Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines, 44521-44528 [2018-18473]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 170 (Friday, August 31, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44521-44528]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-18473]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 284

[Docket No. RM96-1-041]


Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas 
Pipelines

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is 
proposing to amend its regulations to incorporate by reference, with 
certain enumerated exceptions, the latest version (Version 3.1) of 
business practice standards adopted by the Wholesale Gas Quadrant of 
the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) applicable to natural 
gas pipelines in place of the currently incorporated version (Version 
3.0) of those business practice standards.

DATES: Comments are due October 1, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Comments, identified by the docket number of this 
proceeding, may be filed electronically at https://www.ferc.gov in 
acceptable native applications and print-to-PDF, but not in scanned or 
picture format. For those unable to file electronically, comments may 
be filed by mail or hand-delivery to: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE, 
Washington, DC 20426. The Comment Procedures Section of this document 
contains more detailed filing procedures.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
Stanley Wolf (technical issues), Office of Energy Policy and 
Innovation, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, 
Washington, DC 20426, Telephone: (202) 502-6841, E-mail: 
[email protected].
Oscar F. Santillana (technical issues), Office of Energy Market 
Regulation, Federal Energy Regulatory

[[Page 44522]]

Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426, Telephone: (202) 
502-6392, E-mail: [email protected].
Gary D. Cohen (legal issues), Office of the General Counsel, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 
20426, Telephone: (202) 502-8321, E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

 
                                                         Paragraph No.
 
I. Background........................................                  2
II. Discussion.......................................                  4
    A. Modifications to Previous Version of Standards                  7
    B. Standards Proposed Not to be Incorporated by                   16
     Reference.......................................
    C. Proposed Implementation Procedures............                 17
III. Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards..                 22
IV. Incorporation by Reference.......................                 23
V. Information Collection Statement..................                 33
VI. Environmental Analysis...........................                 39
VII. Regulatory Flexibility Act......................                 40
VIII. Comment Procedures.............................                 43
IX. Document Availability............................                 47
 

164 FERC ] 61,125

United States of America

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines

Docket No. RM96-1-041

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

(August 21, 2018)

    1. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes 
to amend its regulations at 18 CFR 284.12 to incorporate by reference, 
with certain enumerated exceptions,\1\ the latest version (Version 3.1) 
of business practice standards adopted by the NAESB Wholesale Gas 
Quadrant (WGQ) applicable to natural gas pipelines that NAESB reported 
to the Commission on September 29, 2017 in place of the currently 
incorporated version (Version 3.0) of those business practice 
standards. The implementation of these standards and regulations will 
promote the additional efficiency and reliability of the natural gas 
industries' operations thereby helping the Commission to carry out its 
responsibilities under the Natural Gas Act. In addition, the proposed 
revisions are necessary to establish more efficient coordination 
between the natural gas and electric industries. Requiring such 
information ensures both a common means of communication and common 
business practices to limit miscommunication for participants engaged 
in the sale of electric energy at wholesale and the transportation of 
natural gas.
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    \1\ As explained below, in section II.B.1, the Commission is not 
proposing in this proposed rule to incorporate by reference the 
optional model contracts and the eTariff-related standards included 
in the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) Wholesale Gas 
Quadrant (WGQ) Version 3.1 package of business practice standards.
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I. Background

    2. Since 1996, the Commission has adopted regulations to 
standardize the business practices and communication methodologies of 
interstate natural gas pipelines to create a more integrated and 
efficient pipeline grid. These regulations have been promulgated in the 
Order No. 587 series of orders,\2\ wherein the Commission has 
incorporated by reference standards for interstate natural gas pipeline 
business practices and electronic communications that were developed 
and adopted by NAESB's WGQ. Upon incorporation by reference, this 
version of the standards will replace the currently incorporated 
version (Version 3.0) of those business practice standards, will become 
part of the Commission's regulations, and compliance by interstate 
natural gas pipelines will become mandatory.
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    \2\ This series of orders began with the Commission's issuance 
of Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas 
Pipelines, Order No. 587, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,038 (1996).
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    3. On September 29, 2017, NAESB filed a report informing the 
Commission that it had adopted and ratified WGQ Version 3.1 of its 
business practice standards applicable to natural gas pipelines. The 
NAESB report identifies all the changes made to the Version 3.0 
Standards and summarizes the deliberations that led to the changes 
being made. It also identifies changes to the existing standards that 
were considered but not adopted due to a lack of consensus or other 
reasons.

