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
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 154 / Thursday, August 9, 2018 / Notices 39509 

to you via the U.S. mail. Please note that 

due to delays in the delivery of U.S. 

mail to Federal offices in Washington, 

DC, we recommend that persons 

consider an alternative method 

(internet, fax, or professional delivery 

service) of submitting comments to the 

docket and ensuring their timely receipt 

at DOT. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Angela Dow by telephone at 202–366– 

1246, by fax at 202–366–4566, or by 

mail at DOT, PHMSA, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, PHP–30, Washington, DC 

20590–0001. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Background 

Section 1320.8(d), Title 5, Code of 

Federal Regulations, requires PHMSA to 

provide interested members of the 

public and affected agencies an 

opportunity to comment on information 

collection and recordkeeping requests. 

This notice identifies an information 

collection revision request PHMSA will 

be submitting to OMB for approval. 

B. OPID Assignment Request 

PHMSA intends to revise the OPID 

Assignment Request (PHMSA F 1000.1) 

form and its instructions. PHMSA 

proposes adding ‘‘Underground Natural 

Gas Storage’’ as an additional facility 

type in step 2 of the form. During fiscal 

year 2018, PHMSA began partnering 

with state agencies to inspect and 

enforce PHMSA regulations for 

underground natural gas storage 

facilities. Adding ‘‘Underground Natural 

Gas Storage’’ as an additional facility 

type is essential for routing the request 

to the proper state agency. 

PHMSA proposes collecting the state 

and number of miles when a request 

includes liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) 

facilities serving fewer than 100 

customers from a single source. 

Collecting the state for LPG facilities is 

crucial to determining which PHMSA 

region or state agency should receive the 

request. 

There are eight safety programs in 

step 3 of the request, but only three 

apply to underground natural gas 

storage facilities. PHMSA proposes 

modifying step 3 to indicate the safety 

programs required for underground 

natural gas storage facilities. 

PHMSA proposes modifying the 

instructions to explain PHMSA’s past 

actions for small LPG and master meter 

operators and future expectations for 

these operators. Adding this information 

to the instructions would provide clarity 

for operators and state agencies 

inspecting the operators. 

C. National Registry Notification 

PHMSA intends to revise the National 

Registry Notification form (PHMSA F 

1000.2) and its instructions. PHMSA 

proposes changing the name of the form 

from ‘‘Operator Registry Notification’’ to 

‘‘National Registry Notification’’ to 

match the wording of the PHMSA 

regulations requiring the notifications. 

PHMSA proposes adding 

‘‘Underground Natural Gas Storage’’ as 

an additional facility type in steps 1 and 

3 of the form. During fiscal year 2018, 

PHMSA began partnering with 

additional state agencies to inspect and 

enforce PHMSA regulations for 

underground natural gas storage 

facilities. Adding ‘‘Underground Natural 

Gas Storage’’ as an additional facility 

type is essential for routing the 

notification to the proper state agency. 

There are eight safety programs in a 

type C notification, but only three apply 

to underground natural gas storage 

facilities. PHMSA proposes modifying 

the type C portion of the form to 

indicate the safety programs required for 

underground natural gas storage 

facilities. 

Operators report various types of 

construction projects to PHMSA in type 

F notifications. PHMSA proposes 

adding a single-select field to describe 

the main purpose of the construction 

project. 

The type J notification section 

assumes that all LNG construction 

builds new facilities. PHMSA proposes 

modifying the type J section to 

recognize that a notification may be 

submitted for rehabilitation or 

replacement of LNG facilities. 

In step 3 of the form, PHMSA collects 

data about the location of the facilities 

covered by the notification. When the 

notification covers onshore gas 

gathering, gas transmission, or 

hazardous liquid pipelines, step 3 data 

includes the county(ies) for the 

pipelines. PHMSA uses this county data 

to associate the notification to a specific 

portion of the operator’s pipeline 

system. When the notification covers 

onshore gas gathering, gas transmission, 

hazardous liquid facilities, or offshore 

pipelines or facilities, county data is not 

collected. PHMSA proposes modifying 

the form to collect county data for 

onshore gas gathering, gas transmission, 

and hazardous liquid facilities, and 

offshore pipelines and facilities. This 

change would allow PHMSA to 

associate each notification to a specific 

portion of the operator’s pipeline 

system. 

D. Summary of Impacted Collections 

The following information is provided 

below for the impacted information 

collection: (1) Title of the information 

collection; (2) OMB control number; (3) 

Current expiration date; (4) Type of 

request; (5) Abstract of the information 

collection activity; (6) Description of 

affected public; (7) Estimate of total 

annual reporting and recordkeeping 

burden; and (8) Frequency of collection. 

PHMSA requests comments on the 

following information collection: 

Title: National Registry of Pipeline 

and Liquefied Natural Gas Operators. 

OMB Control Number: 2137–0627. 

Current Expiration Date: 7/31/2020. 

Type of Request: Revision. 

Abstract: The National Registry of 

Pipeline and LNG Operators serves as 

the storehouse for the reporting 

requirements for an operator regulated 

or subject to reporting requirements 

under 49 CFR part 192, 193, or 195. This 

registry incorporates the use of two 

forms: (1) OPID Assignment Request 

(PHMSA F 1000.1) and (2) National 

Registry Notification (PHMSA F 1000.2). 

The burden estimate for this 

information collection is increasing by 

10 responses and 10 burden hours to 

account for PHMSA F 1000.2 Part F 

notifications. 

Affected Public: Operators of Pipeline 

Facilities. 

Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping 

Burden: 

Total Annual Responses: 689. 

Total Annual Burden Hours: 689. 

Frequency of Collection: On occasion. 

Comments are invited on: 

(a) The need for the proposed 

collection of information, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility in helping the agency to 

achieve its pipeline safety goals; 

(b) The accuracy of the agency’s 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information; 

(c) Ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and 

(d) Ways to minimize the burden of 

the collection of information on those 

who are to respond, including the use 

of appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques. 

Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act 

of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended; 

and 49 CFR 1.48. 

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. 2018–17052 Filed 8–8–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES