27526 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 96 /Tuesday, May 19, 1998 / Proposed Rules

1Order No. 497, 53 FR 22139 (June 14, 1988),

FERC Stats. & Regs. 1986–1990 ¶ 30,820 (1988);

Order No. 497–A, order on rehearing, 54 FR 52781

(December 22, 1989), FERC Stats. & Regs. 1986–

1990 ¶ 30,868 (1989); Order No. 497–B, order

extending sunset date, 55 FR 53291 (December 28,

1990), FERC Stats. & Regs. 1986–1990 ¶ 30,908

(1990); Order No. 497–C, order extending sunset

date, 57 FR 9 (January 2, 1992), FERC Stats. & Regs.

1991–1996 ¶ 30,934 (1991), rehearing denied, 57 FR

5815 (February 18, 1992), 58 FERC ¶ 61,139 (1992);

Tenneco Gas v. FERC (affirmed in part and

remanded in part), 969 F.2d 1187 (D.C. Cir. 1992);

Order No. 497–D, order on remand and extending

sunset date, FERC Stats. & Regs. 1991–1996

¶ 30,958 (December 4, 1992), 57 FR 58978

(December 14, 1992); Order No. 497–E, order on

rehearing and extending sunset date, 59 FR 243

(January 4, 1994), 65 FERC ¶ 61,381 (December 23,

1993); Order No. 497–F, order denying rehearing

and granting clarification, 59 FR 15336 (April 1,

1994), 66 FERC ¶61,347 (March 24, 1994); and

Order No. 497–G, order extending sunset date, 59

FR 32884 (June 27, 1994), FERC Stats. & Regs.

1991–1996 ¶ 30,996 (June 17, 1994).

2Standards of Conduct and Reporting

Requirements for Transportation and Affiliate

Transactions, Order No. 566, 59 FR 32885 (June 27,

1994), FERC Stats. & Regs. 1991–1996 ¶ 30,997

(June 17, 1994); Order No. 566–A, order on

rehearing, 59 FR 52896 (October 20, 1994), 69 FERC

¶ 61,044 (October 14, 1994); Order No. 566–B, order

on rehearing, 59 FR 65707 (December 21, 1994), 69

FERC ¶ 61,334 (December 14, 1994).

3 18 CFR 161.3 (1997).

4 18 CFR 161.3(h)(2) and 250.16 (1997).

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

18 CFR Part 161

[Docket No. RM98–7–000]

Reporting Interstate Natural Gas

Pipeline Marketing Affiliates on the

Internet

May 13, 1998.

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

SUMMARY: The Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission (Commission) is

proposing to amend its Standards of

Conduct regulations to require that

interstate natural gas pipelines identify

the names and addresses of their

marketing affiliates on their web sites on

the Internet and update the information

within three business days of any

change. Pipelines would also be

required to state the dates the

information was last updated.

DATES: Written comments must be

received by the Commission by June 19,

1998.

ADDRESSES: File comments with the

Office of the Secretary, Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission, 888 First

Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20426.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Stuart Fischer, Office of General

Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission 888 First Street, NE.,

Washington, DC 20426. Telephone:

(202) 208–1033.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In

addition to publishing the full text of

this document in the Federal Register,

the Commission also provides all

interested persons an opportunity to

inspect or copy the contents of this

document during normal business hours

in the Public Reference Room at 888

First Street, NE., Room 2A, Washington,

DC 20426.

The Commission Issuance Posting

System (CIPS) provides access to the

texts of formal documents issued by the

Commission. CIPS can be accessed via

Internet through FERC’s Homepage

(http://www.ferc.fed.us) using the CIPS

Link or the Energy Information Online

icon. The full text of this document will

be available on CIPS in ASCII and

WordPerfect 6.1 format. CIPS is also

available through the Commission’s

electronic bulletin board service at no

charge to the user and may be accessed

using a personal computer with a

modem by dialing 202–208–1397, if

dialing locally, or 1–800–856–3920, if

dialing long distance. To access CIPS,

set your communications software to

19200, 14400, 12000, 9600, 7200, 4800,

2400, or 1200 bps, full duplex, no

parity, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit. User

assistance is available at 202–208–2474

or by E-mail to

CipsMaster@FERC.fed.us.

This document is also available

through the Commission’s Records and

Information Management System

(RIMS), an electronic storage and

retrieval system of documents submitted

to and issued by the Commission after

November 16, 1981. Documents from

November 1995 to the present can be

viewed and printed. RIMS is available

in the Public Reference Room or

remotely via Internet through FERC’s

Homepage using the RIMS link or the

Energy Information Online icon. User

assistance is available at 202-208–2222,

or by E-mail to

RimsMaster@FERC.fed.us.

Finally, the complete text on diskette

in WordPerfect format may be

purchased from the Commission’s copy

contractor, La Dorn System Corporation.

La Dorn Systems Corporation is located

in the Public Reference Room at 888

First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

May 13, 1998.

The Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission (Commission) is proposing

to amend its regulations in Part 161.3 to

require that interstate natural gas

pipelines identify the names and

addresses of their marketing affiliates on

their web sites on the Internet. By doing

so, the Commission will make it easier

for the public to identify each interstate

gas pipeline’s current marketing

affiliates. The Commission believes that

the new regulation is necessary to

further assist its oversight efforts as well

as to permit shippers to effectively

monitor transportation transactions

between pipelines and their affiliated

marketers.

I. Background

The Commission, in Order Nos. 497 et

seq. 1 and Order Nos. 566 et seq. 2

established rules intended to prevent

interstate natural gas pipelines from

providing preferential treatment to their

marketing or brokering affiliates.

Specifically, the Commission adopted

Standards of Conduct (codified at Part

161 of the Commission’s regulations) 3

and reporting requirements (codified in

sections 161.3(h)(2) and 250.16).4

The Standards of Conduct govern the

relationships between pipelines and

their marketing affiliates. In general,

they provide that pipelines and their

marketing affiliates must function

independently of each other. Pipelines

cannot favor their marketing affiliates in

providing transportation services or in

providing transportation information or

transportation discounts not available to

non-affiliates.

Currently, there is no requirement in

the Commission’s regulations for

pipelines to report the names of their

marketing affiliates or changes in the

status of marketing affiliates through, for

example, acquisitions of new affiliates,

or divestitures, consolidations, or name

changes of prior affiliates. While

pipelines are required to list all of their

affiliated entities, including marketing

entities, in their annual Form No. 2

filings, annual data cannot keep abreast

of changes, and the Form No. 2 does not

require pipelines to identify which

entities are ‘‘marketing’’ or ‘‘brokering’’
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 96 /Tuesday, May 19, 1998 / Proposed Rules 27527

5 18 CFR 161.2(c) (1997).

6 In El Paso Natural Gas Pipeline Company, 79

FERC ¶ 61,086 (1997) (El Paso), the pipeline stated

that it had revised its standards of conduct three

times in the previous year to reflect changes to

corporate structure or names of marketing affiliates

and believed that such filings were unnecessary.

The Commission ruled that El Paso did not have to

revise its standards of conduct each time the

identity of a marketing affiliate changed. More

recently, in Texas Gas Transmission Corp., 83 FERC

¶ 61,048 (1998) (Texas Gas), the Commission

accepted a pipeline’s request to delete the names of

its marketing affiliates from its standards of

conduct. In El Paso, the pipeline stated that the

names of its marketing affiliates were publicly

available through the capacity allocation log on its

electronic bulletin board. In Texas Gas, the pipeline

stated that it would post on its electronic bulletin

board a list of its marketing affiliates.

7Standards 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). In Order No. 587–G, the Commission

issued regulations requiring that pipelines conduct

all transportation transactions over the Internet,

rather than over electronic bulletin boards, by June

1, 1999. 63 FR 20072 (April 23, 1998).

8 Id. (to be codified at 18 CFR 284.10).

9Recent examples include Natural Gas Pipeline

Company of America’s merger with KN Energy, and

El Paso Natural Gas Company’s merger with

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company and its affiliated

pipelines.

10 5 U.S.C. 601–612 (1996).

11Order No. 486, Regulations Implementing the

National Environmental Policy Act, 52 FR 47897

(Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Statutes and Regulations,

Regulations Preambles 1986–1990 ¶ 30,783 (1987).

12 18 CFR 380.4 (1997).

13 18 CFR 380.4(a)(5) (1997).

14 18 CFR 380.4(a)(27) (1997).

affiliates as defined under section

161.2(c) of the Commission’s

regulations.5

Despite the absence of a specific

regulatory requirement to identify

marketing affiliates, several pipelines

have identified the names of their

marketing affiliates in their tariffs and/

or standards of conduct and filed

updates whenever there were changes in

identity. However, two pipelines

recently decided to stop listing the

names of their marketing affiliates in

their standards of conduct because of

the administrative burden of filing the

information.6 As discussed below, by

requiring the affiliate information to be

posted on the Internet, pipelines will be

able to provide up-to-date information

with minimal administrative burden.

