Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 42 / Friday, March 5, 2021 / Proposed Rules 12879 

[FR Doc. 2021–03968 Filed 3–4–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

18 CFR Part 284 

[Docket No. RM96–1–042] 

Standards for Business Practices of 

Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines 

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission is proposing to 

amend its regulations to incorporate by 

reference, with certain enumerated 

exceptions, the latest version (Version 

3.2) 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 3.1) of 

those business practice standards. The 

revisions made by NAESB in this 

version of the standards are designed to 

enhance the natural gas industries’ 

system and software security measures 

and to clarify the processing of certain 

business transactions. 

DATES: Comments are due April 19, 

2021. 

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 may be hand 

delivered. Mailed comments should be 

addressed to: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, Secretary of the 

Commission, 888 First Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20426. Hand-delivered 

comments should be delivered to: 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, 

Maryland 20852. The Comment 

Procedures Section of this document 

contains more detailed filing 

procedures. 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 Information, 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502– 

6841 

Oscar F. Santillana (Technical Issues), 

Office of Energy Market Regulation, 

Federal Energy Regulatory 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALSEP05MR21.009</GPH>
12880 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 42 / Friday, March 5, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

1As explained below, we are 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 3.2 package of business practice 

standards. 

2As explained below, NAESB has developed and 

adopted, in conjunction with Sandia National 

Laboratories, a series of business practice standards 

to protect the natural gas industries’ internet 

security. 

3This series of orders began with the 

Commission’s issuance of Standards for Bus. 

Practices of Interstate Nat. Gas Pipelines, Order No. 

587, 61 FR 39053 (July 26, 1996), FERC Stats. & 

Regs. ¶ 31,038 (1996) (cross-refrenced at 76 FERC 

¶ 61,042). 

4Sandia is a multidisciplinary national laboratory 

and federally funded research and development 

center for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) 

National Nuclear Security Administration that 

supports numerous federal, state, and local 

government agencies, companies, and 

organizations. 

5 In April 2017, NAESB announced that Sandia, 

through funding provided by DOE, would be 

performing a surety assessment of the NAESB 

standards. As determined by Sandia and DOE, the 

purpose of the surety assessment was to analyze 

cybersecurity elements within the standards, 

focusing on four areas: (1) The NAESB Certification 

Program for Accredited Certification Authorities, 

including the Wholesale Electric Quadrant (WEQ)- 

012 Public Key Infrastructure Business Practice 

Standards, the NAESB Accreditation Requirements 

for Authorized Certificate Authorities, and the 

Authorized Certification Authority Process; (2) the 

WEQ Open Access Same-Time Information Systems 

suite of standards; (3) the WGQ and Retail Markets 

Quadrant internet Electronic Transport (IET) and 

Quadrant Electronic Delivery Mechanism (EDM) 

Related Standards Manual; and (4) a high-level 

dependency analysis between the gas and electric 

markets to evaluate the different security paradigms 

the markets employ. 

6 In the discussion below we identify the NAESB 

WGQ Version 3.2 Standards that we propose not to 

incorporate by reference. 

Commission, 888 First Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502– 

6392 

Robert McLean (Legal Issues), Office of 

the General Counsel, Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, 888 First 

Street NE, Washington, DC 20426 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Paragraph No. 

I. Background ................................................................................................................................................................................ 2 

II. Discussion ................................................................................................................................................................................ 5 

A. Modifications to Previous Version of Standards ............................................................................................................ 8 

1. Modifications in Response to the Sandia Surety Assessment ................................................................................ 8 

2. Modifications in Response to Industry Request ...................................................................................................... 12 

B. Standards Proposed Not To Be Incorporated by Reference ........................................................................................... 18 

C. Proposed Implementation Procedures ............................................................................................................................. 19 

III. Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards ................................................................................................................ 24 

IV. Incorporation by Reference .................................................................................................................................................... 25 

V. Information Collection Statement ........................................................................................................................................... 35 

VI. Environmental Analysis ......................................................................................................................................................... 42 

VII. Regulatory Flexibility Act ..................................................................................................................................................... 43 

VIII. Comment Procedures ........................................................................................................................................................... 46 

IX. Document Availability ........................................................................................................................................................... 50 

1. The Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission (Commission) proposes to 

amend its regulations at 18 CFR 284.12 

to incorporate by reference, with certain 

enumerated 

2. exceptions,1 the latest version 

(Version 3.2) of business practice 

standards adopted by NAESB’s WGQ 

applicable to natural gas pipelines that 

NAESB reported to the Commission on 

August 17, 2020 in place of the 

currently incorporated version (Version 

3.1) 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 (NGA). In addition, the 

proposed revisions are necessary to 

enhance the natural gas industries’ 

computer security requirements.2

I. Background 

3. 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,3

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 

3.1) of those business practice 

standards. 

