[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 149 (Wednesday, August 3, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46668-46671]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-19652]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 357

[Docket No. RM11-21-000]


Revision to Form No. 6

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes 
to amend the instructions on page 700 of FERC Form No. 6 (Form 6) to 
ensure that pipelines report interstate-only barrel and barrel-mile 
data and not a combination of interstate and intrastate throughput. The 
Commission also proposes to direct pipelines that reported combined 
interstate and intrastate data on lines (1) through (12) of page 700 of 
their 2010 Form 6 to file a revised page 700 containing only interstate 
data for the years 2009 and 2010.

DATES: Comments are due October 3, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Andrew Knudsen (Legal Information), Office of the General Counsel, 888 
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-6527, 
[email protected].
Michael Lacy (Technical Information), Office of Energy Market 
Regulation, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-
8843, [email protected].
Brian Holmes (Technical Information), Office of Enforcement, 888 First 
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-6008, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
July 29, 2011.
    1. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes 
to amend the instructions on page 700, Annual Cost of Service Based 
Analysis Schedule, of FERC Form No. 6, Annual Report of Oil Pipeline 
Companies, (Form 6) to ensure that pipelines report interstate-only 
barrel and barrel-mile data and not a combination of interstate and 
intrastate throughput. The Commission also directs pipelines that 
reported combined interstate and intrastate data in any field on lines 
(1) through (12) of page 700 of their 2010 Form 6 \1\ to file within 90 
days of the final rule's publication in the Federal Register a revised 
page 700 containing only interstate data for the years 2009 and 2010.
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    \1\ Pipelines filed their 2010 FERC Form 6 on April 18, 2011.
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Background

    2. Page 700 of Form 6 serves as a preliminary screening tool for 
pipeline rate filings with the Commission.\2\ Specifically, page 700 
enables shippers to evaluate proposed rate changes under the indexing 
methodology \3\ and to determine whether a pipeline's cost of service 
or per barrel-mile costs are so substantially divergent from the 
revenues produced to warrant a challenge.\4\ In Order No. 620, the 
Commission clarified that it intended page 700 to include only the 
interstate costs and interstate revenues, and not a combination of 
interstate and intrastate data.\5\
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    \2\ All jurisdictional pipelines are required to file page 700, 
including pipelines exempt from filing the full Form 6. 18 CFR 
357.2(a)(2) and (a)(3) (2011).
    \3\ Cost of Service Requirements and Filing Requirements for Oil 
Pipelines, Order No. 571, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,006, at 31,168 
(1995).
    \4\ Revisions to and Electronic Filing of the FERC Form No. 6 
and Related Uniform Systems of Accounts, Order No. 620, FERC Stats. 
& Regs. ] 31,115, at 31,960, on reh'g, 94 FERC 61,130 (2001).
    \5\ Order No. 620, FERC Stats. & Regs. at 31,959, on reh'g, 94 
FERC at 61,498.
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Discussion

    3. The Commission proposes to modify the instructions on page 700 
to specify that pipelines must report interstate throughput levels and 
exclude throughput associated with intrastate movements. The current 
instructions on page 700 for lines (11) and (12) may inadvertently have 
caused some pipelines to report barrel and barrel-mile throughput that 
combines interstate and intrastate data. The instruction for line (12) 
on page 700 directs pipelines to report the same barrel-mile figures as 
those reported on line 33a of page 600 of the Form 6. Similarly, the 
instruction for line (11) on page 700 directs pipelines to report the 
same barrel figures as those reported on line 33b of page 601 of the 
Form 6. Thus, the instructions on page 700 specify that the throughput 
data reported on page 700 is the same throughput data that is reported 
on page 600-601.\6\ The instructions for page 600 direct pipelines to 
include ``all oils received'' by the pipeline,\7\ which consequently 
may have led some filers to report combined interstate and intrastate 
barrel-miles on lines (11) and (12) of page 700.
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    \6\ Pages 600-601 are entitled Statistics of Operations.
    \7\ Pipelines filing pages 600-601 as well as page 700 may 
transport both interstate and intrastate barrels.
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    4. It is an axiomatic rule of ratemaking that the same set of costs 
and volumes must be used to determine rates.\8\ The Commission did not 
intend for the cost of service per-barrel/mile data provided by page 
700 to include interstate-only costs and revenues alongside throughput 
data that combines interstate and intrastate totals. To address this 
reporting issue, the Commission now proposes to modify the instructions 
for line (11) \9\ and line (12) \10\ of page 700 to more precisely 
direct pipelines to report

