36284 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 110 / Wednesday, June 7, 2000 / Notices

1As explained in Order No. 638, Open Access

Same-time Information System and Standards of

Conduct, Final Rule, 65 FR 17370 (March 31, 2000),

FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ at 31,398 n.2, 31,400 & n.8

(February 25, 2000), the MIC is an industry working

group, sponsored by the North American Electric

Reliability Council, that has taken over functions

previously performed by the Commercial Practices

Working Group.

2See Open Access Same-Time Information

System and Standards of Conduct, Order No. 889,

61 FR 21737 (May 10, 1996), FERC Stats. & Regs.

¶ 31,035 at 31,586 (April 24, 1996), order on reh’g,

Order No. 889–A, 62 FR 12484 (March 14, 1997),

FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,049 (March 4, 1997), order

on reh’g, Order No. 889–B, 81 FERC ¶ 61,253

(1997), order on reh’g, Order No. 889–C, 82 FERC

¶ 61,046 (1998).

3Order No. 889, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,035 at

31,591.

4A more complete explanation of these

recommended changes is included in the January

31 submittal.

5Open Access Same-Time Information System

and Standards of Conduct, Final Rule, 64 FR 34117

(June 25, 1999), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,075 (May

27, 1999).

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. RM95–9–011]

Open Access Same-Time Information

System (OASIS) and Standards of

Conduct

May 19, 2000.

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of proposed changes.

SUMMARY: The Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission (the

Commission) proposes to adopt

revisions to Version 1.3 of the OASIS

Standards and Communication

Protocols Document. The changes are

being proposed to improve OASIS

performance and to conform with

Commission policy. The Commission

invites written comments on this

proposal and on four specific questions

enumerated in the notice.

DATES: Written comments (an original

and 14 paper copies) must be received

by July 7, 2000. In addition, the

Commission encourages the filing of a

copy of the comments on computer

diskette or by E-Mail by the same date.

ADDRESSES: Office of the Secretary,

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,

888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC

20426 and by E-Mail to

‘‘comment.rm@ferc.fed.us’’.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Marvin Rosenberg (technical

information), Office of Markets,

Tariffs, and Rates, Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission, 888 First

Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426;

(202) 208–1283

Paul Robb (technical information),

Office of Markets, Tariffs, and Rates,

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, 888 First Street, NE,

Washington, DC 20426; (202) 219–

2702

Gary D. Cohen (legal information),

Office of the General Counsel, Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888

First Street, NE, Washington, DC

20426; (202) 208–0321

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The full

text of this notice, including the OASIS

Standards and Communication

Protocols, Version 1.4, is available for

inspection in the Commission’s Public

Reference Room at 888 First Street, NE,

Washington, DC 20426, during regular

business hours, is posted on both the

Commission’s Issuance Posing System

(CIPS) and the Records and Information

Management System (RIMS), and may

be viewed and printed remotely via the

Internet through FERC’s Home Page

(http://www.ferc.fed.us).

Notice of Proposed Changes

I. Introduction

In this notice, the Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission (Commission)

proposes to revise Version 1.3 of the

OASIS Standards and Communication

Protocols Document (S&CP Document,

Version 1.3) to reflect recommended

revisions put forth by the OASIS How

Working Group (How Group) and the

Market Interface Committee (MIC)

(collectively How/MIC) 1 in a joint filing

submitted on January 31, 2000 (January

31 submittal).

The January 31 submittal was filed

prior to our issuance of our ‘‘Business

Practice Standards for OASIS

Transactions’’ (BPS) in Order No. 638

and thus does not reflect our findings in

that order. Accordingly, in addition to

inviting comments on our proposed

revisions to S&CP Document, Version

1.3, we are inviting commenters to

address four specific questions

(enumerated below) that are designed to

insure that any revised S&CP Document

we issue will be consistent with our

determinations in Order No. 638.

II. Background

The Commission first issued the S&CP

Document (Version 1.0) on April 24,

1996, as a separate document whose

issuance accompanied issuance of Order

No. 889.2 We explained in Order No.

889 that we would periodically update

and revise the S&CP Document as

needed.3 On September 10, 1996, the

Commission issued a revised S&CP

Document (Version 1.1) in Open Access

Same-Time Information System and

Standards of Conduct, 76 FERC ¶ 61,243

(1996). On June 18, 1998, the

Commission again issued a revised

S&CP Document (Version 1.2) in Open

Access Same-Time Information System

and Standards of Conduct, 83 FERC

¶ 61,360 (1998). On September 29, 1998,

the Commission issued a third revised

S&CP Document (Version 1.3) in Open

Access Same-Time Information System

and Standards of Conduct, 84 FERC

¶ 61,329 (1998). This is the S&CP

Document currently in effect.

III. Discussion

The January 31 submittal

recommends the following changes to

Version 1.3 of the S&CP Document: (1)

Post procedures associated with

capacity benefit margin; (2) post

references on curtailment information,

interruptions, and system studies; (3)

modifications to the TRANSREQUEST

template; (4) removal of the

TRANSALT, CURTAIL, and AUDIT

templates; (5) addition of templates for

SECURITY, REDUCTION, and

SYSTEMDATA; (6) rename the

SCHEDULE template as

SCHEDULEDETAIL; (7) revised

procedures for posting information in

the TRANSOFFERING template; (8)

addition of a unique reference to

continuation records; (9) revisions to

OASIS performance response times

(section 5.3) to add specific required

response times; and (10) corrections to

support the above changes and update

the table of contents.4

These changes are designed to

implement the Commission’s findings

in Order No. 605,5 the Commission’s

OASIS Audit Template Experiment,

recent orders on posting capacity benefit

margin (CBM), and other miscellaneous

changes. We propose to adopt these

changes. However, these changes, as

proposed in the January 31 submittal,

were not designed to implement the

Commission’s findings in Order No.

638, which was issued on February 25,

2000.

We therefore have concerns that

additional changes may be needed to

the S&CP Document to ensure

consistency between the S&CP

Document and our findings in Order No.

638. Accordingly, although this notice

proposes adoption of the How/MIC–

sponsored revisions to the S&CP

Document (as a baseline), we

contemplate that our final notice on this

subject may include further revisions to

reflect our findings in Order No. 638.

We therefore invite interested persons

filing comments on this NOPR to

address both the merits of the proposed

revisions to the S&CP Document as well

as the following:

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 110 / Wednesday, June 7, 2000 / Notices 36285

6For example, this NOPR proposes modifying the

TRANSQUEST template to allow Transmission

Customers to request modifications to confirmed

transmission reservations. Among the new types of

transmission requests proposed is RENEWAL. This

is intended to permit a customer to request to renew

an expiring transmission reservation. Would such a

request provide the existing customer rights it did

not have under S&CP Document Version 1.3 or the

OASIS Business Practice Standards? Does

RENEWAL conflict with any OASIS Business

Practice Standards or rights of first refusal under

the pro forma tariff?

7We note that: (1) More than four system

attributes are listed in section 4.3.4.4; (2) the system

attribute query variable in section 4.3.4.4 is

followed by an asterisk; and, (3) section 4.3.2

(Recommended S&CP Document Version 1.4 at page

44) states that a variable listed with an asterisk can

have at least four multiple instances defined by the

user in making a query. Taken together, these

provisions show that multiple system attributes

may be requested in one request, even though this

is not explicitly stated in section 4.3.4.4.

8–9 5 U.S.C. 601–612.

10See 5 U.S.C. 601(3) and 601(6) and 15 U.S.C.

632(a). The RFA defines a small entity as one that

is independently owned and not dominant in its

field of operation. See 15 U.S.C. 632(a). The Small

Business Administration defines a small electric

utility as one that disposes of 4 million MWh or less

of electric energy in a given year. See 13 CFR

121.601 (Major Group 49—Electric, Gas and

Sanitary Services).

In the Open Access Final Rule, we concluded

that, under these definitions, the Open Access Final

Rule and the OASIS Final Rule would not have a

significant economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities. We reaffirmed that

conclusion in Order Nos. 888–A and 889–A.

11See Order No. 889–A, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶

31,049 at 30,578.

12Open Access Same-Time Information System

and Standards of Conduct, Final Rule, 64 FR 34117,

FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,075 (1999).

13Regulations Implementing National

Environmental Policy Act, Order No. 486, 52 FR

47897 (Dec. 17, 1987); 1986–90 Regs. Preambles

FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 30,783 (Dec. 10, 1987)

(codified at 18 CFR Part 380).

