Revisions to Forms, Statements, and Reporting Requirements for Natural Gas Pipelines, 35700-35709 [2010-15164]
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requirements are necessary to meet the
statutory provisions of the Energy Policy
Act of 2005. These requirements
conform to the Commission’s plan 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
requirements.
76. Interested persons may obtain
information on the reporting
requirements by contacting: Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426
[Attention: Michael Miller, Office of the
Executive Director, Phone: (202) 502–
8415, fax: (202) 273–0873, e-mail:
DataClearance@ferc.gov]. Comments on
the requirements of the proposed rule
may also be sent to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget,
Washington, DC 20503 [Attention: Desk
Officer for the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission], e-mail:
oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. Please
reference OMB Control No. 1902–0244
and the docket number of this proposed
rulemaking in your submission.
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V. Environmental Analysis
77. 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.86 The actions proposed
here fall within the categorical
exclusion in the Commission’s
regulations for rules that are clarifying,
corrective or procedural, for information
gathering, analysis, and
dissemination.87 Accordingly, neither
an environmental impact statement nor
environmental assessment is required.
VI. Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis
78. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of
1980 (RFA) 88 generally requires a
description and analysis of final rules
that will have significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small
entities. Most of the entities, i.e.,
reliability coordinators, transmission
operators, and balancing authorities, to
which the requirements of this rule
would apply do not fall within the
definition of small entities.89 Moreover,
86 Order No. 486, Regulations Implementing the
National Environmental Policy Act, 52 FR 47897
(Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 30,783 (1987).
87 18 CFR 380.4(a)(5) (2009).
88 5 U.S.C. 601–12 (2006).
89 The RFA definition of ‘‘small entity’’ refers to
the definition provided in the Small Business Act
(SBA), which defines a ‘‘small business concern’’ as
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the proposed Reliability Standards
reflect a continuation of existing
training requirements for transmission
operators and balancing authorities and
are ‘‘new’’ only with respect to reliability
coordinators.
79. As indicated above, based on
available information regarding NERC’s
compliance registry, approximately
seven entities will be responsible for
compliance with proposed Reliability
Standards PER–004–2 and PER–005–1
that were not already subject to the
existing Reliability Standards
comprising the same base training
requirements as contained in the new
Reliability Standards. The Commission
does not consider this a substantial
number. Further, few if any of the seven
reliability coordinators are small
entities. Based on the foregoing, the
Commission certifies that this Rule will
not have a significant impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
Accordingly, no regulatory flexibility
analysis is required.
VII. Comment Procedures
80. 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 August 23, 2010.
Comments must refer to Docket No.
RM09–25–000, and must include the
commenter’s name, the organization
they represent, if applicable, and their
address in their comments.
81. The Commission encourages
comments to be filed electronically via
the eFiling link on the Commission’s
Web site at https://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.
82. 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.
83. All comments will be placed in
the Commission’s public files and may
be viewed, printed, or downloaded
remotely as described in the Document
a business that is independently owned and
operated and that is not dominant in its field of
operation. See 15 U.S.C. 632. According to the SBA,
a small electric utility is defined as one that has a
total electric output of less than four million MWh
in the preceding year.
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Availability section below. Commenters
on this proposal are not required to
serve copies of their comments on other
commenters.
VIII. Document Availability
84. 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 (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.
85. 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.
86. 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
ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or the
Public Reference Room at (202) 502–
8371, TTY (202)502–8659. E-mail the
Public Reference Room at
public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.
By direction of the Commission.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010–15148 Filed 6–22–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
18 CFR Part 260
[Docket No. RM07–9–003]
Revisions to Forms, Statements, and
Reporting Requirements for Natural
Gas Pipelines
June 17, 2010.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, DOE.
ACTION: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
SUMMARY: In this Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission proposes to
revise certain financial reporting forms
required to be filed by natural gas
companies (FERC Form Nos. 2, 2–A,
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and 3–Q) to include functionalized fuel
data on pages 521a through 521d of
those forms, and to include on those
forms the amount of fuel waived,
discounted or reduced as part of a
negotiated rate agreement. We also
propose to revise page 520 accordingly.
DATES: Comments are due August 23,
2010.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by Docket No. RM07–9–003,
by any of the following methods:
• Agency Web Site: https://
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: Commenters
unable to file comments electronically
must mail or hand deliver an original
and 14 copies of their comments to:
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
Office of the Secretary, 888 First Street,
NE., Washington, DC 20426.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Brian Holmes (Technical Information),
Office of Enforcement, Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, 888 First
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426,
Telephone: (202) 502–6008, E-mail:
brian.holmes@ferc.gov.
Robert Sheldon (Technical Information),
Office of Energy Market Regulation,
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20426, Telephone:
(202) 502–8672, E-mail:
robert.sheldon@ferc.gov.
Gary D. Cohen (Legal Information),
Office of the General Counsel, Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street, NE., Washington, DC
20426, Telephone: (202) 502–8321,
E-mail: gary.cohen@ferc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
1. In response to a court remand 1 of
Order Nos. 710 and 710–A,2 the
Commission is granting a motion by the
American Gas Association (AGA)
requesting that the Commission issue a
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice)
proposing that the Commission revise
FERC Form Nos. 2, 2–A, and 3–Q, to
include functionalized fuel data on
pages 521a through 521d of those forms,
and to include on such forms the
amount of fuel waived, discounted or
reduced as part of a negotiated rate
1 American Gas Association v. FERC, 593 F.3d 14
(D.C. Cir. 2010).
