8318 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 37 / Monday, February 26, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

examine, monitor, and assess utility and 

pipeline rates to ensure that they do not 

pay excessive or unduly discriminatory 

rates. 

15. In light of the comments received, 

both orally and written, during OE’s 

review of Forms 1 and 2, and in light 

of the complaints set for hearing in 

National Fuel and Panhandle and the 

importance of the questions they raise, 

the Commission believes it is 

appropriate to solicit comments on 

these matters. Although the informal 

meetings held as a result of OE’s 

outreach efforts focused on Forms 1 and 

2, this Notice of Inquiry (NOI) solicits 

comments on the need for changes to 

any and all of the Financial Forms filed 

with the Commission, i.e., Form 6 and 

quarterly submissions, Forms 3-Q and 6- 

Q. The Commission is aware that not all 

participants in the informal review had 

an opportunity to submit written 

comments or to respond to comments 

submitted by other parties. This NOI 

gives those entities, and all other 

interested persons, the opportunity to 

comment formally with the Commission 

on any of the issues raised herein. The 

list is not exhaustive. Those responding 

to this NOI should feel free to raise any 

other questions or to make any 

comments which will aid the 

Commission in assessing its Financial 

Forms. After receipt of comments in 

response to this NOI, the Commission 

will determine whether it is appropriate 

to propose changes to the financial 

forms in the context of a formal 

rulemaking. 

V. Questions 

16. The Commission asks that 

interested persons respond to the 

following general questions. 

(1) Do the annual and quarterly 

Financial Forms provide sufficient data 

for the public to permit an evaluation of 

the filers’ jurisdictional rates? 

(2) If not, what additional data is 

needed to conduct such an evaluation? 

Please specify the form (or forms) to 

which your suggestions pertain. 

(3) Do the financial reports provide 

sufficient data to the public to 

determine revenues attributable to the 

sale of excess fuel retention? If not, what 

additional data is needed to conduct 

such an evaluation? 

(4) Is the information included in the 

financial reports sufficient to audit 

formulaic rates? 

(5) Should the Commission require 

reporting of information on demand 

response initiatives (interruptible, load 

control, etc.), including demand and 

peak demand impacts, associated costs 

and savings, and the number of 

advanced meters installed? 

(6) Please explain how this additional 

data will be useful to users of the 

Financial Forms. 

(7) How burdensome would any 

requirement for additional information 

be to filers of Financial Forms? 

(8) Are there specific reporting 

requirements that are no longer 

necessary or unduly burdensome that 

should be deleted? 

(9) What technical revisions, if any, 

need to be made to the Financial Forms? 

For example, identify any suggested 

changes in instructions, desirable 

software upgrades, and whether there 

are errors embedded in the forms which 

need to be corrected. 

(10) Should the Commission require 

electric utilities, licensees and interstate 

natural gas and oil pipeline companies 

to provide notification when their total 

sales or transactions fall below the 

minimum thresholds established in the 

Commission’s regulations such that they 

are no longer subject to these filing 

requirements? 

(11) Should the Commission require a 

showing of good cause before granting 

an extension of time in which to file the 

required forms? 

(12) Are these concerns of sufficient 

importance to warrant a rulemaking 

and, if so, what rules should the 

Commission promulgate? Commenters 

are encouraged to be as specific as 

possible. 

VI. Comment Procedures 

16. The Commission invites interested 

persons to submit comments on these 

matters and any related matters or 

alternative proposals that commenters 

may wish to discuss. Comments are due 

March 28, 2007 and reply comments are 

due April 27, 2007. Comments and 

reply comments must refer to Docket 

No. RM07–9–000 and must include the 

commenter’s name, the organization he 

or she represents, if applicable, and his 

or her address. 

17. Comments may be filed 

electronically via the eFiling link on the 

Commission’s Web site at http:// 

www.ferc.gov. The Commission accepts 

most standard word processing formats 

and commenters may attach additional 

files with supporting information in 

certain other file formats. Commenters 

filing electronically do not need to make 

a paper filing. 

18. Commenters that are not able to 

file comments electronically must send 

an original and 14 copies of their 

comments to: The Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the 

Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20426. 

19. 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 NOPR are not required to serve 

copies of their comments on other 

commenters. 

