77282 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 238 / Monday, December 11, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

Appendix 2

Appendix 2 to AD 2000–22–51

AD Compliance Inspection Report (Sample

Format) P/N 204–011–450–007/–105/–109

Main Rotor Mast

Provide the following information and mail

or fax it to: Manager, Rotorcraft Certification

Office, Federal Aviation Administration, Fort

Worth, Texas 76193–0170, USA, Fax: 817–

222–5783.

Aircraft Registration No:

Helicopter Model:

Helicopter S/N:

Mast P/N:

Mast S/N:

Mast RIN:

Mast Total TIS:

Inspection Results

Were any radii during inspection of this

mast determined to be less than 0.020 inch?

If yes, what was the dimension measured?

Was a burr found in the inspected snap

ring grooves?

Were cracks noted during the inspection?

Who performed this inspection?

Provide any other comments?

Issued in Fort Worth, Texas, on November

30, 2000.

Larry M. Kelly,

Acting Manager, Rotorcraft Directorate,

Aircraft Certification Service.

[FR Doc. 00–31012 Filed 12–8–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 71

[Airspace Docket No. 00–ASO–44]

Amendment of Class E5 Airspace;

Meridian, MS

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This action makes a technical

amendment to the Class E5 airspace at

Meridian, MS. The Navy Meridian NDB

has been decommissioned. Therefore,

the airspace legal description must be

amended to reflect this change.

EFFECTIVE DATE: 0901 UTC, March 22,

2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Wade T. Carpenter, Jr., Manager,

Airspace Branch, Air Traffic Division,

Federal Aviation Administration, P.O.

Box 20636, Atlanta, Georgia 30320;

telephone (404) 305–5586.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

History

The Navy Meridian NDB has been

decommissioned. As a result the

airspace legal description must be

amended. This rule will become

effective on the date specified in the

EFFECTIVE DATE section. Since this action

has no impact on users of the airspace

in the vicinity of Meridian NAS-McCain

Field, notice and public procedure

under 5 U.S.C. 553(b) are unnecessary.

Class E airspace designations for

airspace areas extending upward from

700 feet or more above the surface of the

earth are published in paragraph 6005 of

FAA Order 7400.9H, dated September 1,

2000, and effective September 16, 2000,

which is incorporated by reference in 14

CFR 71.1. The Class E airspace

designation listed in this document will

be published subsequently in the Order.

The Rule

This amendment to Part 71 of the

Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR

Part 71) amends Class E5 airspace at

Meridian, MS.

The FAA has determined that this

regulation only involves an established

body of technical regulations for which

frequent and routine amendments are

necessary to keep them operationally

current. It, therefore, (1) is not a

‘‘significant regulatory action’’ under

Executive Order 12866; (2) is not a

‘‘significant rule’’ under DOT

Regulatory Policies and Procedures (44

FR 11034; February 26, 1979); and (3)

does not warrant preparation of a

regulatory evaluation as the anticipated

impact is so minimal. Since this is a

routine matter that will only affect air

traffic procedures and air navigation, it

is certified that this rule will not have

a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities

under the criteria of the Regulatory

Flexibility Act.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 71

Airspace, Incorporation by reference,

Navigation (air).

Adoption of the Amendment

In consideration of the foregoing, the

Federal Aviation Administration

amends 14 CFR Part 71 as follows:

PART 71—DESIGNATION OF CLASS A,

CLASS B, CLASS C, CLASS D AND

CLASS E AIRSPACE AREAS;

AIRWAYS; ROUTES; AND REPORTING

POINTS

1. The authority citation for 14 CFR

Part 71 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g); 40103, 40113,

40120; EO 10854, 24 FR 9565, 3 CFR, 1959–

1963 Comp., p. 389; 14 CFR 11.69.

§ 71.1 [Amended]

2. The incorporation by reference in

14 CFR 71.1 of Federal Aviation

Administration Order 7400.9H,

Airspace Designations and Reporting

Points, dated September 1, 2000, and

effective September 16, 2000, is

amended as follows:

Paragraph 6005 Class E Airspace Areas

Extending Upward from 700 Feet or More

Above the Surface of the Earth

* * * * *

ASO MS E5 Meridian, MS [Revised]

Meridian, Key Field, MS

(Lat. 32°20′00′′N, long. 88°45′04′′W)

Meridian VORTAC

(Lat. 32°22′42′′N, long. 88°48′15′′W)

Joe Williams OLF

(Lat. 32°47′46′′N, long. 88°49′54′′W)

Meridian NAS-McCain Field

(Lat. 32°33′08′′N, long. 88°33′20′′W)

Meridian TACAN

(Lat. 32°34′42′′N, long. 88°32′43′′W)

Kewanee VORTAC

(Lat. 32°22′01′′N, long. 88°27′30′′W)

That airspace extending upward from 700

feet above the surface within an 8-mile radius

of Key Field and within 2.5 miles each side

of the Meridian VORTAC 315° radial,

extending from the 8-mile radious 7 miles

northwest of the VORTAC, and within a 7.4-

mile radius of Joe Williams OLF, and within

an 8-mile radius of Meridian NAS-McCain

Field, and within 4 miles each side of the

020° bearing from lat. 32°33′28′′N, long,

88°33′33′′W, extending from the 8-mile

radius to 20 miles north of Meridian TACAN,

and within a 25-mile radius of the Meridian

VORTAC, extending clockwise from the 341°

radial to the 040° radial, and within 8 miles

north and 6 miles south of the Kewanee

VORTAC 273° radial, extending from the

VORTAC to long. 88°45′00′′W.

* * * * *

Issued in College Park, Georgia, on

December 1, 2000.

Richard Biscomb,

Acting Manager, Air Traffic Division,

Southern Region.

[FR Doc. 00–31479 Filed 12–8–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M0

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis

15 CFR Part 801

[Docket No. 000609170–0336–02]

RIN 0691–AA38

International Services Surveys: BE–82,

Annual Survey of Financial Services

Transactions Between U.S. Financial

Services Providers and Unaffiliated

Foreign Persons

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis,

Commerce.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 238 / Monday, December 11, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 77283

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: These final rules revise

regulations for the BE–82, Annual

Survey of Financial Services

Transactions Between U.S. Financial

Services Providers and Unaffiliated

Foreign Persons.

The BE–82 survey is mandatory and

is conducted annually, in which years

the BE–80, Benchmark Survey of

Financial Services Transactions

Between U.S. Financial Services

Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign

Persons is not conducted, by the Bureau

of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S.

Department of Commerce, under the

International Investment and Trade in

Services Survey Act, and under the

Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness

Act of 1988. The annual survey will

obtain data used to update the universe

data, collected the BE–80 benchmark

survey, on trade in financial services, by

type and by country, between U.S.

financial services providers and

unaffiliated foreign persons. Data from

the BE–82 survey (and the benchmark

survey, the BE–80) are needed to

monitor trade in financial services,

analyze its impact on the U.S. and

foreign economies, compile and

improve the U.S. economic accounts,

support U.S. commercial policy on

financial services, conduct trade

promotion, improve the ability of U.S.

businesses to identify and evaluate

market opportunities, and for other

Government uses.

The revised rules raise the exemption

level for the 2000 survey to $10 million

in covered sales or purchases

transactions, from $5 million on the

previous (1998) survey. Raising the

exemption level will reduce respondent

burden, particularly for small

companies. The revised rules also

combine private placement services

with underwriting services, combine

foreign exchange brokerage services

with other brokerage services, and

create a separate category for electronic

funds transfers. The changes on the

types of services to be reported

separately mirror changes introduced in

the 1999 BE–80 benchmark survey.

Finally, the revised rules restate the

definition of ‘‘financial services

provider’’ using the nomenclature of the

new North American Industry

Classification System that has replaced

the U.S. Standard Industrial

Classification System.

