Revisions to Auxiliary Installations, Replacement Facilities, and Siting and Maintenance Regulations, 43944-43949 [2015-17919]
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(IBR) of the service information listed in this
paragraph under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR
part 51.
(2) You must use this service information
as applicable to do the actions required by
this AD, unless the AD specifies otherwise.
(i) Boeing Alert Service Bulletin 747–
53A2463, Revision 2, dated June 16, 2014.
(ii) Reserved.
(3) For Boeing service information
identified in this AD, contact Boeing
Commercial Airplanes, Attention: Data &
Services Management, P.O. Box 3707, MC
2H–65, Seattle, WA 98124–2207; telephone
206–544–5000, extension 1; fax 206–766–
5680; Internet https://
www.myboeingfleet.com.
(4) You may view this service information
at FAA, Transport Airplane Directorate, 1601
Lind Avenue SW., Renton, WA. For
information on the availability of this
material at the FAA, call 425–227–1221.
(5) You may view this service information
that is incorporated by reference at the
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Issued in Renton, Washington, on July 10,
2015.
Michael Kaszycki,
Acting Manager, Transport Airplane
Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service.
regulations to be abandoned under the
blanket certificate regulations, subject to
those regulations’ requirements.
DATES: This rule will become effective
October 7, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Katherine Liberty, Office of the General
Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502–
6491, katherine.liberty@ferc.gov.
Gordon Wagner, Office of the General
Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502–
8947, gordon.wagner@ferc.gov.
Howard Wheeler, Office of Energy
Projects, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502–
8688, howard.wheeler@ferc.gov.
Shannon Jones, Office of Energy
Projects, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502–
6410, shannon.jones@ferc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ORDER NO. 790–B
Table of Contents
Paragraph
Nos.
[FR Doc. 2015–17978 Filed 7–23–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–13–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
18 CFR Parts 2 and 157
[Docket No. RM12–11–003; Order No. 790–
B]
Revisions to Auxiliary Installations,
Replacement Facilities, and Siting and
Maintenance Regulations
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Final rule, order on
clarification.
AGENCY:
The Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (Commission) is
amending its regulations to: Provide
pre-granted authority under a new
paragraph to abandon or replace
auxiliary facilities, subject to certain
conditions; permit auxiliary facilities
that cannot meet the conditions for the
pre-granted abandonment authority in
the new paragraph to be abandoned
under the blanket certificate regulations,
subject to those regulations’
requirements; and permit replacement
facilities constructed under the
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SUMMARY:
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I. Discussion .............................
A. Section 2.55(a) Auxiliary Facilities ................
B. Section 2.55(b) Replacements ....................
II. Information Collection
Statement ..............................
III. Environmental Analysis ....
IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act
V. Document Availability .......
VI. Effective Date and Congressional Notification .........
4
9
14
18
23
24
26
29
Order No. 790–B
Final Rule
Order on Rehearing and Clarification
1. On November 20, 2014, the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission
(Commission) issued Order No. 790–A,1
which affirmed, inter alia, the
Commission’s clarification in Order No.
790 2 that auxiliary facilities installed
under section 2.55(a) of the
Commission’s regulations 3 may only
utilize rights-of-way, facility sites, and
1 Revisions to Auxiliary Installations,
Replacement Facilities, and Siting and
Maintenance Regulations, Order No. 790–A, 79 FR
70056 (Nov. 25, 2014), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,361
(2014) (cross-referenced at 149 FERC ¶ 61,144
(2014)).
2 Order No. 790, 78 FR 72794–801 (Dec. 4, 2013),
FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,351 (2013) (crossreferenced at 145 FERC ¶ 61,154 (2013)).
3 18 CFR 2.55 (2014).
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work spaces authorized for the
construction and operation of interstate
transmission facilities.
2. On December 22, 2014, National
Fuel Gas Supply Corporation and
Empire Pipeline, Inc. (collectively,
National Fuel) filed a request that the
Commission revise its part 157, subpart
F, blanket certificate regulations to
provide a mechanism under those
regulations for the abandonment of
auxiliary facilities that were constructed
under section 2.55(a) and replacement
facilities that were constructed under
section 2.55(b). National Fuel also
requests clarification that in addition to
authorizing new auxiliary installations,
section 2.55(a) also authorizes the
replacement of existing auxiliary
facilities without the need for
abandonment authority under section
7(b) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA).
3. As discussed below, this order
responds to National Fuel’s requests by
(1) adopting a new subsection 2.55(a)(3)
to provide pre-granted authority to
abandon or replace auxiliary facilities,
subject to certain conditions; (2)
amending part 157 to provide authority,
subject to the blanket certificate
regulations’ conditions, to abandon
section 2.55(a) auxiliary facilities that
cannot meet the conditions for the pregranted abandonment authority being
added to section 2.55(a) and to abandon
section 2.55(b) replacement facilities.
I. Discussion
4. In Order No. 790–A, the
Commission explained that section 2.55
facilities are installed under the
certificate authority that authorized the
interstate transmission pipeline
facilities being augmented or replaced.
The Commission further explained that
because section 2.55 auxiliary and
replacement facilities are certificated
facilities, a company needs prior
authorization under NGA section 7(b) to
abandon such facilities. The
Commission stated that in many
instances companies should be able to
rely on their part 157, subpart F, blanket
certificate authority to abandon section
2.55 facilities. In view of this statement,
National Fuel believes it is the
Commission’s intent that companies be
able to rely on their part 157 blanket
certificate authority to abandon facilities
installed under section 2.55.
5. National Fuel points out, however,
that section 157.202(b)(3) of the blanket
certificate regulations states that a
‘‘facility’’ for purposes of the blanket
program does not include a facility
‘‘described under section 2.55,’’ and that
section 157.216 states that blanket
certificate abandonment authority is
limited to facilities that ‘‘did or could
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now qualify’’ for construction
authorization under the blanket
provisions. National Fuel therefore
requests that the Commission revise its
blanket certificate regulations to ensure
that companies will be able to rely on
part 157 blanket certificate authority to
abandon section 2.55 auxiliary and
replacement facilities. National Fuel
stresses that without clear blanket
certificate authority to abandon section
2.55 facilities that did or could now
qualify for construction authorization
under the blanket provisions,
companies will be subject to the burden
of having to file an NGA section 7(b)
application for abandonment
authorization for each individual
facility.
6. In view of the Commission’s
statement in Order No. 790–A that NGA
section 7(b) authority is required for the
abandonment of section 2.55 facilities,
National Fuel also seeks clarification on
whether section 7(b) abandonment
authority is needed to retire an auxiliary
facility that is being replaced.
7. The Commission affirms its
statement in Order No. 790–A that NGA
section 7(b) authority is required for the
abandonment of section 2.55 facilities,
which includes the retirement of section
2.55 facilities that will be replaced.
However, for the reasons discussed
below, the Commission believes section
2.55(a) can be amended to include pregranted authority to abandon section
2.55 facilities in certain situations and
agrees that the blanket certificate
regulations should be amended so that
companies can rely on their blanket
certificate authority to abandon
auxiliary and replacement facilities that
were or could have been constructed
under section 2.55, provided the
abandonment facilities meet the blanket
program criteria.
8. Therefore, the Commission will
amend: (1) Section 2.55(a) to provide
pre-granted authorization to retire
auxiliary facilities that are being
replaced or permanently abandon the
auxiliary facilities if there will be no
need to go outside an authorized rightof-way, facility site, or work space,4 and
4 As the Commission has previously explained in
this rulemaking proceeding, the certificate authority
for section 2.55 auxiliary and replacement facilities
is a type of blanket certificate that was both a
precursor of and a complement to part 157, subpart
F, blanket certificate authority. Order No. 790,
FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,351 at P 16; Order No.
790–A, ¶ 31,361 at P 13. However, unlike activities
under section 2.55, which must comply with
previously established environmental conditions,
activities under part 157 that will involve ground
disturbance or change operational air or noise
emissions are subject to a project-specific
environmental review in order to comply with the
conditions in section 157.206(b). Because of this
safeguard, blanket projects are permitted to use new
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(2) part 157, subpart F, to permit the use
of blanket certificate authority, subject
to the blanket program’s conditions, to
abandon section 2.55(a) auxiliary
facilities if a company is unable to
exercise the new pre-granted
abandonment authority in section
2.55(a)(3) and to abandon section
2.55(b) replacement facilities.5 In view
of the revisions and additions to section
2.55 since its original provisions were
proposed in 1948,6 the Commission also
is changing the current heading for
section 2.55, ‘‘Definition of terms used
in section 7(c).’’ The revised heading for
section 2.55 will read ‘‘Auxiliary
installations and replacement facilities.’’
A. Section 2.55(a) Auxiliary Facilities
9. Auxiliary installations under
section 2.55(a) are limited to facilities
that will serve ‘‘only for the purpose of
obtaining more efficient operation or
more economical operation of the
authorized or proposed transmission
facilities’’ (emphasis added).7 Further,
to add an auxiliary facility to a
rights-of-way and other previously undisturbed
areas. In addition, environmental assessment
reports are prepared for companies’ larger-scale
blanket projects to confirm that section 157.206(b)’s
standard conditions will be adequate to ensure that
the blanket project will have no significant adverse
environmental impacts.
5 As discussed herein, section 2.55 facilities are
jurisdictional, and therefore cannot be abandoned
without prior authorization under NGA section
7(b). While the certificate authorization for the
transmission facilities being augmented or replaced
by section 2.55 facilities is the predicate for the
certificate authority to construct section 2.55
facilities, the underlying certificate authorization
does not include pre-granted abandonment
authority. Note that although a company cannot
abandon a newer facility which replaces an older
facility without first securing authorization to do so,
section 2.55(b) operates to provide pre-granted
authority for the older facility. This final rule’s
regulatory changes are prospective only, and
therefore do not operate to retroactively authorize
any previous abandonments of section 2.55
facilities. However, consistent with the
Commission’s prior assurances in this proceeding
regarding instances where companies may have
mistakenly relied on section 2.55 to install auxiliary
facilities that utilized new rights-of-way or other
areas that had not been subject to the Commission’s
prior environmental review and approval, the
Commission similarly does not intend to look back
to pursue enforcement action with respect to earlier
abandonments of auxiliary facilities unless it comes
to the Commission’s attention that remedial
environmental measures need to be taken. See
Order No. 790–A at P 42.
6 Filing of Applications for Certificates of Public
Convenience and Necessity, Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, NOPR, 13 FR 6253, at 6254 (October
23, 1948).
7 As examples of auxiliary facilities that serve
only to make pipeline operation more efficient or
economical, section 2.55(a) lists ‘‘[v]alves; drips; pig
launchers/receivers; yard and station piping;
cathodic protection equipment; gas cleaning,
cooling and dehydration equipment; residual
refining equipment; water pumping, treatment and
cooling equipment; electrical and communication
equipment; and buildings.’’
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43945
transmission pipeline system, a
company cannot rely on section 2.55(a)
unless its activities are confined to the
permanent right-of-way, facility site,
and temporary work space surveyed and
authorized by the Commission in its
environmental review of the
transmission system.8 In addition,
because section 2.55 facilities are
constructed and operated under the
certificate authorization for the
transmission facilities being augmented
or replaced, section 2.55 activities must
not result in a violation of any
environmental conditions applicable to
the certificate authorizing the
transmission facilities. Therefore, to
install auxiliary facilities under section
2.55(a), a company must:
conform to the conditions of the certificate
authorizing construction of the transmission
facilities (e.g., all required mitigation
measures, such as erosion control or
revegetation protocols, that applied to the
case-specific certificate or Part 157 blanket
certificate authority under which the
transmission facilities were constructed).9
10. The Commission believes these
limitations will be sufficient to obviate
the need for further environmental
review if section 2.55(a) is amended to
include pre-granted authority for
companies to abandon, or to retire and
replace, auxiliary facilities ‘‘as
described in section 2.55(a),’’ regardless
of whether the facilities to be
abandoned or replaced were installed
under section 2.55. Therefore, the
Commission will add a new paragraph
to section 2.55(a)(3) to provide pregranted authority to abandon or replace
auxiliary facilities if the auxiliary
facilities were or could have been
installed under section 2.55(a) 10 and all
activities are confined to areas
previously reviewed and approved by
the Commission in conjunction with its
authorization of the augmented
transmission facilities.
11. Auxiliary facilities, by definition,
serve exclusively to enhance the
efficiency or economy of the operation
of a transmission system; thus, the
8 The Commission acknowledged in Order No.
790 that it was not aware of any section 2.55(a)
auxiliary installation activities outside authorized
areas that approached the scale of certain section
2.55(b) replacement activities that had taken place
outside authorized areas. However, as the
Commission explained, section 2.55(a) auxiliary
installations also must be restricted to previously
authorized areas because ‘‘the issues raised for
sections 2.55(a) and (b) activities are the same.’’
Order No. 790, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,351 at P
20 (footnotes omitted).
9 Order No. 790, FERC Stats. & ¶ 31,351 at P 33.
10 Note that auxiliary facilities installed under
case-specific or blanket certificate authority can
also qualify for the pre-granted authority under
section 2.55(a)(3) if such facilities comply with the
section 2.55 spatial constraints.
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abandonment or replacement of
auxiliary facilities should not result in
a reduction or abandonment of service
supplied by that system.11 Nevertheless,
the abandonment or replacement of
auxiliary facilities under new section
2.55(a)(3) will be authorized only if
there will be no adverse impact on
customers’ certificated services.12
12. Further, like the section 2.55(a)
authority to install auxiliary facilities,
the new section 2.55(a)(3) pre-granted
authority will be available only if a
company’s abandonment or replacement
activities will not result in a violation of
the conditions on the certificate
authorizing the augmented transmission
facilities, in particular, the
environmental mitigation conditions.
For example, if the auxiliary facilities a
company plans to abandon or replace
are cathodic protection equipment
located in a pipeline right-of-way, the
case-specific or part 157 blanket
certificate authorization for construction
of the pipeline generally would have
been conditioned on the company’s
compliance with an Upland Erosion
Control, Revegetation, and Maintenance
Plan 13 and Wetland and Waterbody
Construction and Mitigation
Procedures.14 Just as the company
would have been required to ensure
compliance with these environmental
certificate conditions to install the
cathodic equipment under section
2.55(a), the company will need to
similarly ensure that any exercise of the
new section 2.55(a)(3) authority to
abandon or replace the cathodic
protection equipment will also comply
with these environmental certificate
conditions.15
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B. Section 2.55(b) Replacements
13. Replacements under section
2.55(b), like auxiliary facility activities
11 Because section 2.55(b) provides authority to
abandon the existing facilities being replaced under
that subsection, section 2.55(b)(1)(i) provides that a
replacement project is authorized only if the
abandonment of the existing facilities ‘‘will not
result in a reduction or abandonment of service.’’
12 The pre-granted abandonment authority
provided by new subsection 2.55(a)(3) will satisfy
the requirement set forth in NGA section 7(b) that
‘‘no natural-gas company shall abandon all or any
portion of its facilities subject to the jurisdiction of
the Commission, or any service rendered by means
of such facilities, without the permission and
approval of the Commission first had and
obtained.’’
13 See https://www.ferc.gov/industries/gas/enviro/
plan.pdf.
14 See https://www.ferc.gov/industries/gas/enviro/
procedures.pdf.
15 A company should seek guidance from staff if
it is uncertain whether or how an environmental
mitigation condition on the construction and
operation of transmission facilities at a given
location will apply to its abandonment of auxiliary
facilities.
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under section 2.55(a), are restricted to
areas previously subject to the
Commission’s environmental review
and approval.16 Also, replacements
under section 2.55(b), like auxiliary
facility activities under section 2.55(a),
must conform to the conditions on the
case-specific or part 157 blanket
certificate authorization of the affected
transmission facilities.
14. As discussed earlier in this
proceeding, replacement projects under
section 2.55(b) can be much larger in
scale than auxiliary installations under
section 2.55(a).17 Further, section
2.55(b) can be used without prior notice
to the Commission and shippers for
replacing facilities upon which existing
services are dependent,18 necessitating
section 2.55(b)(1)(i)’s condition limiting
replacement projects to situations where
companies can ensure that the
abandonment of existing facilities will
not result in a reduction or cessation of
service. In view of these considerations,
even though activities under section
2.55 are restricted to areas subject to the
Commission’s prior environmental
review and approval, the Commission
cannot find, as it has above for section
2.55(a) auxiliary facilities, that it would
be consistent with the public interest to
provide pre-granted authority to
abandon section 2.55(b) replacement
facilities. However, abandonment
authority for section 2.55(b)
replacements can be provided under
section 157.216 of the part 157 blanket
certificate regulations, since blanket
abandonments provide for
16 As the Commission explained in Order No.
790, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,351 at P 15, ‘‘[i]n the
case of section 2.55(b) replacement facilities, an
environmental review was performed prior to
construction of the existing facilities to be
replaced.’’