VII. Document Availability 

20. In addition to publishing the full 

text of this document in the Federal 

Register, the Commission provides all 

interested persons an opportunity to 

view and/or print the contents of this 

document via the Internet through 

FERC’s Home Page (http:// 

www.ferc.gov.) 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. 

21. From the Commission’s Home 

Page on the Internet, this information is 

available in its eLibrary. The full text of 

this document is available in the 

eLibrary both in PDF and Microsoft 

Word format for viewing, printing, and/ 

or downloading. To access this 

document in eLibrary, type the docket 

number of this document, excluding the 

last three digits, in the docket number 

field. 

22. User assistance is available for 

eLibrary and FERC’s Web site during 

normal business hours from our Help 

line at (202) 502–8222 or the Public 

Reference Room at 

public.reference@ferc.gov. 

By direction of the Commission. 

Magalie R. Salas, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E7–3233 Filed 2–23–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

18 CFR Part 38 

[Docket No. RM05–5–003] 

Standards for Business Practices and 

Communication Protocols for Public 

Utilities 

Issued February 20, 2007. 

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, DOE. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (Commission) 

proposes to incorporate by reference in 

its regulations revisions to the 

Coordinate Interchange business 

practice standards (WEQ–004) adopted 

by the Wholesale Electric Quadrant 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 37 / Monday, February 26, 2007 / Proposed Rules 8319 

1 16 U.S.C. 791a, et seq. 

2Standards for Business Practices and 

Communication Protocols for Public Utilities, Order 

No. 676, 71 FR 26199 (May 4, 2006), FERC Stats. 

& Regs., Regulations Preambles ¶ 31,216 (Apr. 25, 

2006), reh’g denied, Order No. 676–A, 116 FERC 

¶ 61,255 (2006). 

3See Mandatory Reliability Standards for the 

Bulk-Power System, 71 FR 64770 (Nov. 3, 2006), 

FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 32,608 at P 427–496 (Oct. 20, 

2006) (Reliability NOPR). 

4See Reliability NOPR at P 427–496. 

5Reliability NOPR at P 439 and P 452. 

(WEQ) of the North American Energy 

Standards Board (NAESB). These 

standards identify the processes and 

communications necessary to 

coordinate energy transfers that cross 

boundaries between entities responsible 

for balancing load and generation. 

Through this rulemaking, the 

Commission seeks to ensure that the 

Coordinate Interchange business 

practices standards that the Commission 

incorporates by reference in its 

regulations function compatibly with 

the North American Electric Reliability 

Council’s proposed Version 1 and 2 INT 

reliability standards, currently under 

review in Docket No. RM06–16–000, in 

the event that the Commission approves 

such standards. 

DATES: Comments on the proposed rule 

are due March 28, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by Docket No. RM05–5–003, 

by one of the following methods: 

• Agency Web Site: http://ferc.gov. 

Follow the instructions for submitting 

comments via the eFiling link found in 

the Comment Procedures Section of the 

preamble. 

• Mail: Commenters unable to file 

comments electronically must mail or 

hand deliver an original and 14 copies 

of their comments to the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the 

Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20426. Please refer to 

the Comment Procedures Section of the 

preamble for additional information on 

how to file paper comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Patricia Schaub (technical issues), 

Office of Energy Markets and 

Reliability, Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502–

6816. 

Gary D. Cohen (legal issues), Office of 

the General Counsel, Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, 888 First 

Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, 

(202) 502–8321. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. The Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission (Commission) proposes to 

amend its regulations under the Federal 

Power Act 1 to incorporate by reference 

a revised version of the Coordinate 

Interchange Standards (designated as 

WEQ–004) adopted by the Wholesale 

Electric Quadrant (WEQ) of the North 

American Energy Standards Board 

(NAESB) on June 22, 2006, and filed 

with the Commission on November 16, 

2006. These revised standards would 

replace the Coordinate Interchange 

business practice standards that the 

Commission previously incorporated by 

reference into its regulations in a prior 

rulemaking.2 The WEQ’s Coordinate 

Interchange standards identify the 

processes and communications 

necessary to coordinate energy transfers 

crossing boundaries between entities 

responsible for balancing load and 

generation (Interchange). 