4. On August 17, 2020, NAESB filed 

a report informing the Commission that 

it had adopted and ratified WGQ 

Version 3.2 of its business practice 

standards applicable to interstate 

natural gas pipelines. Version 3.2 of the 

WGQ includes business practice 

standards developed and modified in 

response to industry requests and 

directives from the NAESB Board of 

Directors. This version also includes the 

standards developed in response to the 

recommendations of Sandia National 

Laboratory (Sandia),4 which in 2019 

issued a cybersecurity surety assessment 

of the NAESB standards sponsored by 

DOE (Sandia Surety Assessment),5 and 

the standards developed to enable the 

use of distributed ledger technologies 

when transacting the NAESB Base 

Contract for Sale and Purchase of 

Natural Gas. 

5. The NAESB report identifies all the 

changes made to the WGQ Version 3.1 

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 

6. In this NOPR, we propose to 

incorporate by reference, in our 

regulations, Version 3.2 of the NAESB 

WGQ consensus business practice 

standards, with certain exceptions.6 We 

propose that compliance filings made in 

accordance with a final rule be made 

120 days after issuance of a final rule in 

this proceeding or on the first business 

day thereafter if falling on a weekend or 

holiday, with an effective date 180 days 

from the date compliance filings are due 

in this proceeding or 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. 

7. 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, 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 42 / Friday, March 5, 2021 / Proposed Rules 12881 

7The National Institute of Standards and 

Technology Special Pub. 800–52 requires 

government Transport Layer Security servers and 

clients to support Transport Layer Security Version 

1.2 and recommends support for Transport Layer 

Security Version 1.3 by the year 2024. 

8Rivest-Shamir-Adelman is a public key 

infrastructure algorithm composed of a public 

component and a private component that is 

typically installed on a recognized Certificate 

Authority. 

9Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm 

public keys generate an encrypted signature to 

validate data. 

10A Hash is cryptology technique used for digital 

signatures in which a series of numbers that may 

represent, for example, a password, an image, a 

document, or an executable file is used to generate 

a cryptographic hash (i.e., a large number). 

11SHA–2 is a set of cryptographic hash functions. 

12PGP is a proprietary (i.e., an organization must 

pay to use it) encryption program developed to 

enhance the confidentiality and integrity of data. 

13OpenPGP is an encryption standard defined by 

the Internet Engineering Task Force enabling design 

and implementation free of licensing fees. At 

present, the encryption method is generally 

considered the most secure. 

14HTTPS authentication encrypts username and 

password combinations as part of a Uniform 

Resource Locator address. To obtain an HTTPS 

connection, a web browser must contact a trusted, 

commercial Certificate Authority, such as a NAESB 

Authorized Certificate Authority, to obtain the web 

server’s public key, and follow other applicable 

HTTPS procedures. 

15HTTP is the original communications protocol 

of the internet which enables a web browser to 

depict text, pictures, shapes, live data, and click 

targets on a web browser. However, username and 

password combinations are not encrypted in HTTP 

basic authentication. 

16 In order for a Service Requester to have control 

over its segmented nomination(s), the 

Transportation Service Provider (TSP) will require 

a ‘‘Capacity Block ID’’ to be submitted with each 

nomination line item specifying a Transaction Type 

of ‘‘Segmented.’’ 

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, to carry out 

policy objectives or activities. 

8. We discuss below some specific 

aspects of NAESB’s report. 

A. Modifications to Previous Version of 

Standards 

1. Modifications in Response to the 

Sandia Surety Assessment 

9. NAESB revised previously 

incorporated standards and developed 

new standards in response to the 

recommendations in the Sandia Surety 

Assessment. Specifically, NAESB 

adopted revisions to the WGQ EDM 

Related Business Practice Standards, 

which establish the framework for the 

electronic dissemination and 

communication of information between 

parties in the North American wholesale 

gas marketplace, and to the WGQ IET 

Related Business Practice Standards, 

which 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. First, 

NAESB adopted two new standards, 

4.3.109 and 10.3.28, to provide that 

trading partners should evaluate 

software fixes or patches for known 

vulnerabilities within 30 days and 

implement the fix or patch as soon as 

reasonably practicable based on the 

severity of the risk. Second, NAESB 

adopted two new standards, 4.3.110 and 

10.3.29, to provide that trading partners 

should mutually agree to the version of 

the EDM and IET to be used. Third, the 

new standards specify notification and 

coordination timelines with trading 

partners, where applicable, to address 

vulnerable systems or software as soon 

as possible. Fourth, the Sandia Surety 

Assessment recommended that NAESB 

consider guidelines for configuration 

and logging, network traffic monitoring, 

alerting systems, and manual continuity 

of operations in the event of abnormal 

behavior or failure conditions within 

the system. In response, NAESB added 

language to new Standards 4.3.110 and 

10.3.28 to include both specific and 

broad adoptions of such system security 

measures. 

10. Further, NAESB added language 

to existing Standards 4.3.60, 4.3.61, 

10.2.33, and 10.3.25 to clarify the 

Transport Layer Security protocol,7

which encrypts data to hide information 

from electronic observers on the 

internet. NAESB also deleted all 

references to the Secure Sockets Layer 

protocol in the standards. 

11. Concerning identification key 

lengths, the Sandia Surety Assessment 

recommended that Rivest-ShamirAdelman keys 8 must be no shorter than 

2048 bits, Elliptic Curve Digital 

Signature Algorithm keys 9 must be no 

shorter than 224 bits, Hash 10 algorithms 

should be from the Secure Hash 

Algorithm (SHA)-2 11 or SHA–3 

families, and acceptable Advanced 

Encryption Standard key lengths range 

from 128, to 192, to 256. The Sandia 

Surety Assessment recommended that, 

in general, implementors use the largest 

feasible key length consistent with 

implementation of current business 

processes. In response, NAESB deleted 

Standard 4.3.83 to remove legacy 

support references and maintain a 

minimum encryption strength of 128 

bits. Further, NAESB revised existing 

Standards 10.2.34 and 10.3.15 to delete 

a proprietary Pretty Good Privacy 

(PGP) 12-related hyperlink and to 

accommodate license-free OpenPGP,13

respectively. NAESB also adopted a new 

Standard 10.2.39 to specify that 

OpenPGP should be used to create 

public and private keys for privacy and 

digital signature applications. 

12. Further, NAESB revised existing 

Standards 4.3.60, 4.3.84, 10.3.4, and 

10.3.16 to specify Hyper-Text Transport 

Protocol Secure (HTTPS),14 which is an 

encrypted version of Hyper-Text 

Transport Protocol (HTTP),15 whenever 

a secure communication is required to 

protect information in transit and 

support overall privacy needs. 

Moreover, NAESB revised existing 

Standards 4.3.60 and 10.3.16 to require 

multi-factor (e.g., two-factor) 

authentication on an individual basis 

and state that secure websites should 

employ individual user credentials. 

2. Modifications in Response to Industry 

Request 

13. The following section describes 

standards development efforts 

undertaken by NAESB in response to 

industry requests or through the normal 

course of WGQ activities that resulted in 

modifications to the Nomination 

Related Standards, QEDM Standards, 

and an effort that impacted multiple sets 

of standards. NAESB made 

corresponding revisions, where 

appropriate, to the related data sets and 

technical implementation as part of the 

standards development effort. 

a. Nomination Related Standards 

14. NAESB revised existing Standards 

1.3.27, 1.4.1, and 1.4.2 to add a new 

data element ‘‘Capacity Block ID’’ to 

allow a Service Requester to determine 

which primary point rights of the 

contract their segmented nomination 16

is using and eliminate an existing 

manual business process from the TSP 

to automate the business process. 

b. Quadrant Electronic Delivery 

Mechanisms Related Standards 

15. NAESB developed two new 

standards, Standard 4.3.107 to establish 

a standard data retention period for 

retrieval of Operationally Available data 

from the Informational Postings website, 

and Standard 4.3.108, to establish a 

standard data retention period for 

retrieval of Notices for the subcategories 

of Critical, Non-Critical and Planned 

Service Outage from the Informational 

Postings website. 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
12882 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 42 / Friday, March 5, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

17NAESB WGQ Version 3.2 Standards 1.3.14, 

1.3.15, 1.3.82, and 3.3.3. 