II. Discussion

    4. In this NOPR, the Commission proposes to incorporate by 
reference, in its regulations, Version 3.1 of the NAESB WGQ consensus 
business practice standards, with certain exceptions.\3\ We propose 
that any compliance filings made in accordance with a final rule on 
this subject be made 90 days after issuance of any final rule in this 
proceeding or on the first business day thereafter if falling on a 
weekend or holiday. This will allow time for the Commission to process 
the compliance filings before the effective date of the new 
standards.\4\
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    \3\ In the discussion below we identify the NAESB WGQ Version 
3.1 Standards that we propose not to incorporate by reference.
    \4\ See supra P 21, where we propose that compliance with the 
new standards will be required beginning on the first business day 
of the month after the fourth full month following issuance of a 
final rule in this proceeding.
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    5. As the Commission found in Order No. 587, adoption of consensus 
standards is appropriate, because the consensus process helps ensure 
the reasonableness of the standards by requiring that the standards 
draw support from a broad spectrum of industry participants 
representing all segments of the industry. Moreover, because the 
industry conducts business under these standards, the Commission's 
regulations should reflect those standards that have the widest 
possible support. In section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer 
and Advancement Act of 1995, Congress affirmatively requires federal 
agencies to use technical standards developed by voluntary consensus 
standards organizations, like NAESB, as a means to carry out policy 
objectives or activities.
    6. We discuss below some specific aspects of NAESB's filing.

A. Modifications to Previous Version of Standards

    7. NAESB adopted two substantive revisions concerning the 
Nominations Related Standards, which govern shipper requests to 
schedule service on

[[Page 44523]]