2. The revised Coordinate Interchange 

business practice standards that the 

Commission proposes to incorporate by 

reference in this notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NOPR) are intended to 

complement revisions to the 

Interchange Scheduling and 

Coordination group of INT reliability 

standards, dealing with the interchange 

of energy (INT reliability standards), 

that the North American Electric 

Reliability Council (NERC) has 

proposed and that are currently under 

consideration in the rulemaking 

proceeding in Docket No. RM06–16–

000.3 In this NOPR, the Commission 

proposes to amend part 38 of its 

regulations to incorporate by reference 

the WEQ’s revisions to the Coordinate 

Interchange business practice standards 

to ensure that they remain consistent 

with the applicable NERC INT 

reliability standards. Thus, the 

Commission proposes that the effective 

date of the revised WEQ Coordinate 

Interchange standards be no earlier than 

the effective date of the corresponding 

NERC INT reliability standards. 

Background 

3. NAESB is a non-profit standards 

development organization established in 

January 2002 that serves as an industry 

forum for the development and 

promotion of business practice 

standards that promote a seamless 

marketplace for wholesale and retail 

natural gas and electricity. Since 1995, 

NAESB and its predecessor, the Gas 

Industry Standards Board, have been 

accredited members of the American 

National Standards Institute (ANSI), 

complying with ANSI’s requirements 

that its standards reflect a consensus of 

the affected industries. 

4. NAESB’s standards include 

business practices that streamline the 

transactional processes of the natural 

gas and electric industries, as well as 

communication protocols and related 

standards designed to improve the 

efficiency of communication within 

each industry. NAESB supports all four 

quadrants of the gas and electric 

industries—wholesale gas, wholesale 

electric, retail gas, and retail electric. All 

participants in the gas and electric 

industries are eligible to join NAESB 

and participate in standards 

development. 

5. NAESB’s procedures are designed 

to ensure that all industry members can 

have input into the development of a 

standard, whether or not they are 

members of NAESB, and each standard 

NAESB adopts is supported by a 

consensus of the relevant industry 

segments. 

6. In Order No. 676, the Commission 

not only adopted business practice 

standards and communication protocols 

for the wholesale electric industry, it 

also established a formal ongoing 

process for reviewing and upgrading the 

Commission’s Open Access Same-Time 

Information Systems (OASIS) standards 

and other wholesale electric industry 

business practice standards. In addition, 

the Commission incorporated by 

reference NAESB standards designed to 

coordinate business practices with 

reliability standards approved by the 

Commission under section 215 of the 

Federal Power Act (FPA). 

7. On April 4, 2006, as modified on 

August 28, 2006, NERC filed 107 

proposed reliability standards with the 

Commission for approval under section 

215 of the FPA, including Version 1 INT 

reliability standards. On October 20, 

2006, in Docket No. RM06–16–000, the 

Commission issued a notice of proposed 

rulemaking (i.e., the Reliability NOPR) 

proposing to approve 83 of NERC’s 107 

proposed reliability standards, 

including its INT reliability standards.4

The Reliability NOPR also explained 

that NERC would be submitting revised 

versions of some of these standards in 

November of 2006. On November 15, 

2006, NERC filed revised proposed 

reliability standards including revised 

INT reliability standards INT–001–2 

(Interchange Information) and INT–003–

2 (Interchange Transaction Information). 

Final action on the Reliability NOPR is 

currently pending. In addition, as the 

Commission noted in the Reliability 

NOPR, NERC removed certain standards 

from its proposed reliability standards 

because they actually were business 

practice standards that would be 

addressed by NAESB.5

8. The WEQ revised its Coordinate 

Interchange standards to support 

NERC’s Version 1 INT reliability 

standards. On June 22, 2006, the WEQ 


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8320 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 37 / Monday, February 26, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

6Order No. 676 at P 40. 

7The revised WEQ business practice standards 

we are proposing to incorporate by reference in this 

NOPR are the standards for Coordinate Interchange 

(WEQ–004, June 22, 2006) including Purpose, 

Applicability, and Standards 004–0 through 004–

17.2 and 004–A through 004–D. 

membership ratified the revisions to the 

Coordinate Interchange standards. On 

November 16, 2006, NAESB filed the 

revised Coordinate Interchange 

standards with the Commission for 

appropriate action. On February 5, 2007, 

NAESB filed a report in this docket that 

describes how their proposed 

Coordinate Interchange business 

practice standards map to NERC’s INT 

reliability standards. 