18NAESB WGQ Version 3.2 Standards 0.4.1 

through 0.4.3, 1.4.1, 1.4.3 through 1.4.6, 2.4.1, 2.4.6, 

2.4.17, 3.4.1, 3.4.2, 5.4.24 through 5.4.26. 

19See, e.g., Standards for Bus. Practices of 

Interstate Nat. Gas Pipelines, Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking, 83 FR 44521 (Aug. 31, 2018), 164 

FERC ¶ 61,125, at P 16 (2018) (WGQ Version 3.1 

NOPR). 

20 Id., Standards for Bus. Practices of Interstate 

Nat. Gas Pipelines, Order. No. 587–V, 77 FR 43711 

(Jul. 26, 2012), 140 FERC ¶ 61,036, at n.11 (2012). 

21WGQ Version 3.1 NOPR, 164 FERC ¶ 61,125 at 

P 16; Elec. Tariff Filings, Order No. 714, 73 FR 

57515 (Oct. 3, 2008), 124 FERC ¶ 61,270 (2008). 

22Order No. 587–V, 140 FERC ¶ 61,036 at PP 36– 

39. 

23Trans-Union Interstate Pipeline L.P., 141 FERC 

¶ 61,167, at P 36 (2012) (Order No. 587–V 

Compliance Order). 

24 Id. P 36; WGQ Version 3.1 NOPR, 164 FERC 

¶ 61,125 at P 18. 

25Shippers can use the Commission’s electronic 

tariff system to locate the tariff record containing 

the NAESB standards, which will indicate the 

docket in which any waiver or extension of time 

was granted. 

26Order No. 587–V, 140 FERC ¶ 61,036. 

27Order No. 587–V Compliance Order, 141 FERC 

¶ 61,167 at PP 4, 38. 

28 1 CFR 51.5 (2020). See Incorporation by 

Reference, 79 FR 66267 (Nov. 7, 2014). 

c. Revisions Impacting Multiple 

Standards 

16. NAESB revised multiple 

standards 17 and data sets 18 to remove 

references to the term ‘‘gigacalories’’ 

and add the term ‘‘gigajoules,’’ 

consistent with the standard quantity 

for nominations, confirmations, and 

scheduling in Mexico. 

d. Other Material in NAESB’s Report 

17. NAESB revised multiple data sets 

which impacted technical 

implementation documentation only. 

18. Further, NAESB revised its 

optional model contracts and 

corresponding Mexican and Canadian 

Addendums to reflect a standard digital 

representation of natural gas trade 

events. NAESB states that these 

revisions are intended to capitalize on 

smart contracts and distributed ledger 

technologies. 

B. Standards Proposed Not To Be 

Incorporated by Reference 

19. We propose to continue our past 

practice 19 of not incorporating by 

reference into our regulations any 

optional model contracts because we do 

not require the use of these contracts 

and therefore we do not need to include 

them in our regulations.20 In addition, 

consistent with our findings in past 

proceedings, we are not proposing to 

incorporate by reference the Wholesale 

Electric Quadrant/WGQ eTariff Related 

Standards because the Commission 

adopted and posted its standards and 

protocols for electronic tariff filings.21

C. Proposed Implementation Procedures 

20. We propose to continue the 

compliance filing requirements as 

revised in Order No. 587–V.22 We 

propose that compliance filings made in 

accordance with a final rule be made 

120 days after issuance of a final rule in 

this proceeding or on the first business 

day thereafter if falling on a weekend or 

holiday, with an effective date 180 days 

from the date compliance filings are due 

in this proceeding or the first business 

day thereafter if falling on a weekend or 

holiday. As the Commission found in 

Order No. 587–V, adoption of the 

revised compliance filing requirements 

increases the transparency of the 

interstate natural gas 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.23

21. Consistent with our practice since 

Order No. 587–V, each pipeline must 

designate a single tariff section under 

which every NAESB WGQ Standard 

incorporated by reference by the 

Commission is listed.24 For each 

standard, the pipeline must specify in 

the tariff section or tariff sheet(s) listing 

all the NAESB standards: 

(a) Whether the standard is 

incorporated by reference; 

(b) For those standards not 

incorporated by reference, the tariff 

provision that complies with the 

standard; or 

(c) For those standards with which 

the pipeline does not comply, an 

explanatory statement, including an 

indication of whether the pipeline has 

been granted a waiver, extension of 

time, or other variance with respect to 

compliance with the standard.25

Likewise, consistent with past 

practice, we will post on our eLibrary 

website (under Docket No. RM96–1– 

042) a sample tariff format, to provide 

filers an illustrative example to aid them 

in preparing their compliance filings. 