The changes in the types of services

to be reported separately reflect BEA’s

experience in collecting data on

financial services transactions over the

past 6 years. Data collected for both

private placement and foreign exchange

brokerage services have been very small

and do not justify the continuation of

separate reporting. Electronic funds

transfer services, in contrast, appear to

account for a large fraction of both total

receipts and total payments for ‘‘other

financial services,’’ in which electronic

funds transfers were previously

included.

EFFECTIVE DATE: These final rules will be

effective January 10, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: R.

David Belli, Chief, International

Investment Division (BE–50), Bureau of

Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of

Commerce, Washington, DC 20230;

phone (202) 606–9800.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the

September 21, 2000, Federal Register,

volume 65, No. 184, 65 FR 57119–

57121, BEA published a notice of

proposed rulemaking setting forth

revised reporting requirements for the

BE–82, Annual Survey of Financial

Services Transactions Between U.S.

Financial Services Providers and

Unaffiliated Foreign Persons. No

comments on the proposed rules were

received. Thus, these final rules are the

same as the proposed rules.

These final rules amend 15 CFR part

801 to set forth revised reporting

requirements for the BE–82, Annual

Survey of Financial Services

Transactions Between Financial

Services Providers and Unaffiliated

Foreign Persons. The Bureau of

Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S.

Department of Commerce, will conduct

the survey under the International

Investment and Trade in Services

Survey Act (22 U.S.C. 3101–3108),

hereinafter ‘‘the Act’’, and under

Section 5408 of the Omnibus Trade and

Competitiveness Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C.

4908). Section 4(a) of the Act (22 U.S.C.

3103(a)) provides that the President

shall, to the extent he deems necessary

and feasible, conduct a regular data

collection program to secure current

information related to international

investment and trade in services, and

publish for the use of the general public

and United States Government agencies

periodic, regular, and comprehensive

statistical information collected

pursuant to this subsection. In Section

3 of Executive Order 11961, the

President delegated authority granted

under the Act as concerns international

trade in services to the Secretary of

Commerce, who has redelegated it to

BEA.

The major purposes of the survey are

to monitor trade in financial services,

analyze its impact on the U.S. and

foreign economies, compile and

improve the U.S. economic accounts,

support U.S. commercial policy on

financial services, conduct trade

promotion, and improve the ability of

U.S. businesses to identify and evaluate

market opportunities.

BEA will conduct the BE–82 survey in

years in which a BE–80 benchmark

survey, or census, is not conducted. The

survey will update the data provided on

the universe of financial services

transactions between U.S. financial

services providers and unaffiliated

foreign persons. Reporting is required

from U.S. financial services providers

who have sales to or purchases from

unaffiliated foreign persons in all

covered financial services combined in

excess of $10 million during the

reporting year. Financial services

providers meeting these criteria must

supply data on the amount of their sales

or purchases for each covered type of

service, disaggregated by country. U.S.

financial services providers that have

covered transactions of less than $10

million during the reporting year are

asked to provide voluntary estimates of

their total sales or purchases of each

type of financial service.

Executive Order 12866

These final rules are not significant

for purposes of E.O. 12866.

Executive Order 13132

These final rules do not contain

policies with Federalism implications

sufficient to warrant preparation of a

Federalism assessment under E.O.

13132.

Paperwork Reduction Act

The collection of information required

in these final rules has been approved

by the Office of Management and

Budget under the Paperwork Reduction

Act. Notwithstanding any other

provisions of the law, no person is

required to respond to, nor shall any

person be subject to a penalty for failure

to comply with, a collection-ofinformation subject to the requirements

of the Paperwork Reduction Act unless

that collection displays a currently valid

OMB Control Number; such a Control

Number (0608–0063) has been

displayed.

The survey is expected to result in the

filing of reports, containing mandatory

or voluntary data, from about 375

respondents. The average burden for

completing the BE–82—both the

mandatory and voluntary sections—is

estimated to be 7 hours. Thus, the total

respondent burden of the survey is

estimated at 2,600 hours (375

respondents times 7 hours average

burden). The actual burden will vary

from reporter to reporter, depending

77284 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 238 / Monday, December 11, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

upon the number and variety of their

financial services transactions and the

ease of assembling the data. Thus, it

may range from 4 hours for a reporter

that has a small number and variety of

transactions and easily accessible data,

or that reports only in the voluntary

section of the form, to 150 hours for a

very large reporter that engages in a

large number and variety of financial

services transactions and has difficulty

in locating and assembling the required

data. This estimate includes time for

reviewing instructions, searching

existing data sources, gathering and

maintaining the data needed, and

completing and reviewing the collection

of information.