9. The revised Coordinate Interchange 

business practice standards (WEQ–004) 

facilitate the transfer of electric energy 

between entities responsible for 

balancing load and generation 

(Balancing Authorities). The term 

‘‘Interchange’’ in this context refers to 

energy transfers across boundaries 

between Balancing Authorities. The 

Coordinate Interchange business 

practice standards identify the processes 

needed to facilitate interchange 

transactions, and specify the 

arrangements and data to be 

communicated to the entity responsible 

for authorizing implementation of 

interchange transactions (Interchange 

Authority). 

10. The WEQ adopted revisions to its 

Coordinate Interchange business 

practice standards for three main 

reasons: (1) To incorporate business 

practice standards that had previously 

been included by NERC in its proposed 

reliability standards; (2) to modify the 

definitions and standards to better 

integrate with NERC’s corresponding 

reliability standards; and (3) to 

eliminate an appendix and update 

standards to reflect current operating 

conditions in the Eastern and Western 

Interconnections, and within the 

Electric Reliability Council of Texas 

(ERCOT). 

Standards Previously Included by 

NERC in Its Reliability Standards 

11. The Reliability NOPR noted that 

NERC deleted certain requirements 

previously included in its proposed 

reliability standards with the 

expectation that NAESB would include 

them in its business practice standards. 

The deleted NERC standards include 

Requirements R1.1, R3, R4, and R5 of 

INT–001–0, which relate to the timing 

and content of e-tags, and Requirement 

R1.1.3 of INT–003–0, which addresses 

ramp starting time and duration. 

12. The revised Coordinate 

Interchange business practice standards 

the WEQ adopted to replace the deleted 

NERC standards include: 

• WEQ Standards 004–1, and 004–3.1 

replace NERC INT–001–0 Requirement 

R1.1. The revised WEQ standards 

address how requests for Interchange 

should be made and who is responsible 

for submitting such requests. 

• WEQ Standards 004–3, 004–5, 004–

8.1, and 004–8.2 replace NERC’s INT–

001–0 Requirement R3. These standards 

establish the timing requirements for 

submitting requests for Interchange. The 

WEQ’s timing table (Appendix D 

referenced in WEQ Standard 004–8.1) 

has been revised to better match up with 

the timing table in NERC’s INT–005–1. 

• WEQ Standard 004–5 replaces 

NERC’s INT–001–0 Requirement R4. 

This standard addresses the data that 

should be included in a request for 

Interchange and who is responsible for 

ensuring that these data are included in 

the request for Interchange. 

• WEQ Standard 004–12 replaces 

NERC’s INT–001–0 Requirement R5. 

This standard requires that parties 

involved in an Interchange must have 

personnel and facilities on site and 

immediately available to receive 

notification of changes to the 

Interchange. 

• WEQ Standards 004–17, 004–17.1, 

and 004–17.2 replace NERC’s INT–003–

0 Requirement R1.1.3. These standards 

establish the default ramp rates that 

apply to an Interchange unless 

otherwise agreed to by the parties 

involved. 

Changes To Better Conform With 

NERC’s Proposed INT Reliability 

Standards 

13. The WEQ also modified the 

Coordinate Interchange definitions and 

business practice standards to better 

coordinate with NERC’s INT reliability 

standards. This follows the 

Commission’s directive in Order No. 

676 that, ‘‘[i]n future versions of the 

standards, NAESB should use the NERC 

definitions relating to reliability.’’ 6 The 

modifications include: 

• New and revised definitions, such 

as changing Reliability Authority to 

Reliability Coordinator. 

• Changes to definitions resulting 

from WEQ’s efforts to match the 

language used in NERC’s ‘‘Glossary of 

Terms Used in Reliability Standards’’

(Glossary) where appropriate. For 

example, the WEQ added a definition 

for ‘‘Arranged Interchange’’ using the 

same language as NERC. 

• Changes to definitions, such as the 

‘‘Request for Interchange’’ definition, 

where the words are not identical, but 

are compatible with NERC’s, facilitating 

coordination with the NERC INT 

reliability standards but reflecting the 

different responsibilities of the two 

organizations. 

• Changes to definitions, where NERC 

does not have a corresponding 

definition in its Glossary, but the WEQ 

modified its definitions, such as the 

‘‘Approval Entity’’ definition, to reflect 

the definition changes previously 

discussed. 