natural gas pipelines. One revision revises Standard 1.3.82 to 
establish a standard rounding process (requiring calculations to at 
least the seventh decimal place) for elapsed-prorated-scheduled 
quantity \5\ calculations to provide for needed numerical uniformity 
and granularity for users of these NAESB procedures. The other 
Nomination Related Standards revision was to revise the ``Service 
Requester'' element of Standard 1.3.27,\6\ which specifies some of the 
information that should be included in a nomination request, from a 
Mandatory designation to a Business Conditional \7\ designation. Thus, 
instead of forcing a specific upstream or downstream (unthreaded) 
nomination \8\ to be tied to a specific contract (using a specific 
threaded nomination), upstream nominations may now be distributed among 
several contracts (using a Pathed Non-Threaded nomination structure), 
which generally increases flexibility to customers.
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    \5\ Standard 1.2.12 of the Nominations Related Standards defines 
the elapsed-prorated-scheduled quantity to mean:
    That portion of the scheduled quantity that would have 
theoretically flowed up to the effective time of the intraday 
nomination being confirmed, based upon a cumulative uniform hourly 
quantity for each nomination period affected.
    \6\ NAESB also made conforming revisions to the related data 
sets and documents: Standard 1.4.1 of the Nomination data set, 
Standard 1.4.5 of the Scheduled Quantity data set, Standard 2.4.4 of 
the Shipper Imbalance data set, Standard 1.4.2 of the Nomination 
Quick Response data set, Standard 2.4.1 of the Pre-Determined 
Allocation document and Standard 2.4.3 of the Allocation document.
    \7\ Standard 1.2.2 of the Nominations Related Standards provides 
that a Business Conditional data element is one that is based on 
current variations in business practice.
    \8\ NAESB's Nomination Data Dictionary, WGQ Version 3.1, 
Standard 1.4.1, retains from the Version 3.0 standard the field for 
``Model Type Data'' that identifies which of three types of 
nomination structures is being used. These are: Pathed, Non-Pathed 
and Pathed Non-Threaded. Having these three types of model type data 
allows specificity as to the details of the nomination. A pathed 
nomination uses one nomination line item to transact business and, 
therefore, has one transaction type. A non-pathed nomination uses 
two nomination line items to transact business and, therefore, has 
two transaction types. A pathed non-threaded nomination uses three 
nomination line items to transact business and has three transaction 
types.
    NAESB also provides the following further clarification of these 
concepts in the description of the technical implementation of 
business processes included as part of Standard 1.4.1, where NAESB 
explains that:
    [a] ``Pathed'' nomination is actually a ``Pathed Threaded'' 
nomination because (1) the physical path of the pipeline locations 
and service contract(s) is fully described in the nomination, and 
(2) the logical thread of a specific supplier entity to a specific 
market entity at specific pipeline locations for a specific quantity 
is also fully described. ``Non-Pathed'' nominations are actually 
``Non-Pathed Non-Threaded'' nominations because (1) physical 
``location location-to to-location'' paths are not described in the 
nominations, and (2) no ties of specific supply entities to specific 
market entities are established. And for ``Pathed Non-Threaded'' 
nominations, (1) the physical path of the pipeline locations, 
service contract(s), and quantity is fully described, and (2) no 
ties of specific supply entities to specific market entities are 
established. See NAESB WGQ Version 3.1 Business Practice Standards, 
Nominations Related Standards, Standard 1.4.1, at 87 (Sep. 29, 
2017).
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    8. NAESB also adopted three revisions to the WGQ Electronic 
Delivery Mechanism Standards, which establish the framework for the 
electronic dissemination and communication of information between 
parties in the North American Wholesale Gas marketplace. First, NAESB 
revised Standard 4.3.80 to increase the allowable field length in ASCII 
Comma Separated Value Files to 3000 characters because that increases 
the amount of information that can be conveyed, but reasonably limits 
it in conformity with commonly used software such as Excel. Second, 
NAESB adopted new Standard 4.3.106 to allow checkboxes and radio 
buttons in the Transmission Service Providers' Electronic Bulletin 
Boards (EBBs) to indicate ``Yes'' and/or ``No'' responses to data 
elements, which is more convenient than the current drop down list. 
Third, NAESB modified its standards to update the operating systems and 
web browsers that entities should support to allow users to take 
advantage of recent developments in computer technology and use. 
Additionally, language was added to clarify the Secure Sockets Layer/
Transport Layer Security protocols, which encrypt data to hide 
information from electronic observers on the internet. The new standard 
provides guidance on the timing for adoption of a new version of Secure 
Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security protocols--new versions of these 
protocols should be used within 9 months of the version becoming 
generally available. In addition, the new standard clarifies that 
Secure Sockets Layer is a colloquial term that encompasses both Secure 
Sockets Layer and Transport Layer Security.
    9. Other changes adopted by NAESB included changes to the NAESB WGQ 
data sets and other technical implementation documentation, which 
provide the technological support necessary to use the NAESB standards 
effectively. One such change was to add a new Business Conditional data 
element ``Agent'' and corresponding technical implementation to the 
Nomination data set Standard 1.4.1 and the Scheduled Quantity data set 
Standard 1.4.5. Currently, in the data sets, the Service Requester is 
defined as the Shipper or their Agent; however, language included in 
the implementation guides states that both the Shipper and Agent will 
be identified. Thus, this change adds a data element ``Agent'' to the 
data sets to allow the Service Requestor to identify both the shipper 
and its agent if it uses an agent to nominate and schedule on the 
pipeline.
    10. NAESB also adopted revisions to the Flowing Gas Related data 
sets and technical implementation, which address quantitative issues 
relating generally to allocation, imbalances and measurement of flowing 
gas. Specifically, NAESB added three Business Conditional data elements 
to the Authorization to Post Imbalances data set (Standard 2.4.9). The 
addition of the three data elements will allow a Service Requester to 
authorize specific contracts and quantities of imbalances for specified 
periods of time to be posted.
    11. In addition, NAESB revised the Imbalance Trade data set 
(Standard 2.4.11) to reinstate language providing the confirming party 
the ability to reject a trade in the Imbalance Trade data set when an 
auto-confirm agreement with a confirming party is in place. NAESB 
states that in its WGQ Version 2.1 publication, before the Imbalance 
Trading data sets were consolidated, the Imbalance Trade Confirmation 
contained a Yes/No indicator that the confirming party could use to 
indicate its acceptance or rejection of the trade. This indicator 
informed a pipeline whether the confirming party agreed to the terms of 
the trade that the initiating trader had posted. When the data sets 
were consolidated, this data element was dropped because it was assumed 
that if a confirming party did not agree with the posted terms it would 
not confirm the trade, which was effective only if the pipeline did not 
have an auto-confirm agreement with that confirming party. Accordingly, 
to address situations where there are auto-confirm agreements, NAESB 
has now revised Standard 2.4.11 to add a new Business Conditional data 
element ``Imbalance Trade Response'' with an ``Accept/Reject'' code 
value. This Accept/Reject indicator informs the pipeline whether the 
confirming party agrees to the terms of the trade that the initiating 
trader had posted.
    12. NAESB also revised Standard 2.4.6 to add two Senders Option 
data elements,\9\ ``Comments'' and ``Volume-Uncorrected'' to the 
Measured Volume

[[Page 44524]]