17 Id. at P 39. The Commission has explained the
original intent for section 2.55(b) as follows:
The types of construction activities being
conducted under section 2.55 are replacements that
should only involve basic maintenance or repair to
relatively minor facilities where the Commission
has determined that no significant impact to the
environment will occur. The Commission believes
that the existing right-of-way that was used to
construct the original facilities should be sufficient
for these types of activities. Pipelines may use their
blanket certificate authority to perform projects
involving more extensive work that would need
additional workspace, including the use of other
unrelated rights-of-way. This would allow for the
required additional environmental scrutiny.
Therefore, those projects should be done under the
pipeline’s blanket certificate.
Id. at P 7, citing Order No. 603–A, FERC Stats.
& Regs. ¶ 31,081 at 31,922 (1999).
18 The only notice requirement applicable to
replacements under section 2.55(b) is the
requirement that a company give the Commission
at least 30 days prior notice if the cost of a
replacement project will exceed the blanket
certificate regulations’ current automatic cost limit.
See section 2.55(b)(1)(iii) and (2). There is no public
notice requirement under section 2.55(a).
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environmental review.19 In addition, the
blanket provisions afford an opportunity
for public input under the prior notice
provisions applicable to larger
abandonment projects and also require
that a company be able to demonstrate
the facility it is planning to abandon (be
it original or a replacement) is no longer
needed to meet its service obligations.20
15. National Fuel observes that
section 157.202(b)(3) states that a
‘‘facility,’’ for the purposes of the
blanket program, ‘‘does not include the
items described’’ in section 2.55, and
section 157.216 states that the blanket
abandonment authority described in
that section is limited to facilities that
‘‘did or could now qualify’’ for
construction under the blanket
certificate regulations. Because these
sections operate to exclude the items
described in section 2.55 from eligibility
for blanket certificate abandonment
authorization, we will revise the blanket
certificate regulations to allow
companies to use the automatic and
prior notice provisions of section
157.216 to abandon (1) replacement
facilities that were or could have been
constructed under section 2.55(b); and
(2) auxiliary facilities that cannot be
abandoned under new subsection
2.55(a)(3)’s pre-granted authority
because their abandonment will require
going out outside areas previously
reviewed and approved by the
Commission in authorizing the
augmented transmission facilities.
16. As a result of these revisions to
the blanket certificate regulations, a
company will need to file an application
for case-specific authority to abandon
section 2.55 facilities only when the
abandonment cannot qualify under the
automatic or prior notice provisions of
section 157.216 because the current cost
to construct the facilities would exceed
the blanket regulations’ applicable cost
limits, or because the company cannot
obtain necessary customer consent as
19 In general, a facility is replaced as it
approaches the end of its useful life, a lifespan
which may be measured in decades for cathodically
protected pipeline. Given this lifespan, by the time
a replaced facility reaches the end of its useful life,
there may have been changes in the use of land
proximate to the replaced facility that were not
contemplated in the Commission’s review of the
initial project proposal, and thus not accounted for
in the certificate conditions. Accordingly, the
Commission finds it prudent to revisit potential
environmental impacts prior to the abandonment of
certain replaced facilities.
20 Even when a company obtains written consent
from all customers whose services during the last
year depended on the facilities to be abandoned
under section 157.216, the abandonment is subject
to the blanket certificate regulations’ prior notice
provisions if the current cost of constructing the
facilities to be abandoned would exceed the blanket
certificate regulations’ current automatic cost limit.
18 CFR 157.216(b)(2) (2014).
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required by section 157.216, or because
the project cannot satisfy the section
157.206(b)’s environmental
requirements.21
II. Information Collection Statement
17. The Paperwork Reduction Act
(PRA) 22 requires each federal agency to
seek and obtain Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) approval before
undertaking a collection of information
directed to ten or more persons or
contained in a rule of general
applicability.23 The OMB regulations
implementing the PRA require approval
of certain information collection
requirements imposed by agency
rules.24 We expect a net decrease in the
reporting burden due to this rule’s
amendment of section 2.55(a) to provide
pre-granted authority for companies to
abandon or replace auxiliary facilities
and amendment of the part 157
regulations to extend blanket certificate
authority to the abandonment of certain
section 2.55 auxiliary and replacement
facilities. Companies must identify
facilities abandoned under section
157.216 in the annual report submitted
pursuant to section 157.207. While the
expanded authority this rule provides
under section 156.216 can be expected
to increase the number of facilities
abandoned under that section,
companies can be expected to account
for these additional facilities in the
annual report with minimal, ministerial
efforts. Consequently, this rule will
substantially reduce current burdens on
companies by eliminating the additional
information that would otherwise need
to be submitted in an NGA section 7(b)
case-specific abandonment
application.25
18. The Commission solicits
comments from the public on the
Commission’s need for this information,
whether the information will have
practical utility, the accuracy of the
43947
burden estimates, recommendations to
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity
of the information to be collected, and
any suggested methods for minimizing
respondents’ burden, including the use
of automated information techniques.
The burden estimates are for
implementing the information
collection requirements of this Final
Rule. The Commission asks that any
revised burden estimates submitted by
commenters include the details and
assumptions used to generate the
estimates.
19. The collection of information
modified by this Final Rule falls under
FERC–537 (Gas Pipeline Certificates:
Construction, Acquisition, and
Abandonment). The following estimates
of reporting burden are related only to
this Final Rule. Public Reporting
Burden: The estimated average annual
burden changes made in Docket RM12–
11–003 follow.
RM12–11–003 FINAL RULE
Number of
respondents
Number of
responses
per
respondent
Average
burden
hours per
response
Total annual
burden
hours
Total annual
cost
(1)
(2)
(3)
(1)×(2)×(3)
($) 26
3
2
¥3
¥2
....................
1
1
1
1
....................
5
25
25
160
....................
FERC–537
Pre-Granted Auxiliary Approval (18 CFR 2.55) .......................................
Additional Blanket Certificate Abandonment Applications .......................
Eliminated Blanket Certificate Abandonment Applications ......................
Eliminated Case-Specific Abandonment Applications .............................
Net Change due to RM12–11–003 ..........................................................
15
50
¥75
¥320
¥330
$1,080
3,600
¥5,400
¥23,040
¥23,760
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Title: FERC–537 (Gas Pipeline
Certificates: Construction, Acquisition
and Abandonment)
Action: Proposed revisions to
information collection
OMB Control No.: 1902–0060.
Respondents: Business or other forprofit enterprise (Natural Gas
Companies).
Frequency of Responses: Ongoing and
annual.
Necessity of Information and Internal
Review: The Commission has
determined that the proposed revisions
are necessary to establish more efficient
means to abandon auxiliary and
replacement facilities. These
requirements conform to the
Commission’s plan for efficient
information collection, communication,
and management within the natural gas
industry. The Commission has assured
itself, by means of its internal review,
that there is specific, objective support
for the burden estimates associated with
the abandonment requirements.
20. Interested persons may obtain
information on the reporting
requirements by contacting the
following: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20426 [Attention: Ellen
Brown, Office of the Executive Director,
email: DataClearance@ferc.gov, phone:
(202) 502–8663, fax: (202) 273–0873].
21 When a company relies on the automatic or
prior notice provisions of section 157.216 to
abandon a section 2.55 auxiliary or replacement
facility, it will have to identify the abandonment in
accordance with section 157.216(d) in the annual
report of blanket certificate activities required by
section 157.207. Section 157.216(d)(2) requires
facilities abandoned under that section to be
identified in a company’s annual report by the
‘‘docket number(s) of the certificate(s) authorizing
the construction and operation of the facilities to be
abandoned.’’ Since the Commission does not assign
docket numbers to facilities put in place under
section 2.55, companies’ annual reports of blanket
certificate activities should identify the docket
number(s) associated with the transmission
facilities that were augmented or replaced by the
section 2.55 facilities abandoned under section
157.216. If section 2.55 facilities are abandoned
under section 157.216’s prior notice provisions, the
company’s annual report should also include the
docket number that was assigned to its prior notice
filing.
22 44 U.S.C. 3501–3520 (2012).
23 OMB’s regulations provide at 5 CFR
1320.3(c)(4)(i) (2014) that ‘‘[a]ny recordkeeping,
reporting, or disclosure requirement contained in a
rule of general applicability is deemed to involve
ten or more persons.’’
24 5 CFR part 1320 (2014).
