Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 154 / Thursday, August 9, 2018 / Notices 39507 

transportation serving the metropolitan 

planning area,’’ and ‘‘peer reviews and 

exchanges of . . . performance-based 

planning.’’ FTA removed ‘‘arts and 

artistic design’’ from the list of eligible 

grant activities to comply with 49 U.S.C. 

5323, as amended by the FAST Act. In 

Section 4, FTA reordered subsections 

identifying the components of a UPWP. 

In Section 9, FTA added programs 

created by MAP–21 and the FAST Act, 

and removed references to programs 

repealed by MAP–21 and the FAST Act. 

C. Chapter III—State Planning and 

Research Program 

Chapter III provides an overview of 

the SPRP in terms of its statutory 

authority and program goals, and 

explains the program’s relationship to 

and coordination with other FTAfunded programs. The chapter also 

defines the role of the individual States 

and FTA, and provides information on 

eligible grant activities, SPRP assistance 

formula and notification, and State 

planning activities. In Section 2, FTA 

removed ‘‘training and educational 

activities’’ and ‘‘human resource 

program activities’’ from the list of 

eligible grant activities for the SPRP 

because the statutory basis for their 

eligibility was removed by MAP–21. In 

Section 5, FTA added programs created 

by MAP–21 and the FAST Act, and 

removed references to programs 

repealed by MAP–21 and the FAST Act. 

D. Chapter IV—Consolidated Planning 

Grants 

Chapter IV provides information on 

the Consolidated Planning Grant (CPG) 

Program, a program administered by 

FTA and FHWA. The CPG Program 

allows FTA and FHWA funding that 

supports metropolitan and statewide 

transportation planning to be combined 

into a single consolidated grant, which 

fosters a cooperative effort between the 

Federal agencies and the participating 

States to streamline the delivery of their 

planning programs by providing the 

flexibility to transfer the planning funds 

to either FTA or FHWA for processing. 

In Section 1, FTA clarified that FTA 

funds used for metropolitan planning in 

a CPG are allowed to have the same 

match ratio as the FHWA Metropolitan 

Planning funds. 

E. Chapter V—Application Instructions 

Chapter V details the application 

process of MPOs and States that apply 

for and receive funds from MPP and 

SPRP grants. FTA made no substantive 

changes to this chapter. 

F. Appendices 

FTA made minor, clarifying edits to 

the appendices. 

Issued in Washington, DC. 

K. Jane Williams, 

Acting Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17032 Filed 8–8–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 

Safety Administration 

[Docket No. PHMSA–2017–0129] 

Pipeline Safety: Underground Natural 

Gas Storage Facility User Fee 

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Safety Administration 

(PHMSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of agency action. 

SUMMARY: On December 8, 2017, 

PHMSA published a notice and request 

for comments in the Federal Register 

titled: ‘‘Underground Natural Gas 

Storage Facility User Fee’’ seeking 

comments from underground natural 

gas storage facility (UNGS) operators on 

a proposal to use UNGS annual report 

data in the user fee rate structure. 

PHMSA received two comments in the 

docket. We are publishing this notice to 

address the comments received and to 

announce that PHMSA has used UNGS 

annual report data about the number of 

wells in the user fee rate structure for 

the Pipeline Safety Fund’s Underground 

Natural Gas Storage Facility Safety 

Account. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Crystal Stewart by telephone at 202– 

366–1524, by fax at 202–366–4566, by 

email at Crystal.Stewart@dot.gov, or by 

mail at U.S. Department of 

Transportation, PHMSA, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue SE., PHP–2, Washington, 

DC 20590–0001. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget 

Reconciliation Act of 1986 (COBRA) 

(Pub. L. 99–272, sec. 7005), codified in 

part at section 60301 of title 49, United 

States Code, authorizes the assessment 

and collection of user fees to fund the 

pipeline safety activities conducted 

under chapter 601 of title 49. On June 

22, 2016, President Obama signed into 

law the ‘‘Protecting our Infrastructure of 

Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act of 

2016’’ (Pub. L. 114–183) (PIPES Act of 

2016). Section 12 of the PIPES Act of 

2016 mandates that PHMSA issue 

regulations for UNGS facilities, 

authorizes user fees on operators of 

these facilities, and directs PHMSA to 

prescribe procedures to collect those 

fees upon appropriation. Section 2 of 

the PIPES Act of 2016 authorizes $8 

million per year to be appropriated from 

those fees for each of FY 2017–2019 for 

the newly established Underground 

Natural Gas Storage Facility Safety 

Account in the Pipeline Safety Fund. 

After Congress appropriates funds to 

this account for fiscal year (FY) 2018 

and beyond, PHMSA will collect user 

fees from the operators of the facilities. 

Summary of Comments 

The December 8, 2017 notice advised 

all UNGS facility operators of a 

proposed PHMSA pipeline user fee 

assessment and rate structure (82 FR 

58045). During the one-month response 

period, PHMSA received comments 

from two commenters on the proposed 

UNGS user fee billing methodology: 

WBI Energy Transmission Inc., and 

National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation. 

The comments can be found at http:// 

www.regulations.gov in Docket Number 

PHMSA–2017–0129. WBI Energy 

Transmission Inc., submitted comments 

supporting the rate structure proposed 

by PHMSA in the December 8, 2017 

notice. The remaining comment is 

summarized below with PHMSA’s 

response: 

Comment: National Fuel Gas Supply 

Corporation stated that well count alone 

is not an appropriate measure for 

determining a user fee since larger wells 

will require more regulatory oversight 

than smaller wells. 

Response: Each well penetrating an 

underground natural gas storage 

reservoir represents a risk. Currently, 

PHMSA intends to apply a consistent 

level of regulatory oversight to all wells, 

regardless of size. As PHMSA 

implements its underground storage 

inspection program, we may gain 

insights leading to a user fee 

methodology more reflective of 

regulatory oversight effort. 

Underground Natural Gas Storage 

Facility User Fee Plan 

During the FY 2018 user fee process, 

PHMSA has used calendar year (CY) 

2016 annual report data for gas 

transmission pipelines, hazardous 

liquid pipelines, and liquefied natural 

gas facilities. Using CY 2016 data 

ensures adequate time to verify annual 

report data quality and still be able to 

send user fee assessments promptly 

after appropriation. PHMSA does not 

have CY 2016 annual report data for 

underground natural gas storage 

facilities. Congress appropriated UNGS 

funds for FY 2018, and PHMSA has 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
39508 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 154 / Thursday, August 9, 2018 / Notices 

used the CY 2017 UNGS annual report 

data to develop the UNGS user fee rate 

structure for FY 2018. If Congress 

appropriates UNGS funds for FY 2019, 

PHMSA plans to use the CY 2017 UNGS 

annual report data to develop the UNGS 

user fee rate structure for FY 2019. 

Specifically, PHMSA will use the 

number of injection/withdraw wells 

(section C7) and monitoring/observation 

wells (section C8) in the rate structure. 

For the FY 2020 user fee rate structure, 

PHMSA would use the CY 2018 UNGS 

annual report data. 

For FY 2018, Congress has 

appropriated $8 million to the 

Underground Natural Gas Storage 

Facility Safety Account in the Pipeline 

Safety Fund. PHMSA has used the 

following steps to develop the user fee 

rate structure. PHMSA summed the 

number of wells from sections C7 and 

C8 of the annual report for each 

operator. Once PHMSA determined the 

number of wells for all UNGS operators, 

each operator was parsed into one of 10 

tiers, based on an ordinal ranking of its 

well counts compared to other UNGS 

operators. The operators with the lowest 

well-count values were placed in tier 1, 

with the highest operator well-count 

values in tier 10. The minimum and 

maximum well counts for each tier were 

then selected so that an equal number 

of operators were placed in each tier. 

This tiered fee structure is designed to 

place a larger share of the user fee on 

operators with higher well counts. 