2 Revisions to Forms, Statements, and Reporting
Requirements for Natural Gas Pipelines, Order No.
710, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,267 (2008), order on
reh’ g and clarification, Order No. 710–A, 123 FERC
¶ 61,278 (2008).
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agreement. We also propose to revise
page 520 accordingly.
I. Background
2. In Order No. 710, the Commission
revised its financial forms, statements,
and reports for natural gas companies,
contained in FERC Form Nos. 2, 2–A,
and 3–Q to make the information
reported in these forms more useful by
updating them to reflect current market
and cost information relevant to
interstate natural gas pipelines and their
customers.
3. Among the changes required by the
Final Rule, the Commission adopted
new schedules for Forms 2, 2–A, and
3–Q 3 and added page 520 (Gas
Account-Natural Gas) to Form 3–Q 4 to
report, in greater detail, the acquisition
and disposition of shipper-supplied
gas.5 Order No. 710 requires pipelines to
report: (1) The difference between the
volume of gas received from shippers
and the volume consumed in pipeline
operations each month; (2) the
disposition of any excess gas and the
accounting recognition given to such
disposition, including the basis of
valuing the gas and the specific
accounts charged or credited; and (3)
the source of the gas used to meet any
deficiency.6 AGA expressed support for
these additions to the forms, but argued
that greater clarity could be achieved if
the Commission ‘‘requires the
information to be broken out by
function (e.g., transportation, storage,
gathering, etc.) and to include, by
function, the amount of fuel that has
been waived, discounted or reduced as
part of a negotiated rate agreement.’’ 7
4. In response to AGA’s arguments,
the Commission found that the
information that AGA requested to be
broken out by function (e.g.,
transportation, storage, gathering, etc.) is
available in Form 2 at page 520.8 The
Commission explained that on page 520
(Gas Account), pipelines are required to
provide detailed information regarding
gas received and delivered by the
3 This new schedule reports: (1) the difference
between the volume of gas received from shippers
and the volume of gas consumed in pipeline
operations each month; (2) the disposition of any
excess and the accounting recognition given to such
disposition, including the basis of valuing the gas
and the specific accounts charged or credited; and
(3) the source of gas used to meet any deficiency,
including the accounting basis of the gas and the
specific account(s) charged or credited.
4 Page 520 was added to provide more timely
reporting of the quantity of natural gas received and
delivered by the pipeline.
5 Order No. 710, P 13.
6 Id.
7 Id. P 15.
8 Order No. 710, P 16.
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pipeline, identified by function and
account number.9
5. On rehearing, AGA argued, among
other matters, that the fuel data would
be more useful if such data were broken
out by different pipeline functions,
including transportation, storage,
gathering, and exploration/production,
and should include, by function, the
amount of fuel waived, discounted or
reduced as part of a negotiated rate
agreement.
6. In Order No. 710–A, the
Commission addressed the various
requests for rehearing and clarification
of Order No. 710, including AGA’s, and
denied AGA’s request to add additional
detail to the fuel costs reported at pages
521a and 521b on the basis that some of
the information sought by AGA, i.e.,
certain data broken out by function, are
already available on page 520 of Form
Nos. 2 and 2–A and because Order No.
710 also added page 520 to Form No.
3–Q.10 The Commission found that,
while the detail sought by AGA might
provide additional clarity with respect
to fuel costs, the Commission did not
believe its exclusion would preclude the
Commission’s or customers’ ability to
assess the justness and reasonableness
of pipeline rates.11 The Commission
also denied AGA’s request that
pipelines provide information regarding
the amount of fuel that a pipeline has
waived, discounted or reduced as part
of a negotiated rate agreement, deeming
such information unnecessary and
burdensome.12 Chairman (then
Commissioner) Wellinghoff issued a
partial dissent arguing that AGA’s
proposals should have been adopted.13
7. Subsequently, AGA filed a petition
for review in the United States Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit arguing that the Commission
erred by not addressing the concerns
raised by Chairman Wellinghoff in his
partial dissent to Order No. 710–A. The
court agreed and remanded the matter
back to the Commission for further
proceedings.14
8. Following the court’s remand, AGA
filed a motion requesting that the
Commission issue a Notice proposing
revisions to FERC Form Nos. 2, 2–A,
and 3–Q, to add additional details as
initially proposed by AGA in the
rulemaking proceeding. Comments in
support of AGA’s motion were filed by
Kansas Corporation Commission and by
9 Id.
10 Order
No. 710–A, P 9–11.
P 10.
12 Id. P 11.
13 Id. at 62,708–9.
14 593 F.3d at 21.
11 Id.
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Independent Oil & Gas Association of
West Virginia, Inc.
II. Discussion
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9. In this Notice, the Commission
addresses the concerns raised by AGA
in its motion. In Order No. 710–A, the
Commission found that the detail
sought by AGA might provide
additional clarity with respect to fuel
costs, but decided, nonetheless, not to
require the reporting of this information,
based on concerns over the burden
associated with compliance with such a
requirement.15 The Commission also
declined to accept AGA’s proposal
regarding reporting details about the
amount of fuel that a pipeline has
waived, discounted or reduced as part
of a negotiated rate agreement, based on
concerns that this information might not
be significant and might not be readily
available, as many pipelines do not
periodically file to adjust fuel rates and
may not keep records of this type of
information.16
10. The court ruled that the
Commission’s earlier findings did not
discuss AGA’s argument that pages 520
and 521 of the forms work in tandem
and unless the information provided on
pages 521a and 521b is broken out by
function, a shipper cannot match the
revenues generated by the sale of excess
fuel with the functionalized costs
reported on page 520. Thus, our
preliminary view is that the additional
information proposed to be reported on
pages 521a and 521b will allow the user
to determine if there is a cross-subsidy,
which is critical to assessing the
justness and reasonableness of the
pipeline’s fuel rates.17
11. Moreover, as pointed out by AGA,
while page 520 of the form provides
certain fuel information by function, the
information is not adequate to enable a
form user to determine where on the
pipeline system fuel costs are being
incurred and how they are being
allocated. As stated in the Final Rule,
page 520 of Form Nos. 2 and 2–A
provides fuel losses by function
(unaccounted for gas is broken out by
function at lines 30–34). AGA argues
that additional detail regarding fuel
costs is required for pages 521a and
521b to ensure that the Commission and
pipeline customers have sufficient
15 Order
No. 710–A, P 10.
P 11.
17 We note that our proposal renumbers page 521
as 521a, renumbers page 521a as 521b, and adds
two runover pages as 521c and 521d. The pages
should line up with 521a on top of page 521b, with
page 521c a continuation of page 521a and page
521d a continuation of page 521b. The references
in this Notice to pages 521a and 521b assume the
inclusion of pages 521c and 521d.
16 Id.
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information required to assess the
justness and reasonableness of pipeline
rates. We agree and therefore propose to
require that the fuel information be
disaggregated by function to provide
greater clarity with regard to fuel costs.
The Commission believes that the
availability of this information, reported
by function, is consistent with our goal
in the Final Rule of having sufficient
information to allow the Commission
and pipeline customers to assess the
impact on pipeline rates of rising fuel
costs. Thus, our proposal in this Notice
includes the level of detail suggested by
AGA and as explained and shown
below, we propose to require additional
information to be reported on pages
521a and 521b of the forms.
12. Specifically, we propose to revise
pages 521a and 521b to provide more
detailed information about the
information that previously has been
reported on page 520, Gas Account—
Natural Gas. However, the functional
category for production/extraction/
processing that we are here proposing to
add to page 521a and 521b is additional
information that has not previously
been reported in page 520.
Consequently, we propose to add a line
on page 520 for Gas of Others Received
for Production/Extraction/Processing
(Accounts 490 and 491) and another
line for Gas of Others Delivered for
Production/Extraction/Processing
(Accounts 490 and 491). This provides
a bridge between the production/
extraction/processing function on pages
521a, 521b and 520. In addition, we
propose to revise page 520, line 29
(current line 27) to read Other Deliveries
and Gas Used for Other Operations.
Again, this allows the reporting of gas
used in operations with the detail
reported in pages 521a and 521b.
13. Finally, we propose to revise the
heading on page 520 for Gas
Unaccounted For to read Gas Losses and
Gas Unaccounted For. Additionally, as
we are here proposing to have more
detailed information on fuel costs
(broken down by function) reported on
pages 521a and 521b, we are removing
(as duplicative) the prior requirement to
report information on fuel costs in a
more summary fashion on page 520.
14. AGA also requested the reporting
of the amount of fuel by function that
has been waived, discounted or reduced
as part of a negotiated rate agreement.
AGA argued that this information would
enable pipeline customers to better
determine if any inappropriate crosssubsidization is occurring. The
Commission has a strict policy that
existing shippers must not subsidize the
negotiated rate program, and we agree
that this additional information could
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be useful in identifying potential
violations of that policy.18 Therefore, we
propose that fuel costs and revenues
associated with each type of rate
structure (i.e., negotiated, discounted, or
recourse) be broken down by function to
provide better information with which
to assess the justness and
reasonableness of a pipeline’s fuel rates.
15. We also are revisiting the earlier
finding that information regarding the
amount of fuel that a pipeline has
waived, discounted or reduced as part
of a negotiated rate agreement, may not
be readily available. AGA argued that
some pipeline maintain this information
by function in order to change a fuel
rate either in a tracking mechanism or
in a future section 4 rate filing, and that
such information is readily accessible.
After further consideration of these
arguments we have decided to propose
the more detailed reporting of this
information, as suggested by AGA, and
estimate that the burden associated with
this proposal is related solely to
inputting the data in the Form Nos. 2,
2–A, and 3–Q and with this additional
information we now propose to find
that, in light of the usefulness of this
information, this small increase in filing
burden is justified.
16. Thus, we propose in this Notice to
revise the financial reporting forms
required to be filed by natural gas
companies (FERC Form Nos. 2, 2–A,
and 3–Q) to include functionalized fuel
data on pages 521a and 521b of those
forms, and to include on such forms the
amount of fuel waived, discounted or
reduced as part of a negotiated rate
agreement. Specifically, we propose to
revise pages 521a and 521b to include
the following: (1) Expanding line 1 to
separately reflect shipper supplied fuel
by function, i.e., production/extraction/
process, gathering, transmission,
distribution, and storage; (2) expanding
lines 2, 3, and 4 to separately list the
volumes for each of these functions; (3)
expanding the listing of volumes to
include discounted, negotiated and
recourse rates; (4) expanding line 5 to
separately list the volumes for each of
these functions; (5) expanding the
reporting of dollar amounts to include
amounts collected under discounted,
negotiated and recourse rates; (6)
requiring the reporting of volumes of gas
(in dekatherms) not collected where the
request for that gas has been waived or
reduced under discounted or negotiated
rates; and (7) directing filers (if the
18 See Alternative to Traditional Cost-of-Service
Ratemaking for Natural Gas Pipelines; Regulations
of Negotiated Transportation Services of Natural
Gas Pipeline (Alternative Rate Policy Statement), 74
FERC ¶ 61,076, at 61,242 (1996), and NorAm Gas
Transmission Company, 77 FERC ¶ 61,011 (1996).