1. If we adopt the proposed revisions to the

S&CP Document, are changes needed to

reflect our findings in Order No. 638?

2. Specifically, do any provisions of the

proposed S&CP revisions conflict with

provisions of Order No. 638? If so, how

should those conflicts be resolved? 6

3. With regard to section 4.3.4.4 on System

Data (Recommended S&CP Document

Version 1.4 at page 55), this section states

that a transmission provider is obligated to

post values for one or more of the defined

system attributes, but does not state that all

system attributes can be requested at the

same time.7 We therefore request comment

on whether the description of the template in

section 4.3.4.4 should be revised to clarify

that all system attributes can be requested at

the same time.

4. With regard to section 5.3.3 on

Measurement Criteria for OASIS Node

Functions (Recommended S&CP Document

Version 1.4 at page 108), we see three

possible problems. First, section 5.3.3, as

recommended, provides performance

standards (time limits) for responding to

queries regarding TRANSSTATUS and

TRANSOFFERING. It does not establish

comparable requirements regarding response

times for any other queries. We therefore

invite comment on whether the proposed

performance standards meet customer needs

today and for the near term future.

Note: Proposed section 5.3.3 would require

the following response times to OASIS

queries:

Template or GUI equivalent Average response not fewer than 90% of responses not fewer than

transstatus ......................................................... 100 rows/minute ............................................... 10 rows/minute.

transoffering ....................................................... 500 rows/minute ............................................... 100 rows/minute.

Second, we also note that the

recommended performance standards in

section 5.3.3 are so specific that they may

become obsolete and fail to keep pace with

changing technology, market conditions, and

user needs. We therefore invite comment on

whether it would be preferable to adopt a

more general performance standard, such as

one that would require a node’s response to

be sufficient to meet the legitimate needs of

its customers.

Third, we also would be open to

consideration of other possible revisions to

section 5.3.3 that might contain a novel

approach preferable to either that proposed

in this NOPR or that contained in Version

1.3.

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Regulatory Flexibility Act

(RFA),8–9 requires the Commission to

describe the impact a proposed rule

would have on small entities or to

certify that the rule, if promulgated, will

not have a significant economic impact

on a substantial number of small

entities.

If promulgated, the same entities

subject to the current S&CP Document

would be required to comply with the

revised S&CP Document (Version 1.4)

proposed in this Notice. Moreover, the

proposals in this Notice would not

affect which entities would be eligible

for a waiver. As we explained in Order

No. 889–A, under appropriate

circumstances the Commission will

grant waiver of the OASIS Final Rule

requirements (including compliance

with the S&CP Document) to small

public utilities. We further explained

that the Commission’s waiver policy

follows the SBA definition of small

electric utility 10 and that 34 small

entities had received waivers of the

requirement to establish and maintain

an OASIS and five small entities had

received waivers of the OASIS

Standards of Conduct requirements.11

These decisions show that the

Commission carefully evaluates the

effect of the OASIS requirements on

small electric utilities and is granting

waivers where appropriate, thus

mitigating the effect of that rule on

small public and non-public utilities.

The Commission’s standards for

deciding on requests for waiver are

unaffected by this Notice.

The proposed revisions to the S&CP

Document are technical revisions

intended to implement the

Commission’s findings in Order No.

605,12 the Commission’s OASIS Audit

Template Experiment, recent orders on

posting CBM, and other miscellaneous

technical changes. We hereby certify,

under section 605(b) of RFA, that this

notice, if promulgated, will not have a

significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities

within the meaning of RFA.

Accordingly, no regulatory flexibility

analysis is required pursuant to section

603 of RFA.

V. Environmental Statement

Commission regulations require that

an environmental assessment or an

environmental impact statement be

prepared for a Commission action that

may have a significant effect on the

human environment.13 In the

Commission’s view, the environmental

impact of this proposal is negligible.

This proposal makes technical revisions

to existing technical requirements

governing the format used for OASIS

postings to ensure uniformity in the

display of information posted on OASIS

nodes. Accordingly, we find that this

notice does not propose any action that

might have a significant effect on the

human environment and find that no

environmental impact statement

concerning this proposal is required.