25 FERC–537 (Gas Pipeline Certificates:
Construction, Acquisition and Abandonment, OMB
Control No. 1902–0060) covers both the
abandonment application requirements of part 157
and the annual reports under 18 CFR 157.207. The
expanded part 157 abandonment authority, as well
as the new section 2.55(a)(3) pre-granted authority
to abandon and replace auxiliary facilities, will be
covered under FERC–537.
26 The estimates for cost per response are derived
using the following formula: Average Burden Hours
per Response × $72 per Hour = Average Cost per
Response. The cost per hour figure is the FERC
average salary plus benefits for Fiscal Year 2015.
Subject matter experts found that industry
employment costs closely resemble FERC’s
regarding the FERC–537 information collection.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:26 Jul 23, 2015
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 142 / Friday, July 24, 2015 / Rules and Regulations
21. Comments concerning the
collection of information and the
associated burden estimate should be
sent to the Commission and to the
Office of Management and Budget,
Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Washington, DC 20503
[Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission,
telephone: (202) 395–0710, fax: (202)
395–4718]. For security reasons,
comments to OMB should be submitted
by email to: oira_submission@
omb.eop.gov. Comments submitted to
OMB should include OMB Control
Number 1902–0060 (FERC–537).
III. Environmental Analysis
22. 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. The Commission has
categorically excluded certain actions
from these requirements as not having a
significant effect on the human
environment. Generally, the regulatory
actions taken in this rulemaking
proceeding fall within the categorical
exclusions in the Commission’s
regulations for actions that are
clarifying, corrective, or procedural, and
for information gathering, analysis, and
dissemination. Although this rule alters
the procedures by which companies
may obtain abandonment authorization
for certain types of facilities, it will not
result in any additional abandonment
activities and therefore will not have a
significant adverse effect on the human
environment. Accordingly, an
environmental review is not necessary
and has not been prepared in
connection with this rulemaking.
rmajette on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with RULES
IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act
23. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of
1980 (RFA) generally requires a
description and analysis of agency rules
that will have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The RFA mandates
consideration of regulatory alternatives
that accomplish the stated objectives of
a proposed rule and that minimize any
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
The SBA Office of Size Standards
develops the numerical definition of a
small business. The SBA has established
a size standard for companies
transporting natural gas, stating that a
firm is small if its annual receipts (and
VerDate Sep<11>2014
14:07 Jul 23, 2015
Jkt 235001
the receipts of its affiliates) are less than
or equal to $27.5 million.27
24. The final rule provides less
burdensome and less costly options for
specified natural gas companies, the
majority of which are not small
businesses. The reporting requirements,
which provide pre-granted
abandonment authority under certain
conditions and clarify the regulations,
will reduce the burden and cost on
those companies (large or small). The
Commission estimates that an average of
five projects per year will benefit from
the less burdensome, streamlined
requirements. Three of those five
projects are expected to save $1,440
each, by using the new pre-granted
approval in 18 CFR 2.55 (rather than the
more burdensome blanket certificate
abandonment application). In addition,
two of those five filers are expected to
save $9,720 each, by using the
additional blanket certificate
applications (rather than the casespecific abandonment applications).
Accordingly, the Commission certifies
that this Final Rule should not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
V. Document Availability
25. 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 5:00 p.m. Eastern
time) at 888 First Street NE., Room 2A,
Washington, DC 20426.
26. 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.
27. 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 email at
ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or the
Public Reference Room at (202) 502–
8371, TTY (202) 502–8659. Email the
Public Reference Room at
public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.
27 See 13 CFR 121.201 for Subsector 486, NAICS
code 486210 (Pipeline Transportation of Natural
Gas).
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VI. Effective Date and Congressional
Notification
28. These regulations are effective
October 7, 2015. The Commission has
determined, with the concurrence of the
Administrator of the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs of
OMB, that this rule is not a ‘‘major rule’’
as defined in section 351 of the Small
Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996. This final rule is
being submitted to the Senate, House of
Representatives, Government
Accountability Office, and Small
Business Administration.
List of Subjects
18 CFR Part 2
Administrative practice and
procedure, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
18 CFR Part 157
Administrative practice and
procedure, Natural gas, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
By the Commission.
Issued: July 16, 2015.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
In consideration of the foregoing, the
Commission amends parts 2 and 157,
chapter I, title 18, Code of Federal
Regulations, as follows:
PART 2—GENERAL POLICY AND
INTERPRETATIONS
1. The authority citation for part 2
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 601; 15 U.S.C. 717–
717z, 3301–3432; 16 U.S.C. 792–828c, 2601–
2645, 42 U.S.C. 4321–4370h, 7101–7352.
2. Amend § 2.55 by revising the
section heading and adding paragraph
(a)(3) to read as follows:
■
§ 2.55 Auxiliary installations and
replacement facilities.
*
*
*
*
*
(a) * * *
(3) Abandonment or replacement of
auxiliary installations. Authorization to
abandon or replace auxiliary facilities
that were or could be installed under
paragraph (a)(1) of this section is pregranted under section 7(b) of the Natural
Gas Act, and no reporting is required,
provided that:
(i) All activities will be confined to
areas, including temporary work space,
previously authorized by the
Commission for the construction and
operation of facilities at that location;
(ii) All activities will comply with
applicable conditions on certificate
authorizations for the construction and
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24JYR1
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 142 / Friday, July 24, 2015 / Rules and Regulations
operation of facilities at that location;
and
(iii) The abandonment or replacement
will have no adverse impact on
customers’ certificated services.
*
*
*
*
*
PART 157—APPLICATIONS FOR
CERTIFICATES OF PUBLIC
CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY AND
FOR ORDERS PREMITTING AND
APPROVING ABANDONMENT UNDER
SECTION 7 OF THE NATURAL GAS
ACT
3. The authority citation for part 157
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 717–717z.
4. Amend § 157.202 by adding a
sentence at the end of paragraph (b)(2)(i)
and revising paragraph (b)(3) to read as
follows:
■
§ 157.202
Definitions.
*
*
*
*
*
(b) * * *
(2)(i) * * * Finally, for purposes of
abandonment under § 157.216, eligible
facilities include auxiliary installations
that do not qualify for pre-granted
abandonment authority under
§ 2.55(a)(3) and replacement facilities
constructed under § 2.55(b).
*
*
*
*
*
(3) Facility, for purposes of
construction under this subpart, does
not include an auxiliary facility that
qualifies for construction under § 2.55(a)
of this chapter or a replacement facility
that qualifies for construction under
§ 2.55(b).
*
*
*
*
*
■ 5. Amend § 157.216 by revising
paragraphs (a)(2) and (b)(2) to read as
follows:
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§ 157.216
14:07 Jul 23, 2015
[FR Doc. 2015–17919 Filed 7–23–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service
Abandonment.
(a) * * *
(2)(i) An auxiliary facility as
described in § 2.55(a) of this chapter
when the abandonment:
(A) Will not exceed the cost limit in
§ 157.208(d) for activities under the
automatic provisions;
(B) Will have no adverse impact on
customers’ certificated services; and
(C) Cannot satisfy the right-of-way,
facility site, and work space limitations
for the pre-granted abandonment
authority in § 2.55(a)(3);
(ii) A replacement facility that was or
could have been constructed under
§ 2.55(b) of this chapter, provided the
current cost to construct the facilities
would not exceed the cost limit in
§ 157.208(d) for activities under the
automatic provisions and the certificate
holder obtains the written consent of
VerDate Sep<11>2014
each customer served using the facility
during the past 12 months;
(iii) Any other facility that did or
could now qualify for automatic
authorization as described in
§ 157.203(b), provided the certificate
holder obtains the written consent of
each customer served using the facility
during the past 12 months.
(b) * * *
(2)(i) An auxiliary facility as
described in § 2.55(a) of this chapter
when the abandonment:
(A) Will exceed the cost limit in
§ 157.208(d) for activities under the
prior notice provisions;
(B) Will have no adverse impact on
customers’ certificated services; and
(C) Cannot satisfy the right-of-way,
facility site, and work space limitations
for the pre-granted abandonment
authority in § 2.55(a)(3).
(ii) A replacement facility that was or
could have been constructed under
§ 2.55(b) of this chapter, provided the
current cost to construct the facilities
would not exceed the cost limit in
§ 157.208(d) for activities under the
prior notice provisions and the
certificate holder obtains the written
consent of each customer served using
the facility during the past 12 months;
(iii) Any other facility that did or
could now qualify for prior notice
authorization as described in
§ 157.203(c), provided the certificate
holder obtains the written consent of
each customer served using the facility
during the past 12 months.
*
*
*
*
*
Jkt 235001
26 CFR Part 301
[TD 9727]
RIN 1545–BI36
Claims for Credit or Refund
Internal Revenue Service (IRS),
Treasury.
ACTION: Final regulations.
AGENCY:
This document contains final
regulations for filing a claim for credit
or refund. The regulations provide
guidance to taxpayers generally as to the
proper place to file a claim for credit or
refund. The regulations are updated to
reflect changes made by the Tax Reform
Act of 1976, section 1210, the Internal
Revenue Service Restructuring and
Reform Act of 1998, and the Community
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
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Fmt 4700
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43949
Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000. The
regulations are further updated to reflect
that the IRS may prescribe additional
claim forms.
DATES:
Effective Date: These regulations are
effective on July 24, 2015.
Applicability Dates: For dates of
applicability, see §§ 301.6402–2(g),
301.6402–3(f) and 301.6402–4(b).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Micah A. Levy, (202) 317–6832 (not a
toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
These final regulations amend current
regulations under section 6402 of the
Internal Revenue Code (Code). Section
6402 of the Code authorizes the
Secretary to make credits or refunds of
overpayments. Section 6511 provides
the limitations period within which a
taxpayer must file a claim for credit or
refund and restricts the ability of the
Secretary to issue a credit or refund
unless the claim is filed by the taxpayer
within that period. Section 7422
prohibits the maintenance of a suit for
refund until a claim has been duly filed
with the Secretary. Currently,
§ 301.6402–2(a)(2) provides generally
that a claim for credit or refund must be
filed with the service center serving the
internal revenue district in which the
tax was paid. These final regulations
clarify that, unless otherwise directed,
the proper place to file a claim for credit
or refund is with the service center at
which the taxpayer currently would be
required to file a tax return for the type
of tax to which the claim relates,
irrespective of where the tax was paid
or was required to have been paid.
These final regulations remove
outdated portions of § 301.6402–2 that
provided rules for claims filed prior to
April 15, 1968 and § 301.6402–3 that
provided special rules for claims for
credit or refund of income taxes filed
before July 1, 1976, and revises the
reference in § 301.6402–4 to reflect the
threshold for referral to the Joint
Committee on Taxation pursuant to
section 6405. These final regulations do
not affect § 301.6402–3T as promulgated
in Treasury Decision 9658 (79 FR
12880) (March 6, 2014). Other stylistic
revisions were adopted solely to
conform the regulations to modern
drafting style and usage.
On June 10, 2011, the IRS published
a notice of proposed rulemaking (REG–
137128–08) in the Federal Register (76
FR 34017). No request for a public
hearing was received. The IRS received
written and electronic comments
responding to the notice of proposed
E:\FR\FM\24JYR1.SGM
24JYR1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 142 (Friday, July 24, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43944-43949]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-17919]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
18 CFR Parts 2 and 157
[Docket No. RM12-11-003; Order No. 790-B]
Revisions to Auxiliary Installations, Replacement Facilities, and
Siting and Maintenance Regulations
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Final rule, order on clarification.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is
amending its regulations to: Provide pre-granted authority under a new
paragraph to abandon or replace auxiliary facilities, subject to
certain conditions; permit auxiliary facilities that cannot meet the
conditions for the pre-granted abandonment authority in the new
paragraph to be abandoned under the blanket certificate regulations,
subject to those regulations' requirements; and permit replacement
facilities constructed under the regulations to be abandoned under the
blanket certificate regulations, subject to those regulations'
requirements.
DATES: This rule will become effective October 7, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Katherine Liberty, Office of the General Counsel, Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426,
(202) 502-6491, katherine.liberty@ferc.gov.
Gordon Wagner, Office of the General Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-8947,
gordon.wagner@ferc.gov.
Howard Wheeler, Office of Energy Projects, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-8688,
howard.wheeler@ferc.gov.
Shannon Jones, Office of Energy Projects, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-6410,
shannon.jones@ferc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ORDER NO. 790-B
Table of Contents
Paragraph
Nos.
I. Discussion.............................................. 4
A. Section 2.55(a) Auxiliary Facilities................ 9
B. Section 2.55(b) Replacements........................ 14
II. Information Collection Statement....................... 18
III. Environmental Analysis................................ 23
IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act............................. 24
V. Document Availability................................... 26
VI. Effective Date and Congressional Notification.......... 29
Order No. 790-B
Final Rule
Order on Rehearing and Clarification
1. On November 20, 2014, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(Commission) issued Order No. 790-A,\1\ which affirmed, inter alia, the
Commission's clarification in Order No. 790 \2\ that auxiliary
facilities installed under section 2.55(a) of the Commission's
regulations \3\ may only utilize rights-of-way, facility sites, and
work spaces authorized for the construction and operation of interstate
transmission facilities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Revisions to Auxiliary Installations, Replacement
Facilities, and Siting and Maintenance Regulations, Order No. 790-A,
79 FR 70056 (Nov. 25, 2014), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,361 (2014)
(cross-referenced at 149 FERC ] 61,144 (2014)).
\2\ Order No. 790, 78 FR 72794-801 (Dec. 4, 2013), FERC Stats. &
Regs. ] 31,351 (2013) (cross-referenced at 145 FERC ] 61,154
(2013)).
\3\ 18 CFR 2.55 (2014).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. On December 22, 2014, National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation and
Empire Pipeline, Inc. (collectively, National Fuel) filed a request
that the Commission revise its part 157, subpart F, blanket certificate
regulations to provide a mechanism under those regulations for the
abandonment of auxiliary facilities that were constructed under section
2.55(a) and replacement facilities that were constructed under section
2.55(b). National Fuel also requests clarification that in addition to
authorizing new auxiliary installations, section 2.55(a) also
authorizes the replacement of existing auxiliary facilities without the
need for abandonment authority under section 7(b) of the Natural Gas
Act (NGA).
3. As discussed below, this order responds to National Fuel's
requests by (1) adopting a new subsection 2.55(a)(3) to provide pre-
granted authority to abandon or replace auxiliary facilities, subject
to certain conditions; (2) amending part 157 to provide authority,
subject to the blanket certificate regulations' conditions, to abandon
section 2.55(a) auxiliary facilities that cannot meet the conditions
for the pre-granted abandonment authority being added to section
2.55(a) and to abandon section 2.55(b) replacement facilities.
I. Discussion
4. In Order No. 790-A, the Commission explained that section 2.55
facilities are installed under the certificate authority that
authorized the interstate transmission pipeline facilities being
augmented or replaced. The Commission further explained that because
section 2.55 auxiliary and replacement facilities are certificated
facilities, a company needs prior authorization under NGA section 7(b)
to abandon such facilities. The Commission stated that in many
instances companies should be able to rely on their part 157, subpart
F, blanket certificate authority to abandon section 2.55 facilities. In
view of this statement, National Fuel believes it is the Commission's
intent that companies be able to rely on their part 157 blanket
certificate authority to abandon facilities installed under section
2.55.
5. National Fuel points out, however, that section 157.202(b)(3) of
the blanket certificate regulations states that a ``facility'' for
purposes of the blanket program does not include a facility ``described
under section 2.55,'' and that section 157.216 states that blanket
certificate abandonment authority is limited to facilities that ``did
or could
[[Page 43945]]
now qualify'' for construction authorization under the blanket
provisions. National Fuel therefore requests that the Commission revise
its blanket certificate regulations to ensure that companies will be
able to rely on part 157 blanket certificate authority to abandon
section 2.55 auxiliary and replacement facilities. National Fuel
stresses that without clear blanket certificate authority to abandon
section 2.55 facilities that did or could now qualify for construction
authorization under the blanket provisions, companies will be subject
to the burden of having to file an NGA section 7(b) application for
abandonment authorization for each individual facility.
6. In view of the Commission's statement in Order No. 790-A that
NGA section 7(b) authority is required for the abandonment of section
2.55 facilities, National Fuel also seeks clarification on whether
section 7(b) abandonment authority is needed to retire an auxiliary
facility that is being replaced.
7. The Commission affirms its statement in Order No. 790-A that NGA
section 7(b) authority is required for the abandonment of section 2.55
facilities, which includes the retirement of section 2.55 facilities
that will be replaced. However, for the reasons discussed below, the
Commission believes section 2.55(a) can be amended to include pre-
granted authority to abandon section 2.55 facilities in certain
situations and agrees that the blanket certificate regulations should
be amended so that companies can rely on their blanket certificate
authority to abandon auxiliary and replacement facilities that were or
could have been constructed under section 2.55, provided the
abandonment facilities meet the blanket program criteria.