Comments regarding the burden

estimate or any other aspect of this

collection of information should be

addressed to: Director, Bureau of

Economic Analysis (BE–1), U.S.

Department of Commerce, Washington,

DC 20230, and to the Office of

Management and Budget, O.I.R.A.,

Paperwork Reduction Project 0608–

0063, Washington, DC 20503 (Attention

PRA Desk Officer for BEA).

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Chief Counsel for Regulation,

Department of Commerce, has certified

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy,

Small Business Administration, under

provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility

Act (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), that these final

rules will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities. The

information collection excludes most

small businesses from mandatory

reporting. Companies that engage in

international financial services

transactions tend to be quite large. In

addition, the reporting threshold for this

survey is set at a level that will exempt

most small businesses from reporting.

The BE–82 annual survey will be

required only from U.S. persons with

sales to, or purchases from, unaffiliated

foreign persons in excess of $10 million

during the reporting year, in all covered

financial services transactions

combined; the exemption level for the

previous annual survey, covering 1998,

was $5 million. Thus, the exemption

level will exclude most small businesses

from mandatory coverage. Of those

smaller businesses that must report,

most will tend to have specialized

operations and activities, so they will

likely report only one type of

transaction; therefore, the burden on

them should be small.

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 806

Balance of payments, Economic

statistics, Foreign Trade, Penalties,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

Dated: November 27, 2000.

J. Steven Landefeld,

Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, BEA amends 15 CFR Part 801,

as follows:

PART 801—SURVEY OF

INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES

BETWEEN U.S. AND FOREIGN

PERSONS

1. The authority citation for 15 CFR

Part 801 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 15 U.S.C. 4908; 22

U.S.C. 3101–3108; E.O. 11961, 3 CFR, 1977

Comp., p. 86 as amended by E.O. 12013, 3

CFR, 1977 Comp., p. 147; E.O. 12318, 3 CFR,

1981 Comp., p. 173; and E.O. 12518, 3 CFR,

1985 Comp., p. 348.

2. Section 801.9 is amended by

revising paragraph (b)(7) to read as

follows:

§ 801.9 Reports required.

* * * * *

(b) * * *

(7) BE–82, Annual Survey of

Financial Services Transactions

Between U.S. Financial Services

Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign

Persons:

(i) A BE–82, Annual Survey of

Financial Services Transactions

Between U.S. Financial Services

Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign

Persons, will be conducted covering

companies’ 1995 fiscal year and every

year thereafter except when a BE–80

Benchmark Survey of Financial Services

Transactions Between U.S. Financial

Services Providers and Unaffiliated

Foreign Persons, is conducted (see

§ 801.11). All legal authorities,

provisions, definitions, and

requirements contained in § 801.1

through § 801.8 are applicable to this

survey. Additional rules and regulations

for the BE–82 survey are given in

paragraphs (b)(7)(i)(A) through (D) of

this section. More detailed instructions

are given on the report from itself.

(A) Who must report—(1) Mandatory

reporting. Reports are required from

each U.S. person who is a financial

services provider or intermediary, or

whose consolidated U.S. enterprise

includes a separately organized

subsidiary or part that is a financial

services provider or intermediary, and

who had transactions (either sales or

purchases) directly with unaffiliated

foreign persons in all financial services

combined in excess of $10 million

during its fiscal year covered by the

survey. The $10 million threshold

should be applied to financial services

transactions with unaffiliated foreign

persons by all parts of the consolidated

U.S. enterprise combined that are

financial services providers or

intermediaries. Because the $10 million

threshold applies separately to sales and

purchases, the mandatory reporting

requirement may apply only to sales, to

purchases, or to both sales and

purchases.

