[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 14 (Friday, January 22, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3750-3751]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-01237]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 284

[Docket No. RM96-1-040]


Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas 
Pipelines

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. DOE.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comment on filing.

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SUMMARY: Take notice that on January 11, 2016, the North American 
Energy Standards Board (NAESB) filed a report with the Commission 
stating it had approved a minor correction to Standard No. 1.3.22 (ii) 
of Version 3.0 of the NAESB Wholesale Gas Quadrant standards, which 
were incorporated by reference in the Commission's regulations by order 
issued by the Commission on October 16, 2015. Comments are invited on 
whether to incorporate this minor correction by reference in the 
Commission's regulations.

DATES: Comments are due on or before February 10, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Comments, identified by docket number, may be filed in the 
following ways:
     Electronic Filing through http://www.ferc.gov. Documents 
created electronically using word processing software should be filed 
in native applications or print-to-PDF format and not in a scanned 
format.
     Mail/Hand Delivery: Those unable to file electronically 
may mail or hand-deliver comments to: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary D. Cohen (legal issues), Office 
of the General Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First 
Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, Telephone: (202) 502-8321, Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments are requested on whether to 
incorporate by reference the following NAESB Wholesale Gas Quadrant 
Standard into Sec.  284.12 of the Commission's regulations: Nominations 
Related Standards (Version 3.0, November 14, 2014, with minor 
corrections applied through June 29, 2015 and MC15021 effective 
November 25, 2015).
    Office of Management and Budget Circular A-119 (section 11) 
(February 10, 1998) provides that federal agencies should publish a 
request for comment in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking when the agency 
is seeking to issue or revise a regulation proposing to adopt a 
voluntary consensus standard or a government-unique standard. Standard 
1.3.22 would be incorporated by reference.
    The Office of the Federal Register requires agencies incorporating 
material by reference in final rules to discuss, in the preamble of the 
final rule, the ways that the materials it incorporates by reference 
are reasonably available to interested parties and how interested 
parties can obtain the materials.\1\ The regulations also require 
agencies to summarize, in the preamble of the final rule, the material 
it incorporates by reference. Standard 1.3.22 (ii) establishes the 
scheduled quantity when no response is received for a request for 
confirmation. Our regulations provide that copies of the NAESB 
standards incorporated by reference may be obtained from the North 
American Energy Standards Board, 801 Travis Street, Suite 1675, 
Houston, TX 77002, Phone: (713) 356-0060. NAESB's Web site is at http://www.naesb.org/. Copies may be inspected at the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 
888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, Phone: (202) 502-8371, 
http://www.ferc.gov.
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    \1\ 1 CFR 51.5. See Incorporation by Reference, 79 FR 66267 
(Nov. 7, 2014).
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    The procedures used by NAESB make its standards reasonably 
available to those affected by the Commission regulations, which is 
comprised of entities that have the means to acquire the information 
they need to effectively participate in Commission proceedings. 
Participants can join NAESB, for an annual membership cost of only 
$7,000, which entitles them to full participation in NAESB and enables 
them to obtain these standards at no additional cost.\2\ Non-members 
who have purchased the standards may obtain the Minor Correction for 
free, non-members who have not purchased the standards may obtain the 
Standards Manual for standard 1.3.22 by email for $250 per Manual.\3\ 
Nonmembers also may obtain the complete set of Standards Manuals, 
Booklets, and Contracts on CD for $2,000. NAESB also provides a free 
electronic read-only version of the standards for a three business day 
period or, in the case of a regulatory comment period, through the end 
of the

[[Page 3751]]

comment period.\4\ In addition, NAESB considers requests for waivers of 
the charges on a case-by-case basis depending on need.
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    \2\ North American Energy Standards Board Membership 
Application, https://www.naesb.org/pdf4/naesbapp.pdf.
    \3\ NAESB Materials Order Form, https://www.naesb.org//pdf/ordrform.pdf.
    \4\ Procedures for non-members to evaluate work products before 
purchasing, https://www.naesb.org/misc/NAESB_Nonmember_Evaluation.pdf.

     Dated: January 15, 2016.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-01237 Filed 1-21-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P