8. Therefore, the Commission will amend: (1) Section 2.55(a) to
provide pre-granted authorization to retire auxiliary facilities that
are being replaced or permanently abandon the auxiliary facilities if
there will be no need to go outside an authorized right-of-way,
facility site, or work space,\4\ and (2) part 157, subpart F, to permit
the use of blanket certificate authority, subject to the blanket
program's conditions, to abandon section 2.55(a) auxiliary facilities
if a company is unable to exercise the new pre-granted abandonment
authority in section 2.55(a)(3) and to abandon section 2.55(b)
replacement facilities.\5\ In view of the revisions and additions to
section 2.55 since its original provisions were proposed in 1948,\6\
the Commission also is changing the current heading for section 2.55,
``Definition of terms used in section 7(c).'' The revised heading for
section 2.55 will read ``Auxiliary installations and replacement
facilities.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ As the Commission has previously explained in this
rulemaking proceeding, the certificate authority for section 2.55
auxiliary and replacement facilities is a type of blanket
certificate that was both a precursor of and a complement to part
157, subpart F, blanket certificate authority. Order No. 790, FERC
Stats. & Regs. ] 31,351 at P 16; Order No. 790-A, ] 31,361 at P 13.
However, unlike activities under section 2.55, which must comply
with previously established environmental conditions, activities
under part 157 that will involve ground disturbance or change
operational air or noise emissions are subject to a project-specific
environmental review in order to comply with the conditions in
section 157.206(b). Because of this safeguard, blanket projects are
permitted to use new rights-of-way and other previously undisturbed
areas. In addition, environmental assessment reports are prepared
for companies' larger-scale blanket projects to confirm that section
157.206(b)'s standard conditions will be adequate to ensure that the
blanket project will have no significant adverse environmental
impacts.
\5\ As discussed herein, section 2.55 facilities are
jurisdictional, and therefore cannot be abandoned without prior
authorization under NGA section 7(b). While the certificate
authorization for the transmission facilities being augmented or
replaced by section 2.55 facilities is the predicate for the
certificate authority to construct section 2.55 facilities, the
underlying certificate authorization does not include pre-granted
abandonment authority. Note that although a company cannot abandon a
newer facility which replaces an older facility without first
securing authorization to do so, section 2.55(b) operates to provide
pre-granted authority for the older facility. This final rule's
regulatory changes are prospective only, and therefore do not
operate to retroactively authorize any previous abandonments of
section 2.55 facilities. However, consistent with the Commission's
prior assurances in this proceeding regarding instances where
companies may have mistakenly relied on section 2.55 to install
auxiliary facilities that utilized new rights-of-way or other areas
that had not been subject to the Commission's prior environmental
review and approval, the Commission similarly does not intend to
look back to pursue enforcement action with respect to earlier
abandonments of auxiliary facilities unless it comes to the
Commission's attention that remedial environmental measures need to
be taken. See Order No. 790-A at P 42.
\6\ Filing of Applications for Certificates of Public
Convenience and Necessity, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, NOPR, 13
FR 6253, at 6254 (October 23, 1948).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Section 2.55(a) Auxiliary Facilities
9. Auxiliary installations under section 2.55(a) are limited to
facilities that will serve ``only for the purpose of obtaining more
efficient operation or more economical operation of the authorized or
proposed transmission facilities'' (emphasis added).\7\ Further, to add
an auxiliary facility to a transmission pipeline system, a company
cannot rely on section 2.55(a) unless its activities are confined to
the permanent right-of-way, facility site, and temporary work space
surveyed and authorized by the Commission in its environmental review
of the transmission system.\8\ In addition, because section 2.55
facilities are constructed and operated under the certificate
authorization for the transmission facilities being augmented or
replaced, section 2.55 activities must not result in a violation of any
environmental conditions applicable to the certificate authorizing the
transmission facilities. Therefore, to install auxiliary facilities
under section 2.55(a), a company must:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ As examples of auxiliary facilities that serve only to make
pipeline operation more efficient or economical, section 2.55(a)
lists ``[v]alves; drips; pig launchers/receivers; yard and station
piping; cathodic protection equipment; gas cleaning, cooling and
dehydration equipment; residual refining equipment; water pumping,
treatment and cooling equipment; electrical and communication
equipment; and buildings.''
\8\ The Commission acknowledged in Order No. 790 that it was not
aware of any section 2.55(a) auxiliary installation activities
outside authorized areas that approached the scale of certain
section 2.55(b) replacement activities that had taken place outside
authorized areas. However, as the Commission explained, section
2.55(a) auxiliary installations also must be restricted to
previously authorized areas because ``the issues raised for sections
2.55(a) and (b) activities are the same.'' Order No. 790, FERC
Stats. & Regs. ] 31,351 at P 20 (footnotes omitted).
conform to the conditions of the certificate authorizing
construction of the transmission facilities (e.g., all required
mitigation measures, such as erosion control or revegetation
protocols, that applied to the case-specific certificate or Part 157
blanket certificate authority under which the transmission
facilities were constructed).\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ Order No. 790, FERC Stats. & ] 31,351 at P 33.
10. The Commission believes these limitations will be sufficient to
obviate the need for further environmental review if section 2.55(a) is
amended to include pre-granted authority for companies to abandon, or
to retire and replace, auxiliary facilities ``as described in section
2.55(a),'' regardless of whether the facilities to be abandoned or
replaced were installed under section 2.55. Therefore, the Commission
will add a new paragraph to section 2.55(a)(3) to provide pre-granted
authority to abandon or replace auxiliary facilities if the auxiliary
facilities were or could have been installed under section 2.55(a) \10\
and all activities are confined to areas previously reviewed and
approved by the Commission in conjunction with its authorization of the
augmented transmission facilities.
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\10\ Note that auxiliary facilities installed under case-
specific or blanket certificate authority can also qualify for the
pre-granted authority under section 2.55(a)(3) if such facilities
comply with the section 2.55 spatial constraints.
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11. Auxiliary facilities, by definition, serve exclusively to
enhance the efficiency or economy of the operation of a transmission
system; thus, the
[[Page 43946]]
abandonment or replacement of auxiliary facilities should not result in
a reduction or abandonment of service supplied by that system.\11\
Nevertheless, the abandonment or replacement of auxiliary facilities
under new section 2.55(a)(3) will be authorized only if there will be
no adverse impact on customers' certificated services.\12\
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\11\ Because section 2.55(b) provides authority to abandon the
existing facilities being replaced under that subsection, section
2.55(b)(1)(i) provides that a replacement project is authorized only
if the abandonment of the existing facilities ``will not result in a
reduction or abandonment of service.''
\12\ The pre-granted abandonment authority provided by new
subsection 2.55(a)(3) will satisfy the requirement set forth in NGA
section 7(b) that ``no natural-gas company shall abandon all or any
portion of its facilities subject to the jurisdiction of the
Commission, or any service rendered by means of such facilities,
without the permission and approval of the Commission first had and
obtained.''
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12. Further, like the section 2.55(a) authority to install
auxiliary facilities, the new section 2.55(a)(3) pre-granted authority
will be available only if a company's abandonment or replacement
activities will not result in a violation of the conditions on the
certificate authorizing the augmented transmission facilities, in
particular, the environmental mitigation conditions. For example, if
the auxiliary facilities a company plans to abandon or replace are
cathodic protection equipment located in a pipeline right-of-way, the
case-specific or part 157 blanket certificate authorization for
construction of the pipeline generally would have been conditioned on
the company's compliance with an Upland Erosion Control, Revegetation,
and Maintenance Plan \13\ and Wetland and Waterbody Construction and
Mitigation Procedures.\14\ Just as the company would have been required
to ensure compliance with these environmental certificate conditions to
install the cathodic equipment under section 2.55(a), the company will
need to similarly ensure that any exercise of the new section
2.55(a)(3) authority to abandon or replace the cathodic protection
equipment will also comply with these environmental certificate
conditions.\15\
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\13\ See https://www.ferc.gov/industries/gas/enviro/plan.pdf.
\14\ See https://www.ferc.gov/industries/gas/enviro/procedures.pdf.
\15\ A company should seek guidance from staff if it is
uncertain whether or how an environmental mitigation condition on
the construction and operation of transmission facilities at a given
location will apply to its abandonment of auxiliary facilities.
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B. Section 2.55(b) Replacements
13. Replacements under section 2.55(b), like auxiliary facility
activities under section 2.55(a), are restricted to areas previously
subject to the Commission's environmental review and approval.\16\
Also, replacements under section 2.55(b), like auxiliary facility
activities under section 2.55(a), must conform to the conditions on the
case-specific or part 157 blanket certificate authorization of the
affected transmission facilities.