(i) The determination of whether a

U.S. financial services provider or

intermediary is subject to this

mandatory reporting requirement may

be judgmental, that is, based on the

judgement of knowledgeable persons in

a company who can identify reportable

transactions on a recall basis, with a

reasonable degree of certainty, without

conducting a detailed manual records

search.

(ii) Reporters who file pursuant to this

mandatory reporting requirement must

provide data on total sales and/or

purchases of each of the covered types

of financial services transactions and

must disaggregate the totals by country.

(2) Voluntary reporting. If, during the

fiscal year covered, sales or purchases of

financial services by a firm that is a

financial services provider or

intermediary, or by a firm’s subsidiaries

or parts combined that are financial

services providers or intermediaries, are

$10,000,000 or less, the U.S. person is

requested to provide an estimate of the

total for each type of service. Provision

of this information is voluntary. Because

the $10,000,000 threshold applies

separately to sales and purchases, this

voluntary reporting option may apply

only to sales, only to purchases, or to

both sales or purchases.

(B) BE–82 definition of financial

services provider. Except for Monetary

Authorities (i.e., Central Banks), the

definition of financial services provider

used for this survey is identical in

coverage to Sector 52—Finance and

Insurance—of the North American

Industry Classification System, United

States, 1997. For example, companies

and/or subsidiaries and other separable

parts of companies in the following

industries are defined as financial

services providers: Depository credit

intermediation and related activities

(including commercial banking, holding

companies, savings institutions, check

cashing, and debit card issuing);

nondepository credit intermediation

(including credit card issuing, sales

financing, and consumer lending);

securities, commodity contracts, and

other financial investments and related

activities (including security and

commodity futures brokers, dealers,

exchanges, traders, underwriters,

investment bankers, and providers of

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 238 / Monday, December 11, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 77285

1Standards For Business Practices of Interstate

Natural Gas Pipelines, Order No. 587, 61 FR 39053

(Jul. 26, 1996), III FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations

Preambles ¶ 31,038 (Jul. 17, 1996), Order No. 587–

B, 62 FR 5521 (Feb. 6, 1997), III FERC Stats. & Regs.

Regulations Preambles ¶ 31,046 (Jan. 30, 1997),

Order No. 587–C, 62 FR 10684 (Mar. 10, 1997), III

FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles ¶ 31,050

(Mar. 4, 1997), Order No. 587–G, 63 FR 20072 (Apr.

23, 1998), III FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations

Preambles ¶ 31,062 (Apr. 16, 1998), Order No. 587–

H, 63 FR 39509 (July 23, 1998), III FERC Stats. &

Regs. Regulations Preambles ¶ 31,063 (July 15,

1998); Order No. 587–I, 63 FR 53565 (Oct. 6, 1998),

III FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles

¶ 31,067 (Sept. 29, 1998), Order No. 587–K, 64 FR

17276 (Apr. 9, 1999), III FERC Stats. & Regs.

Regulations Preambles ¶ 31,072 (Apr. 2, 1999).

securities custody services); insurance

carriers and related activities (including

agents, brokers, and services providers);

investment advisors and managers and

funds, trusts, and other financial

vehicles (including mutual funds,

pension funds, real estate investment

trusts, investors, stock quotation

services, etc.).

(C) Covered types of services. The BE–

82 survey covers the same types of

financial services transactions that are

covered by the BE–80 benchmark

survey, as listed in § 801.11(c).

(D) What to file. (1) the BE–82 survey

consists of Forms BE–82 (A) and BE–

82(B). Before completing a form BE–82

(B), a consolidated U.S. enterprise

(including the top parent and all of its

subsidiaries and parts combined) must

complete Form BE–82 (A) to determine

its reporting status. If the enterprise is

subject to the mandatory reporting

requirement, or if it is exempt from the

mandatory reporting requirement but

chooses to report data voluntarily, either

a separate Form BE–82(B) for each

separately organized financial services

subsidiary or part of a consolidated U.S.

enterprise, or a single BE–82(B)

representing the sum of all covered

transactions by all financial services

subsidiaries or parts of the enterprise

combined must be completed.