II. Proposed Changes to Regulations

The Commission proposes to add

section 161.3(l), which would require

pipelines to post on their web sites on

the Internet, the names and addresses of

their marketing affiliates and to update

this information within three business

days of any change. A pipeline would

also be required to state the date the

information was last updated. In Order

No. 587 et seq., the Commission began

phasing out the use of electronic

bulletin boards in favor of posting

information on pipeline web sites on the

Internet.7 The standards for Internet

posting are set out in section 284.10 of

the Commission’s regulations, as

amended in Order No. 587–G.8

III. Discussion

The Commission believes that the

new regulation is necessary to further

assist its oversight efforts as well as to

enable the public to monitor pipelineaffiliate transactions. It is important for

the public and the Commission to have

an updated picture of the pipelines’

marketing affiliates to determine if

pipelines are complying with the

regulatory requirements. Marketing

affiliations change rapidly in today’s

business climate. In El Paso and Texas

Gas, the pipelines stated that they had

made three changes to the lists of their

marketing affiliates in the previous year.

Moreover, the recent trend of mergers of

large pipelines makes it imperative to

determine which marketing entities are

affiliated with which pipelines.9 The

proposed requirements would ensure

that the Commission and the public can

identify pipelines’ marketing affiliates.

To minimize the burden on pipelines

and the Commission’s administrative

resources, we propose that each

pipeline post the names and addresses

of its marketing affiliates on the

pipeline’s web site on the Internet. In

this way, the burden on pipelines would

be slight, as pipelines already are

required to have web sites under Order

No. 587–C and would only have to add

the affiliate information.

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act

Certification

The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980

(RFA) 10 generally requires a description

and analysis of rules that will have

significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

Pursuant to section 605(b) of the RFA,

the Commission hereby certifies that the

regulations proposed herein will not

have a significant adverse impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

The proposed rules will benefit small

entities by making it easier for small

customers to monitor pipelines’

transactions with their marketing

affiliates.

V. Environmental Analysis

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.11 The Commission has

categorically excluded certain actions

from these requirements as not having a

significant effect on the human

environment.12 This proposed rule falls

within the categorical exclusion which

specifies that information gathering,

analysis, and dissemination are not

major federal actions that have a

significant effect on the human

environment.13 The proposed rule also

falls under the categorical exclusion for

rules concerning the sale, exchange, and

transportation of natural gas that

requires no construction of facilities.14

Thus, neither an environmental impact

statement nor an environmental

assessment is required.

VI. Information Collection Statement

The following collection of

information contained in this proposed

rule has been submitted to the Office of

Management and Budget for review

under Section 3507(d) of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C.

3507(d). Comments are solicited 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.

Estimated Annual Burden:

Data collection No. of respondents

No. of responsesHours per responseTotal annual

hours

FERC–592 ........................................................................................................ 74 1 5 370
27528 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 96 /Tuesday, May 19, 1998 / Proposed Rules

Total Annual Hours for Collection

(Reporting + Recordkeeping, (if

appropriate))=370.

Information Collection costs: The

Commission seeks comments on the

costs to comply with these

requirements. It has projected the

average annualized cost per respondent

to be the following:

Annualized Capital/Startup

Costs ..................................... ....................

Annualized Costs (Operations

& Maintenance) ..................... $19,492

Total Annualized Costs .. $19,492

All pipelines are currently required to

maintain web sites and so the

Commission estimates that the burden

to post the information will be minimal

once it has been assembled.

The Office of Management and

Budget’s (OMB’s) regulations require

OMB to approve certain information

collection requirements imposed by

agency rule. The Commission is

submitting notification of this proposed

rule to OMB.

Title: FERC–592, Marketing Affiliates

of Interstate Pipelines.

Action: Proposed collections.

OMB Control No: 1902–0157.

Respondents: Business or other for

profit, including small business.

Frequency of Responses: On occasion.

Necessity of the information: The

proposed rule revises the requirements

contained in 18 CFR 161.3. Pipelines

will be required to post their affiliates’

names and addresses on the Internet,

update this information within three

business days of whenever a change

takes place, and state the date the

information was last updated. These

proposed revisions will not change the

format of what is currently reported to

the Commission. However, the revisions

of § 161.3 will require additional

information that must be posted on the

Internet.