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pipeline does not use a particular
function) to enter a zero for that field.
17. In comments to the notice of
proposed rulemaking in this proceeding
issued on September 20, 2007,19 the
Interstate Natural Gas Association of
America commented that the
Commission should revise the reporting
requirement for pages 521a and 521b to
have these data reported on a quarterly
basis, rather than a monthly basis.
While this suggestion is not part of the
Commission’s proposal in this Notice,
we nonetheless invite comments on this
suggestion and reserve decision, until
the final rule, as to which of these
options will be adopted in our final
rule.
III. Information Collection Statement
18. The following collections of
information contained in this proposed
rule have been submitted to the Office
of Management and Budget for review
under section 3507(d) of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995.20 The
Commission solicits comments on the
Commission’s need for this information,
whether the information will have
practical utility, the accuracy of the
burden estimates, ways to enhance the
quality, utility and clarity of the
information to be collected or retained,
Data collection
form
Number of
respondents
and any suggested methods for
minimizing respondents’ burden,
including the use of automated
information techniques.
Estimated Annual Burden:
19. The Commission estimates that on
average it will take respondents five
additional hours per collection to
comply with the proposed
requirements. Most of the additional
information required to be reported is
already compiled and maintained by the
pipelines, and will not substantially
increase the existing reporting burden.
This proposal will increase the burden
hours as follows:
Change in the
number of
hours per
respondent
Change in the
total annual
hours for this
form
Filings per
year
84
44
128
5
5
5
1
1
3
420
220
1,920
Totals ........................................................................................................
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FERC Form 2 ..................................................................................................
FERC Form 2–A ..............................................................................................
FERC Form 3–Q ..............................................................................................
........................
........................
........................
2,560
Information Collection Costs: The
Commission seeks comments on the
costs to comply with these
requirements. As most of the proposed
additional data are already maintained
by the pipelines, the Commission
estimates that the additional collection
costs will not be overly burdensome.
Title: FERC Form No. 2, ‘‘Annual
Report for Major Natural Gas
Companies’’; FERC Form No. 2–A,
‘‘Annual Report for Nonmajor Natural
Gas Companies’’; FERC Form No. 3–Q,
‘‘Quarterly Financial Report of Electric
Utilities, Licensees, and Natural Gas
Companies.’’
Action: Proposed information
collection.
OMB Control Nos. 1902–0028 (Form
No. 2); 1902–0030 (Form No. 2–A); and
1902–0205 (Form No. 3–Q).
Respondents: Businesses or other for
profit.
Frequency of responses: Annually
(Form No. 2 and 2–A) and quarterly
(Form No. 3–Q).
20. Necessity of the information: The
information maintained and collected
under the requirements of part 260 is
essential to the Commission’s oversight
duties. The data now reported in the
forms does not provide sufficient
information to the Commission and the
public to permit an evaluation of the
filers’ jurisdictional rates. Since the
triennial restatement of rates
requirement was abolished and
pipelines are no longer required to
submit this information, the need for
current and relevant data is greater than
in the past. The information collection
proposed in the Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking will increase the forms’
usefulness to both the public and the
Commission. Without this information,
it is difficult for the Commission and
the public to perform an assessment of
pipeline costs, and thereby help to
ensure that rates are just and reasonable.
We do not believe that the additional
burden created by the reporting of this
information is significant, because the
pipelines should already have this
information readily available for their
own use in developing separately stated
fuel rates in their tariffs. In any event,
we believe this additional information
will allow the Commission and form
users to better analyze pipeline fuel
costs, an important component in
assessing the justness and
reasonableness of pipelines’ rates.
21. 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
associated with the information
requirements.
19 Revisions to Forms, Statements, and Reporting
Requirements for Natural Gas Pipelines, Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 32,623
(2007).
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22. 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, phone (202) 502–
8663, fax: (202) 273–0873, e-mail:
DataClearance@ferc.gov.] For
submitting comments concerning the
collections of information and the
associated burden estimates, please
send your comments to the contact
listed above and to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget, 725
17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503
[Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, phone:
(202) 395–4638, fax: (202) 395–7285].
Due to security concerns, comments
should be sent electronically to the
following e-mail address:
oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. Please
refer to OMB Control Nos. 1902–0028
(FERC Form No. 2), 1902–0030 (FERC
Form No. 2–A), and 1902–0205 (FERC
Form No. 3–Q), and the docket number
of this proposed rulemaking in your
submission.
IV. Environmental Analysis
23. 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
20 44
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 120 / Wednesday, June 23, 2010 / Proposed Rules
environment.21 No environmental
consideration is necessary for the
promulgation of a rule that addresses
information gathering, analysis, and
dissemination,22 and, also, addresses
accounting.23 No environmental
consideration is raised by the
promulgation of a rule that is procedural
or does not substantially change the
effect if adopted, and thus, this
rulemaking falls within these
exclusions.24 This proposed rule, if
finalized, involves information
gathering, analysis, and dissemination.