(2) Reporters who receive the BE–82

survey from BEA, but that are not

reporting data in either the mandatory

or voluntary section of any BE–82(B),

must return the Exemption Claim,

attached to Form BE–82 (A), to BEA.

(ii) [Reserved]

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 00–31341 Filed 12–8–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–06–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

18 CFR Part 284

[Docket No. RM96–1–015; Order No. 587–

M]

Standards for Business Practices of

Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines

Issued November 30, 2000.

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule and notice of

technical conference.

SUMMARY: The Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission is amending

§ 284.12 of its regulations governing

standards for conducting business

practices and electronic communication

with interstate natural gas pipelines to

incorporate by reference the most recent

version of the standards, Version 1.4,

promulgated August 31, 1999 and

November 15, 1999 by the Gas Industry

Standards Board (GISB). The

Commission also is announcing a

technical conference by Commission

staff to address the issues raised by a

proposal to require pipelines to permit

shippers to designate and rank the

contracts under which gas will flow on

a pipeline’s system. Version 1.4 of the

GISB standards can be obtained from

GISB at 1100 Louisiana, Suite 3625,

Houston, TX 77002, 713–356–0060,

http://www.gisb.org.

DATES: The rule will become effective

January 10, 2001. The implementation

date for the regulations is May 1, 2001.

Pipelines must make filings to

incorporate Version 1.4 of the GISB

standards into their tariffs not less than

30 days prior to May 1, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, 888 First Street, NE.

Washington DC, 20426

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael Goldenberg, Office of the

General Counsel, Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission, 888 First

Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426,

(202) 208–2294

Marvin Rosenberg, Office of Markets,

Tariffs, and Rates, Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission, 888 First

Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426,

(202) 208–1283

Kay Morice, Office of Markets, Tariffs,

and Rates, Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, 888 First Street, NE.,

Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208–

0507

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Final Rule and Notice of Technical

Conference

The Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission (Commission) is amending

§ 284.12 of its regulations governing

standards for conducting business

practices and electronic

communications with interstate natural

gas pipelines. The Commission is

incorporating by reference the most

recent version of the consensus industry

standards promulgated by the Gas

Industry Standards Board (GISB),

Version 1.4. Pipelines are required to

implement these regulations on May 1,

2001. The Commission also is directing

its staff to convene a technical

conference to discuss whether to adopt

the proposed regulation requiring

pipelines to permit shippers to

designate and rank the contracts under

which gas will flow on a pipeline’s

system.

I. Background

In Order Nos. 587, 587–B, 587–C,

587–G, 587–H, 587–I, and 587–K the

Commission adopted regulations to

standardize the business practices and

communication methodologies of

interstate pipelines in order to create a

more integrated and efficient pipeline

grid.1 In those orders, the Commission

incorporated by reference consensus

standards developed by GISB, a private,

consensus standards developer

composed of members from all segments

of the natural gas industry.

On February 23, 2000, GISB filed with

the Commission a letter stating it had

adopted a revised version of its business

practice and communication standards,

Version 1.4. The Version 1.4 standards

include the standards for implementing

pipeline interactive Internet web sites,

which pipelines were required to

implement by June 1, 2000, as well as

standards for critical notices, and

standards for multi-tiered allocations.

GISB also reported on certain issues

on which the Commission had

requested reports in Order No. 587–G.

Of significance here, GISB reported that

its Executive Committee was unable to

reach consensus on standards for crosscontract ranking and that its

confirmations and cross contract

ranking subcommittee is considered

inactive. In a letter dated June 15, 2000,

GISB filed a follow-up report on cross

contract ranking. GISB reports that its

Executive Committee was unable to

achieve consensus with respect to cross

contract ranking due to disagreement on

certain policy issues and that in the

opinion of the Executive Committee no

further progress can be made. GISB

further reported that its Executive

Committee approved standards for title

transfer tracking, but that these

standards are awaiting the development

of the technical standards for

information requirements and technical

mapping.