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\16\ As the Commission explained in Order No. 790, FERC Stats. &
Regs. ] 31,351 at P 15, ``[i]n the case of section 2.55(b)
replacement facilities, an environmental review was performed prior
to construction of the existing facilities to be replaced.''
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14. As discussed earlier in this proceeding, replacement projects
under section 2.55(b) can be much larger in scale than auxiliary
installations under section 2.55(a).\17\ Further, section 2.55(b) can
be used without prior notice to the Commission and shippers for
replacing facilities upon which existing services are dependent,\18\
necessitating section 2.55(b)(1)(i)'s condition limiting replacement
projects to situations where companies can ensure that the abandonment
of existing facilities will not result in a reduction or cessation of
service. In view of these considerations, even though activities under
section 2.55 are restricted to areas subject to the Commission's prior
environmental review and approval, the Commission cannot find, as it
has above for section 2.55(a) auxiliary facilities, that it would be
consistent with the public interest to provide pre-granted authority to
abandon section 2.55(b) replacement facilities. However, abandonment
authority for section 2.55(b) replacements can be provided under
section 157.216 of the part 157 blanket certificate regulations, since
blanket abandonments provide for environmental review.\19\ In addition,
the blanket provisions afford an opportunity for public input under the
prior notice provisions applicable to larger abandonment projects and
also require that a company be able to demonstrate the facility it is
planning to abandon (be it original or a replacement) is no longer
needed to meet its service obligations.\20\
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\17\ Id. at P 39. The Commission has explained the original
intent for section 2.55(b) as follows:
The types of construction activities being conducted under
section 2.55 are replacements that should only involve basic
maintenance or repair to relatively minor facilities where the
Commission has determined that no significant impact to the
environment will occur. The Commission believes that the existing
right-of-way that was used to construct the original facilities
should be sufficient for these types of activities. Pipelines may
use their blanket certificate authority to perform projects
involving more extensive work that would need additional workspace,
including the use of other unrelated rights-of-way. This would allow
for the required additional environmental scrutiny. Therefore, those
projects should be done under the pipeline's blanket certificate.
Id. at P 7, citing Order No. 603-A, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,081
at 31,922 (1999).
\18\ The only notice requirement applicable to replacements
under section 2.55(b) is the requirement that a company give the
Commission at least 30 days prior notice if the cost of a
replacement project will exceed the blanket certificate regulations'
current automatic cost limit. See section 2.55(b)(1)(iii) and (2).
There is no public notice requirement under section 2.55(a).
\19\ In general, a facility is replaced as it approaches the end
of its useful life, a lifespan which may be measured in decades for
cathodically protected pipeline. Given this lifespan, by the time a
replaced facility reaches the end of its useful life, there may have
been changes in the use of land proximate to the replaced facility
that were not contemplated in the Commission's review of the initial
project proposal, and thus not accounted for in the certificate
conditions. Accordingly, the Commission finds it prudent to revisit
potential environmental impacts prior to the abandonment of certain
replaced facilities.
\20\ Even when a company obtains written consent from all
customers whose services during the last year depended on the
facilities to be abandoned under section 157.216, the abandonment is
subject to the blanket certificate regulations' prior notice
provisions if the current cost of constructing the facilities to be
abandoned would exceed the blanket certificate regulations' current
automatic cost limit. 18 CFR 157.216(b)(2) (2014).
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15. National Fuel observes that section 157.202(b)(3) states that a
``facility,'' for the purposes of the blanket program, ``does not
include the items described'' in section 2.55, and section 157.216
states that the blanket abandonment authority described in that section
is limited to facilities that ``did or could now qualify'' for
construction under the blanket certificate regulations. Because these
sections operate to exclude the items described in section 2.55 from
eligibility for blanket certificate abandonment authorization, we will
revise the blanket certificate regulations to allow companies to use
the automatic and prior notice provisions of section 157.216 to abandon
(1) replacement facilities that were or could have been constructed
under section 2.55(b); and (2) auxiliary facilities that cannot be
abandoned under new subsection 2.55(a)(3)'s pre-granted authority
because their abandonment will require going out outside areas
previously reviewed and approved by the Commission in authorizing the
augmented transmission facilities.
16. As a result of these revisions to the blanket certificate
regulations, a company will need to file an application for case-
specific authority to abandon section 2.55 facilities only when the
abandonment cannot qualify under the automatic or prior notice
provisions of section 157.216 because the current cost to construct the
facilities would exceed the blanket regulations' applicable cost
limits, or because the company cannot obtain necessary customer consent
as
[[Page 43947]]
required by section 157.216, or because the project cannot satisfy the
section 157.206(b)'s environmental requirements.\21\
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\21\ When a company relies on the automatic or prior notice
provisions of section 157.216 to abandon a section 2.55 auxiliary or
replacement facility, it will have to identify the abandonment in
accordance with section 157.216(d) in the annual report of blanket
certificate activities required by section 157.207. Section
157.216(d)(2) requires facilities abandoned under that section to be
identified in a company's annual report by the ``docket number(s) of
the certificate(s) authorizing the construction and operation of the
facilities to be abandoned.'' Since the Commission does not assign
docket numbers to facilities put in place under section 2.55,
companies' annual reports of blanket certificate activities should
identify the docket number(s) associated with the transmission
facilities that were augmented or replaced by the section 2.55
facilities abandoned under section 157.216. If section 2.55
facilities are abandoned under section 157.216's prior notice
provisions, the company's annual report should also include the
docket number that was assigned to its prior notice filing.
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II. Information Collection Statement
17. The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) \22\ requires each federal
agency to seek and obtain Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
approval before undertaking a collection of information directed to ten
or more persons or contained in a rule of general applicability.\23\
The OMB regulations implementing the PRA require approval of certain
information collection requirements imposed by agency rules.\24\ We
expect a net decrease in the reporting burden due to this rule's
amendment of section 2.55(a) to provide pre-granted authority for
companies to abandon or replace auxiliary facilities and amendment of
the part 157 regulations to extend blanket certificate authority to the
abandonment of certain section 2.55 auxiliary and replacement
facilities. Companies must identify facilities abandoned under section
157.216 in the annual report submitted pursuant to section 157.207.
While the expanded authority this rule provides under section 156.216
can be expected to increase the number of facilities abandoned under
that section, companies can be expected to account for these additional
facilities in the annual report with minimal, ministerial efforts.
Consequently, this rule will substantially reduce current burdens on
companies by eliminating the additional information that would
otherwise need to be submitted in an NGA section 7(b) case-specific
abandonment application.\25\
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\22\ 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520 (2012).
\23\ OMB's regulations provide at 5 CFR 1320.3(c)(4)(i) (2014)
that ``[a]ny recordkeeping, reporting, or disclosure requirement
contained in a rule of general applicability is deemed to involve
ten or more persons.''
\24\ 5 CFR part 1320 (2014).
\25\ FERC-537 (Gas Pipeline Certificates: Construction,
Acquisition and Abandonment, OMB Control No. 1902-0060) covers both
the abandonment application requirements of part 157 and the annual
reports under 18 CFR 157.207. The expanded part 157 abandonment
authority, as well as the new section 2.55(a)(3) pre-granted
authority to abandon and replace auxiliary facilities, will be
covered under FERC-537.
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18. The Commission solicits comments from the public on the
Commission's need for this information, whether the information will
have practical utility, the accuracy of the burden estimates,
recommendations to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected, and any suggested methods for minimizing
respondents' burden, including the use of automated information
techniques. The burden estimates are for implementing the information
collection requirements of this Final Rule. The Commission asks that
any revised burden estimates submitted by commenters include the
details and assumptions used to generate the estimates.
19. The collection of information modified by this Final Rule falls
under FERC-537 (Gas Pipeline Certificates: Construction, Acquisition,
and Abandonment). The following estimates of reporting burden are
related only to this Final Rule. Public Reporting Burden: The estimated
average annual burden changes made in Docket RM12-11-003 follow.
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\26\ The estimates for cost per response are derived using the
following formula: Average Burden Hours per Response x $72 per Hour
= Average Cost per Response. The cost per hour figure is the FERC
average salary plus benefits for Fiscal Year 2015. Subject matter
experts found that industry employment costs closely resemble FERC's
regarding the FERC-537 information collection.