22. Consistent with our policy since 

Order No. 587–V,26 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.27

23. 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 the 

Commission granted a waiver or 

extension of time, and the docket 

number or order citation to the 

proceeding in which the Commission 

granted the waiver or extension of time. 

The pipeline also must present an 

explanation for why such waiver or 

extension of time should remain in force 

with regard to the WGQ Version 3.2 

Standards. 

24. This continues our practice of 

having pipelines include in their tariffs 

a common location that identifies the 

way in which the pipeline is 

incorporating all the NAESB WGQ 

Standards and the standards with which 

it is required to comply. 

III. Notice of Use of Voluntary 

Consensus Standards 

25. 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 governmentunique standard. In this NOPR, we are 

proposing to incorporate by reference 

voluntary consensus standards 

developed by the WGQ. 

IV. Incorporation by Reference 

26. The Office of the Federal Register 

requires agencies proposing to 

incorporate material by reference to 

discuss the ways that the materials it 

incorporates by reference are reasonably 

available to interested parties and how 

interested parties can obtain the 

materials.28 The regulations also require 

agencies to summarize, in the preamble 

of the final rule, the material that it 

incorporates by reference. The standards 

we are proposing to incorporate by 

reference consist of seven suites of 

NAESB WGQ Business Practice 

Standards that address a variety of 

topics and are designed to streamline 

the transactional processes for the 

wholesale natural 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; WGQ 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 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 42 / Friday, March 5, 2021 / Proposed Rules 12883 

29 5 CFR 1320.11 (2020). 

30FERC–545 covers rate change filings made by 

natural gas pipelines, including tariff changes. 

Standards. We summarize these 

standards below. 

27. 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 the reporting and requesting of 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. 

28. 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. 

29. 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. 

30. The WGQ 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). 

31. 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/EDM transfers, batch flat 

file/EDM transfers, informational 

postings websites, Electronic Bulletin 

Boards/EDM, and interactive flat file/ 

EDM. 

32. 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. 

33. 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. 

34. Our regulations provide that 

copies of the standards incorporated by 

reference may be obtained from NAESB 

at https://www.naesb.org// or (713) 356– 

0060. Copies of the standards may be 

inspected at the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, Public 

Reference Room, 888 First Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20426, Phone: (202) 

502–8371, https://www.ferc.gov/. 

However, at this time, the Commission 

has suspended access to the 

Commission’s Public Reference Room 

due to the President’s March 13, 2020 

proclamation declaring a National 

Emergency concerning the Novel 

Coronavirus Disease (COVID–19). 

35. 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 $8,000, 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. Nonmembers 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 

36. 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.29 Therefore, we 

are submitting our 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. 

37. We solicit comments on our 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. 

38. 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). 

39. The collections of information 

related to this NOPR fall under FERC– 

545 (Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Change 

(Non-Formal)) 30 and FERC–549C 

(Standards for Business Practices of 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
12884 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 42 / Friday, March 5, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

31FERC–549C covers Standards for Business 

Practices of Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines. 

32The 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. 

33The estimated hourly cost (salary plus benefits) 

provided in this section is based on the salary 

figures for May 2019 posted by the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics for the Utilities sector (available at https:// 

www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics3_221000.htm) and 

scaled to reflect benefits using the relative 

importance of employer costs for employee 

compensation from June 2020 (available at https:// 

www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm). The 

hourly estimates for salary plus benefits are: 

Computer and Information Systems Manager 

(Occupation Code: 11–3021), $101.58. 

Computer and Information Analysts (Occupation 

Code: 15–1120(1221), $87.42. 

Electrical Engineer (Occupation Code: 17–2071), 

$70.19. 

Legal (Occupation Code: 23–0000), $142.65. 

The average hourly cost (salary plus benefits), 

weighting all of these skill sets evenly, is $100.50. 

We round it to $101/hour. 

Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines).31 The 

following estimates of reporting burden 

are related only to this NOPR and 

anticipate the costs to pipelines for 

compliance with our proposals in this 

NOPR. The burden estimates are 

primarily related to implementing these 

standards and regulations and will not 

result in ongoing costs. 

