[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 199 (Tuesday, October 16, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58660-58661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-20290]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Docket No. AD07-13-000


Conference on Enforcement Policy; Second Notice of Conference

October 4, 2007.
    As announced in the ``First Notice of Conference on Enforcement,'' 
issued on July 11, 2007, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(Commission) will hold a conference on November 16, 2007, to examine 
the implementation of its enforcement authority as expanded by the 
Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005).\1\ The conference will be held 
in the Commission Meeting Room at the Commission's headquarters located 
at 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
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    \1\ Pub. L. 109-58, 119 Stat. 594 (2005).
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    The purpose of the conference is to assess the enforcement program 
implemented by the Commission during the first two years after passage 
of EPAct 2005 primarily as it pertains to the additional subject matter 
authority and the expanded civil penalty authority in Part II of the 
Federal Power Act \2\ and the Natural Gas Act.\3\
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    \2\ 16 U.S.C.Sec.  Sec. 791a et seq. (2000).
    \3\ 15 U.S.C.Sec.  Sec. 717 et seq. (2000).
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    The tentative schedule and topics for the conference are as 
follows:

9 a.m.-9:30 a.m.--Opening Remarks
9:30 a.m.-11 a.m.--First Panel--The First Two Years of EPAct 
Enforcement
11 a.m.-11:10 a.m.--Break
11:10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.--Second Panel--How Enforcement Fits into the 
Commission's Mission
12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.--Lunch break
1:30 p.m.-3 p.m.--Third Panel--Enforcement of Reliability Standards
3 p.m.-3:15 p.m.--Closing Remarks

    The first panel will focus on an overview of enforcement from a 
broad policy perspective, including how the Commission balances a firm 
approach to enforcement of its major rules, regulations, and orders 
with fair treatment of all persons that may be subject to remedies and 
sanctions for their conduct. The discussion will examine how the 
Commission can best achieve compliance with regulatory requirements, 
and will address how the Commission evaluates enforcement cases, 
including self-reported violations and matters that result in no 
penalty, and how companies subject to investigation can best respond to 
the Commission.
    The second panel will focus on how entities relate to the 
Commission in light of the newly enhanced EPAct 2005 enforcement 
authority and the Commission's ongoing regulatory functions. The 
discussion will examine when companies should direct inquiries or 
problems to the Office of Enforcement and when they should be directed 
to other Commission program offices. The Commission is interested in 
how well the Commission responds to matters that involve regulatory 
policy as well as having enforcement aspects. In

[[Page 58661]]

addition, the discussion will focus on the relationship between the 
Commission's audit functions and enforcement activity and whether the 
No-Action Letter program \4\ is useful in obtaining guidance on 
potential enforcement issues.
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    \4\ Informal Staff Advice on Regulatory Requirements, 113 FERC ] 
61,174 (2005), as modified by 117 FERC 61,069 (2006).
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    The third panel will focus on reliability issues. With the new 
responsibilities given to the Commission by EPAct 2005 with respect to 
the reliability of the nation's bulk power system, the Commission has 
approved numerous reliability standards that now are mandatory, and has 
authorized an enforcement mechanism through Regional Entities and the 
Electric Reliability Organization (ERO). This discussion will look at 
how the Regional Entities and the ERO are processing self-reported 
violations and other compliance matters, and will address emerging 
practical issues of enforcement as well as the Commission's own 
authority to enforce mandatory reliability standards and its interest 
in the most effective way to achieve compliance with the standards.
    A further notice will be issued before the conference to finalize 
the conference format and schedule. The Commission anticipates that it 
will also issue background material to assist in framing the 
discussion. Also, we note that the following topics will not be 
discussed as they are involved in or implicated by pending Commission 
proceedings: standards of conduct, market monitoring, transparency, and 
market manipulation.
    To ensure adequate time to engage in a meaningful dialog, 
participants on each panel will be limited to four or five people. 
Anyone interested in participating as a panelist may contact Anna 
Cochrane, Deputy Director of the Office of Enforcement, by e-mail at 
[email protected] or by phone at (202) 502-8100.
    As previously noted, all interested persons are invited to attend 
the conference, and there is no registration fee to attend. The 
conference will not be transcribed but will be web cast. A free web 
cast of this event will be available through http://www.ferc.gov. 
Anyone with Internet access who desires to view this event can do so by 
navigating to http://www.ferc.gov's Calendar of Events and locating 
this event in the Calendar. The event will contain a link to its web 
cast. The Capitol Connection provides technical support for the web 
casts and offers access to the meeting via phone bridge for a fee. If 
you have any questions, you may visit http://www.CapitolConnection.org 
or contact Danelle Perkowski or David Reininger at 703-993-3100.
    FERC conferences and meetings are accessible under section 508 of 
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. For accessibility accommodations please 
send an e-mail to [email protected] or call toll free (866) 208-
3372 (voice) or 202-502-8659 (TTY), or send a fax to 202-208-2106 with 
the required accommodations.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-20290 Filed 10-15-07; 8:45 am]
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