(1)
Scope and Purpose.
(a) 980 CMR 7.07 sets forth the requirements
for a statement of supply resources and plans which every gas company must met
in each long-range forecast.
A long-range forecast, including supply plans, must be filed on
the dates set forth in
980 CMR 7.02(3)(a)
in the same manner as provided by
980 CMR
7.06(1). Except as otherwise
provided by this section, every facility expected to commence operation in the
fifth year after the date of a forecast must be included in the supply plans
required by 980 CMR 7.07(7). For purposes only of the long-range forecast
required to be submitted on or before May 1, 1976, a company must include
pursuant to 980 CMR 7.07(7) all faciUties expected to commence operation at any
time prior to December 31,1980, and not exempted irom Council authority for any
reason. Facilities expected to commence operation more than five years after
the date of the forecast may be included in the supply plan; in such a case
980 CMR
7.06(4)(a)(3) must be
complied with. Only those facilities required to be described as set forth in
980 CMR 7.07(7) are subject to Council approval or disapproval. Information
concerning other construction projects must in any event be provided to the
extent required by 980 CMR 7.07(5) and (6).
(b) Statements of supply plans shall be
submitted and reviewed so that the Council may better determine whether the
supply plans will fulfill the energy, environmental and economic pohcies of the
Commonwealth. The long-range forecast will allow for an early initial review of
the plans for proposed facilities.
(c) As provided by this paragraph, a gas
company may include a proposed facility in a forecast pursuant to 980 CMR
7.07(7) four years or less before it is expected to commence operation. The
Council may approve that part of the forecast relating to the said facility if
it determines that changed circumstances which the gas company should not
reasonably have foreseen and taken into account at the time of filing of any
prior forecast or supplement require the completion of the facility four years
or less after the date of the forecast under consideration. The changed
circumstances should be described fully in the said forecast.
(2)
Inventory of
Resources. The following inventory of existing facilities shall be
included in each long-range forecast.
(a) The
inventory shall include a schematic map showing the routes of the company's
pipelines having a normal operating pressure in excess of 100 psi gauge and the
location of units designed for or capable of the manufacture or storage of
gas.
(b) The inventory shall
include a schedule of the company's existing facilities designed for or capable
of the manufacture or storage of gas. Companies may exclude from such schedule
any manufacturing or storage facility not used and not reasonably capable of
being used (due to geographic separation, unavailable capacity or other reason)
for the manufacture or storage of gas ultimately consumed in
Massachusetts.
(c) Such a schedule
shall contain for each facility included pursuant to
980 CMR
7.01(2)(b):
1. a general description of the type of
facility (for example for storage facilities: LNG storage, vapor storage; for
manufacturing facilities: SNG plant, propane air facility, LNG vaporization
facility, LNG liquefaction facility);
2. the type of feedstock currently utilized
for the manufacture of gas and the type of gas produced, or the type of gas
stored, as applicable;
3. the
capacity of the existing facility under normal operating conditions, expressed
as the unit's normal annual and normal daily manufacturing capacity; or as its
storage capacity; and
4. in the
case of a facility for the manufacture of gas, a statement concerning the
reliability during each of the most recent five years.
(d) The inventory shall include a schedule of
all of the company's pipelines having a normal operating pressure in excess of
100 poimds per square inch (100 psi) gauge including those less than one mile
in length, or at the company's election, a schedule of such pipelines in a
separable segment of the company's interstate pipelines used or reasonably
capable of being used to transmit gas to customers located in the Commonwealth.
Said schedule shall contain the following information for each such pipeline:
1. name or numerical designation (if
any);
2. origin, terminus, and
length;
3. diameter and maximum
allowable operating pressure; and
4. general description of the
right-of-way.
(3)
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission Reports. Each company shall submit copies of any
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission form that the Council determines may be
useful. The Council may require that a copy of any Commission form be deposited
in any repository of documents chosen pursuant to
980 CMR
7.02(5).
(4)
Comparison of Resources and
Requirements to Meet Forecast Demand. For each of the years
covered by the forecast, the following items should be listed as total gas
supply capacity at the time of the winter peak. These items should be
differentiated as to existing or additional capacity in units included or not
included in the definition of "facility". Some elements may be unknown or
difficult to forecast, but the basis for any estimates should be described:
(a) anticipated annual and peak demand and
sendout;
(b) sendout available from
existing sources;
(c) sendout
available fi-om planned additions; and
(d) planned retirements.