RM96–1–042 NOPR 

[Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines] 

Number of 

respondents 32

Annual number 

of responses 

per respondent 

Total number 

of responses 

Average burden hr. 

per response 

Total annual burden hours & 

total annual cost 33

Annual costs 

per respondent 

($) 

(1) (2) (1) * (2) = (3) (4) (3) * (4) = (5) (5) / (1) = (6) 

FERC–545 (one-time) ........... 178 1 178 10 hrs.; $1,010 ...................... 1,780 hrs.; $179,780 ............. $1,010 

FERC–549C (one-time) ......... 178 1 178 100 hrs.; $10,100 .................. 17,800 hrs.; $1,797,800 ........ $10,100 

Total ................................ ........................ .......................... 356 ................................................ 19,580 hrs.; $1,977,580 ........ ..........................

The one-time burden (for both the 

FERC–545 and FERC–549C) will take 

place in Year 1 and will be averaged 

over three years: 

FERC–545: 1,780 hours ÷ 3 = 593 hours/ 

year over three years 

FERC–549C: 17,800 hours ÷ 3 = 5,933 

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: 178 responses ÷ 3 = 59 

responses/year 

FERC–549C: 178 responses ÷ 3 = 59 

responses/year 

The responses and burden for Years 

1–3 will total respectively as follows: 

Year 1: 59 responses; 593 hours (FERC– 

545); 5,933 hours (FERC–549C) 

Year 2: 59 responses; 593 hours (FERC– 

545); 5,933 hours (FERC–549C) 

Year 3: 59 responses; 593 hours (FERC– 

545); 5,933 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: In response 

to the recommendations in the Sandia 

report, the proposals in this NOPR 

would, if implemented, upgrade current 

business practices and communication 

standards by updating the Quadrant 

EDM Related Standards and IET Related 

Standards to specifically: (1) Require the 

implementation of fixes or patches for 

known vulnerabilities as soon as 

reasonably practicable in coordination 

with other trading partners; (2) specify 

notification timelines to provide notice 

to trading partners of any systems or 

software that have not been updated and 

the potential impact of using the 

vulnerable system; (3) include both 

specific and broad adoptions of system 

security measures and specific 

notification and coordination during 

outages with affected trading partners; 

(4) maintain a minimum encryption 

strength of 128 bits, (5) specify that 

OpenPGP should be used to create 

public and private keys for privacy and 

digital signature applications; (6) 

specify HTTPS whenever secure 

communication is required to protect 

information in transit and support 

overall privacy needs; (7) use the largest 

feasible key length consistent with 

implementation of current business 

processes; (8) state that secure websites 

should employ individual user 

credentials; and (9) encourage security 

assessments and coordination between 

customers, vendors, and trading 

partners. 

40. Further, in response to industry 

requests or through the normal course of 

WGQ activities, the proposals in this 

NOPR would, if implemented, upgrade 

current business practices and 

communication standards by 

specifically: (1) Updating the 

Nominations Related Standards to allow 

a Service Requester to determine which 

rights of the contract its segmentation 

nomination is using; (2) updating the 

Quadrant EDM Related Standards to (i) 

define a NAESB standard time frame for 

information to be retained on a 

pipeline’s Informational Postings 

website, (ii) allow for processing 

functions at the line item level on 

Customer Activities websites and allow 

for the use of icons and/or graphical 

control elements for navigation and/or 

processing functions, and (iii) make 

minor revisions designed to add clarity, 

update the minimum technical 

characteristics to account for changes in 

technology since the previous version 

(Version 3.1) of the WGQ standards, and 

update the minimum and suggested 

operating systems and web browsers 

that entities should support; (3) 

updating multiple sets of standards to 

remove references to the term 

‘‘gigacalories’’ and add the term 

‘‘gigajoules’’ as the standard quantity for 

nominations, confirmations, and 

scheduling in Mexico; and (4) 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 

Postings 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 NGA. In 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 42 / Friday, March 5, 2021 / Proposed Rules 12885 

34Regulations Implementing the Nat’l Envt’l Pol’y 

Act, Order No. 486, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 30,783 

(1987). 

35See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii), 380.4(a)(5), and 

380.4(a)(27) (2020). 

36 5 U.S.C. 601–612. 

37See 5 U.S.C. 601(3) citing section 3 of the Small 

Business Act (SBA), 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 (2019). 