• Changes to delete definitions no 

longer needed in the Coordinate 

Interchange business practice standards 

or that had been replaced by other 

definitions. Deleted definitions include: 

Checkout Process; Interchange 

Transaction; Interchange Transaction 

Tag; Interconnection; Market Operator; 

Scheduling Agent; and Transmission 

Service Provider. 

• Changes to the Coordinate 

Interchange business practice standards 

made to better coordinate with NERC’s 

INT reliability standards. The standards 

were modified to: (1) Incorporate the 

revised definitions; (2) provide greater 

detail, as in WEQ Standard 004–3; (3) 

add new standards to clarify and better 

coordinate with NERC, such as in WEQ 

Standard 004–2.2; and (4) delete 

standards that are no longer appropriate, 

such as WEQ Standard 004–1.2. 

Changes To Reflect Current Business 

Practices of the Eastern and Western 

Interconnections and ERCOT 

14. The Coordinate Interchange 

business practices standards were also 

modified to reflect the current business 

practices of the Eastern and Western 

Interconnections and ERCOT. Language 

previously included in Appendix A was 

moved to Coordinate Interchange 

business practice standards 004–3, 004–

3.1, and 004–8.2. 

Discussion 

15. In this NOPR, we propose to 

incorporate by reference the WEQ’s 

revised Coordinate Interchange 

standards in part 38 of the 

Commission’s regulations to coordinate 

with the consideration already under 

way in Docket No. RM06–16–000 of the 

complementary NERC INT reliability 

standards.7 Adoption of revised 

business practice standards is intended 

to be coordinated with the adoption of 

the complementary reliability standards 

to ensure that public utilities comply 

with a consistent set of standards. To 

ensure that the NAESB and NERC 

standards remain consistent, we 

propose that the effective date of these 

standards be no earlier than the effective 

date of the NERC standards if, and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 37 / Monday, February 26, 2007 / Proposed Rules 8321 

8Reliability NOPR at P 439. 

9Under this process, to be approved a standard 

must receive a super-majority vote of 67 percent of 

the members of the WEQ’s Executive Committee 

with support from at least 40 percent from each of 

the five industry segments—transmission, 

generation, marketer/brokers, distribution/load 

serving entities, and end users. For final approval, 

67 percent of the WEQ’s general membership must 

ratify the standards. 

10Pub L. 104–113, § 12(d), 110 Stat. 775 (1996), 

15 U.S.C. 272 note (1997). 

11The total annualized costs for the information 

collection is $264,000. This number is reached by 

multiplying the total hours to prepare responses 

(1760 hours) by an hourly wage estimate of $150 

(a composite estimate that includes legal, technical 

and support staff rates, $90 + $35 + $25). $264,000 

= $150 × 1760. 

when, they are approved by the 

Commission. 

16. We are pleased that NAESB and 

NERC have been able to work together 

to separate out business and reliability 

decisions and to generally coordinate 

their adoption of standards. In the 

Reliability NOPR, the Commission 

urged NERC and NAESB to coordinate 

their filing of standards. We stated: 

In the future, to ensure that there is not a 

gap in Reliability Standards or business 

practices, the Commission expects filings 

from NERC and NAESB to be coordinated to 

allow for the seamless transfer of 

Requirements from Reliability Standards to 

Business Practices.8

In this instance, although the 

adoption of the standards was 

coordinated, the filing of notification to 

the Commission was not as coordinated 

as we would like it to be. In the future, 

we expect that NAESB and NERC will 

coordinate their submittals of any 

subsequent revisions to their respective 

interrelated standards and that each 

filing will reference its counterparts, to 

help assure coordinated implementation 

of future standards. We appreciate the 

supplemental information NAESB filed 

on February 5, 2007, and request that 

NERC and NAESB include in their 

filings the details showing how their 

respective standards relate to each 

other. 

17. NAESB’s standards correspond to 

NERC’s Version 1 INT reliability 

standards. On November 15, 2006, 

NERC filed updated INT reliability 

standards (NERC’s Version 2 INT 

reliability standards) with the 

Commission in Docket No. RM06–16–

000. Review of the changes made to the 

Version 2 standards does not indicate 

that the WEQ would need to make any 

additional modifications to its 

Coordinate Interchange standards. We 

invite comments on whether NERC’s 

Version 2 INT reliability standards 

necessitate any additional standards 

beyond those included in the WEQ’s 

Coordinate Interchange business 

practice standards. 