Audit Statement \10\ in order to communicate raw data on volumes in 
addition to the final volumes which are communicated through the 
existing data element ``Volume Corrected.'' Thus, users will now be 
able to indicate what initial data they received in addition to how 
that data was ultimately corrected, and to provide comments concerning 
that data, which relate to what meter was used to measure the data.
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    \9\ Nominations Standard 1.2.2 provides that Sender's Option 
means that this element is an option for the sender to send and, if 
sent, the receiver should store and use the contents of the data 
element.
    \10\ NAESB's business process and practices overview of the 
Flowing Gas Standards states that the Measured Volume Audit 
Statement data set is used to report gas measurement information in 
support of the allocation, imbalance, invoice and audit processes.
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    13. NAESB also adopted revisions to the Capacity Release Related 
data sets and technical implementation. Specifically, NAESB revised 
Standard 5.4.24 to add a new Business Conditional data element, ``Waive 
Bidder Credit Indicator'' and corresponding code values to the Offer 
data set. The additional data element indicates to a Bidder whether the 
Releasing Shipper will waive, pursuant to the Transmission Service 
Provider's tariff, the Bidder's creditworthiness pre-qualification.
    14. Further, NAESB revised Standard 6.3.1 (i.e., the NAESB Base 
Contract for Sale and Purchase of Natural Gas) to add language to the 
disclaimer to provide a copyright notification and direct the reader to 
the NAESB Copyright Policy and Companies with Access to NAESB Standards 
under the Copyright Policy posted on the NAESB website. Identical 
language was added to three additional NAESB WGQ Contracts.
    15. Lastly, NAESB adopted modifications to the cover page of 
Standard 6.3.1 to add a self-identification provision that assists end 
users in determining whether counterparties are commercial market 
participants as defined by the United States Commodity Futures Trading 
Commission.

B. Standards Proposed Not To Be Incorporated by Reference

    16. The Commission proposes to continue its past practice \11\ of 
not incorporating by reference into its regulations any optional model 
contracts, because the Commission does not require the use of these 
contracts.\12\ In addition, consistent with our findings in past 
proceedings, the Commission is not proposing to incorporate by 
reference the Wholesale Electric Quadrant/WGQ eTariff Related 
Standards, because the Commission has already adopted standards and 
protocols for electronic tariff filings based on the NAESB 
Standards.\13\
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    \11\ See, e.g., Standards for Business Practices of Interstate 
Natural Gas Pipelines, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FERC Stats. & 
Regs. ] 32,708, at P 20 (2015) (WGQ Version 3.0 NOPR).
    \12\ Id., Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural 
Gas Pipelines, Order No. 587-V, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,332, at 
n.11 (2012).
    \13\ WGQ Version 3.0 NOPR, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 32,708 at P 20; 
Electronic Tariff Filings, Order No. 714, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 
31,276 (2008).
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C. Proposed Implementation Procedures

    17. The Commission is proposing to continue the compliance filing 
requirements as revised in Order No. 587-V.\14\ This would require 
compliance with the NAESB WGQ Version 3.1 standards on the first 
business day of the month after the fourth full month following 
issuance of a final rule in this proceeding. As the Commission found in 
Order No. 587-V, adoption of the revised compliance filing requirements 
increases the transparency of the pipelines' incorporation by reference 
of the NAESB WGQ Standards so that shippers and the Commission will 
know which tariff provision(s) implements each standard as well as the 
status of each standard.\15\ Likewise, consistent with past practice, 
the Commission will post on its eLibrary website (under Docket No. 
RM96-1-041) a sample tariff format, to provide filers an illustrative 
example to aid them in preparing their compliance filings.
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    \14\ Order No. 587-V, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,332 at PP 36-39.
    \15\ Trans-Union Interstate Pipeline L.P., 141 FERC ] 61,167, at 
P 36 (2012) (Order No. 587-V Compliance Order).
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    18. Consistent with our practice in Order No. 587-V, each pipeline 
should designate a single tariff section under which every NAESB WGQ 
Standard incorporated by reference by the Commission is listed.\16\ The 
pipeline tariff filings should list all the incorporated standards with 
which the pipeline will comply. In addition, for any standard that the 
pipeline seeks approval not to comply with, the tariff filing must 
identify the standard in question and either identify the provision in 
its tariff that complies with the standard; \17\ or provide an 
explanation of any waiver, extension of time, or other variance with 
respect to compliance with the standard that would excuse 
compliance.\18\
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    \16\ Id. P 36; WGQ Version 3.0 NOPR, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 
32,708 at P 25.
    \17\ Id.
    \18\ Id.
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    19. Consistent with our findings in Order No. 587-V,\19\ we propose 
that requests for waivers that do not meet the requirements set forth 
in Order No. 587-V will not be granted. In particular, as we explained 
in Order No. 587-V, waivers are unnecessary and will not be granted 
when the standard applies only on condition the pipeline performs a 
business function and the pipeline currently does not perform that 
function.\20\
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    \19\ Order No. 587-V, FERC Stats. & Regs., ] 31,332.
    \20\ Order No. 587-V Compliance Order, 141 FERC ] 61,167 at PP 
4, 38.
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    20. If the pipeline is requesting a continuation of an existing 
waiver or extension of time, it must include a table in its transmittal 
letter that identifies the standard for which a waiver or extension of 
time was granted, and the docket number or order citation to the 
proceeding in which the waiver or extension of time was granted. The 
pipeline must also present an explanation for why such waiver or 
extension of time should remain in force with regard to the WGQ Version 
3.1 Standards.
    21. This continues the Commission's practice of having pipelines 
include in their tariffs a common location that identifies the way the 
pipeline is incorporating all the NAESB WGQ Standards and the standards 
with which it is required to comply. As explained above, the Commission 
will post on its eLibrary website (under Docket No. RM96-1-041) a 
sample tariff format, to provide filers an illustrative example to aid 
them in preparing their compliance filings.\21\
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    \21\ Id. P 24.
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III. Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards

    22. Office of Management and Budget Circular A-119 (section 11) 
(February 10, 1998) provides that Federal Agencies should publish a 
request for comment in a NOPR when the agency is seeking to issue or 
revise a regulation proposing to adopt a voluntary consensus standard 
or a government-unique standard. In this NOPR, the Commission is 
proposing to incorporate by reference voluntary consensus standards 
developed by the WGQ.

IV. Incorporation by Reference

    23. The Office of the Federal Register requires agencies 
incorporating material by reference in final rules to discuss, in the 
preamble of the final rule, the ways that the materials it incorporates 
by reference are reasonably available to interested parties and how 
interested parties can obtain the materials.\22\ The regulations also 
require agencies to summarize, in the preamble of the final rule, the 
material it incorporates by reference. The standards we are

[[Page 44525]]

proposing to incorporate by reference consist of seven suites of NAESB 
WGQ Business Practice Standards that touch on a variety of topics and 
are designed to streamline the transactional processes for the 
wholesale gas industry by promoting a more competitive and efficient 
market. These include the: WGQ Additional Business Practice Standards; 
WGQ Nominations Related Business Practice Standards; WGQ Flowing Gas 
Related Business Practice Standards; Invoicing Related Business 
Practice Standards; Quadrant Electronic Delivery Mechanism Related 
Business Practice Standards; Capacity Release Related Business Practice 
Standards; and internet Electronic Transport Related Business Practice 
Standards. These can be summarized as follows.
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    \22\ 1 CFR 51.5 (2017). See Incorporation by Reference, 79 FR 
66267 (Nov. 7, 2014).
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    24. The WGQ Additional Business Practice Standards address six 
areas: Creditworthiness, Storage Information, Gas/Electric Operational 
Communications, Operational Capacity, Unsubscribed Capacity, and 
Location Data Download.
     The Creditworthiness related standards describe 
requirements for the exchange of information, notification, and 
communication between parties during the creditworthiness evaluation 
process.
     The Storage Information related standards define the 
information to be provided to natural gas service requesters related to 
storage activities and/or balances.
     The Gas/Electric Operational Communications related 
standards define communication protocols intended to improve 
coordination between the gas and electric industries in daily 
operational communications between transportation service providers and 
gas-fired power plants. The standards include requirements for 
communicating anticipated power generation fuel for the upcoming day as 
well as any operating problems that might hinder gas-fired power plants 
from receiving contractual gas quantities.
     The Operational Capacity related standards define 
requirements of the transportation service provider related to the 
reporting and requesting of a transportation service provider's 
operational capacity, total scheduled quantity, and operationally 
available capacity.
     The Unsubscribed Capacity related standards define 
requirements of the transportation service provider related to 
reporting and requesting a transportation service provider's available 
unsubscribed capacity.
     The Location Data Download related standards define 
requirements for the use of codes assigned by the transportation 
service provider for locations and common codes for parties 
communicating electronically.
    25. The WGQ Nominations Related Business Practice Standards define 
the process by which a natural gas service requester with a natural gas 
transportation contract nominates (or requests) service from a pipeline 
or a transportation service provider for the delivery of natural gas.
    26. The WGQ Flowing Gas Related Business Practice Standards define 
the business processes related to the communication of entitlement 
rights of flowing gas at a location, of the entitlement rights on a 
contractual basis, of the management of imbalances, and of the 
measurement and gas quality information of the actual flow of gas.
    27. The Invoicing Related Business Practice Standards define the 
process for the communication of charges for services rendered 
(Invoice), communication of details about funds rendered in payment for 
services rendered (Payment Remittance), and communication of the 
financial status of a customer's account (Statement of Account).
    28. The Quadrant Electronic Delivery Mechanism Related Business 
Practice Standards define the framework for the electronic 
dissemination and communication of information between parties in the 
North American wholesale gas marketplace for Electronic Data 
Interchange (EDI)/Electronic Delivery Mechanism (EDM) transfers, batch 
flat file/EDM transfers, informational postings websites, EBB/EDM and 
interactive flat file/EDM.
    29. The Capacity Release Related Business Practice Standards define 
the business processes for communication of information related to the 
selling of all or any portion of a transmission service requester's 
contract rights.
    30. The internet Electronic Transport Related Business Practice 
Standards define the implementation of various technologies necessary 
to communicate transactions and other electronic data using standard 
protocols for electronic commerce over the internet between trading 
partners.
    31. Our regulations provide that copies of the standards 
incorporated by reference may be obtained from the North American 
Energy Standards Board, 801 Travis Street, Suite 1675, Houston, TX 
77002, Phone: (713) 356-0060. Copies of the standards may be inspected 
at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Public Reference and Files 
Maintenance Branch, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426, Phone: 
(202) 502-8371, https://www.ferc.gov.
    32. NAESB is a private consensus standards developer that develops 
voluntary wholesale and retail standards related to the energy 
industry. The procedures used by NAESB make its standards reasonably 
available to those affected by Commission regulations, which generally 
is comprised of entities that have the means to acquire the information 
they need to effectively participate in Commission proceedings. 
Participants can join NAESB, for an annual membership cost of $7,000, 
which entitles them to full participation in NAESB and enables them to 
obtain these standards at no additional cost. Non-members may obtain 
the Individual Standards Manual or Booklets for each of the seven 
Manuals by email for $250 per manual, which in the case of these 
standards would total $1,750. Non-members also may obtain the complete 
set of Standards Manuals, Booklets, and Contracts on USB flash drive 
for $2,000. NAESB also provides a free electronic read-only version of 
the standards for a three business day period or, in the case of a 
regulatory comment period, through the end of the comment period. In 
addition, NAESB considers requests for waivers of the charges on a 
case-by-case basis depending on need.

V. Information Collection Statement

    33. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations require 
that OMB approve certain reporting, record keeping, and public 
disclosure requirements (information collection) imposed by an 
agency.\23\ Therefore, the Commission is submitting its proposed 
information collection to OMB for review in accordance with section 
3507(d) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Upon approval of a 
collection of information, OMB will assign an OMB control number and an 
expiration date. Respondents subject to the filing requirements of a 
rule will not be penalized for failing to respond to these collections 
of information unless the collection of information displays a valid 
OMB control number.
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    \23\ 5 CFR 1320.11 (2017).
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    34. The Commission solicits comments on the Commission's need for 
this information, whether the information will have practical utility, 
the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, ways 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.

[[Page 44526]]

    35. Public Reporting Burden: The Commission's burden estimates for 
the proposals in this NOPR are for one-time implementation of the 
information collection requirements of this NOPR (including tariff 
filing, documentation of the process and procedures, and information 
technology work).
    36. The collections of information related to this NOPR fall under 
FERC-545 (Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Change (Non-Formal)) \24\ and FERC-
549C (Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas 
Pipelines).\25\ The following estimates of reporting burden are related 
only to this NOPR and anticipate the costs to pipelines for compliance 
with the Commission's proposals in this NOPR. The burden estimates are 
primarily related to implementing these standards and regulations and 
will not result in ongoing costs.
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    \24\ FERC-545 covers rate change filings made by natural gas 
pipelines, including tariff changes.
    \25\ FERC-549C covers Standards for Business Practices of 
Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines.

                                                                     RM96-1-041 NOPR
                                         [Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines]
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                                  Number of      Annual number of                                                                          Annual costs
                                 respondents      responses per     Total number of     Average burden hr.    Total annual burden hours   per respondent
                                     \26\           respondent         responses           per response      and total annual cost \27\        ($)
                                           (1)                (2)    (1) * (2) = (3)  (4)..................  (3) * (4) = (5)...........  (5) * (1) = (6)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FERC-545 (one-time)..........              165                  1                165  10 hrs.; $1,020......  1,650 hrs.; $168,000......            1,020
FERC-549C (one-time).........              165                  1                165  22 hrs.; $2,244......  3,630 hrs.; $370,260......            2,244
                              --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total....................  ...............  .................                330  .....................  5,280 hrs.; $538,560......  ...............
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The one-time burden (for both the FERC-545 and FERC-549C) will be 
averaged over three years:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \26\ The number of respondents is the number of entities in 
which a change in burden from the current standards to the proposed 
exists, not the total number of entities from the current or 
proposed standards that are applicable.
    \27\ The estimated hourly cost (salary plus benefits) provided 
in this section is based on the salary figures for May 2017 posted 
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Utilities sector 
(available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm#13-0000) 
and scaled to reflect benefits using the relative importance of 
employer costs in employee compensation from May 2017 (available at 
https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm). The hourly estimates 
for salary plus benefits are:
    Computer and Information Systems Manager (Occupation Code: 11-
3021), $96.51
    Electrical Engineer (Occupation Code: 17-2071), $66.90
    Legal (Occupation Code: 23-0000), $143.68
    The average hourly cost (salary plus benefits), weighting all of 
these skill sets evenly, is $102.36. The Commission rounds it to 
$102/hour.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