Consequently, neither an Environmental
Impact Statement nor an Environmental
Assessment is required.
V. Regulatory Flexibility Act
24. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of
1980 (RFA) 25 generally requires a
description and analysis of final rules
that will have significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small
entities.26 Under the industry standards
used for purposes of the RFA, a natural
gas company qualifies as a ‘‘small
entity’’ if it has annual revenues of less
than $7 million. Most companies
regulated by the Commission do not fall
within the RFA’s definition of a small
entity.27 Thus, most interstate natural
gas companies to which the rules
proposed herein, if finalized, would
apply, do not fall within the RFA’s
definition of small entities. In fact, our
most recent information shows that only
six natural gas companies not affiliated
with a large natural gas company fall
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21 Regulations Implementing the National
Environmental Policy Act, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17,
1987), Order No. 486, FERC Stats. & Regs.,
Regulations Preambles 1986–1990 ¶ 30,783 (1987).
22 See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(5).
23 See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(16).
24 See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii).
25 5 U.S.C. 601–612.
26 Id.
27 5 U.S.C. 601(3).
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within the definition of a small entity.
(These six entities constitute 4.7% of
the 128 total companies.) Consequently,
the rules proposed herein, if finalized,
will not have a significant economic
effect on a substantial number of small
entities.
VI. Comment Procedures
25. 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 August 23, 2010.
Comments must refer to Docket No.
RM07–9–003, and must include the
commenter’s name, the organization
they represent, if applicable, and their
address in their comments.
26. The Commission encourages
comments to be filed electronically via
the eFiling link on the Commission’s
Web site at https://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.
27. Commenters that are not able to
file comments electronically must send
an original and 14 copies of their
comments to: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, Office of the Secretary,
888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC
20426.
28. 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.
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VII. Document Availability
29. 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 (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.
30. 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.
31. 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
ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or the
Public Reference Room at (202) 502–
8371, TTY (202) 502–8659. E-mail the
Public Reference Room at
public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.
List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 260
Natural gas, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
By direction of the Commission.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
Note: The following revised schedules will
not be published in the Code of Federal
Regulations.
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 120 / Wednesday, June 23, 2010 / Proposed Rules
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 120 (Wednesday, June 23, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35700-35709]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-15164]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
18 CFR Part 260
[Docket No. RM07-9-003]
Revisions to Forms, Statements, and Reporting Requirements for
Natural Gas Pipelines
June 17, 2010.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.
ACTION: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission proposes to revise certain financial reporting
forms required to be filed by natural gas companies (FERC Form Nos. 2,
2-A,
[[Page 35701]]
and 3-Q) to include functionalized fuel data on pages 521a through 521d
of those forms, and to include on those forms the amount of fuel
waived, discounted or reduced as part of a negotiated rate agreement.
We also propose to revise page 520 accordingly.
DATES: Comments are due August 23, 2010.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. RM07-9-
003, by any of the following methods:
Agency Web Site: https://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: Commenters unable to file comments
electronically must mail or hand deliver an original and 14 copies of
their comments to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of the
Secretary, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Holmes (Technical Information),
Office of Enforcement, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, Telephone: (202) 502-6008, E-mail:
brian.holmes@ferc.gov.
Robert Sheldon (Technical Information), Office of Energy Market
Regulation, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street,
NE., Washington, DC 20426, Telephone: (202) 502-8672, E-mail:
robert.sheldon@ferc.gov.
Gary D. Cohen (Legal Information), Office of the General Counsel,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20426, Telephone: (202) 502-8321, E-mail:
gary.cohen@ferc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
1. In response to a court remand \1\ of Order Nos. 710 and 710-
A,\2\ the Commission is granting a motion by the American Gas
Association (AGA) requesting that the Commission issue a Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (Notice) proposing that the Commission revise FERC
Form Nos. 2, 2-A, and 3-Q, to include functionalized fuel data on pages
521a through 521d of those forms, and to include on such forms the
amount of fuel waived, discounted or reduced as part of a negotiated
rate agreement. We also propose to revise page 520 accordingly.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ American Gas Association v. FERC, 593 F.3d 14 (D.C. Cir.
2010).
\2\ Revisions to Forms, Statements, and Reporting Requirements
for Natural Gas Pipelines, Order No. 710, FERC Stats. & Regs. ]
31,267 (2008), order on reh' g and clarification, Order No. 710-A,
123 FERC ] 61,278 (2008).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Background
2. In Order No. 710, the Commission revised its financial forms,
statements, and reports for natural gas companies, contained in FERC
Form Nos. 2, 2-A, and 3-Q to make the information reported in these
forms more useful by updating them to reflect current market and cost
information relevant to interstate natural gas pipelines and their
customers.
3. Among the changes required by the Final Rule, the Commission
adopted new schedules for Forms 2, 2-A, and 3-Q \3\ and added page 520
(Gas Account-Natural Gas) to Form 3-Q \4\ to report, in greater detail,
the acquisition and disposition of shipper-supplied gas.\5\ Order No.
710 requires pipelines to report: (1) The difference between the volume
of gas received from shippers and the volume consumed in pipeline
operations each month; (2) the disposition of any excess gas and the
accounting recognition given to such disposition, including the basis
of valuing the gas and the specific accounts charged or credited; and
(3) the source of the gas used to meet any deficiency.\6\ AGA expressed
support for these additions to the forms, but argued that greater
clarity could be achieved if the Commission ``requires the information
to be broken out by function (e.g., transportation, storage, gathering,
etc.) and to include, by function, the amount of fuel that has been
waived, discounted or reduced as part of a negotiated rate agreement.''
