual Change in The Producer Price Index For Finished 
Goods, Minus One Percent

    The Commission's regulations include a methodology for oil 
pipelines to change their rates through use of an index system that 
established 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 1999 was 133.0 and the 
annual average PPI-FG index figure for 2000 was 138.0.\1\ Thus, the 
percent change (expressed as a decimal) in the annual average PPI-FG 
from 1999 to 2000, minus one percent, is 0.027594.\2\ Oil pipelines 
must multiply their July 1, 2000-June 30, 2001 index ceiling levels by 
1.027594 \3\ to compute their index ceiling levels for the period July 
1, 2001, through June 30, 2002, in accordance with 18 CFR 342.3(d). For 
guidance in calculating the ceiling levels for each period beginning 
January 1, 1995,\4\ see Explorer Pipeline Company, 71 FERC para. 61,416 
at n.6 (1995).
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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\ [138.0 -133.0] / 133.0 = 0.037594 -.01 = 0.027594.
    \3\ 1 + 0.027594 = 1.027594.
    \4\ For a listing of all prior multipliers issued by the 
Commission, see the Commission's website, www.ferc.fed.us. The table 
of multipliers can be found under the headings ``Oil'' and 
``Index.''
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Document Availability

    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, D.C. 20426.
    The Commission Issuance Posting System (CIPS) provides access to 
the texts of formal documents issued by the Commission from November 
14, 1994, to the present. CIPS can be accessed via Internet through 
FERC's Home Page (http://www.ferc.fed.us) on CIPS in ASCII and 
WordPerfect 6.1. User assistance is available at 202-208-2222 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 Home Page 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 contract; RVJ International, Inc. 
RVJ International, Inc. is located in the Public Reference Room at 888 
First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-13093 Filed 5-22-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M