38 13 CFR 121.201 (Subsector 486-Pipeline 

Transportation; North American Industry 

Classification System code 486210; Pipeline 

Transportation of Natural Gas) (2020). ‘‘Annual 

Receipts’’ are total income plus cost of goods sold. 

39This number is derived by dividing the total 

cost figure by the number of respondents. 

$1,977,580/178 = $11,110. 

40 5 U.S.C. 605(b). 

addition, the Commission’s Office of 

Enforcement will use the data for 

general industry oversight. 

Internal Review: We have reviewed 

the requirements pertaining to business 

practices of interstate natural gas 

pipelines and made a preliminary 

determination that the proposed 

revisions are necessary to establish a 

more efficient and integrated pipeline 

grid. These requirements conform to our 

plan for efficient information collection, 

communication, and management 

within the natural gas pipeline 

industries. We determined through our 

internal review, that there is specific, 

objective support for the burden 

estimates associated with the 

information requirements. 

41. 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, 

telephone: (202) 502–8663, fax: (202) 

273–0873. 

42. 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 

43. 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.34 The actions that we 

propose to take 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.35 Therefore, an 

environmental review is unnecessary 

and has not been prepared as part of this 

NOPR. 

VII. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

44. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 

1980 (RFA) 36 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. 

45. Approximately 178 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,37 which is currently defined for 

natural gas pipelines as a company that, 

in combination with its affiliates, has 

total annual receipts of $30 million or 

less.38 For the year 2019, only 11 

companies not affiliated with larger 

companies had annual revenues in 

combination with its affiliates of $30 

million or less and therefore could be 

considered a small entity under the 

RFA. This represents about six percent 

of the total universe of potential 

respondents that may have a significant 

burden imposed on them. We estimate 

that the one-time implementation cost 

of the proposals in this NOPR is 

$1,977,580 (or $11,110 per entity, 

regardless of entity size).39 We do not 

consider the estimated $11,110 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. 

46. Accordingly, pursuant to section 

605(b) of the RFA,40 the regulations 

proposed herein should not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

VIII. Comment Procedures 

47. We invite interested persons to 

submit comments on the matters and 

issues proposed in this notice to be 

adopted, including any related matters 

or alternative proposals that 

commenters may wish to discuss. 

Comments are due April 19, 2021. 

Comments must refer to Docket No. 

RM96–1–042, and must include the 

commenter’s name, the organization 

they represent (if applicable), and their 

address in their comments. 

48. We encourage comments to be 

filed electronically via the eFiling link 

on the Commission’s website at https:// 

www.ferc.gov/. We accept 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. 

49. Commenters that are not able to 

file comments electronically may mail 

or hand-deliver an original of their 

comments. Mailed comments should be 

addressed to: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, Secretary of the 

Commission, 888 First Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20426. Hand-delivered 

comments should be delivered to: 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, 

Maryland 20852. 

50. 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 

51. In addition to publishing the full 

text of this document in the Federal 

Register, we provide 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/). At 

this time, we have suspended access to 

the Commission’s Public Reference 

Room due to the President’s March 13, 

2020 proclamation declaring a National 

Emergency concerning the Novel 

Coronavirus Disease (COVID–19). 

52. 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. 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
12886 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 42 / Friday, March 5, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

To access this document in eLibrary, 

type the docket number excluding the 

last three digits of this document in the 

docket number field. 

53. User assistance is available for 

eLibrary and our 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 

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. 

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 284 

Natural gas. 

By direction of the Commission. 

Issued: February 18, 2021. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

In consideration of the foregoing, we 

propose to amend part 284, chapter I, 

title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, as 

follows. 

PART 284—CERTAIN SALES AND 

TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS 

UNDER THE NATURAL GAS POLICY 

ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED 

AUTHORITIES 

■ 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. 

■ 2. In § 284.12, revise paragraphs (a)(1) 

and (2) to read as follows: 

§ 284.12 Standards for pipeline business 

operations and communications. 

(a) Incorporation by reference of 

NAESB standards. (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 by reference in paragraphs 

(a)(1)(i) through (vii) of this section. 

(i) Additional Standards (Version 3.2, 

August 15, 2020); 

(ii) Nominations Related Standards 

(Version 3.2, August 15, 2020); 

(iii) Flowing Gas Related Standards 

(Version 3.2, August 15, 2020); 

(iv) Invoicing Related Standards 

(Version 3.2, August 15, 2020); 

(v) Quadrant Electronic Delivery 

Mechanism Related Standards (Version 

3.2, August 15, 2020); 

(vi) Capacity Release Related 

Standards (Version 3.2, August 15, 

2020); and 

(vii) internet Electronic Transport 

Related Standards (Version 3.2, August 

15, 2020). 

