Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 98 /Thursday, May 21, 1998 / Notices 27937

provided sufficient information upon

which to base a response, or for other

good cause.

II. Reduction and Waiver of Civil

Penalites for Small Entities

1. DOE offices shall consider on a

case-by-case basis whether to reduce or

waive an initial assessment of a civil

penalty against a small entity for

violation of a statutory or regulatory

requirement in accordance with the

policies that follow.

2. A small entity that has been

assessed a civil penalty by DOE shall

not be eligible for a reduction or waiver

of the penalty if any of the following

apply:

(a) The violation involves willful or

criminal conduct by the small entity;

(b) The small entity has not made a

good faith effort to comply with the law;

or

(c) The violation poses a serious

threat to health, safety, or the

environment.

3. Subject to the exclusions in

paragraph 2, DOE offices may consider

the following factors in deciding

whether to reduce or waive a civil

penalty against a small entity:

(a) The small entity’s history of legal

or regulatory violations;

(b) The degree of culpability of the

small entity when it committed the

violation;

(c) The extent to which the small

entity cooperated during the

investigation;

(d) The extent to which the small

entity engaged in subsequent corrective

actions to mitigate the effects of the

violation and prevent future violations;

(e) The extent to which the small

entity reasonably relied on misleading

or erroneous advice given by a DOE

employee;

(f) The ability of the small entity to

pay the civil penalty, in whole or in

part; and

(g) Any other relevant fact.

4. DOE offices should require a person

requesting the reduction or waiver of a

civil penalty under this policy to

establish that it meets the definition of

‘‘small entity’’ set forth in Section III of

this statement of policy.

5. This policy on reduction and

waiver of civil penalties for small

entities complements, and does not

supersede, the general statement of

enforcement policy in 10 CFR part 820,

appendix A, which applies to

enforcement of nuclear safety

requirements.

6. The Department reserves the right

to reduce or waive civil penalties in

appropriate individual circumstances

where it determines that a reduction or

waiver is permitted by law and

warranted by the public interest.

III. Definition of ‘‘Small Entity’’

For purposes of this policy, small

entity means a ‘‘small business,’’ ‘‘small

organization,’’ or ‘‘small governmental

jurisdiction’’ as defined by the

Regulatory Flexibility Act. 5 U.S.C. 601.

The Regulatory Flexibility Act

definitions are as follows:

(1) Small business has the same

meaning as the term ‘‘small business

concern’’ under section 3 of the Small

Business Act, unless (DOE), after

consultation with the Office of

Advocacy of the Small Business

Administration and after opportunity

for public comment, establishes one or

more definitions of such term which are

appropriate to the activities of (DOE)

and publishes such definition(s) in the

Federal Register;

(2) Small organization means any notfor-profit enterprise which is

independently owned and operated and

is not dominant in its field, unless

(DOE) establishes, after opportunity for

public comment, one or more

definitions of such term which are

appropriate to the activities of (DOE)

and publishes such definition(s) in the

Federal Register; and

(3) Small governmental jurisdiction

means governments of cities, counties,

towns, townships, villages, school

districts, or special districts, with a

population of less than fifty thousand,

unless (DOE) establishes, after

opportunity for public comment, one or

more definitions of such term which are

appropriate to the activities of (DOE)

and which are based on such factors as

location in rural or sparsely populated

areas or limited revenues due to the

population of such jurisdiction, and

publishes such definition(s) in the

Federal Register.

[FR Doc. 98–13587 Filed 5–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. CP98–530–000]

Equitrans, L.P.; Notice of Request

Under Blanket Authorization

May 15, 1998.

Take notice that on May 8, 1998,

Equitrans, L.P. (Equitrans), 3500 Park

Lane, Pittsburgh, PA 15275, filed in

Docket No. CP98–530–000, a request,

pursuant to Sections 157.205 and

157.211 of the Commission’s

Regulations under the Natural Gas Act

(18 CFR 157.205 and 157.211), for

authorization to install a tap, metering,

electronic flow measurement, and

appurtenant facilities for the delivery of

transportation gas to AFG Industries,

Inc. (AFG) in Flemington District,

Taylor County, West Virginia, under

Equitrans’ blanket certificate

authorization issued in Docket No.

CP83–508–000, pursuant to Section 7 of

the Natural Gas Act, all as more fully set

forth in the request which is on file with

the Commission and open to public

inspection.

Specifically, Equitrans seeks

authorization to install a tap connection

on its existing pipeline, Number GST–

902. Equitrans relates that it will have

a ten year firm transportation agreement

with AFG. Equitrans states that the

annual delivered volumes will be

approximately 1,642,000 Dth, with a

peak day volume of 5,000 Dth and a

daily contractual obligation of 4,300

Dth. Equitrans asserts that all volumes

delivered to AFG will be within

contractually permissible levels.

Equitrans states that this change is not

prohibited by an existing tariff and that

it has sufficient capacity to accomplish

the deliveries specified without

detriment or disadvantage to its other

customers. Equitrans estimates the cost

to construct the facilities at

approximately $127,200, a portion of

which will be reimbursed by AFG to

Equitrans. Equitrans has sent a copy of

this request to the West Virginia Public

Service Commission.

Any person or the Commission’s staff

may, within 45 days after issuance of

the instant notice by the Commission,

file with the Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, 888 First Street, NE,

Washington, DC 20426, pursuant to

Rule 214 of the Commission’s

Procedural Rules (18 CFR 385.214) a

motion to intervene or notice of

intervention and pursuant to Section

157.205 of the Regulations under the

Natural Gas Act (18 CFR 157.205) a

protest to the request. If no protest is

filed within the time allowed therefore,

the proposed activity shall be deemed to

be authorized effective the day after the

time allowed for filing a protest. If a

protest is filed and not withdrawn

within 30 days after the time allowed

for filing a protest, the instant request

shall be treated as an application for

authorization pursuant to Section 7 of

the Natural Gas Act.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–13495 Filed 5–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M