The company shall state fially the extent to which
considerations of the risk of insufficient supply influence the plans set forth
pursuant to this section.
(5)
Facilities Planned in Other
States. Each company shall provide for each gas facility, planned
or under construction in a state other than Massachusetts with an in-service
date within the coming five years, owned or to be owned entirely or in part by
the company and intended to serve Massachusetts customers directly or
indirectly, the following information:
(a) the
nature of the facility;
(b) the
anticipated in-service date;
(c)
the capacity of the facility; and
(d) in the case of the facility for the
manufacture of gas, a statement concerning the anticipated reliability.
This information is required for informational purposes
only.
(6)
Exempt and Approved Facilities. Each company shall
provide for each facility (including jointly owned facilities) planned or under
construction in the Commonwealth with an in-service date within the coming five
years but not requiring Council approval in a forecast because exempt pursuant
to
980 CMR 7.01(6)
or
7.02(10)
or because already contained in an approved
forecast or supplement, the following information to the extent known or
planned:
(a) the nature of the
facility;
(b) the anticipated
in-service date;
(c) the capacity
of the facility; and
(d) in the
case of the facility for the manufacture of gas, a statement concerning the
anticipated reliability.
This information is required for informational purposes
only.
(7)
Planned Facilities.
(a) For each new facility to be located in
Massachusetts, the in-service date of which is to be within the time period
covered by the filing, which has not been included in a long-range forecast, an
amended forecast or a supplement previously approved by the Council, and which
has not been exempted fi-om Council jurisdiction pursuant to
980 CMR 7.01(6)
or
7.02(10),
the lead company shall include a description of the facility and its
environmental impact as well as a discussion of the relation of the proposed
facility to the current health, environmental protection, and resource use and
development poUcies of the Commonwealth as set forth in the constitution,
general laws, and duly promulgated rules and regulations of responsible state,
regional or local agencies having the force of law. Such description shall
include the following information:
1. name of
the lead company;
2. facility name
and location;
3. names of
participating owners; and
4.
predicted dates of commencement and completion of construction.
(b) The lead company shall also:
1. name any other state agency asserting
jurisdiction over the proposed facility and include a reference to the
statutory authority granting agency jurisdiction;
2. name any federal agency asserting
jurisdiction over the proposed facility and include a reference to the
statutory authority granting agency jurisdiction; and
3. identify the agency or agencies for which
environmental assessments must be prepared under M.G.L. c. 30, § 62 and 42
USC, § 4332.
(c)
For a proposed manufacturing or storage facility, the company shall provide:
1. a summary statement of purpose, name and
location of facility; approximate size of site; general description of major
structures and equipment; alternate sites; possible alternative methods of
manufacture or storage considered by the company; estimated cost; major
environmental protection equipment; type of facility, anticipated reliability
and planned daily and annual capacity of SNG plants, LNG vaporization
facilities, LNG liquefaction facihties and other manufacturing facihties;
capacity of LNG storage facilities, vapor storage facilities and other gas
storage facilities; type of feedstock and operating fuel; type and size of
storage for feedstock and operating fuel; and a discussion of the alternative
of no new manufacturing or storage facility;
2. a general description of site and
surrounding area in terms of natural features including topography, water
resources, soils, vegetation, and wildUfe, and land use, both existing and
proposed, including types and densities in developed area, agricultural and
other open uses, parks and recreation areas, areas designated by a governmental
agency for protection as natural preserves or historic or scenic districts;
nearby roads, nearby gas pipelines, transportation corridors and zoning
(hiclude a map or aerial photographs showing the proposed site and its
surroundings up to one mile from the site, designating current major land use
patterns within such area, and showing the location within the site of the
proposed facilities.); and
3. an
evaluation of impact of the facility in terms of its effect on: natural
features (especially water resources), land use as just described, visibility,
air quality, water quality, solid waste, and noise.