18. The Commission is not proposing 

in this rulemaking that public utilities 

make tariff filings to include the revised 

Coordinate Interchange standards in 

their tariffs. Instead, we propose that, 

when the WEQ next updates its 

wholesale electric standards, if the 

Commission decides to incorporate this 

next standard version into its 

regulations, public utilities will then be 

required to include these standards in 

their tariffs. 

Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus 

Standards 

19. The NAESB WEQ approved the 

revised Coordinate Interchange 

standards under NAESB’s consensus 

procedures.9 As the Commission found 

in Order No. 676, 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 all 

segments of the industry. Moreover, 

since the industry itself has to conduct 

business under these standards, the 

Commission’s regulations should reflect 

those standards that have the widest 

possible support. In section 12(d) of the 

National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act of 1995, Congress 

affirmatively requires federal agencies to 

use technical standards developed by 

voluntary consensus standards 

organizations, like NAESB, as means to 

carry out policy objectives or 

activities.10

20. 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, the 

Commission is proposing to incorporate 

by reference a voluntary consensus 

standard developed by the WEQ. 

Information Collection Statement 

21. The following collection of 

information contained in this proposed 

rule 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). The Commission solicits 

comments on the Commission’s need for 

this information, whether the 

information will have practical utility, 

the accuracy of the provided burden 

estimates, ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected, and any suggested methods 

for minimizing respondents’ burden, 

including the use of automated 

information techniques. The following 

burden estimate is based on the 

projected costs for the industry to 

implement revisions to the WEQ’s 

Coordinate Interchange standards 

(WEQ–004). 

Data collection Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Hours per 

response 

Total number 

of hours 

FERC–717 ....................................................................................................... 220 1 8 1760 

Totals ........................................................................................................ ........................ ........................ ........................ 1760 

Total Annual Hours for Collection 

(Reporting and Recordkeeping, (if 

appropriate)) = 1760. 

Information Collection Costs: The 

Commission seeks comments on the 

costs to comply with these 

requirements. It has projected the 

average annualized cost for all 

respondents to be the following: 11

FERC–717 

Annualized Capital/Startup Costs .................................................................................................................................................... $264,000 

Annualized Costs (Operations & Maintenance) .............................................................................................................................. N/A 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with PROPOSALS
8322 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 37 / Monday, February 26, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

12 5 CFR 1320.11. 

13Order No. 486, Regulations Implementing the 

National Environmental Policy Act, 52 FR 47897 

(Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & Regs., Regulations 

Preambles 1986–1990 ¶ 30,783 (1987). 

14 18 CFR 380.4. 

15See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii), 380.4(a)(5), 

380.4(a)(27). 

16 5 U.S.C. 601–612. 17 5 U.S.C. 605(b). 

FERC–717 

Total Annualized Costs ............................................................................................................................................................ 264,000 

22. OMB regulations 12 require OMB 

to approve certain information 

collection requirements imposed by 

agency rule. The Commission is 

submitting notification of this proposed 

rule to OMB. These information 

collections are mandatory requirements. 

Title: Standards for Business Practices 

and Communication Protocols for 

Public Utilities (FERC–717) (formerly 

Open Access Same Time Information 

System). 

Action: Proposed collection. 

OMB Control No.: 1902–0173. 

Respondents: Business or other for 

profit, (Public Utilities—Not applicable 

to small businesses). 

Frequency of Responses: One-time 

implementation (business procedures, 

capital/start-up). 

Necessity of the Information: This 

proposed rule, if implemented would 

upgrade the Commission’s business 

practice and communication protocols 

(methods by which computers 

coordinate their communications) 

governing Coordinate Interchange 

transactions to complement revisions to 

the NERC INT reliability standards 

under consideration in the rulemaking 

proceeding in Docket No. RM06–16–

000. The implementation of these 

standards and regulations is necessary 

to increase the efficiency of the 

wholesale electric power grid. The 

standards being adopted define 

procedures for market participants to 

request the implementation of 

Interchange Transactions or agreements 

to transfer energy from a seller to a 

buyer that crosses one or more 

Balancing Authority boundaries. 