Using CY 2017 UNGS annual report 

data as of May 9, 2018, the following 

table shows the tier boundaries and user 

fee for each operator in the tier. When 

the tier boundary spans two tiers, 

PHMSA randomly selected operators for 

the lower tier. For example, four wells 

is the boundary between Tiers 1 and 2. 

Seven operators have four wells, but 

only two operators were randomly 

selected and placed in Tier 1. The 

remaining five operators with four wells 

were placed in Tier 2. 

Tier Amount 

(% of total) Tier boundaries Number of operators 

User fee per 

operator 

1 ......................... $160,000 (2%) .............................................. 4 wells or less .............................................. 13 $12,308 

2 ......................... $320,000 (4%) .............................................. 4 to 7 wells ................................................... 13 24,615 

3 ......................... $400,000 (5%) .............................................. 7 to 12 wells ................................................. 13 30,769 

4 ......................... $480,000 (6%) .............................................. 13 to 19 wells ............................................... 13 36,923 

5 ......................... $640,000 (8%) .............................................. 19 to 27 wells ............................................... 13 49,231 

6 ......................... $800,000 (10%) ............................................ 28 to 45 wells ............................................... 13 61,538 

7 ......................... $960,000 (12%) ............................................ 46 to 68 wells ............................................... 13 73,846 

8 ......................... $1,040,000 (13%) ......................................... 69 to 100 wells ............................................. 12 86,667 

9 ......................... $1,200,000 (15%) ......................................... 101 to 377 wells ........................................... 12 100,000 

10 ....................... $2,000,000 (25%) ......................................... 378 wells or more ......................................... 12 166,667 

In summary, PHMSA has used UNGS 

annual report data about the number of 

wells in the FY 2018 user fee rate 

structure for the Pipeline Safety Fund’s 

Underground Natural Gas Storage 

Facility Safety Account. In future years, 

the final tier boundaries and user fee per 

operator may differ slightly from those 

listed above based on the annual report 

data at the time the rate structure is 

established. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on August 3, 

2018, under authority delegated in 49 CFR 

1.97. 

Alan K. Mayberry, 

Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17053 Filed 8–8–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 

Safety Administration 

[Docket No. PHMSA–2018–0078] 

Pipeline Safety: Information Collection 

Activities, Revision to OPID 

Assignment Request and National 

Registry Notification 

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Safety Administration 

(PHMSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: PHMSA is preparing to 

request Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) approval for the revision 

of the Operator Assignment Request 

(PHMSA F 1000.1) and National 

Registry Notification (PHMSA F 1000.2) 

currently approved under OMB control 

number 2137–0627. PHMSA proposes 

revising certain parts of the forms and 

instructions. In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

PHMSA invites comments on the 

proposed revisions. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before October 

9, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted in the following ways: 

E-Gov Website: http://

www.regulations.gov. This site allows 

the public to enter comments on any 

Federal Register notice issued by any 

agency. 

Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

(DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 

West Building, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

Hand Delivery: Room W12–140 on the 

ground level of DOT, West Building, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 

Washington, DC, between 9:00 a.m. and 

5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. 

Instructions: Identify the docket 

number, PHMSA–2018–0078, at the 

beginning of your comments. Note that 

all comments received will be posted 

without change to http://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. You 

should know that anyone can search the 

electronic form of all comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the comment, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). Therefore, 

you may want to review DOT’s 

complete Privacy Act Statement in the 

Federal Register published on April 11, 

2000, (65 FR 19476) or visit http://

www.regulations.gov before submitting 

any such comments. 

Docket: For access to the docket or to 

read background documents or 

comments, go to http://

www.regulations.gov at any time or to 

Room W12–140 on the ground level of 

DOT, West Building, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 

9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

If you wish to receive confirmation of 

receipt of your written comments, 

please include a self-addressed, 

stamped postcard with the following 

statement: Comments on: PHMSA– 

2018–0078.’’ The docket clerk will date 

stamp the postcard prior to returning it 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES