119 FERC ¶ 61,303 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION 

18 CFR Part 157 

(Docket No. RM06-7-001; Order No. 686-A) 

Revisions to the Blanket Certificate Regulations and Clarification Regarding Rates 

 (Issued June 22, 2007) 

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

ACTION: Order on Rehearing and Clarification. 

SUMMARY: On October 19, 2006, the Commission issued a Final Rule amending its 

regulations to expand the scope and scale of activities that may be undertaken pursuant to 

blanket certificate authority and clarifying that existing Commission policies permit 

natural gas companies to charge different rates to different classes of customers. The 

revised regulations allow interstate natural gas pipelines to employ the streamlined 

blanket certificate procedures for larger projects and for a wider variety of types of 

projects, thereby increasing efficiencies, and decreasing time and costs, associated with 

the construction and maintenance of the nation’s natural gas infrastructure. The 

Commission grants in part, and denies in part, requests for rehearing and clarification of 

the Final Rule. 

EFFECTIVE DATE: Requests for clarification are granted and denied, and requests for 

rehearing are denied, effective [insert date 30 days after publication in the FEDERAL 

REGISTER]. The request for rehearing with respect to the measurement of compressor 
Docket No. RM06-7-000 

- 2 -

noise is granted, effective [insert date 120 days after publication in the FEDERAL 

REGISTER]. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gordon Wagner 

Office of the General Counsel 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

888 First Street, N.E. 

Washington, D.C. 20426 

gordon.wagner@ferc.gov 

(202) 502-8947 

Michael McGehee 

Office of Energy Projects 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

888 First Street, N.E. 

Washington, D.C. 20426 

michael.mcgehee@ferc.gov 

(202) 502-8962 

Lonnie Lister 

Office of Energy Projects 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

888 First Street, N.E. 

Washington, D.C. 20426 

lonnie.lister@ferc.gov 

202-502-8587 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
119 FERC ¶ 61,303 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION 

Before Commissioners: Joseph T. Kelliher, Chairman; 

 Suedeen G. Kelly, Marc Spitzer, 

 Philip D. Moeller, and Jon Wellinghoff. 

Revisions to the Blanket Certificate Regulations Docket No. RM06-7-001 

and Clarification Regarding Rates 

ORDER NO. 686-A 

ORDER ON REHEARING AND CLARIFICATION 

(Issued June 22, 2007) 

I. Introduction

1. On October 19, 2006, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) 

issued a Final Rule in Order No. 6861

 amending Part 157, Subpart F, of its regulations to 

expand the scope and scale of activities that may be undertaken pursuant to blanket 

certificate authority by (1) broadening the types of natural gas projects permitted under 

blanket certificate authority to include certain mainline, storage, and liquefied natural gas 

(LNG) and synthetic gas pipeline facilities, and (2) increasing the blanket certificate 

project cost limits from $8,200,000 to $9,600,000 for automatic authorization projects 

 1

 Order No. 686, 71 FR 63680 (October 31, 2006), FERC Stats & Regs ¶ 31,231 

(2006); Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) 71 FR 36276 (June 26, 2006), FERC 

Stats. & Regs. ¶ 32,606 (2006). This rulemaking proceeding was initiated in response to 

a petition submitted under 18 CFR 385.207(a) of the Commission’s regulations by the 

Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) jointly with the Natural Gas 

Supply Association. 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 2 -

and from $22,700,000 to $27,400,000 for prior notice projects.2

 In addition, Order 

No. 686 clarified that a company is not necessarily engaged in an unduly discriminatory 

practice if it charges different customers different rates for the same service when 

customers commit to service on different dates. The revised blanket certificate 

regulations became effective on January 2, 2007, and are intended to allow interstate 

natural gas pipelines to employ the streamlined blanket certificate procedures for larger 

projects and for a wider variety of types of projects, thereby increasing efficiencies, and 

decreasing time and costs associated with the construction and maintenance of the 

nation’s natural gas infrastructure. 