FERC-545: 1,650 hours / 3 = 550 hours/year over three years
FERC-549C: 3,630 hours / 3 = 1,210 hours/year over three years

    The number of responses is also averaged over three years (for both 
the FERC-545 and FERC-549C):

FERC-545: 165 responses / 3 = 55 responses/year
FERC-549C: 165 responses / 3 = 55 responses/year

    The responses and burden for Years 1-3 will total respectively as 
follows:

Year 1: 55 responses; 550 hours (FERC-545); 1,210 hours (FERC-549C)
Year 2: 55 responses; 550 hours (FERC-545); 1,210 hours (FERC-549C)
Year 3: 55 responses; 550 hours (FERC-545); 1,210 hours (FERC-549C)

    Title: FERC-545, Gas Pipeline Rates: Rates Change (Non-Formal); 
FERC-549C, Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas 
Pipelines.
    Action: Proposed information collections.
    OMB Control Nos.: 1902-0154 (FERC-545), 1902-0174 (FERC-549C).
    Respondents: Business or other for profit (e.g., Natural Gas 
Pipelines, applicable to only a few small businesses).
    Frequency of Responses: One-time implementation (related to 
business procedures, capital/start-up).
    Necessity of Information: The proposals in this NOPR would, if 
implemented, upgrade the Commission's current business practices and 
communication standards by specifically: (1) Updating the Nominations 
Related Standards to standardize a rounding process for the elapsed-
prorated-scheduled quantity calculation, and dictate that the ``Service 
Requester Contract'' data element signify business conditional 
nominations, rather than mandatory nominations; (2) updating the WGQ 
Electronic Delivery Mechanism related Standards to make three minor 
revisions designed to add clarity, update the minimum technical 
characteristics to account for changes in technology since the previous 
version (Version 3.0) of the WGQ standards, and update the minimum and 
suggested operating systems and web browsers that entities should 
support; and (3) revising the NAESB WGQ data sets or other technical 
implementation documentation while not resulting in modifications to 
the underlying business practice standards. The package of standards 
also includes minor corrections.
    The implementation of these data requirements will provide 
additional transparency to informational posting websites and will 
improve communication standards. The implementation of these standards 
and regulations will promote the additional efficiency and reliability 
of the natural gas industries' operations thereby helping the 
Commission to carry out its responsibilities under the Natural Gas Act. 
In addition, the Commission's Office of Enforcement will use the data 
for general industry oversight.
    Internal Review: The Commission has reviewed the requirements 
pertaining to business practices of natural gas pipelines and made a 
preliminary determination that the proposed revisions are necessary to 
establish more efficient coordination between the gas and electric 
industries. Requiring such information ensures both a common means of 
communication and common business practices to limit miscommunication 
for participants engaged in the sale of electric energy at wholesale 
and the transportation of natural gas. These requirements conform to 
the Commission's plan for efficient information collection, 
communication, and management within the natural gas pipeline 
industries. The Commission has assured itself, by means of its internal 
review, that there is specific, objective support for the burden 
estimates associated with the information requirements.
    37. 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],

[[Page 44527]]

email: [email protected], phone: (202) 502-8663, fax: (202) 273-
0873.
    38. Comments concerning the collection of information(s) and the 
associated burden estimate(s), should be sent to the contact listed 
above 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].

VI. Environmental Analysis

    39. 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.\28\ The 
actions proposed to be taken here fall within categorical exclusions in 
the Commission's regulations for rules that are clarifying, corrective, 
or procedural, for information gathering, analysis, and dissemination, 
and for rules regarding sales, exchange, and transportation of natural 
gas that require no construction of facilities.\29\ Therefore, an 
environmental review is unnecessary and has not been prepared as part 
of this NOPR.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \28\ Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy 
Act, Order No. 486, FERC Stats. & Regs. ]30,783 (1987).
    \29\ See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii), 380.4(a)(5), 380.4(a)(27) 
(2017).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

VII. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    40. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) \30\ generally 
requires a description and analysis of proposed rules that will have 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The Commission is not required to make such analysis if proposed 
regulations would not have such an effect.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \30\ 5 U.S.C. 601-612.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    41. Approximately 165 interstate natural gas pipelines, both large 
and small, are potential respondents subject to the requirements 
adopted by this rule. Most of the natural gas pipelines regulated by 
the Commission do not fall within the RFA's definition of a small 
entity,\31\ which is currently defined for natural gas pipelines as a 
company that, in combination with its affiliates, has total annual 
receipts of $27.5 million or less.\32\ For the year 2018, only eleven 
companies not affiliated with larger companies had annual revenues in 
combination with its affiliates of $27.5 million or less and therefore 
could be considered a small entity under the RFA. This represents about 
seven percent of the total universe of potential respondents that may 
have a significant burden imposed on them. The Commission estimates 
that the one-time implementation cost of the proposals in this NOPR is 
$538,560 (or $3,264 per entity, regardless of entity size).\33\ The 
Commission does not consider the estimated $3,264 impact per entity to 
be significant. Moreover, these requirements are designed to benefit 
all customers, including small businesses that must comply with them. 
Further, as noted above, adoption of consensus standards helps ensure 
the reasonableness of the standards by requiring that the standards 
draw support from a broad spectrum of industry participants 
representing all segments of the industry. Because of that 
representation and the fact that industry conducts business under these 
standards, the Commission's regulations should reflect those standards 
that have the widest possible support.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \31\ See 5 U.S.C. 601(3) citing section 3 of the Small Business 
Act, 15 U.S.C. 623. Section 3 of the SBA defines a ``small business 
concern'' as a business which is independently owned and operated 
and which is not dominant in its field of operation (2017).
    \32\ 13 CFR 121.201 (Subsector 486-Pipeline Transportation; 
North American Industry Classification System code 486210; Pipeline 
Transportation of Natural Gas) (2017). ``Annual Receipts'' are total 
income plus cost of goods sold.
    \33\ This number is derived by dividing the total cost figure by 
the number of respondents. $538,560/165 = $3,264.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    42. Accordingly, pursuant to 605(b) of the RFA,\34\ the regulations 
proposed herein should not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \34\ 5 U.S.C. 605(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

VIII. Comment Procedures

    43. The Commission invites interested persons to submit comments on 
the matters and issues proposed in this document to be adopted, 
including any related matters or alternative proposals that commenters 
may wish to discuss. Comments are due October 1, 2018. Comments must 
refer to Docket No. RM96-1-041, and must include the commenter's name, 
the organization they represent (if applicable), and their address in 
their comments.
    44. The Commission encourages comments to be filed electronically 
via the eFiling link on the Commission's website 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.
    45. Commenters that are not able to file comments electronically 
must send an original of their comments to: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE, 
Washington, DC 20426.
    46. 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.

IX. Document Availability

    47. 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 the Commission's Home Page (https://www.ferc.gov) and 
in the Commission'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.
    48. From the Commission'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.
    49. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the Commission's 
website during normal business hours from the Commission's Online 
Support at (202) 502-6652 (toll free at 1-866-208-3676) or email at 
[email protected], or the Public Reference Room at (202) 502-
8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. Email the Public Reference Room at 
[email protected].

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 284

    Incorporation by reference, Natural gas, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    By direction of the Commission.

    Issued: August 21, 2018.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.

    In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission proposes to amend 
part 284, chapter I, title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, as follows.

[[Page 44528]]

PART 284--CERTAIN SALES AND TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS UNDER THE 
NATURAL GAS POLICY ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED AUTHORITIES

0
1. The authority citation for part 284 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 717-717z, 3301-3432; 42 U.S.C. 7101-7352; 
43 U.S.C. 1331-1356.

0
2. Section 284.12 is amended by:
0
a. Revising paragraph (a)(1); and
0
b. Removing from paragraph (a)(2) the phrase ``https://www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html'' and 
adding ``www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations.html'' in 
its place.
    The revision reads as follows:


Sec.  284.12   Standards for pipeline business operations and 
communications.

    (a) * * *
    (1) An interstate pipeline that transports gas under subparts B or 
G of this part must comply with the business practices and electronic 
communications standards as promulgated by the North American Energy 
Standards Board, as incorporated herein by reference in paragraphs 
(a)(1)(i) thru (vii) of this section.
    (i) Additional Standards (Version 3.1, September 29, 2017);
    (ii) Nominations Related Standards (Version 3.1, September 29, 
2017);
    (iii) Flowing Gas Related Standards (Version 3.1, September 29, 
2017);
    (iv) Invoicing Related Standards (Version 3.1, September 29, 2017);
    (v) Quadrant Electronic Delivery Mechanism Related Standards 
(Version 3.1, September 29, 2017);
    (vi) Capacity Release Related Standards (Version 3.1, September 29, 
2017); and
    (vii) internet Electronic Transport Related Standards (Version 3.1, 
September 29, 2017).
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2018-18473 Filed 8-30-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P