[[Page 46669]]

only interstate barrels and interstate barrel-miles and not a 
combination of interstate and intrastate throughput.
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    \8\ Five-Year Review of Oil Pipeline Pricing Index, 75 FR 80300, 
80308 (Dec. 22, 2010), 133 FERC ] 61,228, at P 85 (2010), order on 
reh'g, 135 FERC ] 61,172 (2011).
    \9\ Instruction number 4 on page 700 of the Form 6.
    \10\ Instruction number 5 on page 700 of the Form 6.
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    5. The Commission further proposes to require pipelines that 
reported throughput levels on their 2010 Form 6, page 700 reflecting 
both interstate and intrastate data to file a revised page 700 with 
only interstate barrels and barrel-miles for 2009 and 2010. Moreover, 
the current instructions on page 700 require that pipelines report 
interstate-only data on lines (1) through (10) relating to various 
cost, revenue and other ratemaking elements. Any pipeline that reported 
combined interstate and intrastate data on lines (1)-(10) of page 700 
must also file corrections so that page 700 only contains interstate 
data for 2009 and 2010. This action ensures the availability of 
complete interstate cost per barrel-mile data consistent with the 
Commission's regulation of interstate oil and petroleum product 
pipeline rates and the intent of page 700 to enable the Commission and 
shippers to analyze interstate pipeline costs. Moreover, this 
requirement is consistent with the existing instructions on page 700, 
which allow staff to require the submission of cost-of-service 
workpapers pursuant to the 154-B methodology at any time.\11\
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    \11\ FERC Form No. 6, Page 700 (``A respondent may be requested 
by the Commission or its staff to provide its workpapers which 
support the data reported on page 700.'').
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Information Collection Statement

    6. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations require 
approval of certain information collection requirements imposed by 
agency rules.\12\ Upon approval of a collection(s) of information, OMB 
will assign an OMB control number and an expiration date. Respondents 
subject to the filing requirements of an agency rule will not be 
penalized for failing to respond to these collections of information 
unless the collections of information display a valid OMB control 
number. The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) \13\ requires each federal 
agency to seek and obtain OMB approval before undertaking a collection 
of information directed to ten or more persons or contained in a rule 
of general applicability.\14\
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    \12\ 5 CFR part 1320.
    \13\ 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.
    \14\ OMB's regulations at 5 CFR 1320.3(c)(4)(i) require that 
``Any recordkeeping, reporting, or disclosure requirement contained 
in a rule of general applicability is deemed to involve ten or more 
persons.''
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    7. The Commission is submitting these reporting requirements to OMB 
for its review and approval under section 3507(d) of the PRA. Comments 
are solicited on the Commission's need for this information, whether 
the information will have practical utility, the accuracy of provided 
burden estimates, ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected, and any suggested methods for 
minimizing the respondent's burden, including the use of automated 
information techniques.
    8. The Commission's estimate of the additional Public Reporting 
Burden and cost related to the proposed rule in Docket RM11-21-000 
follow. The Commission recognizes that there will be a one-time 
increased burden involved in the initial implementation associated 
with: (a) Using only interstate figures for lines 1-12 of page 700, and 
(b) re-filing of revised data for lines (1) through (12) of page 700 
for 2009 and 2010. We estimate an additional one-time burden of one-
hour per filer for the combined implementation and the re-filing of the 
page 700 for the 2009 and 2010 data. For the recurring effort involved 
in filing interstate data on lines (1) through (12) of page 700 for 
2011 and future years, we estimate that the change in burden is 
negligible (after the initial implementation).

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                                                                Estimated      Total estimated      Estimated
                                          Annual number of   additional one-   additional one-   additional one-
          RM11-21, FERC Form 6                 filers        time burden per     time burden      time cost per
                                                              filer  (hr.)          (hr.)        filer  ($) \15\
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Implementation Burden (one-time); and Re-         166 \16\                 1               166            $68.45
 filing of Page 700, lines 1-12 for 2009-
 2010 (one-time)........................
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    Total...............................               166  ................               166         11,362.70
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    \15\ Based on an estimated average cost per employee for 2011 
(including salary plus benefits) of $142,372, the estimated average 
hourly cost per employee is $68.45. The average work year is 2,080 
hours.
    \16\ Although 166 pipelines file page 700, the number of 
pipelines that must file corrected information will likely be 
substantially less. Some pipelines only transport interstate 
shipments and thus would have reported only interstate data on page 
700. Other pipelines may have reported only interstate data on lines 
(1)-(12) on page 700, and these pipelines would not need to file 
additional data.
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    The additional one-time burden of 166 hours is being spread over 
the three years for the purposes of submittal to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB), giving an average additional annual burden 
of 55.33 hours.
    Information Collection Costs: The Commission seeks comments on the 
costs and burden to comply with these requirements.
    Total additional one-time cost = $11,362.70.
    Title: FERC-6, Annual Report of Oil Pipeline Companies.
    Action: Proposed Revisions to the FERC Form 6.
    OMB Control No: 1902-0022.
    Respondents: Public and non-public utilities.
    Frequency of Responses: Initial implementation and one-time re-
filing of selected data for 2009-2010.
    Necessity of the Information: This action ensures the availability 
of complete interstate cost per barrel-mile data consistent with the 
Commission's regulation of interstate oil and petroleum product 
pipeline rates and the intent of page 700 to enable the Commission and 
shippers to analyze interstate pipeline costs.
    Internal review: The Commission has reviewed the proposed changes 
and has determined that the changes are necessary. These requirements 
conform to the Commission's need for efficient information collection, 
communication, and management within the energy industry. The 
Commission has assured itself, by means of internal review, that there 
is specific, objective support for the burden estimates associated with 
the information collection requirements.
    9. Interested persons may obtain information on the reporting 
requirements by contacting: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426 [Attention: Ellen Brown, Office 
of the Executive Director, e-mail: [email protected], Phone: (202) 
502-8663, fax: (202) 273-0873]. Comments on the requirements of this 
rule may also be sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs,