2. In this order, for the reasons discussed below, the Commission grants and denies 

requests for clarification and denies requests for rehearing of the Final Rule. 

II. Requests for Rehearing and Clarification

3. NiSource Gas Transmission and Storage Companies (NiSource),3

 the National 

Fuel Gas Supply Corporation (National Fuel), and INGAA submitted timely requests for 

rehearing and/or clarification. For the reasons discussed below, requests for clarification 

are granted and denied, as discussed below. Requests for rehearing are denied, with the 

 2

 These cost limits now stand at $9,900,000 for an automatic authorization project 

and $28,200,000 for a prior notice project. See Natural Gas Pipelines; Project Cost and 

Annual Limits, 72 FR 5614 (Feb. 7, 2007). 

3

 NiSource consists of Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation, Columbia Gulf 

Transmission Company, Crossroads Pipeline Company, Granite State Gas Transmission, 

Inc., and Central Kentucky Transmission Company. 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 3 -

exception of INGAA’s rehearing request with respect to the measurement of compressor 

noise, which is granted. 

 A. NiSource

4. Section 157.208(f)(2) of the blanket certificate regulations permits natural gas 

companies to alter the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) of supply 

or delivery laterals, provided companies comply with the prior notice provisions of 

§ 157.205 of those regulations. NiSource proposes that companies be permitted to rely 

on blanket certificate authority to change the MAOP of facilities that are not supply or 

delivery laterals. 

5. The Final Rule permits companies to construct compression and loop lines to 

expand mainline capacity under blanket authority. Consistent with this approach, the 

Commission clarifies that, provided companies meet all applicable blanket certificate 

regulatory requirements, they can rely on blanket certificate authority to change the 

MAOP of facilities that are not supply or delivery laterals, such as mainlines. 

B. National Fuel

6. The Final Rule extends blanket certificate authority to include certain underground 

storage field projects. National Fuel supports this inclusion, but seeks assurance that 

storage remediation and maintenance activities that qualify as auxiliary installations or 

replacements under § 2.55 of the Commission’s regulations can still be undertaken 

pursuant to § 2.55, and need not now proceed under the automatic or prior notice 

provisions of the blanket certificate program. National Fuel also seeks clarification that 

plugging and abandoning storage wells constitutes maintenance, and as such will be 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 4 -

eligible to be undertaken pursuant to the automatic authorization provisions of 

§ 157.213(a), and will not be viewed as altering the function of a well, which would 

require adherence to the prior notice requirements of § 157.205(b). 

7. The Final Rule’s enlargement of the scope of blanket certificate authority does not 

constrict the scope of activities that may be performed under § 2.55 of the Commission’s 

regulations. Thus, activities involving storage, mainline, and LNG and synthetic gas 

pipeline facilities that could have been performed under § 2.55 prior to the expansion of 

the blanket certificate program may continue to be performed under § 2.55. Further, as 

before, a company need not obtain a blanket certificate as a prerequisite to act under 

§ 2.55. 

8. The Commission clarifies that the reference in new § 157.213(a) to altering “the 

function of any well that is drilled into or is active in the management of the storage 

facility” is not intended to include temporarily plugging a storage field well as part of 

standard maintenance operations. In contrast, permanently plugging a well would not 

qualify as standard maintenance, but would instead constitute an abandonment, as it 

would permanently alter the function of the well, and could impact the performance of 

the storage field. Accordingly, such an action would need to comply with the blanket 

certificate program’s § 157.216 regulatory requirements regarding an abandonment. 

9. In addition, the Commission will revise §§ 157.213(b) and (c) to permit companies 

to employ blanket certificate authority to make modifications to storage facilities to 

enhance injection and withdrawal capacity. This is consistent with the Commission’s 

previously expressed intent to permit a company to rely on expanded blanket certificate 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 5 -

authority “to re-engineer an existing storage facility to decrease cushion gas, increase 

working gas, improve injection and withdrawal capabilities, and add more cycles per 

season,” provided the company can “demonstrate, by theoretical or empirical evidence, 

that a proposed project will improve storage operations without altering an underground 

storage facility’s total inventory, reservoir pressure, or reservoir or buffer boundaries, and 

will comply with environmental and safety provisions.”4

 C. INGAA

 1. Compressor Station Noise

10. The blanket certificate program relies on the presumption that any project 

permitted under blanket certificate authority will not have a significant adverse 

environmental impact. The Commission ensures that this is the case by restricting 

blanket certificate authority to certain types of facilities and to individual projects 

that can comply with a cost cap and the environmental requirements specified in 

§ 157.206(b). Prior to the Final Rule’s increase in the per project cost cap and the 

expansion of blanket certificate authority to cover compressor facilities that alter 

mainline capacity, blanket certificate authority was restricted to a limited set of 

compression facilities, e.g., compressors on lateral pipelines, compressors installed 

temporarily, replacement compressors that could not qualify under § 2.55(b), and 

compressors needed to restore service lost due to sudden unforeseen damage to a 

mainline. 

 4

 71 FR 36276, 36281 (June 26, 2006), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 32,606 (2006). 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 6 -

11. A compressor project under the blanket certificate program is not subject to the 

same scrutiny and procedural safeguards that apply to a compressor project subject to 

case-specific NGA section 7 certificate authority. A case-specific application is subject 

to a more extensive notification process than a proposed blanket certificate project; 

indeed, for a project that qualifies for automatic authorization under the blanket 

certificate regulations, the Commission itself does not receive notice in advance of the 

project’s construction. Thus, in contrast to a request for case-specific certificate 

authority, for a compressor project subject to blanket certificate authority, the 

Commission and public do not have the opportunity to assess aspects of a proposal such 

as what constitutes a noise sensitive area (NSA),5

 the prospective uses of property 

proximate to a compressor facility, habitat impacts on non-residential areas, whether a 

particular area has a heightened noise sensitivity that would merit a limit of less than 

55 dBA, or the cumulative impacts resulting from modifying or expanding existing 

compressor facilities. 

12. As a result, whereas an individual assessment can be undertaken for each proposed 

case-specific compressor project in order to establish a noise level appropriate to the 

particular site, this is not the case for blanket certificate compressor projects. The more 

cursory standard of review necessary to expedite projects under the blanket certificate 

program, coupled with the expansion of blanket certificate authority to cover larger and 

 5

 In the case of a blanket certificate compressor project, the blanket certificate 

holder, rather than the Commission, determines what constitutes a potentially affected 

NSA. 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 7 -

more varied types of compressor facilities, prompted the Commission to impose a stricter 

standard on the noise produced by blanket certificate compressor facilities. As described 

in the NOPR and implemented in the Final Rule, the Commission stated that, going 

forward, all compressor facilities constructed pursuant to blanket certificate authority 

must meet a standard day-night level (Ldn) limit of 55 dBA at the boundary of the 

compressor site. Previously, the Commission had required that compressor facilities 

installed under blanket certificate authority meet a noise level of 55 dBA at any preexisting NSA.6

13. INGAA requests the Commission revert to this prior noise criterion. INGAA 

argues that (1) noise attenuation equipment may have an adverse impact on air quality; 

(2) compressor equipment has been installed based on a 55 dBA noise limit at nearby 

NSAs, and not on the basis of the noise at the site boundary; (3) companies will be 

compelled to acquire larger areas of land to push compressor station boundaries out from 

the noise source to meet the 55 dBA standard, which could damage relationships with 

nearby landowners and inhibit companies from upgrading facilities at existing stations; 

and (4) it will be more costly to comply with the new noise standard. 

14. The Commission acknowledges that noise attenuation equipment may adversely 

impact air quality, but notes that depending upon the chosen control technology, such 

 6

 This compressor noise constraint has always been a part of the environmental 

compliance conditions of the blanket certificate program. Interstate Pipeline Certificates 

for Routine Transactions, Order No. 234, 47 FR 24254 (June 4, 1982), FERC Stats. & 

Regs. ¶ 30,368 (1982); Order No. 234-A, 47 FR 38871 (Sept. 3, 1982), FERC Stats. & 

Regs. ¶ 30,389 (1982). 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 8 -

equipment may also improve air emissions. Shifting the location for measuring noise 

from new facilities should not impact existing facilities, given that “this new noise 

measurement criterion only applies to facilities placed in service after the effective date 

of th[e] rule.”7

15. The Commission anticipated that if a company expected a new project might 

compel it to acquire land or make costly investments to meet the new blanket certificate 

program’s noise criterion, the company could instead seek case-specific NGA section 7 

certificate authorization as an economically preferable alternative. Noise limits for casespecific compressor projects are established after a staff analysis of the properties of each 

particular project site, and for such projects, the Commission typically has found 55 dBA 

at existing NSAs to be an acceptable noise level. In view of this, to diminish any 

disparity in the cost to comply with noise limits for compressor projects proceeding under 

the blanket certificate program and those authorized on a case-specific basis, the 

Commission will revise § 157.206(b)(5)(i) by returning to the text of the previous 

§ 157.206(b)(5),8

 which specifies that noise attributable to any new compressor station, 

compression added to an existing station, or any modification, upgrade or update of an 

 7

 71 FR 63680 (Oct. 31, 2006), FERC Stats & Regs ¶ 31,231, P 57 (2006) 

(footnote omitted). 

8

 To further enhance consistency between compressor projects proceeding under 

the blanket certificate program and those authorized on a case-specific basis, and to 

affirm that compressor facilities put in place under companies’ expanded blanket 

certificate authority will not have a significant adverse environmental impact, the 

Commission is proposing to modify certain notice and environmental compliance 

requirements in the contemporaneously issued NOPR in Docket No. RM07-17-000. 

119 FERC ¶ 61,304 (2007) 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 9 -

existing station, must not exceed an Ldn of 55 dBA at any pre-existing NSA. This 

revision will establish a noise limit for blanket certificate compressor projects that is 

consistent with the noise limit typically required for case-specific certificate compressor 

projects.

 2. Notice Period

16. The Final Rule extends the time period allotted for landowner notice for blanket 

certificate activities from 30 to 45 days for automatic projects and from 45 to 60 days for 

prior notice projects. INGAA proposes that rather than add 15 days to the notice periods 

for all blanket certificate projects, the Commission retain the 30- and 45-day notice 

periods, but allow for a longer notice time on a case-by-case basis as needed. INGAA 

suggests the Commission delegate authority to the Director of the Office of Energy 

Projects to extend the notice time for prior notice projects for an additional 15 days, 

noting that if this proves insufficient, the Commission retains the option of protesting a 

prior notice project. Alternatively, INGAA proposes that a 60-day prior notice period 

apply only to those mainline, storage, LNG, and synthetic gas facilities that are newly 

included under the blanket certificate program by the Final Rule, while the 45-day prior 

notice period is retained for all other blanket certificate projects, an approach which 

“would have the virtue of targeting the additional notice more precisely to the expansion 

of the blanket coverage.”9

 9

 INGAA’s Request for Rehearing and Clarification at 12 (Nov. 20, 2006). 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 10 -

17. The Commission deemed it prudent to provide an additional 15 days for 

notification to landowners and the public in light of the greater size and types of projects 

permitted under the revised blanket regulations. In addition, the Commission noted that 

in the past, on occasion, it had found the shorter time period to be insufficient for a 

complete assessment of a proposed project. Similarly, on occasion, landowners have 

made claims that the time provided is inadequate to review a proposal and engage in 

meaningful negotiations. Finally, the Commission observed that companies, in large 

part, dictate the schedule of a blanket project by when they choose to initiate the notice 

process, and commented that a company could compensate for the additional notification 

time by beginning to contact landowners two weeks earlier. 

18. INGAA takes issue with the Commission’s expectation that a company can offset 

the additional 15-day notice period by advancing initial action on a proposed project by 

15 days. INGAA claims that a company’s decision on when to proceed with a proposal 

is “dictated by economic and practical considerations, including scheduling of 

construction to minimize impact on flowing gas and other customer service requirements, 

material availability, and logistics to coordinate construction contractors.”10 The 

Commission accepts that numerous factors have a bearing on a company’s deciding when 

to, or whether to, undertake a blanket certificate project; further, the Commission accepts 

that companies have incomplete control over these varying factors. Nevertheless, 

although the in-service date of a project may be affected by circumstances beyond a 

 10 Id. at 13. 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 11 -

company’s direct control, e.g., the availability of construction materials and personnel, 

the Commission expects a company to be able to anticipate and adapt to such 

circumstances, and in so doing, to factor in 15 additional days during the planning phase. 

Accordingly, the Commission continues to believe that the dominant factor in 

determining when a blanket certificate project can be placed in service is when a 

company chooses to initiate the blanket certificate process. 

19. In response to INGAA’s proposal that the Commission adopt a shorter notice 

period for projects qualifying for automatic authorization, or provide for a sliding scale 

for notice time as needed, or apply the longer times only to the newly included types of 

activities, the Commission prefers to retain a uniform notice period applicable to all 

blanket certificate projects.11 As noted, the blanket certificate program is intended to 

enable the industry and the Commission to take advantage of the administrative 

efficiency inherent in applying a uniform set of regulatory requirements to a restricted set 

of activities. Within the context of the blanket certificate program, the Commission 

prefers to retain the simplicity and transparency of a uniform notification time. 

 3. Laterals Lines

20. The revised regulations extend blanket certificate authority to include pipelines 

used to transport only revaporized LNG – previously, such facilities were excluded from 

the blanket certificate program. In the Final Rule, the Commission stated the expanded 

 11 Note that the regulatory requirement for landowner notification, 18 CFR 

157.203(d)(1), continues to allow for landowners to waive the remaining time in the prior 

notice period once notice has been provided. 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 12 -

blanket certificate authority would be inapplicable to facilities that transport revaporized 

LNG from an LNG import terminal and which are subject to the 180-day mandatory 

prefiling procedure described in § 157.21 of the Commission’s regulations.12 However, 

the Commission pointed out that a company could employ blanket certificate authority 

for facilities that attach directly to an existing LNG terminal, provided the construction 

and operation of such facilities would not involve modifications to the terminal which 

would trigger a 180-day mandatory prefiling process.13

21. INGAA asks whether “a lateral directly attached to an LNG terminal can be 

constructed under automatic authorization pursuant to § 157.208(a), or is required to be a 

prior notice filing under the new § 157.212.”14 The new § 157.212, which extends 

blanket certificate authority to include laterals directly attached to an LNG terminal, 

requires prior notice pursuant to § 157.205 for all projects undertaken pursuant to the 

new § 157.212 authority. Projects eligible for automatic authorization pursuant to 

§ 157.208(a) include those facilities defined in §§ 157.202(b)(2)(i), 157.209(a), 

157.211(a), and 157.215(a) – none of which describe a lateral directly attached to an 

LNG terminal. 

 12 The Commission explained that “related jurisdictional natural gas facilities,” as 

defined by 18 CFR 153.2(e)(1), are properly reviewed in tandem with LNG terminals in a 

prefiling pursuant to 18 CFR 157.21; thus, these facilities are excluded from the blanket 

certificate program. 

13 See 71 FR 63680 (Oct. 31, 2006); FERC Stats & Regs ¶ 31,231, P 23-24 

(2006). 

14 INGAA’s Request for Rehearing and Clarification at 14 (Nov. 20, 2006). 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 13 -

Among the projects excluded from automatic authorization are those described in 

§ 157.202(b)(2)(ii)(D), and such projects include “a facility used to receive gas . . . 

from plants gasifying liquefied natural gas.” 

22. As discussed in the NOPR and the Final Rule, the blanket certificate program is 

not well suited to address the complexity inherent in issues raised by LNG terminals and 

related facilities. The Commission concluded that: 

LNG plant facilities are not within the class of minor, wellunderstood, routine activities that the blanket certificate 

program is intended to embrace; LNG plant facilities 

necessarily require a review of engineering, environmental, 

safety, and security issues that the Commission believes only 

can be properly considered on a case-by-case basis . . . [Thus, 

b]ecause an LNG terminal and the facilities that attach directly 

to it are interdependent – inextricably bound in design and 

operation – a terminal and its takeaway facilities must be 

evaluated in tandem; both merit a similar degree of regulatory 

scrutiny.15 

In view of this, in extending blanket certificate authority, the Commission decided to 

require prior notice for all projects involving pipelines that will carry exclusively 

revaporized LNG. The Commission affirms this decision. 

 4. Abandonment Authority 

23. New § 157.210 permits companies to rely on blanket certificate authority to 

“acquire, construct, modify, replace, and operate natural gas mainline facilities, including 

compression and looping”; revised § 157.216(b)(2) provides for the abandonment of such 

facilities. INGAA asks whether the abandonment provisions of revised § 157.216(b)(2) 

 15 71 FR 36276 at 36279-80 (June 26, 2006); FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 32,606 at 

32,877, P 29-30 (2006). 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 14 -

are limited to those facilities that will be put in place under new § 157.210, or whether 

the abandonment provisions also apply to mainline facilities that are already in place. 

24. The Commission believes the blanket certificate program’s §§ 157.216(b), (c), and 

(d) requirements for the abandonment of mainline, storage, LNG, and synthetic gas 

facilities, which include obtaining the written consent of any customer that received 

service through the facility during the previous 12 months, provide adequate safeguards 

to ensure “that the present or future public convenience or necessity permit such 

abandonment,” as mandated by NGA section 7(b). Consequently, the Commission 

clarifies that facilities that were constructed under case-specific authorization, but that 

could now qualify for authorization under the current blanket certificate program criteria, 

may be abandoned pursuant to the provisions § 157.216(b).16 Note that in considering 

whether previously constructed facilities might qualify for authorization under the current 

blanket certificate program criteria, the facilities must have been installed subsequent to 

the Commission’s implementation of the blanket certificate program and the facilities’ 

original cost must have met the § 157.208 project cost cap in effect at the time of their 

construction.

 5. Annual Report

25. The Final Rule directs companies to include certain additional information in the 

annual report summarizing the previous year’s blanket certificate activities. INGAA 

 16 See Revision of Existing Regulations Under the Natural Gas Act, Order 

No. 603-A, 64 FR 54522 at 54533-34 (Oct. 7, 1999), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,081 at 

30,936 (1999), in which a similar approach was adopted with respect to automatic 

abandonments under 19 CFR 157.216(a). 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 15 -

notes that the revised reporting requirements of § 157.208(e) apply to “each facility 

completed during the calendar year,” and is concerned that this could require companies 

to include the additional information specified in the Final Rule in the annual report 

covering projects commenced or completed in 2006. INGAA complains it would be 

unreasonable to include such projects, since companies had no notice that the additional 

information specified in the Final Rule would need to be provided in the annual report 

covering 2006 projects. INGAA contends that gathering the newly specified information 

would be impractical, as such information is “scattered, was never compiled or has not 

been retained in a form that is easily pulled together for the filing.”17 Therefore, INGAA 

requests the regulations be clarified or revised so as to apply prospectively only to 

projects begun after the effective date of the rule on January 2, 2007. 

26. The Commission observes, as it did in response to comments objecting to the 

burden of reporting the additional information, that companies are already required to 

report the information in question. Consequently, setting out the information in an 

annual report should not constitute any hardship. Nevertheless, the Commission accepts 

INGAA contention that companies may not have the required information readily 

available with respect to projects completed or initiated in 2006. Therefore, the 

Commission clarifies the applicability of the reporting requirement as requested, and 

specifies that the annual report’s inclusion of the information described in § 157.208(e) 

 17 INGAA’s Request for Rehearing and Clarification at 16 (Nov. 20, 2006). 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 16 -

will apply prospectively to projects begun on or after January 2, 2007, and will not apply 

retrospectively to projects underway before this date. 

27. The Final Rule added § 157.207(c), which stated that the annual report should 

include information on storage facility remediation and maintenance activities qualifying 

for automatic authorization under § 157.213(a), but neglected to further describe the 

information to be included in the annual report. The Commission will correct the 

oversight here, as well as clarify that all activities undertaken pursuant to the new 

§§ 157.210, 157.212, and 157.213 are to be included in the annual report described in 

§ 157.207. 

28. New § 157.207(c) will be removed, and instead § 157.207(a), which lists activities 

to be included in the annual report, will be modified to cover activities subject to the 

expanded blanket certificate authority, and will require that each new facility authorized 

by §§157.208, 157.210, 157.212, or 157.213, companies provide the information 

specified in § 157.208(e). The reporting requirements for the expanded blanket 

certificate activities will duplicate those for the existing blanket certificate activities, 

whereby the annual report includes the information described in § 157.208(e)(1)-(5) for 

automatic authorization projects and includes the information described in § 

157.208(e)(3) for prior notice projects. To accomplish this, § 157.208(e) will be 

modified to include a reference to facilities competed during the calendar year pursuant 

to §§ 157.210, 157.212, and 157.213. 

 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 17 -

D. Landowner Notification

29. In response to a query regarding the manner in which notification of a proposed 

blanket certificate project is to be presented to landowners, the Commission will modify 

§§ 157.203(d)(1) and (2) to clarify that landowner notification be in writing. 

30. New §§ 157.203(d)(1)(iii)(C) and (D) direct a company to instruct landowners that 

if they are not satisfied, they “should” contact the company or Commission Hotline. This 

instruction will be altered from “should” to “may,” to stress that such contact is an 

option, not an obligation, on the part of landowners. To ensure landowners understand 

how to contact the Commission’s Enforcement Hotline, and to ensure that the contact 

information is up to date, § 157.203(d)(1)(iii)(D) will be modified to direct a company to 

provide the Commission's Enforcement Hotline at the current telephone number and email address in its notification. 

III. Information Collection Statement

31. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations require that OMB 

approve certain information collection requirements imposed by an agency.18 The Final 

Rule’s revisions to the information collection requirements for blanket certificate projects 

were approved under OMB Control Nos. 1902-0128 and 1902-0060. While this rule 

clarifies aspects of the existing information collection requirements for the blanket 

certificate program, it does not add to these requirements. Accordingly, a copy of this 

final rule will be sent to OMB for informational purposes only. 

 18 5 CFR 1320.11. 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 18 -

IV. Document Availability

32. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the Federal Register, the 

Commission provides all interested persons an opportunity to view and print the contents 

of this document via the Internet through FERC's website (http://www.ferc.gov) and in 

FERC's Public Reference Room during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

Eastern time) at 888 First Street, N.E., Room 2A, Washington D.C. 20426. User 

assistance is available for FERC’s website during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 

5 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday) from FERC’s Online Support at 202-502-6652, 

toll free at 1-866-208-3676, or by e-mail at ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, and from the 

Public Reference Room at 202-502-8371, TTY at 202-502-8659, or by e-mail at 

public.referenceroom@ferc.gov. 