\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ This new schedule reports: (1) the difference between the
volume of gas received from shippers and the volume of gas consumed
in pipeline operations each month; (2) the disposition of any excess
and the accounting recognition given to such disposition, including
the basis of valuing the gas and the specific accounts charged or
credited; and (3) the source of gas used to meet any deficiency,
including the accounting basis of the gas and the specific
account(s) charged or credited.
\4\ Page 520 was added to provide more timely reporting of the
quantity of natural gas received and delivered by the pipeline.
\5\ Order No. 710, P 13.
\6\ Id.
\7\ Id. P 15.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. In response to AGA's arguments, the Commission found that the
information that AGA requested to be broken out by function (e.g.,
transportation, storage, gathering, etc.) is available in Form 2 at
page 520.\8\ The Commission explained that on page 520 (Gas Account),
pipelines are required to provide detailed information regarding gas
received and delivered by the pipeline, identified by function and
account number.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ Order No. 710, P 16.
\9\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. On rehearing, AGA argued, among other matters, that the fuel
data would be more useful if such data were broken out by different
pipeline functions, including transportation, storage, gathering, and
exploration/production, and should include, by function, the amount of
fuel waived, discounted or reduced as part of a negotiated rate
agreement.
6. In Order No. 710-A, the Commission addressed the various
requests for rehearing and clarification of Order No. 710, including
AGA's, and denied AGA's request to add additional detail to the fuel
costs reported at pages 521a and 521b on the basis that some of the
information sought by AGA, i.e., certain data broken out by function,
are already available on page 520 of Form Nos. 2 and 2-A and because
Order No. 710 also added page 520 to Form No. 3-Q.\10\ The Commission
found that, while the detail sought by AGA might provide additional
clarity with respect to fuel costs, the Commission did not believe its
exclusion would preclude the Commission's or customers' ability to
assess the justness and reasonableness of pipeline rates.\11\ The
Commission also denied AGA's request that pipelines provide information
regarding the amount of fuel that a pipeline has waived, discounted or
reduced as part of a negotiated rate agreement, deeming such
information unnecessary and burdensome.\12\ Chairman (then
Commissioner) Wellinghoff issued a partial dissent arguing that AGA's
proposals should have been adopted.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ Order No. 710-A, P 9-11.
\11\ Id. P 10.
\12\ Id. P 11.
\13\ Id. at 62,708-9.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Subsequently, AGA filed a petition for review in the United
States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit arguing
that the Commission erred by not addressing the concerns raised by
Chairman Wellinghoff in his partial dissent to Order No. 710-A. The
court agreed and remanded the matter back to the Commission for further
proceedings.\14\
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\14\ 593 F.3d at 21.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Following the court's remand, AGA filed a motion requesting that
the Commission issue a Notice proposing revisions to FERC Form Nos. 2,
2-A, and 3-Q, to add additional details as initially proposed by AGA in
the rulemaking proceeding. Comments in support of AGA's motion were
filed by Kansas Corporation Commission and by
[[Page 35702]]
Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia, Inc.
II. Discussion
9. In this Notice, the Commission addresses the concerns raised by
AGA in its motion. In Order No. 710-A, the Commission found that the
detail sought by AGA might provide additional clarity with respect to
fuel costs, but decided, nonetheless, not to require the reporting of
this information, based on concerns over the burden associated with
compliance with such a requirement.\15\ The Commission also declined to
accept AGA's proposal regarding reporting details about the amount of
fuel that a pipeline has waived, discounted or reduced as part of a
negotiated rate agreement, based on concerns that this information
might not be significant and might not be readily available, as many
pipelines do not periodically file to adjust fuel rates and may not
keep records of this type of information.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\15\ Order No. 710-A, P 10.
\16\ Id. P 11.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. The court ruled that the Commission's earlier findings did not
discuss AGA's argument that pages 520 and 521 of the forms work in
tandem and unless the information provided on pages 521a and 521b is
broken out by function, a shipper cannot match the revenues generated
by the sale of excess fuel with the functionalized costs reported on
page 520. Thus, our preliminary view is that the additional information
proposed to be reported on pages 521a and 521b will allow the user to
determine if there is a cross-subsidy, which is critical to assessing
the justness and reasonableness of the pipeline's fuel rates.\17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\17\ We note that our proposal renumbers page 521 as 521a,
renumbers page 521a as 521b, and adds two runover pages as 521c and
521d. The pages should line up with 521a on top of page 521b, with
page 521c a continuation of page 521a and page 521d a continuation
of page 521b. The references in this Notice to pages 521a and 521b
assume the inclusion of pages 521c and 521d.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Moreover, as pointed out by AGA, while page 520 of the form
provides certain fuel information by function, the information is not
adequate to enable a form user to determine where on the pipeline
system fuel costs are being incurred and how they are being allocated.
As stated in the Final Rule, page 520 of Form Nos. 2 and 2-A provides
fuel losses by function (unaccounted for gas is broken out by function
at lines 30-34). AGA argues that additional detail regarding fuel costs
is required for pages 521a and 521b to ensure that the Commission and
pipeline customers have sufficient information required to assess the
justness and reasonableness of pipeline rates. We agree and therefore
propose to require that the fuel information be disaggregated by
function to provide greater clarity with regard to fuel costs. The
Commission believes that the availability of this information, reported
by function, is consistent with our goal in the Final Rule of having
sufficient information to allow the Commission and pipeline customers
to assess the impact on pipeline rates of rising fuel costs. Thus, our
proposal in this Notice includes the level of detail suggested by AGA
and as explained and shown below, we propose to require additional
information to be reported on pages 521a and 521b of the forms.