VI. Statement of Information Collection

and Public Reporting Burden

In this notice, based on

recommendations from two industry

working groups with input from diverse

industry segments, we propose minor

technical revisions to Version 1.3 of the

S&CP Document.

On December 1, 1998, the

Commission issued a proposed

information collection and request for

36286 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 110 / Wednesday, June 7, 2000 / Notices

14The estimated total cost of $21,157,500 was

computed as follows:

The Commission has assumed that 4.5 personnel

are necessary for staffing and using a total

personnel cost of $109,889, the result is $494,501.

To get the total cost, add annual ongoing costs of

$110,000 plus staffing costs [$110,000 + $494,501]

for a total of $604,501 divided by 4 = $151,125. The

estimated total cost of the OASIS requirement is

140 respondents × $151,125 or $21,157,500.

15See 44 U.S.C. 3506(c).

16 5 CFR 1320.11.

comments in Docket No. IC99–717–000

that covered all information collected

under the requirements of FERC–717

‘‘Open Access Same-Time Information

System and Standards of Conduct’’

(OMB No. 1902–0173) over the next

three years that provides as follows:

Information Collection Statement

Title: FERC–717, Open Access SameTime Information Systems and

Standards of Conduct.

Action: Proposed Collection.

OMB Control No: 1902–0173.

Respondents: Business or other forprofit, including small business.

Frequency of Responses: On occasion.

Necessity of the Information: The

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking solicits

public comments on proposed revisions

to Version 1.3 of the OASIS Standards

and Communication Protocols

Document (S&CP Document, Version

1.3) to reflect recommended revisions

put forth by two industry-led working

groups. These technical revisions are

designed to implement the

Commission’s findings in Order No.

605, the Commission’s OASIS Audit

Template Experiment, recent orders on

posting CBM, and other miscellaneous

changes.

In addition, the burden estimate

submitted on December 1, 1998 for all

OASIS requirements was as follows:

Burden Statement: Public reporting

burden for this collection is estimated

as:

Number of respondents annually Number of responses per respondent

Average burden hours per response Total annual burden hours

(1) (2) (3) (1)×(2)×(3)

140 1 1,418 198,520 hours

The estimated total cost to

respondents is $21,157,500.14

We are not preparing a separate

estimate covering this notice only,

because we find that the notice would

not significantly alter the estimate

contained in the December 1, 1998

notice. The December 1, 1998 burden

estimate gave the Commission’s

estimate of OASIS-related information

requirements over the next three years,

and this estimate contemplated the

Commission’s continued use of the

S&CP Document during this time frame.

In any event, if a separate estimate were

prepared, it would not be substantial,

because the proposal in this notice, if

promulgated, would not substantially

increase the information collection

requirements already specified in

Version 1.3 of the S&CP Document.

The collection of information

contained in this notice has been

submitted to the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) for review under

Section 3507(d) of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C.

3507(d). For copies of the OMB

submission, contact Michael Miller at

202–208–1415.

Internal Review

The Commission has conducted an

internal review of the public reporting

burden associated with this collection of

information and has assured itself, by

means of its internal review, that there

is specific, objective support for this

information burden estimate. Moreover,

the Commission has reviewed the

collection of information proposed by

this notice and has determined that the

collection of information is necessary

and conforms to the Commission’s plan,

as described in this order, for the

collection, efficient management, and

use of the required information.15

Based on our experience in OASIS

implementation over the past four years,

the Commission has refined the estimate

of reporting entities covered by OASIS

regulations. Our latest estimate is that

140 respondents are required to collect

information under the OASIS

regulations. However, as discussed

above, this notice does not impose any

new information collection burdens.

The Office of Management and

Budget’s (OMB) regulations,16 require

OMB to approve certain information

collection requirements imposed by

agency rule. The information collection

requirements in this notice will be

reflected in OASIS postings that are

directly available to transmission users

and subject to subsequent audit by the

Commission. The more efficient posting

of this information will help the

Commission carry out its

responsibilities under Part II of the FPA.

The Commission is submitting

notification of this notice to OMB.

Persons wishing to comment on the

collections of information proposed by

this notice should direct their comments

to the Desk Officer for FERC, OMB,

Room 10202 NEOB, Washington, DC

20503, phone 202–395–3087, facsimile

202–395–7285. Comments must be filed

with OMB within 30 days of publication

of this document in the Federal

Register. Three copies of any comments

filed with the Office of Management and

Budget also should be sent to the

following address: Mr. David P.

Boergers, Secretary, Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission, Room 1A, 888

First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.

For further information on the reporting

requirements, contact Michael Miller at

(202) 208–1415.

VII. Public Comment Procedure

This notice gives notice of our

intention to make certain technical

revisions to S&CP Document, Version

1.3. Prior to taking final action on this

notice, we are inviting comments from

interested persons on the proposals

discussed in this notice and compiled in

the OASIS Standards and

Communication Protocols, Version 1.4.

In addition, the Commission specifically

invites comments on four specific

questions enumerated in the discussion

above relating to whether the proposal

is consistent with our findings in Order

No. 638. The Commission invites

interested persons to submit written

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.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 110 / Wednesday, June 7, 2000 / Notices 36287

The original and 14 copies of such

comments must be received by the

Commission by July 7, 2000. Comments

should be submitted to the Office of the

Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, 888 First Street NE,

Washington DC 20426 and should refer

to Docket No. RM95–9–011.

In addition to filing paper copies, the

Commission encourages the filing of

comments either on computer diskette

or via Internet E-Mail. Comments may

be filed in the following formats:

WordPerfect 8.0 or lower version, MS

Word Office 97 or lower version, or

ASCII format.

For diskette filing, include the

following information on the diskette

label: Docket No. RM95–9–011; the

name of the filing entity; the software

and version used to create the file; and

the name and telephone number of a

contact person.

For Internet E-Mail submittal,

comments should be submitted to

‘‘comment.rm@ferc.fed.us’’ in the

following format. On the subject line,

specify Docket No. RM95–9–011. In the

body of the E-Mail message, include the

name of the filing entity; the software

and version used to create the file, and

the name and telephone number of the

contact person. Attach the comment to

the E-Mail in one of the formats

specified above. The Commission will

send an automatic acknowledgment to

the sender’s E-Mail address upon

receipt. Questions on electronic filing

should be directed to Brooks Carter by

telephone at 202–501–8145 or by E-Mail

(to brooks.carter@ferc.fed.us).

Commenters should take note that,

until the Commission amends its rules

and regulations, the paper copy of the

filing remains the official copy of the

document submitted. Therefore, any

discrepancies between the paper filing

and the electronic filing or the diskette

will be resolved by reference to the

paper filing.

VIII. Document Availability

All written comments will be placed

in the Commission’s public files and

will be available for inspection in the

Commission’s Public Reference Room at

888 First Street NE, Washington DC

20426, during regular business hours.

Additionally, comments may be viewed

and printed remotely via the Internet

through FERC’s Home Page (http://

www.ferc.fed.us) and in FERC’s Public

Reference Room during normal business

hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time)

at 888 First Street NE, Room 2A,

Washington, DC 20426.

From FERC’s Home Page on the

Internet, this information is available in

both the Commission Issuance Posting

System (CIPS) and the Records and

Information Management System

(RIMS).

—CIPS provides access to the texts of

formal documents issued by the

Commission since November 14,

1994.

—CIPS can be accessed using the CIPS

link or the Energy Information Online

icon. The full text of this document is

available on CIPS in ASCII and

WordPerfect 8.0 format for viewing,

printing, and/or downloading.

—RIMS contains images of documents

submitted to and issued by the

Commission after November 16, 1981.

Documents from November 1995 to

the present can be viewed and printed

from FERC’s Home Page using the

RIMS link or the Energy Information

Online icon. Descriptions of

documents back to November 16,

1981, are also available from RIMSon-the-Web; requests for copies of

these and other older documents

should be submitted to the Public

Reference Room.

User assistance is available for RIMS,

CIPS, and the Website during normal

business hours from our Help line at

(202) 208–2222, or by E-Mail (to

WebMaster@ferc.fed.us) or the Public

Reference Room at (202) 208–1371 (EMail to

public.referenceroom@ferc.fed.us).

During normal business hours,

documents can also be viewed and/or

printed in FERC’s Public Reference

Room, where RIMS, CIPS, and the FERC

Website are available. User assistance is

also available.

By direction of the Commission.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–13103 Filed 6–6–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P