(d) For a proposed gas pipeline intended to
have normaloperating pressure in excess of 100 psi gauge and length in excess
of one mile, the company shall provide:
1. a
summary statement of name or numerical description of line, purpose, location
of terminal points, general location and length of route, facility
characteristics including types of structures above and below the ground,
proposed normal maximum operating pressure, right-of-way width, estimated cost,
possible alternative routes and transportation methods, and a discussion of the
alternative of no new pipeline (include U.S.G.S maps of 1:24,000 scale of the
area of the proposed route and alternative routes);
2. land use, both existing and proposed,
including types and densities in developed areas, agricultural and other open
uses, parks and recreation areas, areas designated for protection as natural
preserves or historic or scenic districts, road crossings and traffic patterns,
nearby utility or transportation corridors, cemeteries and schools;
and
3. a brief evaluation of impact
of the facility in terms of its effect on natural features and land use, as
just described, its visibility and, if applicable, its air quality, water
quality, solid waste, and noise effects.
(e) For each planned new facility the company
shall provide a statement of need, which shall consist of:
1. a description of the ways in which the
company's existing facilities will not be adequate to serve the requirements
forecast; and
2. a description of
the use which is to be made of each new facility, including whether the new
facility will be used to replace existing facilities or to meet additional
requirements.
(8)
Exclusions. The
following activities are deemed not to constitute the construction of
facilities subject to 980 CMR 7.07(7):
(a)
modification, addition to, or replacement of equipment at an existing site
which is a component part of an existing facility capable of the manufacture or
storage of gas, unless such modification, addition, or replacement:
1. increases the capacity of the storage
component of the facility by more than 50% or 50,000 barrels; or
2. increases the capacity of the
manufacturing component of the facility by more than 50% or 25,000 MMBtu per
day provided that increases of 10,000 MMBTU per day or less do not constitute
the construction of facilities under 980 CMR 7.07(7);
(b) necessary maintenance of existing
facilities for the manufacture or storage of gas or existing
pipelines;
(c) the upgrading of an
existing pipeline, which has been in existence for at least 24 months and which
is capable of operating at pressures in excess of 100 psi gauge;
(d) construction of a pipeline which for at
least the first two years of service will be used at a pressure of less than
100 psi gauge or which involves the rebuilding, relaying, minor relocation, or
restructiong of all or part of an existing line which traverses essentially the
same route; and
(e) commencement or
permanent placement of facilities on an emergency basis subject to the
provisions of
980 CMR
6.06(2).
(9)
Interstate
Facilities.
(a) When interstate
natural gas companies regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) pursuant to the Natural Gas Act, 15 U.S.C. sections
111 et
seq. plan to construct new or modify existing facilities within the
Commonwealth, the Council requires the following information:
1. A copy of the company's application to
FERC for a certificate of public convenience and necessity with respect to the
facility construction/modification.
2. Identification of the (1) general route of
a pipeline or the sites of other facilities and (2) of the municipalities in
the Commonwealth to be affected by such construction/modification and a
description of the manner in which these municipalities will be affected. This
information can be provided in a cover letter to the submittal of the FERC
application to the Council, which letter references those parts of the
application where that information can be foimd.
This information will be submitted to the Council at the same
time the individual company files its application with FERC.
Within 60 days of receipt of this information, the Council will
hold public informational hearings in the municipality or municipalities where
the affected sites are located and will complete said hearings within 30 days
of the time for commencement thereof The company will attend this hearing so
that the public's questions concerning the construction project may be
addressed and potential difficulties identified early in the application
process. Interested citizens who attend such hearings will be advised as to the
nature and availabiUty of their options, rights and/or remedies with respect to
the project. Notice of such hearings will be given 21 days in advance in a
practical manner to be specified by the hearing officer designated by the
Council.
(b)
Upon receipt of the company's application to FERC, the Council will act to
preserve the rights of interested citizens of the Commonwealth by intervening
in the FERC proceedings on said application. After conducting the public
informational hearings as described in 980 CMR 7.07(9)(a), the Council will
present to FERC through its intervention the difficulties and problems
identified at said public hearings.
(c) Further, upon receipt of said
application, the Council will contact the appropriate FERC personnel and
request joint public hearings as described in (a) above and also will request
joint adjudicatory hearings, said joint hearings to be conducted by the Council
and FERC.
(d) The Council will also
continue to apply the criteria set off in Policy 8 of the Massachusetts Coastal
Zone Management Program (MCZMP) as authorized by the Federal Coastal Zone
Management Act (the "Act"),
16 U.S.C. sec.
1451
et seq. and
implemented further in
980 CMR 9.00 herein. A MCZMP
consistency review of the company's application as contemplated by the Act,
16 U.S.C. sec.
1456(c)(3) will be conducted
by the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Office.