12. Specifically, we propose to revise pages 521a and 521b to
provide more detailed information about the information that previously
has been reported on page 520, Gas Account--Natural Gas. However, the
functional category for production/extraction/processing that we are
here proposing to add to page 521a and 521b is additional information
that has not previously been reported in page 520. Consequently, we
propose to add a line on page 520 for Gas of Others Received for
Production/Extraction/Processing (Accounts 490 and 491) and another
line for Gas of Others Delivered for Production/Extraction/Processing
(Accounts 490 and 491). This provides a bridge between the production/
extraction/processing function on pages 521a, 521b and 520. In
addition, we propose to revise page 520, line 29 (current line 27) to
read Other Deliveries and Gas Used for Other Operations. Again, this
allows the reporting of gas used in operations with the detail reported
in pages 521a and 521b.
13. Finally, we propose to revise the heading on page 520 for Gas
Unaccounted For to read Gas Losses and Gas Unaccounted For.
Additionally, as we are here proposing to have more detailed
information on fuel costs (broken down by function) reported on pages
521a and 521b, we are removing (as duplicative) the prior requirement
to report information on fuel costs in a more summary fashion on page
520.
14. AGA also requested the reporting of the amount of fuel by
function that has been waived, discounted or reduced as part of a
negotiated rate agreement. AGA argued that this information would
enable pipeline customers to better determine if any inappropriate
cross-subsidization is occurring. The Commission has a strict policy
that existing shippers must not subsidize the negotiated rate program,
and we agree that this additional information could be useful in
identifying potential violations of that policy.\18\ Therefore, we
propose that fuel costs and revenues associated with each type of rate
structure (i.e., negotiated, discounted, or recourse) be broken down by
function to provide better information with which to assess the
justness and reasonableness of a pipeline's fuel rates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\18\ See Alternative to Traditional Cost-of-Service Ratemaking
for Natural Gas Pipelines; Regulations of Negotiated Transportation
Services of Natural Gas Pipeline (Alternative Rate Policy
Statement), 74 FERC ] 61,076, at 61,242 (1996), and NorAm Gas
Transmission Company, 77 FERC ] 61,011 (1996).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. We also are revisiting the earlier finding that information
regarding the amount of fuel that a pipeline has waived, discounted or
reduced as part of a negotiated rate agreement, may not be readily
available. AGA argued that some pipeline maintain this information by
function in order to change a fuel rate either in a tracking mechanism
or in a future section 4 rate filing, and that such information is
readily accessible. After further consideration of these arguments we
have decided to propose the more detailed reporting of this
information, as suggested by AGA, and estimate that the burden
associated with this proposal is related solely to inputting the data
in the Form Nos. 2, 2-A, and 3-Q and with this additional information
we now propose to find that, in light of the usefulness of this
information, this small increase in filing burden is justified.
16. Thus, we propose in this Notice to revise the financial
reporting forms required to be filed by natural gas companies (FERC
Form Nos. 2, 2-A, and 3-Q) to include functionalized fuel data on pages
521a and 521b of those forms, and to include on such forms the amount
of fuel waived, discounted or reduced as part of a negotiated rate
agreement. Specifically, we propose to revise pages 521a and 521b to
include the following: (1) Expanding line 1 to separately reflect
shipper supplied fuel by function, i.e., production/extraction/process,
gathering, transmission, distribution, and storage; (2) expanding lines
2, 3, and 4 to separately list the volumes for each of these functions;
(3) expanding the listing of volumes to include discounted, negotiated
and recourse rates; (4) expanding line 5 to separately list the volumes
for each of these functions; (5) expanding the reporting of dollar
amounts to include amounts collected under discounted, negotiated and
recourse rates; (6) requiring the reporting of volumes of gas (in
dekatherms) not collected where the request for that gas has been
waived or reduced under discounted or negotiated rates; and (7)
directing filers (if the
[[Page 35703]]
pipeline does not use a particular function) to enter a zero for that
field.
17. In comments to the notice of proposed rulemaking in this
proceeding issued on September 20, 2007,\19\ the Interstate Natural Gas
Association of America commented that the Commission should revise the
reporting requirement for pages 521a and 521b to have these data
reported on a quarterly basis, rather than a monthly basis. While this
suggestion is not part of the Commission's proposal in this Notice, we
nonetheless invite comments on this suggestion and reserve decision,
until the final rule, as to which of these options will be adopted in
our final rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\19\ Revisions to Forms, Statements, and Reporting Requirements
for Natural Gas Pipelines, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FERC
Stats. & Regs. ] 32,623 (2007).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. Information Collection Statement
18. The following collections of information contained in this
proposed rule have been submitted to the Office of Management and
Budget for review under section 3507(d) of the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995.\20\ The Commission solicits comments on the Commission's need
for this information, whether the information will have practical
utility, the accuracy of the burden estimates, ways to enhance the
quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected or
retained, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondents' burden,
including the use of automated information techniques.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\20\ 44 U.S.C. 3507(d).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Annual Burden:
19. The Commission estimates that on average it will take
respondents five additional hours per collection to comply with the
proposed requirements. Most of the additional information required to
be reported is already compiled and maintained by the pipelines, and
will not substantially increase the existing reporting burden. This
proposal will increase the burden hours as follows:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change in the Change in the
Number of number of Filings per total annual
Data collection form respondents hours per year hours for this
respondent form
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FERC Form 2..................................... 84 5 1 420
FERC Form 2-A................................... 44 5 1 220
FERC Form 3-Q................................... 128 5 3 1,920
---------------------------------------------------------------
Totals...................................... .............. .............. .............. 2,560
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information Collection Costs: The Commission seeks comments on the
costs to comply with these requirements. As most of the proposed
additional data are already maintained by the pipelines, the Commission
estimates that the additional collection costs will not be overly
burdensome.
Title: FERC Form No. 2, ``Annual Report for Major Natural Gas
Companies''; FERC Form No. 2-A, ``Annual Report for Nonmajor Natural
Gas Companies''; FERC Form No. 3-Q, ``Quarterly Financial Report of
Electric Utilities, Licensees, and Natural Gas Companies.''
Action: Proposed information collection.
OMB Control Nos. 1902-0028 (Form No. 2); 1902-0030 (Form No. 2-A);
and 1902-0205 (Form No. 3-Q).
Respondents: Businesses or other for profit.
Frequency of responses: Annually (Form No. 2 and 2-A) and quarterly
(Form No. 3-Q).
20. Necessity of the information: The information maintained and
collected under the requirements of part 260 is essential to the
Commission's oversight duties. The data now reported in the forms does
not provide sufficient information to the Commission and the public to
permit an evaluation of the filers' jurisdictional rates. Since the
triennial restatement of rates requirement was abolished and pipelines
are no longer required to submit this information, the need for current
and relevant data is greater than in the past. The information
collection proposed in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will increase
the forms' usefulness to both the public and the Commission. Without
this information, it is difficult for the Commission and the public to
perform an assessment of pipeline costs, and thereby help to ensure
that rates are just and reasonable. We do not believe that the
additional burden created by the reporting of this information is
significant, because the pipelines should already have this information
readily available for their own use in developing separately stated
fuel rates in their tariffs. In any event, we believe this additional
information will allow the Commission and form users to better analyze
pipeline fuel costs, an important component in assessing the justness
and reasonableness of pipelines' rates.
21. 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 associated with the information
requirements.
22. 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, phone (202) 502-8663, fax: (202) 273-0873,
e-mail: DataClearance@ferc.gov.] For submitting comments concerning the
collections of information and the associated burden estimates, please
send your comments to the contact listed above and to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget,
725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503 [Attention: Desk Officer for
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, phone: (202) 395-4638, fax:
(202) 395-7285]. Due to security concerns, comments should be sent
electronically to the following e-mail address: oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. Please refer to OMB Control Nos. 1902-0028
(FERC Form No. 2), 1902-0030 (FERC Form No. 2-A), and 1902-0205 (FERC
Form No. 3-Q), and the docket number of this proposed rulemaking in
your submission.
IV. Environmental Analysis
23. 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
[[Page 35704]]
environment.\21\ No environmental consideration is necessary for the
promulgation of a rule that addresses information gathering, analysis,
and dissemination,\22\ and, also, addresses accounting.\23\ No
environmental consideration is raised by the promulgation of a rule
that is procedural or does not substantially change the effect if
adopted, and thus, this rulemaking falls within these exclusions.\24\
This proposed rule, if finalized, involves information gathering,
analysis, and dissemination. Consequently, neither an Environmental
Impact Statement nor an Environmental Assessment is required.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\21\ Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy
Act, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), Order No. 486, FERC Stats. &
Regs., Regulations Preambles 1986-1990 ] 30,783 (1987).
\22\ See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(5).
\23\ See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(16).
\24\ See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
V. Regulatory Flexibility Act
24. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) \25\ generally
requires a description and analysis of final rules that will have
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities.\26\ Under the industry standards used for purposes of the
RFA, a natural gas company qualifies as a ``small entity'' if it has
annual revenues of less than $7 million. Most companies regulated by
the Commission do not fall within the RFA's definition of a small
entity.\27\ Thus, most interstate natural gas companies to which the
rules proposed herein, if finalized, would apply, do not fall within
the RFA's definition of small entities. In fact, our most recent
information shows that only six natural gas companies not affiliated
with a large natural gas company fall within the definition of a small
entity. (These six entities constitute 4.7% of the 128 total
companies.) Consequently, the rules proposed herein, if finalized, will
not have a significant economic effect on a substantial number of small
entities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\25\ 5 U.S.C. 601-612.
\26\ Id.
\27\ 5 U.S.C. 601(3).
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VI. Comment Procedures
25. 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 August 23, 2010. Comments must refer to
Docket No. RM07-9-003, and must include the commenter's name, the
organization they represent, if applicable, and their address in their
comments.
26. The Commission encourages comments to be filed electronically
via the eFiling link on the Commission's Web site at https://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.
27. Commenters that are not able to file comments electronically
must send an original and 14 copies of their comments to: Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of the Secretary, 888 First
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
28. 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.
VII. Document Availability
29. 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 (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.
30. 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.
31. 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
ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or the Public Reference Room at (202) 502-
8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. E-mail the Public Reference Room at
public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.
List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 260
Natural gas, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
By direction of the Commission.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
Note: The following revised schedules will not be published in
the Code of Federal Regulations.
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[FR Doc. 2010-15164 Filed 6-22-10; 8:45 am]
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