V. Effective Date19

33. Requests for clarification are granted and denied, and requests for rehearing are 

denied, effective [insert date 30 days after publication in the FEDERAL REGISTER]. 

The request for rehearing with respect to the measurement of compressor noise is 

granted, effective [insert date 120 days after publication in the FEDERAL REGISTER]. 

 19 The provisions of 5 U.S.C. 801 regarding Congressional review of rulemaking, 

do not apply to this order on rehearing, since it clarifies agency procedure and practice. 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 19 -

List of subjects in 18 CFR Part 157

Administrative practice and procedure, Natural gas, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements 

By the Commission. 

( S E A L ) 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

 Secretary. 

 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 20 -

 In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission amends part 157, 

Chapter I, Title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, as follows: 

PART 157--APPLICATIONS FOR CERTIFICATES OF PUBLIC 

CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY AND FOR ORDERS PERMITTING AND 

APPROVING ABANDONMENT UNDER SECTION 7 OF THE NATURAL GAS 

ACT

1. The authority citation for part 157 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 717-717w. 

2. In § 157.203: 

a. In paragraph (d)(1), immediately after the phrase “unless the company makes a 

good faith effort to notify,” the phrase “in writing” is added; 

b. In paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(C), “should” is removed and the word “may” is inserted in 

its place; 

c. In paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(D), “should” is removed and the word “may” is inserted in 

its place; 

d. In paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(D), immediately before the period that concludes the 

sentence, the phrase “at the current telephone number and e-mail address, which is to be 

provided in the notification” is added; and 

e. In paragraph (d)(2), immediately after the phrase “a company shall make a good 

faith effort to notify,” the phrase “in writing” is added. 

3. In § 157.206: 

a. Paragraph (b)(5)(i) is revised to read as follows: 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 21 -

§ 157.206 Standard conditions. 

 * * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(5)(i) The noise attributable to any new compressor station, compression added to an 

existing station, or any modification, upgrade or update of an existing station, must not 

exceed a day-night level (Ldn) of 55 dBA at any pre-existing noise-sensitive area (such as 

schools, hospitals, or residences). 

 * * * * * 

4. In § 157.207: paragraph (c) is removed; paragraphs (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), and (i) 

are redesignated, respectively, as paragraphs (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h); and paragraph 

(a) is revised to read as follows: 

§ 157.207 General reporting requirements. 

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(a) For each new facility authorized by §§ 157.208, 157.210, 157.212, or 157.213, the 

information specified in § 157.208(e); 

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5. In § 157.208: 

a. In paragraph (e), in the first sentence, after the phrase “pursuant to paragraph (a) 

of this section,” the phrase “and § 157.213(a),” is added; and 

b. In paragraph (e), in the second sentence, after the phrase “pursuant to paragraph 

(b) of this section,” the phrase “and §§ 157.210, 157.212, and 157.213(b),” is added. 

6. In § 157.213, paragraphs (b) and (c) are revised to read as follows: 
Docket No. RM06-7-001 - 22 -

§ 157.213 Underground storage field facilities. 

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(b) Prior Notice. Subject to the notice requirements of §§ 157.205(b) and 157.208(c), 

the certificate holder is authorized to acquire, construct, modify, replace, and operate 

natural gas underground storage facilities, provided the storage facility’s certificated 

physical parameters – including total inventory, reservoir pressure, reservoir and buffer 

boundaries, and certificated capacity remain unchanged – and provided compliance with 

environmental and safety provisions is not affected. The cost of a project may not exceed 

the cost limitation provided in column 2 of Table I in § 157.208(d). the certificate holder 

must not segment projects in order to meet this cost limitation. 

(c) Contents of request. In addition to the requirements of §§ 157.206(b) and 

157.208(c), requests for activities authorized under paragraph (b) of this section must 

contain, to the extent necessary to demonstrate that the proposed project will not alter a 

storage reservoir’s total inventory, reservoir pressure, reservoir or buffer boundaries, or 

certificated capacity: 

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