(2) This incorporation by reference 

was approved by the Director of the 

Federal Register in accordance with 5 

U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. Copies 

of these standards may be obtained from 

the North American Energy Standards 

Board, 801 Travis Street, Suite 1675, 

Houston, TX 77002, Phone: (713) 356– 

0060. NAESB’s website is at https://

www.naesb.org/. Copies may be 

inspected at the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, Public 

Reference Room, 888 First Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20426, Phone: (202) 

502–8371, https://www.ferc.gov/, or at 

the National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA). For 

information on the availability of this 

material at NARA, email fedreg.legal@

nara.gov, or go to: https://

www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ 

ibr-locations.html. 

[FR Doc. 2021–03797 Filed 3–4–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Internal Revenue Service 

26 CFR Part 1 

[REG–111950–20] 

RIN 1545–BP91 

Guidance on Passive Foreign 

Investment Companies and the 

Treatment of Qualified Improvement 

Property Under the Alternative 

Depreciation System for Purposes of 

Sections 250(b) and 951A(d); 

Correction 

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 

Treasury. 

ACTION: Correction to a notice of 

proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: This document contains a 

correction to a notice of proposed 

rulemaking (REG–111950–20) that was 

published in the Federal Register on 

January 15, 2021. The proposed 

regulations regarding the determination 

of whether a foreign corporation is 

treated as a passive foreign investment 

company (‘‘PFIC’’) for purposes of the 

Internal Revenue Code (‘‘Code’’). 

DATES: Written or electronic comments 

and requests for a public hearing are 

still being accepted and must be 

received by April 14, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Send submissions to 

Internal Revenue Service, CC: PA: LPD: 

PR (REG–111950–20), Room 5205, P.O. 

Box 7604, Ben Franklin Station, 

Washington, DC 20044. Alternatively, 

persons may submit comments 

electronically via the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov (IRS REG–111950– 

20). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Concerning proposed regulations 

§§ 1.250(b)–1(b)(2) and 1.250(b)–2(e)(2), 

Lorraine Rodriguez, (202) 317–6726; 

concerning proposed regulations 

§ 1.951A–3(e)(2), Jorge M. Oben and 

Larry R. Pounders, (202) 317–6934; 

concerning proposed regulations 

§§ 1.1297–0 through 1.1297–2, 1.1298–0 

and 1.1298–4, Christina G. Daniels at 

(202) 317–6934; concerning proposed 

regulations §§ 1.1297–4 through 1.1297– 

6 (the PFIC insurance exception), 

Josephine Firehock at (202) 317–4932; 

concerning submissions of comments 

and requests for a public hearing, 

Regina L. Johnson at (202) 317–5177 

(not toll-free numbers) or by sending an 

email to publichearings@irs.gov 

(preferred). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The proposed regulations that are the 

subject of this correction are under 

sections 1297 and 1298 of the Internal 

Revenue Code. 

Need for Correction 

As published, the notice of proposed 

regulations REG–111950–20 contains 

errors that needs to be corrected. 

Correction of Publication 

Accordingly, the notice of proposed 

rulemaking (REG–111950–20) that was 

the subject of FR Doc. 2020–27003, 

published at 86 FR 4582 (January 15, 

2021), is corrected to read as follows: 

1. On page 4589, the first column, the 

twelfth line from the bottom of the last 

full paragraph, the language 

‘‘corporation)’’ is corrected to read 

‘‘corporation’’). 

2. On page 4592, the second column, 

the tenth line from the top of the first 

partial paragraph, the language 

‘‘interests’’ is corrected to read 

‘‘interests,’’. 

§ 1.1297–1 [Corrected] 

■ 3. On page 4603, the first column, in 

§ 1.1297–1, the second line and fourth 

line from the bottom of paragraph 

(c)(2)(ii)(A), the language ‘‘(I)’’ is 

corrected to read‘‘(1); and ‘‘(II)’’ is 

corrected to read ‘‘(2)’’. 

§ 1.1297–4 [Corrected] 

■ 4. On page 4605, the third column, in 

§ 1.1297–4, the second line from the 

bottom of paragraph (f)(6)(i), the 

language ‘‘statement’’ is corrected to 

read ‘‘statement,’’. 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS