Revisions to the Blanket Certificate Regulations and Clarification Regarding Rates, 37431-37436 [E7-12560]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 10, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 37431-37436]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-12560]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RM06-7-001; Order No. 686-A]

18 CFR Part 157


Revisions to the Blanket Certificate Regulations and 
Clarification Regarding Rates

Issued June 22, 2007.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Final rule; order on rehearing and clarification.

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SUMMARY: On October 19, 2006, the Commission issued a Final Rule 
amending its regulations to expand the scope and scale of activities 
that may be undertaken pursuant to blanket certificate authority and 
clarifying that existing Commission policies permit natural gas 
companies to charge different rates to different classes of customers. 
The revised regulations allow interstate natural gas pipelines to 
employ the streamlined blanket certificate procedures for larger 
projects and for a wider variety of types of projects, thereby 
increasing efficiencies, and decreasing time and costs, associated with 
the construction and maintenance of the nation's natural gas 
infrastructure. The Commission grants in part, and denies in part, 
requests for rehearing and clarification of the Final Rule.

DATES: The amendments in this final rule are effective August 9, 2007, 
except that the amendment to Sec.  157.206 (b)(5)(i) is effective 
November 7, 2007. Requests for clarification are granted and denied, 
and requests for rehearing are denied, effective August 9, 2007. The 
request for rehearing with respect to the measurement of compressor 
noise is granted, effective November 7, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gordon Wagner, Office of the General

[[Page 37432]]

Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, gordon.wagner@ferc.gov, (202) 502-8947. Michael 
McGehee, Office of Energy Projects, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, 
michael.mcgehee@ferc.gov, (202) 502-8962.
    Lonnie Lister, Office of Energy Projects, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, 
lonnie.lister@ferc.gov, 202-502-8587.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Before Commissioners: Joseph T. Kelliher, 
Chairman; Suedeen G. Kelly, Mark Spitzer, Phillip D. Moeller, and John 
Wellinghoff.

I. Introduction

    1. On October 19, 2006, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(Commission) issued a Final Rule in Order No. 686\1\ amending Part 157, 
Subpart F, of its regulations to expand the scope and scale of 
activities that may be undertaken pursuant to blanket certificate 
authority by (1) broadening the types of natural gas projects permitted 
under blanket certificate authority to include certain mainline, 
storage, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) and synthetic gas pipeline 
facilities, and (2) increasing the blanket certificate project cost 
limits from $8,200,000 to $9,600,000 for automatic authorization 
projects and from $22,700,000 to $27,400,000 for prior notice 
projects.\2\ In addition, Order No. 686 clarified that a company is not 
necessarily engaged in an unduly discriminatory practice if it charges 
different customers different rates for the same service when customers 
commit to service on different dates. The revised blanket certificate 
regulations became effective on January 2, 2007, and are intended to 
allow interstate natural gas pipelines to employ the streamlined 
blanket certificate procedures for larger projects and for a wider 
variety of types of projects, thereby increasing efficiencies, and 
decreasing time and costs associated with the construction and 
maintenance of the nation's natural gas infrastructure.
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    \1\ Order No. 686, 71 FR 63680 (October 31, 2006), FERC Stats & 
Regs ] 31,231 (2006); Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) 71 FR 
36276 (June 26, 2006), FERC Stats. Regs. ] 32,606 (2006). This 
rulemaking proceeding was initiated in response to a petition 
submitted under 18 CFR 385.207(a) of the Commission's regulations by 
the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) jointly 
with the Natural Gas Supply Association.
    \2\ These cost limits now stand at $9,900,000 for an automatic 
authorization project and $28,200,000 for a prior notice project. 
See Natural Gas Pipelines; Project Cost and Annual Limits, 72 FR 
5614 (Feb. 7, 2007).
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    2. In this order, for the reasons discussed below, the Commission 
grants and denies requests for clarification and denies requests for 
rehearing of the Final Rule.

II. Requests for Rehearing and Clarification

    3. NiSource Gas Transmission and Storage Companies (NiSource),\3\ 
the National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation (National Fuel), and INGAA 
submitted timely requests for rehearing and/or clarification. For the 
reasons discussed below, requests for clarification are granted and 
denied, as discussed below. Requests for rehearing are denied, with the 
exception of INGAA's rehearing request with respect to the measurement 
of compressor noise, which is granted.
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    \3\ NiSource consists of Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation, 
Columbia Gulf Transmission Company, Crossroads Pipeline Company, 
Granite State Gas Transmission, Inc., and Central Kentucky 
Transmission Company.
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A. NiSource

    4. Section 157.208(f)(2) of the blanket certificate regulations 
permits natural gas companies to alter the maximum allowable operating 
pressure (MAOP) of supply or delivery laterals, provided companies 
comply with the prior notice provisions of Sec.  157.205 of those 
regulations. NiSource proposes that companies be permitted to rely on 
blanket certificate authority to change the MAOP of facilities that are 
not supply or delivery laterals.
    5. The Final Rule permits companies to construct compression and 
loop lines to expand mainline capacity under blanket authority. 
Consistent with this approach, the Commission clarifies that, provided 
companies meet all applicable blanket certificate regulatory 
requirements, they can rely on blanket certificate authority to change 
the MAOP of facilities that are not supply or delivery laterals, such 
as mainlines.

B. National Fuel

    6. The Final Rule extends blanket certificate authority to include 
certain underground storage field projects. National Fuel supports this 
inclusion, but seeks assurance that storage remediation and maintenance 
activities that qualify as auxiliary installations or replacements 
under Sec.  2.55 of the Commission's regulations can still be 
undertaken pursuant to Sec.  2.55, and need not now proceed under the 
automatic or prior notice provisions of the blanket certificate 
program. National Fuel also seeks clarification that plugging and 
abandoning storage wells constitutes maintenance, and as such will be 
eligible to be undertaken pursuant to the automatic authorization 
provisions of Sec.  157.213(a), and will not be viewed as altering the 
function of a well, which would require adherence to the prior notice 
requirements of Sec.  157.205(b).
    7. The Final Rule's enlargement of the scope of blanket certificate 
authority does not constrict the scope of activities that may be 
performed under Sec.  2.55 of the Commission's regulations. Thus, 
activities involving storage, mainline, and LNG and synthetic gas 
pipeline facilities that could have been performed under Sec.  2.55 
prior to the expansion of the blanket certificate program may continue 
to be performed under Sec.  2.55. Further, as before, a company need 
not obtain a blanket certificate as a prerequisite to act under Sec.  
2.55.
    8. The Commission clarifies that the reference in new Sec.  
157.213(a) to altering ``the function of any well that is drilled into 
or is active in the management of the storage facility'' is not 
intended to include temporarily plugging a storage field well as part 
of standard maintenance operations. In contrast, permanently plugging a 
well would not qualify as standard maintenance, but would instead 
constitute an abandonment, as it would permanently alter the function 
of the well, and could impact the performance of the storage field. 
Accordingly, such an action would need to comply with the blanket 
certificate program's Sec.  157.216 regulatory requirements regarding 
an abandonment.
    9. In addition, the Commission will revise Sec. Sec.  157.213(b) 
and (c) to permit companies to employ blanket certificate authority to 
make modifications to storage facilities to enhance injection and 
withdrawal capacity. This is consistent with the Commission's 
previously expressed intent to permit a company to rely on expanded 
blanket certificate authority ``to re-engineer an existing storage 
facility to decrease cushion gas, increase working gas, improve 
injection and withdrawal capabilities, and add more cycles per 
season,'' provided the company can ``demonstrate, by theoretical or 
empirical evidence, that a proposed project will improve storage 
operations without altering an underground storage facility's total 
inventory, reservoir pressure, or reservoir or buffer boundaries, and 
will comply with environmental and safety provisions.'' \4\
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    \4\ 71 FR 36276, 36281 (June 26, 2006), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 
32,606 (2006).

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[[Page 37433]]

C. INGAA

1. Compressor Station Noise
    10. The blanket certificate program relies on the presumption that 
any project permitted under blanket certificate authority will not have 
a significant adverse environmental impact. The Commission ensures that 
this is the case by restricting blanket certificate authority to 
certain types of facilities and to individual projects that can comply 
with a cost cap and the environmental requirements specified in Sec.  
157.206(b). Prior to the Final Rule's increase in the per project cost 
cap and the expansion of blanket certificate authority to cover 
compressor facilities that alter mainline capacity, blanket certificate 
authority was restricted to a limited set of compression facilities, 
e.g., compressors on lateral pipelines, compressors installed 
temporarily, replacement compressors that could not qualify under Sec.  
2.55(b), and compressors needed to restore service lost due to sudden 
unforeseen damage to a mainline.
    11. A compressor project under the blanket certificate program is 
not subject to the same scrutiny and procedural safeguards that apply 
to a compressor project subject to case-specific NGA section 7 
certificate authority. A case-specific application is subject to a more 
extensive notification process than a proposed blanket certificate 
project; indeed, for a project that qualifies for automatic 
authorization under the blanket certificate regulations, the Commission 
itself does not receive notice in advance of the project's 
construction. Thus, in contrast to a request for case-specific 
certificate authority, for a compressor project subject to blanket 
certificate authority, the Commission and public do not have the 
opportunity to assess aspects of a proposal such as what constitutes a 
noise sensitive area (NSA),\5\ the prospective uses of property 
proximate to a compressor facility, habitat impacts on non-residential 
areas, whether a particular area has a heightened noise sensitivity 
that would merit a limit of less than 55 dBA, or the cumulative impacts 
resulting from modifying or expanding existing compressor facilities.
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    \5\ In the case of a blanket certificate compressor project, the 
blanket certificate holder, rather than the Commission, determines 
what constitutes a potentially affected NSA.
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    12. As a result, whereas an individual assessment can be undertaken 
for each proposed case-specific compressor project in order to 
establish a noise level appropriate to the particular site, this is not 
the case for blanket certificate compressor projects. The more cursory 
standard of review necessary to expedite projects under the blanket 
certificate program, coupled with the expansion of blanket certificate 
authority to cover larger and more varied types of compressor 
facilities, prompted the Commission to impose a stricter standard on 
the noise produced by blanket certificate compressor facilities. As 
described in the NOPR and implemented in the Final Rule, the Commission 
stated that, going forward, all compressor facilities constructed 
pursuant to blanket certificate authority must meet a standard day-
night level (Ldn) limit of 55 dBA at the boundary of the 
compressor site. Previously, the Commission had required that 
compressor facilities installed under blanket certificate authority 
meet a noise level of 55 dBA at any pre-existing NSA.\6\
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    \6\ This compressor noise constraint has always been a part of 
the environmental compliance conditions of the blanket certificate 
program. Interstate Pipeline Certificates for Routine Transactions, 
Order No. 234, 47 FR 24254 (June 4, 1982), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 
30,368 (1982); Order No. 234-A, 47 FR 38871 (Sept. 3, 1982), FERC 
Stats. & Regs. ] 30,389 (1982).
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    13. INGAA requests the Commission revert to this prior noise 
criterion. INGAA argues that (1) noise attenuation equipment may have 
an adverse impact on air quality; (2) compressor equipment has been 
installed based on a 55 dBA noise limit at nearby NSAs, and not on the 
basis of the noise at the site boundary; (3) companies will be 
compelled to acquire larger areas of land to push compressor station 
boundaries out from the noise source to meet the 55 dBA standard, which 
could damage relationships with nearby landowners and inhibit companies 
from upgrading facilities at existing stations; and (4) it will be more 
costly to comply with the new noise standard.
    14. The Commission acknowledges that noise attenuation equipment 
may adversely impact air quality, but notes that depending upon the 
chosen control technology, such equipment may also improve air 
emissions. Shifting the location for measuring noise from new 
facilities should not impact existing facilities, given that ``this new 
noise measurement criterion only applies to facilities placed in 
service after the effective date of th[e] rule.'' \7\
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    \7\ 71 FR 63680 (Oct. 31, 2006), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,231, P 
57 (2006) (footnote omitted).
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    15. The Commission anticipated that if a company expected a new 
project might compel it to acquire land or make costly investments to 
meet the new blanket certificate program's noise criterion, the company 
could instead seek case-specific NGA section 7 certificate 
authorization as an economically preferable alternative. Noise limits 
for case-specific compressor projects are established after a staff 
analysis of the properties of each particular project site, and for 
such projects, the Commission typically has found 55 dBA at existing 
NSAs to be an acceptable noise level. In view of this, to diminish any 
disparity in the cost to comply with noise limits for compressor 
projects proceeding under the blanket certificate program and those 
authorized on a case-specific basis, the Commission will revise Sec.  
157.206(b)(5)(i) by returning to the text of the previous Sec.  
157.206(b)(5),\8\ which specifies that noise attributable to any new 
compressor station, compression added to an existing station, or any 
modification, upgrade or update of an existing station, must not exceed 
an Ldn of 55 dBA at any pre-existing NSA. This revision will 
establish a noise limit for blanket certificate compressor projects 
that is consistent with the noise limit typically required for case-
specific certificate compressor projects.
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    \8\ To further enhance consistency between compressor projects 
proceeding under the blanket certificate program and those 
authorized on a case-specific basis, and to affirm that compressor 
facilities put in place under companies' expanded blanket 
certificate authority will not have a significant adverse 
environmental impact, the Commission is proposing to modify certain 
notice and environmental compliance requirements in the 
contemporaneously issued NOPR in Docket No. RM07-17-000. 119 FERC ] 
61,304 (2007).
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2. Notice Period
    16. The Final Rule extends the time period allotted for landowner 
notice for blanket certificate activities from 30 to 45 days for 
automatic projects and from 45 to 60 days for prior notice projects. 
INGAA proposes that rather than add 15 days to the notice periods for 
all blanket certificate projects, the Commission retain the 30- and 45-
day notice periods, but allow for a longer notice time on a case-by-
case basis as needed. INGAA suggests the Commission delegate authority 
to the Director of the Office of Energy Projects to extend the notice 
time for prior notice projects for an additional 15 days, noting that 
if this proves insufficient, the Commission retains the option of 
protesting a prior notice project. Alternatively, INGAA proposes that a 
60-day prior notice period apply only to those mainline, storage, LNG, 
and synthetic gas facilities that are newly included under the blanket 
certificate program by the Final Rule, while the 45-day prior notice 
period is retained for all other blanket certificate projects, an 
approach which

[[Page 37434]]

``would have the virtue of targeting the additional notice more 
precisely to the expansion of the blanket coverage.'' \9\
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    \9\ INGAA's Request for Rehearing and Clarification at 12 (Nov. 
20, 2006).
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    17. The Commission deemed it prudent to provide an additional 15 
days for notification to landowners and the public in light of the 
greater size and types of projects permitted under the revised blanket 
regulations. In addition, the Commission noted that in the past, on 
occasion, it had found the shorter time period to be insufficient for a 
complete assessment of a proposed project. Similarly, on occasion, 
landowners have made claims that the time provided is inadequate to 
review a proposal and engage in meaningful negotiations. Finally, the 
Commission observed that companies, in large part, dictate the schedule 
of a blanket project by when they choose to initiate the notice 
process, and commented that a company could compensate for the 
additional notification time by beginning to contact landowners two 
weeks earlier.
    18. INGAA takes issue with the Commission's expectation that a 
company can offset the additional 15-day notice period by advancing 
initial action on a proposed project by 15 days. INGAA claims that a 
company's decision on when to proceed with a proposal is ``dictated by 
economic and practical considerations, including scheduling of 
construction to minimize impact on flowing gas and other customer 
service requirements, material availability, and logistics to 
coordinate construction contractors.'' \10\ The Commission accepts that 
numerous factors have a bearing on a company's deciding when to, or 
whether to, undertake a blanket certificate project; further, the 
Commission accepts that companies have incomplete control over these 
varying factors. Nevertheless, although the in-service date of a 
project may be affected by circumstances beyond a company's direct 
control, e.g., the availability of construction materials and 
personnel, the Commission expects a company to be able to anticipate 
and adapt to such circumstances, and in so doing, to factor in 15 
additional days during the planning phase. Accordingly, the Commission 
continues to believe that the dominant factor in determining when a 
blanket certificate project can be placed in service is when a company 
chooses to initiate the blanket certificate process.
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    \10\ Id. at 13.
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    19. In response to INGAA's proposal that the Commission adopt a 
shorter notice period for projects qualifying for automatic 
authorization, or provide for a sliding scale for notice time as 
needed, or apply the longer times only to the newly included types of 
activities, the Commission prefers to retain a uniform notice period 
applicable to all blanket certificate projects.\11\ As noted, the 
blanket certificate program is intended to enable the industry and the 
Commission to take advantage of the administrative efficiency inherent 
in applying a uniform set of regulatory requirements to a restricted 
set of activities. Within the context of the blanket certificate 
program, the Commission prefers to retain the simplicity and 
transparency of a uniform notification time.
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    \11\ Note that the regulatory requirement for landowner 
notification, 18 CFR 157.203(d)(1), continues to allow for 
landowners to waive the remaining time in the prior notice period 
once notice has been provided.
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3. Laterals Lines
    20. The revised regulations extend blanket certificate authority to 
include pipelines used to transport only revaporized LNG--previously, 
such facilities were excluded from the blanket certificate program. In 
the Final Rule, the Commission stated the expanded blanket certificate 
authority would be inapplicable to facilities that transport 
revaporized LNG from an LNG import terminal and which are subject to 
the 180-day mandatory prefiling procedure described in Sec.  157.21 of 
the Commission's regulations.\12\ However, the Commission pointed out 
that a company could employ blanket certificate authority for 
facilities that attach directly to an existing LNG terminal, provided 
the construction and operation of such facilities would not involve 
modifications to the terminal which would trigger a 180-day mandatory 
prefiling process.\13\
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    \12\ The Commission explained that ``related jurisdictional 
natural gas facilities,'' as defined by 18 CFR 153.2(e)(1), are 
properly reviewed in tandem with LNG terminals in a prefiling 
pursuant to 18 CFR 157.21; thus, these facilities are excluded from 
the blanket certificate program.
    \13\ See 71 FR 63680 (Oct. 31, 2006); FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 
31,231, P 23-24 (2006).
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    21. INGAA asks whether ``a lateral directly attached to an LNG 
terminal can be constructed under automatic authorization pursuant to 
Sec.  157.208(a), or is required to be a prior notice filing under the 
new Sec.  157.212.'' \14\ The new Sec.  157.212, which extends blanket 
certificate authority to include laterals directly attached to an LNG 
terminal, requires prior notice pursuant to Sec.  157.205 for all 
projects undertaken pursuant to the new Sec.  157.212 authority. 
Projects eligible for automatic authorization pursuant to Sec.  
157.208(a) include those facilities defined in Sec. Sec.  
157.202(b)(2)(i), 157.209(a), 157.211(a), and 157.215(a)--none of which 
describe a lateral directly attached to an LNG terminal.
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    \14\ INGAA's Request for Rehearing and Clarification at 14 (Nov. 
20, 2006).
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    Among the projects excluded from automatic authorization are those 
described in Sec.  157.202(b)(2)(ii)(D), and such projects include ``a 
facility used to receive gas * * * from plants gasifying liquefied 
natural gas.''
    22. As discussed in the NOPR and the Final Rule, the blanket 
certificate program is not well suited to address the complexity 
inherent in issues raised by LNG terminals and related facilities. The 
Commission concluded that:

    LNG plant facilities are not within the class of minor, well-
understood, routine activities that the blanket certificate program 
is intended to embrace; LNG plant facilities necessarily require a 
review of engineering, environmental, safety, and security issues 
that the Commission believes only can be properly considered on a 
case-by-case basis * * * [Thus, b]ecause an LNG terminal and the 
facilities that attach directly to it are interdependent--
inextricably bound in design and operation--a terminal and its 
takeaway facilities must be evaluated in tandem; both merit a 
similar degree of regulatory scrutiny.\15\

    \15\ 71 FR 36276 at 36279-80 (June 26, 2006); FERC Stats. & 
Regs. ] 32,606 at 32,877, P 29-30 (2006).
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In view of this, in extending blanket certificate authority, the 
Commission decided to require prior notice for all projects involving 
pipelines that will carry exclusively revaporized LNG. The Commission 
affirms this decision.
4. Abandonment Authority
    23. New Sec.  157.210 permits companies to rely on blanket 
certificate authority to ``acquire, construct, modify, replace, and 
operate natural gas mainline facilities, including compression and 
looping''; revised Sec.  157.216(b)(2) provides for the abandonment of 
such facilities. INGAA asks whether the abandonment provisions of 
revised Sec.  157.216(b)(2) are limited to those facilities that will 
be put in place under new Sec.  157.210, or whether the abandonment 
provisions also apply to mainline facilities that are already in place.
    24. The Commission believes the blanket certificate program's 
Sec. Sec.  157.216(b), (c), and (d) requirements for the abandonment of 
mainline, storage, LNG, and synthetic gas facilities, which include 
obtaining the written consent of any customer that received service 
through the facility during the previous 12 months, provide adequate 
safeguards to ensure ``that the

[[Page 37435]]

present or future public convenience or necessity permit such 
abandonment,'' as mandated by NGA section 7(b). Consequently, the 
Commission clarifies that facilities that were constructed under case-
specific authorization, but that could now qualify for authorization 
under the current blanket certificate program criteria, may be 
abandoned pursuant to the provisions Sec.  157.216(b).\16\ Note that in 
considering whether previously constructed facilities might qualify for 
authorization under the current blanket certificate program criteria, 
the facilities must have been installed subsequent to the Commission's 
implementation of the blanket certificate program and the facilities' 
original cost must have met the Sec.  157.208 project cost cap in 
effect at the time of their construction.
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    \16\ See Revision of Existing Regulations Under the Natural Gas 
Act, Order No. 603-A, 64 FR 54522 at 54533-34 (Oct. 7, 1999), FERC 
Stats. & Regs. ] 31,081 at 30,936 (1999), in which a similar 
approach was adopted with respect to automatic abandonments under 19 
CFR 157.216(a).
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5. Annual Report
    25. The Final Rule directs companies to include certain additional 
information in the annual report summarizing the previous year's 
blanket certificate activities. INGAA notes that the revised reporting 
requirements of Sec.  157.208(e) apply to ``each facility completed 
during the calendar year,'' and is concerned that this could require 
companies to include the additional information specified in the Final 
Rule in the annual report covering projects commenced or completed in 
2006. INGAA complains it would be unreasonable to include such 
projects, since companies had no notice that the additional information 
specified in the Final Rule would need to be provided in the annual 
report covering 2006 projects. INGAA contends that gathering the newly 
specified information would be impractical, as such information is 
``scattered, was never compiled or has not been retained in a form that 
is easily pulled together for the filing.'' \17\ Therefore, INGAA 
requests the regulations be clarified or revised so as to apply 
prospectively only to projects begun after the effective date of the 
rule on January 2, 2007.
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    \17\ INGAA's Request for Rehearing and Clarification at 16 (Nov. 
20, 2006).
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    26. The Commission observes, as it did in response to comments 
objecting to the burden of reporting the additional information, that 
companies are already required to report the information in question. 
Consequently, setting out the information in an annual report should 
not constitute any hardship. Nevertheless, the Commission accepts INGAA 
contention that companies may not have the required information readily 
available with respect to projects completed or initiated in 2006. 
Therefore, the Commission clarifies the applicability of the reporting 
requirement as requested, and specifies that the annual report's 
inclusion of the information described in Sec.  157.208(e) will apply 
prospectively to projects begun on or after January 2, 2007, and will 
not apply retrospectively to projects underway before this date.
    27. The Final Rule added Sec.  157.207(c), which stated that the 
annual report should include information on storage facility 
remediation and maintenance activities qualifying for automatic 
authorization under Sec.  157.213(a), but neglected to further describe 
the information to be included in the annual report. The Commission 
will correct the oversight here, as well as clarify that all activities 
undertaken pursuant to the new Sec. Sec.  157.210, 157.212, and 157.213 
are to be included in the annual report described in Sec.  157.207.
    28. New Sec.  157.207(c) will be removed, and instead Sec.  
157.207(a), which lists activities to be included in the annual report, 
will be modified to cover activities subject to the expanded blanket 
certificate authority, and will require that each new facility 
authorized by Sec. Sec.  157.208, 157.210, 157.212, or 157.213, 
companies provide the information specified in Sec.  157.208(e). The 
reporting requirements for the expanded blanket certificate activities 
will duplicate those for the existing blanket certificate activities, 
whereby the annual report includes the information described in Sec.  
157.208(e)(1)-(5) for automatic authorization projects and includes the 
information described in Sec.  157.208(e)(3) for prior notice projects. 
To accomplish this, Sec.  157.208(e) will be modified to include a 
reference to facilities completed during the calendar year pursuant to 
Sec. Sec.  157.210, 157.212, and 157.213.

D. Landowner Notification

    29. In response to a query regarding the manner in which 
notification of a proposed blanket certificate project is to be 
presented to landowners, the Commission will modify Sec. Sec.  
157.203(d)(1) and (2) to clarify that landowner notification be in 
writing.
    30. New Sec. Sec.  157.203(d)(1)(iii)(C) and (D) direct a company 
to instruct landowners that if they are not satisfied, they ``should'' 
contact the company or Commission Hotline. This instruction will be 
altered from ``should'' to ``may,'' to stress that such contact is an 
option, not an obligation, on the part of landowners. To ensure 
landowners understand how to contact the Commission's Enforcement 
Hotline, and to ensure that the contact information is up to date, 
Sec.  157.203(d)(1)(iii)(D) will be modified to direct a company to 
provide the Commission's Enforcement Hotline at the current telephone 
number and e-mail address in its notification.

III. Information Collection Statement

    31. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations require 
that OMB approve certain information collection requirements imposed by 
an agency.\18\ The Final Rule's revisions to the information collection 
requirements for blanket certificate projects were approved under OMB 
Control Nos. 1902-0128 and 1902-0060. While this rule clarifies aspects 
of the existing information collection requirements for the blanket 
certificate program, it does not add to these requirements. 
Accordingly, a copy of this final rule will be sent to OMB for 
informational purposes only.
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    \18\ 5 CFR 1320.11.
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IV. Document Availability

    32. 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 print the contents of this document via the 
Internet through FERC's Web site (https://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. 
User assistance is available for FERC's Web site during normal business 
hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday) from FERC's 
Online Support at 202-502-6652, toll free at 1-866-208-3676, or by e-
mail at ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, and from the Public Reference Room 
at 202-502-8371, TTY at 202-502-8659, or by e-mail at 
public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.

V. Effective Date \19\
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    \19\ The provisions of 5 U.S.C. 801 regarding Congressional 
review of rulemaking, do not apply to this order on rehearing, since 
it clarifies agency procedure and practice.
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    33. The amendments in this final rule are effective August 9, 2007, 
except that the amendment to Sec.  157.206 (b)(5)(i) is effective 
November 7, 2007. Requests for clarification are granted and denied, 
and requests for rehearing are denied, effective August 9, 2007. The 
request for rehearing with respect to the measurement of compressor 
noise is granted, effective November 7, 2007.

[[Page 37436]]

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 157

    Administrative practice and procedure, Natural gas, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    By the Commission.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.

0
In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission amends part 157, 
Chapter I, Title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, as follows:

PART 157--APPLICATIONS FOR CERTIFICATES OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND 
NECESSITY AND FOR ORDERS PERMITTING AND APPROVING ABANDONMENT UNDER 
SECTION 7 OF THE NATURAL GAS ACT

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1. The authority citation for part 157 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 717-717w.


Sec.  157.203  [Amended]

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2. In Sec.  157.203:
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a. In paragraph (d)(1), immediately after the phrase ``unless the 
company makes a good faith effort to notify,'' the phrase ``in 
writing'' is added;
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b. In paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(C), ``should'' is removed and the word 
``may'' is inserted in its place;
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c. In paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(D), ``should'' is removed and the word 
``may'' is inserted in its place;
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d. In paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(D), immediately before the period that 
concludes the sentence, the phrase ``at the current telephone number 
and e-mail address, which is to be provided in the notification'' is 
added; and
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e. In paragraph (d)(2), immediately after the phrase ``the company 
shall make a good faith effort to notify,'' the phrase ``in writing'' 
is added.

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3. In Sec.  157.206, paragraph (b)(5)(i) is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  157.206  Standard conditions.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (5)(i) The noise attributable to any new compressor station, 
compression added to an existing station, or any modification, upgrade 
or update of an existing station, must not exceed a day-night level 
(Ldn) of 55 dBA at any pre-existing noise-sensitive area 
(such as schools, hospitals, or residences).
* * * * *

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4. In Sec.  157.207: Paragraph (c) is removed; paragraphs (d), (e), 
(f), (g), (h), and (i) are redesignated, respectively, as paragraphs 
(c), (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h); and paragraph (a) is revised to read 
as follows:


Sec.  157.207  General reporting requirements.

* * * * *
    (a) For each new facility authorized by Sec. Sec.  157.208, 
157.210, 157.212, or 157.213, the information specified in Sec.  
157.208(e);
* * * * *


Sec.  157.208  [Amended]

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5. In Sec.  157.208:
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a. In paragraph (e), in the first sentence, after the phrase ``pursuant 
to paragraph (a) of this section,'' the phrase ``and Sec.  
157.213(a),'' is added; and
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b. In paragraph (e), in the second sentence, after the phrase 
``pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section,'' the phrase ``and 
Sec. Sec.  157.210, 157.212, and 157.213(b),'' is added.

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6. In Sec.  157.213, paragraph (b) and the introductory text of 
paragraph (c) are revised to read as follows:


Sec.  157.213  Underground storage field facilities.

* * * * *
    (b) Prior Notice. Subject to the notice requirements of Sec. Sec.  
157.205(b) and 157.208(c), the certificate holder is authorized to 
acquire, construct, modify, replace, and operate natural gas 
underground storage facilities, provided the storage facility's 
certificated physical parameters--including total inventory, reservoir 
pressure, reservoir and buffer boundaries, and certificated capacity 
remain unchanged--and provided compliance with environmental and safety 
provisions is not affected. The cost of a project may not exceed the 
cost limitation provided in column 2 of Table I in Sec.  157.208(d). 
the certificate holder must not segment projects in order to meet this 
cost limitation.
    (c) Contents of request. In addition to the requirements of 
Sec. Sec.  157.206(b) and 157.208(c), requests for activities 
authorized under paragraph (b) of this section must contain, to the 
extent necessary to demonstrate that the proposed project will not 
alter a storage reservoir's total inventory, reservoir pressure, 
reservoir or buffer boundaries, or certificated capacity:
* * * * *
[FR Doc. E7-12560 Filed 7-9-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P