23. The information collection 

requirements of this proposed rule are 

based on the transition from 

transactions being made under the 

Commission’s existing business practice 

standard governing Coordinate 

Interchange transactions to conducting 

such transactions under the proposed 

revision to the Coordinate Interchange 

standards (WEQ–004). Our preliminary 

view, subject to our review of any 

comments that are filed on this NOPR 

proposal, is that the Commission’s 

incorporation by reference of these 

revised standards will keep these WEQ 

business practice standards consistent 

with the NERC INT reliability standards. 

24. Internal Review: The Commission 

has reviewed the revised business 

practice standards and has made a 

preliminary determination that the 

proposed revisions are necessary to 

maintain consistency between the 

business practice standards and 

reliability standards on this subject. The 

Commission has assured itself, by 

means of its internal review, that there 

is specific, objective support for the 

burden estimate associated with the 

information requirements. 

25. Interested persons may obtain 

information on the reporting 

requirements by contacting the 

following: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, Attn: Michael Miller, 

Office of the Executive Director, 888 

First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, 

Tel: (202) 502–8415 / Fax: (202) 273–

0873, E-mail: michael.miller@ferc.gov. 

26. 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, phone: 

(202) 395–7856, fax: (202) 395–7285]. 

Environmental Analysis 

27. 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.13 The Commission has 

categorically excluded certain actions 

from these requirements as not having a 

significant effect on the human 

environment.14 The actions proposed 

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 

sales, exchange, and transportation of 

electric power that requires no 

construction of facilities.15 Therefore, 

an environmental assessment is 

unnecessary and has not been prepared 

in this NOPR. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification 

28. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 

1980 (RFA) 16 generally requires a 

description and analysis of final rules 

that will have significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The regulations proposed here 

impose requirements only on public 

utilities, which are not small businesses, 

and, these requirements are, in fact, 

designed to benefit all customers, 

including small businesses. 

29. The Commission has followed the 

provisions of both the RFA and the 

Paperwork Reduction Act on potential 

impact on small business and other 

small entities. Specifically, the RFA 

directs agencies to consider four 

regulatory alternatives to be considered 

in a rulemaking to lessen the impact on 

small entities: tiering or establishment 

of different compliance or reporting 

requirements for small entities, 

classification, consolidation, 

clarification or simplification of 

compliance and reporting requirements, 

performance rather than design 

standards, and exemptions. As the 

Commission originally stated in Order 

No. 889, the OASIS regulations now 

known as Standards for Business 

Practices and Communication Protocols 

for Public Utilities, apply only to public 

utilities that own, operate, or control 

transmission facilities subject to the 

Commission’s jurisdiction and should a 

small entity be subject to the 

Commission’s jurisdiction, it may file 

for waiver of the requirements. This is 

consistent with the exemption 

provisions of the RFA. Accordingly, 

pursuant to section 605(b) of the RFA,17

the Commission hereby certifies that the 

regulations proposed herein will not 

have a significant adverse impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

Comment Procedures 

30. The Commission invites 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 March 28, 2007. 

Comments must refer to Docket No. 

RM05–5–003, and must include the 

commenter’s name, the organization 

they represent, if applicable, and their 

address. Comments may be filed either 

in electronic or paper format. 

31. Comments may be filed 

electronically via the eFiling link on the 

Commission’s Web site at http:// 

www.ferc.gov. The Commission accepts 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 37 / Monday, February 26, 2007 / Proposed Rules 8323 

18NAESB’s November 16, 2006 submittal is also 

available for viewing in eLibrary. The link to this 

file is as follows: http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/ 

nvcommon/NVViewer.asp?Doc=11182760:0. 

most standard word processing formats 

and commenters may attach additional 

files with supporting information in 

certain other file formats. Commenters 

filing electronically do not need to make 

a paper filing. Commenters that are not 

able to file comments electronically 

must send an original and 14 copies of 

their comments to: Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the 

Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20426. 

32. 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. 

Document Availability 

33. In addition to publishing the full 

text of this document in the Federal 

Register, the Commission provides all 

interested persons an opportunity to 

view and/or print the contents of this 

document via the Internet through 

FERC’s Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov) 

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. 

34. From FERC’s Home Page on the 

Internet, this information is available in 

the eLibrary. The full text of this 

document is available in the eLibrary 

both in PDF and Microsoft Word format 

for viewing, printing, and/or 

downloading. To access this document 

in eLibrary, type the docket number 

excluding the last three digits of this 

document in the docket number field.18

35. User assistance is available for 

eLibrary and the FERC’s Web site during 

our normal business hours. For 

assistance contact FERC Online Support 

at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or tollfree at (866) 208–3676, or for TTY, 

contact (202) 502–8659. 

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 38 

Conflict of interests, Electric power 

plants, Electric utilities, Incorporation 

by reference, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

By direction of the Commission. 

Magalie R. Salas, 

Secretary. 

In consideration of the foregoing, the 

Commission proposes to amend Chapter 

I, Title 18, part 38 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations, as follows: 

PART 38—BUSINESS PRACTICE 

STANDARDS AND COMMUNICATION 

PROTOCOLS FOR PUBLIC UTILITIES 

1. The authority citation for part 38 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 791–825r, 2601–2645; 

31 U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 7101–7352. 

2. In § 38.2, paragraph (a)(4) is revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 38.2 Incorporation by reference of North 

American Energy Standards Board 

Wholesale Electric Quadrant standards. 

(a) * * * 

(4) Coordinate Interchange (WEQ–

004, June 22, 2006); 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. E7–3232 Filed 2–23–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

33 CFR Part 100 

[CGD05–07–009] 

RIN 1625–AA08 

Special Local Regulations for Marine 

Events; Martin Lagoon, Middle River, 

MD 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard proposes to 

establish temporary special local 

regulations for the ‘‘Baltimore County 

Community Waterfront Festival’’, an 

event to be held May 12, 2007 at Martin 

Lagoon, Middle River, Maryland. These 

special local regulations are necessary to 

provide for the safety of life on 

navigable waters during the event. This 

action is intended to temporarily restrict 

vessel traffic in a portion of the Middle 

River waterfront to accommodate 

watercraft static displays, fire-rescue 

demonstrations and a fireworks display. 

DATES: Comments and related material 

must reach the Coast Guard on or before 

March 28, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: You may mail comments 

and related material to Commander 

(dpi), Fifth Coast Guard District, 431 

Crawford Street, Portsmouth, Virginia 

23704–5004, hand-deliver them to 

Room 415 at the same address between 

9 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays, fax 

them to (757) 391–8149, or e-mail them 

to Dennis.M.Sens@uscg.mil. The 

Inspections and Investigations Branch, 

Fifth Coast Guard District, maintains the 

public docket for this rulemaking. 

Comments and material received from 

the public, as well as documents 

indicated in this preamble as being 

available in the docket, will become part 

of this docket and will be available for 

inspection or copying at the above 

address between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: D. 

M. Sens, Project Manager, Inspections 

and Investigations Branch, at (757) 398–

6204. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Request for Comments 

We encourage you to participate in 

this rulemaking by submitting 

comments and related material. If you 

do so, please include your name and 

address, identify the docket number for 

this rulemaking (CGD05–07–009), 

indicate the specific section of this 

document to which each comment 

applies, and give the reason for each 

comment. Please submit all comments 

and related material in an unbound 

format, no larger than 8 1⁄2 by 11 inches, 

suitable for copying. If you would like 

to know they reached us, please enclose 

a stamped, self-addressed postcard or 

envelope. We will consider all 

comments and material received during 

the comment period. We may change 

this proposed rule in view of them. 

Public Meeting 

We do not now plan to hold a public 

meeting. But you may submit a request 

for a meeting by writing to the address 

listed under ADDRESSES explaining why 

one would be beneficial. If we 

determine that one would aid this 

rulemaking, we will hold one at a time 

and place announced by a later notice 

in the Federal Register. 

Background and Purpose 

On May 12, 2007, Baltimore County 

plans to sponsor the ‘‘Baltimore County 

Community Waterfront Festival’’. 

Various watercraft static displays and 

fire-rescue demonstrations would be 

staged within Martin Lagoon. The 

fireworks display would be launched 

from Wilson Point Park but the 

hazardous fallout area will extend over 

Martin Lagoon. A fleet of spectator 

vessels is expected to gather near the 

event site to view the fireworks display. 

Due to the need for vessel control 

during the proposed event, vessel traffic 

will be temporarily restricted to provide 

for the safety of participants, spectators 

and transiting vessels. 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with PROPOSALS