RM12-11-003 Final Rule
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Average Total
Number of responses burden annual Total
respondents per hours per burden annual cost
respondent response hours
(1) (2) (3) (1)x(2)x(3) ($) \26\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FERC-537
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-Granted Auxiliary Approval (18 CFR 2.55)... 3 1 5 15 $1,080
Additional Blanket Certificate Abandonment 2 1 25 50 3,600
Applications..................................
Eliminated Blanket Certificate Abandonment -3 1 25 -75 -5,400
Applications..................................
Eliminated Case-Specific Abandonment -2 1 160 -320 -23,040
Applications..................................
Net Change due to RM12-11-003.................. ........... ........... ........... -330 -23,760
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title: FERC-537 (Gas Pipeline Certificates: Construction,
Acquisition and Abandonment)
Action: Proposed revisions to information collection
OMB Control No.: 1902-0060.
Respondents: Business or other for-profit enterprise (Natural Gas
Companies).
Frequency of Responses: Ongoing and annual.
Necessity of Information and Internal Review: The Commission has
determined that the proposed revisions are necessary to establish more
efficient means to abandon auxiliary and replacement facilities. These
requirements conform to the Commission's plan for efficient information
collection, communication, and management within the natural gas
industry. The Commission has assured itself, by means of its internal
review, that there is specific, objective support for the burden
estimates associated with the abandonment requirements.
20. Interested persons may obtain information on the reporting
requirements by contacting the following: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426 [Attention:
Ellen Brown, Office of the Executive Director, email:
DataClearance@ferc.gov, phone: (202) 502-8663, fax: (202) 273-0873].
[[Page 43948]]
21. Comments concerning the collection of information and the
associated burden estimate should be sent to the Commission and to the
Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Washington, DC 20503 [Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, telephone: (202) 395-0710, fax: (202)
395-4718]. For security reasons, comments to OMB should be submitted by
email to: oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. Comments submitted to OMB should
include OMB Control Number 1902-0060 (FERC-537).
III. Environmental Analysis
22. 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. The
Commission has categorically excluded certain actions from these
requirements as not having a significant effect on the human
environment. Generally, the regulatory actions taken in this rulemaking
proceeding fall within the categorical exclusions in the Commission's
regulations for actions that are clarifying, corrective, or procedural,
and for information gathering, analysis, and dissemination. Although
this rule alters the procedures by which companies may obtain
abandonment authorization for certain types of facilities, it will not
result in any additional abandonment activities and therefore will not
have a significant adverse effect on the human environment.
Accordingly, an environmental review is not necessary and has not been
prepared in connection with this rulemaking.
IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act
23. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) generally requires
a description and analysis of agency rules that will have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The RFA
mandates consideration of regulatory alternatives that accomplish the
stated objectives of a proposed rule and that minimize any significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The SBA
Office of Size Standards develops the numerical definition of a small
business. The SBA has established a size standard for companies
transporting natural gas, stating that a firm is small if its annual
receipts (and the receipts of its affiliates) are less than or equal to
$27.5 million.\27\
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\27\ See 13 CFR 121.201 for Subsector 486, NAICS code 486210
(Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas).
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24. The final rule provides less burdensome and less costly options
for specified natural gas companies, the majority of which are not
small businesses. The reporting requirements, which provide pre-granted
abandonment authority under certain conditions and clarify the
regulations, will reduce the burden and cost on those companies (large
or small). The Commission estimates that an average of five projects
per year will benefit from the less burdensome, streamlined
requirements. Three of those five projects are expected to save $1,440
each, by using the new pre-granted approval in 18 CFR 2.55 (rather than
the more burdensome blanket certificate abandonment application). In
addition, two of those five filers are expected to save $9,720 each, by
using the additional blanket certificate applications (rather than the
case-specific abandonment applications). Accordingly, the Commission
certifies that this Final Rule should not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities.
V. Document Availability
25. 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 5:00
p.m. Eastern time) at 888 First Street NE., Room 2A, Washington, DC
20426.
26. 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.
27. 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 email at
ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or the Public Reference Room at (202) 502-
8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. Email the Public Reference Room at
public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.
VI. Effective Date and Congressional Notification
28. These regulations are effective October 7, 2015. The Commission
has determined, with the concurrence of the Administrator of the Office
of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, that this rule is not a
``major rule'' as defined in section 351 of the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. This final rule is being
submitted to the Senate, House of Representatives, Government
Accountability Office, and Small Business Administration.
List of Subjects
18 CFR Part 2
Administrative practice and procedure, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
18 CFR Part 157
Administrative practice and procedure, Natural gas, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
By the Commission.
Issued: July 16, 2015.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission amends parts 2
and 157, chapter I, title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, as follows:
PART 2--GENERAL POLICY AND INTERPRETATIONS
0
1. The authority citation for part 2 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 601; 15 U.S.C. 717-717z, 3301-3432; 16
U.S.C. 792-828c, 2601-2645, 42 U.S.C. 4321-4370h, 7101-7352.
0
2. Amend Sec. 2.55 by revising the section heading and adding
paragraph (a)(3) to read as follows:
Sec. 2.55 Auxiliary installations and replacement facilities.
* * * * *
(a) * * *
(3) Abandonment or replacement of auxiliary installations.
Authorization to abandon or replace auxiliary facilities that were or
could be installed under paragraph (a)(1) of this section is pre-
granted under section 7(b) of the Natural Gas Act, and no reporting is
required, provided that:
(i) All activities will be confined to areas, including temporary
work space, previously authorized by the Commission for the
construction and operation of facilities at that location;
(ii) All activities will comply with applicable conditions on
certificate authorizations for the construction and
[[Page 43949]]
operation of facilities at that location; and
(iii) The abandonment or replacement will have no adverse impact on
customers' certificated services.
* * * * *
PART 157--APPLICATIONS FOR CERTIFICATES OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND
NECESSITY AND FOR ORDERS PREMITTING AND APPROVING ABANDONMENT UNDER
SECTION 7 OF THE NATURAL GAS ACT
0
3. The authority citation for part 157 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 717-717z.
0
4. Amend Sec. 157.202 by adding a sentence at the end of paragraph
(b)(2)(i) and revising paragraph (b)(3) to read as follows:
Sec. 157.202 Definitions.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(2)(i) * * * Finally, for purposes of abandonment under Sec.
157.216, eligible facilities include auxiliary installations that do
not qualify for pre-granted abandonment authority under Sec.
2.55(a)(3) and replacement facilities constructed under Sec. 2.55(b).
* * * * *
(3) Facility, for purposes of construction under this subpart, does
not include an auxiliary facility that qualifies for construction under
Sec. 2.55(a) of this chapter or a replacement facility that qualifies
for construction under Sec. 2.55(b).
* * * * *
0
5. Amend Sec. 157.216 by revising paragraphs (a)(2) and (b)(2) to read
as follows:
Sec. 157.216 Abandonment.
(a) * * *
(2)(i) An auxiliary facility as described in Sec. 2.55(a) of this
chapter when the abandonment:
(A) Will not exceed the cost limit in Sec. 157.208(d) for
activities under the automatic provisions;
(B) Will have no adverse impact on customers' certificated
services; and
(C) Cannot satisfy the right-of-way, facility site, and work space
limitations for the pre-granted abandonment authority in Sec.
2.55(a)(3);
(ii) A replacement facility that was or could have been constructed
under Sec. 2.55(b) of this chapter, provided the current cost to
construct the facilities would not exceed the cost limit in Sec.
157.208(d) for activities under the automatic provisions and the
certificate holder obtains the written consent of each customer served
using the facility during the past 12 months;
(iii) Any other facility that did or could now qualify for
automatic authorization as described in Sec. 157.203(b), provided the
certificate holder obtains the written consent of each customer served
using the facility during the past 12 months.
(b) * * *
(2)(i) An auxiliary facility as described in Sec. 2.55(a) of this
chapter when the abandonment:
(A) Will exceed the cost limit in Sec. 157.208(d) for activities
under the prior notice provisions;
(B) Will have no adverse impact on customers' certificated
services; and
(C) Cannot satisfy the right-of-way, facility site, and work space
limitations for the pre-granted abandonment authority in Sec.
2.55(a)(3).
(ii) A replacement facility that was or could have been constructed
under Sec. 2.55(b) of this chapter, provided the current cost to
construct the facilities would not exceed the cost limit in Sec.
157.208(d) for activities under the prior notice provisions and the
certificate holder obtains the written consent of each customer served
using the facility during the past 12 months;
(iii) Any other facility that did or could now qualify for prior
notice authorization as described in Sec. 157.203(c), provided the
certificate holder obtains the written consent of each customer served
using the facility during the past 12 months.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2015-17919 Filed 7-23-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