The posting of affiliate information on

the Internet meets the Commission’s

need for access to up-to-date

information to monitor selfimplementing activities of the pipelines

to ensure that transportation services are

being carried out in non-discriminatory

manner and can also respond to the

increased pace of changes in the energy

marketplace without unduly burdening

market participants. The information is

maintained by natural gas pipeline

companies involved in transactions

with marketing affiliates and their

functional equivalents. The Commission

through its monitoring activities,

collects and analyzes data for use in

making decisions. The monitoring

activities focus on areas affecting

competition such as: preferential

treatment to affiliates; crosssubsidization and cost shifting between

customers and affiliates; fair access to

information; unfair activities and

noncompliance with the Commission’s

regulations.

Additionally, the information is also

used by nonaffiliated shippers or others

(such as state commissions) to

determine whether they have been

harmed by affiliate preference and, in

some cases, to prepare evidence for

formal proceedings following the filing

of a complaint.

These data are required to carry out

the Commission’s policies in

accordance with the general authority in

Sections 311, 501, and 504 of the

Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (NGPA)

(15 U.S.C. 3301–3432) and Sections 4, 5,

7, 8, 10, 14, 16 and 20 of the Natural Gas

Act (NGA) (15 U.S.C. 717–717w). The

information required is mandatory.

Internal Review: The Commission has

reviewed the requirements pertaining to

the standards of conduct for interstate

natural gas pipeline companies and

their marketing affiliates or brokering

companies and determined that the

proposed revisions are necessary to

ensure nondiscriminatory access to the

national pipeline grid through the

investigation of complaints and

allegations of abuses. Requiring such

information assists the Commission to

protect customers from excessive

transportation rates and service

discrimination. As pipelines are

permitted to implement more

nontraditional forms of pricing and

service, the Commission will monitor

the industry to ensure the pipelines are

not being preferential or unduly

discriminatory, charging unjust and

unreasonable rates, or providing

services that are inadequate or

undesirable.

These requirements conform to the

Commission’s plan for efficient

information collection, communication,

and management through the

advancement of information technology

within the natural gas industry. 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 requirement.

Interested persons may obtain

information on the reporting

requirements by contacting the

following: Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, 88 First Street, NE,

Washington, DC 20426 [Attention:

Michael Miller, Division of Information

Services, Phone: (202) 208–1415, fax:

(202) 273–0873,

email:michael.miller@ferc.fed.us]

For submitting comments concerning

the collection of information(s) and the

associated burden estimate(s), please

send your comments 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)

395–3087, fax: (202) 395–7285]

VII. Comment Procedures

The Commission invites interested

persons to submit written comments or

other information concerning this

proposed rulemaking. All comments in

response to this notice must be filed

with the Office of the Secretary, Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888

First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426,

and should refer to Docket No. RM98–

7–000. An original and fourteen (14)

copies of such comments should be

filed with the Commission on or before

June 18, 1998. All comments will be

placed in the Commission’s public files

and will be available for inspection in

the Commission’s public reference room

at 888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC,

20426, during business hours.

Additionally, comments can be viewed

and printed remotely via the Internet

through FERC’s Homepage using the

RIMS link or the Energy Information

Online icon. User assistance is available

at 202–208–2222, or by E-mail to

RimsMaster@FERC.fed.us.

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 161

Natural gas, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

By direction of the Commission.

Commissioner Massey concurred with a

separate statement attached.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,

Acting Secretary.

In consideration of the foregoing, the

Commission proposes to amend Part

161, Chapter I, Title 18 of the Code of

Federal Regulations, as set forth below.

PART 161—STANDARDS OF

CONDUCT FOR INTERSTATE

PIPELINES WITH MARKETING

AFFILIATES

1. The authority citation for Part 161

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 717–717w, 3301–

3432; 42 U.S.C. 7101–7352.

2. In Section 161.3, paragraph (l) is

added to read as follows:

§ 161.3 Standards of conduct.

* * * * *
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 96 /Tuesday, May 19, 1998 / Proposed Rules 27529

1 18 CFR 37.4(a)(2) (1997).

2 18 CFR 161.3(h)(2) (1997).

3Wisconsin Electric Power Company, 80 FERC

¶ 62,215 (1997).

(1) A pipeline must post the names

and addresses of its marketing affiliates

on its web site on the public Internet

and update the information within three

business days of any change. A pipeline

must also state the date the information

was last updated. Postings must

conform with the requirements of

§ 284.10 of this chapter.

(Issued May 13, 1998)

MASSEY, Commissioner, concurring:

The general proposal in today’s

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking has my

full support. A requirement that

pipelines report on their Internet

websites the names of their marketing

affiliates or changes in the status of their

marketing affiliates is necessary to

provide the Commission and the

industry with information that may

otherwise be unavailable in today’s

rapidly changing market environment.