[[Page 46670]]

Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503 [Attention: Desk 
Officer for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission]. For security 
reasons, comments should be sent by e-mail to OMB at [email protected]. Please reference OMB Control No. 1902-0022, 
FERC-6 and the docket number of this proposed rulemaking in your 
submission.

Environmental Analysis

    10. The Commission is required to prepare an Environmental 
Assessment or an Environmental Impact Statement for any action that may 
have a significant adverse effect on the human environment.\17\ The 
actions taken here fall within categorical exclusions in the 
Commission's regulations for information gathering, analysis, and 
dissemination.\18\ Therefore, an environmental assessment is 
unnecessary and has not been prepared in this rulemaking.
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    \17\ Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy 
Act, Order No. 486, 486 FR 1750 (Jan. 22, 1988), FERC Stats. & Regs. 
] 30,783 (1987).
    \18\ 18 CFR 380.4(a)(5).
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Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    11. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) requires agencies 
to prepare certain statements, descriptions, and analyses of proposed 
rules that will have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small business entities.\19\ Agencies are not required to 
make such an analysis if a rule would not have such an effect.
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    \19\ 5 U.S.C. 601-12.
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    12. As explained above, the change to page 700 will not increase 
the burden of preparing page 700. Further, the time required to 
implement changes and to file any necessary one-time revision of the 
page 700 data as specified in this order is minimal, Thus, the 
Commission concludes that the final rule would not have a significant 
economic impact on small entities.

Comment Procedures

    13. The Commission invites interested persons to submit comments on 
the matters and issues proposed in this notice to be adopted, including 
any related matters or alternative proposals that commenters may wish 
to discuss. Comments are due 60 days from publication in the Federal 
Register. Comments must refer to Docket No. RM11-21-000, and must 
include the commenter's name, the organization they represent, if 
applicable, and their address in their comments.
    14. The Commission encourages comments to be filed electronically 
via the eFiling link on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov. The Commission accepts most standard word processing 
formats. Documents created electronically using word processing 
software should be filed in native applications or print-to-PDF format 
and not in a scanned format. Commenters filing electronically do not 
need to make a paper filing.
    15. Commenters that are not able to file comments electronically 
must send an original and 14 copies of their comments to: Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First 
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
    16. All comments will be placed in the Commission's public files 
and may be viewed, printed, or downloaded remotely as described in the 
Document Availability section below. Commenters on this proposal are 
not required to serve copies of their comments on other commenters.

Document Availability

    17. 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.gov) and in FERC's 
Public Reference Room during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
Eastern time) at 888 First Street, NE., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426.
    18. From FERC's Home Page on the Internet, this information is 
available on eLibrary. The full text of this document is available on 
eLibrary in PDF and Microsoft Word format for viewing, printing, and/or 
downloading. To access this document in eLibrary, type the docket 
number excluding the last three digits of this document in the docket 
number field.
    19. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the FERC's Web 
site during normal business hours from FERC Online Support at (202) 
502-6652 (toll free at 1-866-208-3676) or e-mail at 
[email protected], or the Public Reference Room at (202) 502-
8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. E-mail the Public Reference Room at 
[email protected].

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 357

    Pipelines, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Uniform system 
of accounts.

    By direction of the Commission.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.

    Note:  Appendix A will not be published in the Code of Federal 
Regulations

Appendix A--Summary of Proposed Changes to FERC Form 6, Page 700

    Instruction 4 is revised to read as follows:
    Enter on line 11, columns b and c, the interstate throughput in 
barrels for the current and previous calendar years.
    Instruction 5 is revised to read as follows:
    Enter on line 12, columns b and c, the interstate throughput in 
barrel-miles for the current and previous calendar years.
    Line 11 is revised to read as follows:

Total Interstate Throughput in Barrels
    Line 12 is revised to read as follows:

Total Interstate Throughput in Barrel-Miles

    Note:  Appendix B will not be published in the Code of Federal 
Regulations

Appendix B: Revised Page 700 to Form 6

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[FR Doc. 2011-19652 Filed 8-2-11; 8:45 am]
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