The proposal raises one question,

however, which I believe should be

pursued further. Is the proposed

requirement that pipelines update

information about their affiliates within

three business days of a change in status

sufficient to meet the needs of the

Commission and the industry at large?

I would prefer a requirement for

reporting within 24 hours, and want to

make three points related to this issue.

First, the NOPR offers no justification

for the three day time period. Second,

it is widely known that with today’s

technology, updating information of this

nature on a pipeline website is not

burdensome. Therefore, the ability to

add vital information in a shorter time

frame would not be problematic.

Finally, the Commission has required

companies in the other industries we

regulate to make similar updates in a 24-

hour time period. For example, the

Commission’s regulations require

electric transmission providers to report

to the Commission and on the OASIS

each emergency that results in any

deviation from the Commission’s

standards of conduct within 24 hours of

the deviation.1 Pipelines are required to

post discounts given to their affiliates

within 24 hours of the time at which gas

first flows.2 Hydroelectric power

licensees have agreed to reporting

deviations from state water quality

standards within 24 hours.3 As the

industry contemplates the

Commission’s proposal, I would

welcome comment on this issue.

William L. Massey,

Commissioner.

[FR Doc. 98–13293 Filed 5–18–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

18 CFR Part 385

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission.

[Docket No. PL98–1–000]

Public Access to Information and

Electronic Filing; Request For

Comments and Notice of Intent to Hold

technical Conference

May 13, 1998.

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Request for Comments for

Notice of Intent to Hold Technical

Conference.

SUMMARY: The Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission (Commission)

intends to develop a comprehensive

information management system that

accepts filings and disseminates

information electronically. The

Commission seeks public comment to

determine the best way to implement its

electronic filing initiative. After

reviewing the comments, the

Commission intends to hold a technical

conference to discuss its

implementation process.

DATES: Comments are due June 30, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to: Office of

the Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, 888 First Street, N.E.,

Washington, D.C. 20426.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Brooks Carter, Office of the Chief

Information Officer, Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission, 888 First

Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426,

(202) 501–8145.

Carolyn Van Der Jagt, Office of the

General Counsel, Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission, 888 First

Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20426,

(202) 208–2246.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In

addition to publishing the full text of

this document in the Federal Register,

the Commission also provides all

interested persons an opportunity to

inspect or copy the contents of this

document during normal business hours

in the Public Reference Room at 888

First Street, NE, Room 2A, Washington,

DC 20426.

The Commission Issuance Posting

System (CIPS) provides access to the

texts of formal documents issued by the

Commission. CIPS can be accessed via

Internet through FERC’s Homepage

(http://www.ferc.fed.us) using the CIPS

Link or the Energy Information Online

icon. The full text of this document will

be available on CIPS in ASCII and

WordPerfect 6.1 format. CIPS is also

available through the Commission’s

electronic bulletin board service at no

charge to the user and may be accessed

using a personal computer with a

modem by dialing 202–208–1397, if

dialing locally, or 1–800–856–3920, if

dialing long distance. To access CIPS,

set your communications software to

19200, 14400, 12000, 9600, 7200, 4800,

2400, or 1200 bps, full duplex, no

parity, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit. User

assistance is available at 202–208–2474

or by E-mail to

CipsMaster@FERC.fed.us.

This document is also available

through the Commission’s Records and

Information Management System

(RIMS), an electronic storage and

retrieval system of documents submitted

to and issued by the Commission after

November 16, 1981. Documents from

November 1995 to the present can be

viewed and printed. RIMS is available

in the Public Reference Room or

remotely via Internet through FERC’s

Homepage using the RIMS link or the

Energy Information Online icon. User

assistance is available at 202–208–2222,

or by E-mail to

RimsMaster@FERC.fed.us.

Finally, the complete text on diskette

in WorkPerfect format may be

purchased from the Commission’s copy

contractor, La Dorn System Corporation.

La Dorn Systems Corporation is located

in the Public Reference Room at 888

First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.

I. Introduction

The growing availability and use of

electronic media and the increasing

competitiveness of the natural gas, oil,

and electric industries are compelling

the Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission (Commission) to manage

its information resources more

strategically. Advances in information

technology (IT) permit the filing and

dissemination of information at a faster

rate and more cost-effectively than the

traditional paper distribution methods.

The Commission’s ultimate goal is to

improve its use of IT to reduce

regulatory burdens, cut processing

times, simplify filing processes, and

generate better information for use by its

staff, regulated industries, and the

public. The Commission views its

efforts to implement a system for

electronic filing and dissemination of

information as a large and complex

undertaking. It believes that certain