54550 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 203 / Thursday, October 22, 2009 / Notices 

2Broadband Data Improvement Act, Pub. Law No. 

110–385, 122 Stat. 4096, section 106(b) (2008). The 

Secretary delegated his authority to meet the 

obligations of section 106 of the BDIA to the 

Assistant Secretary for Communications and 

Information on April 9, 2009. 

3Recovery Act, section 6001(l), 123 Stat. at 516. 

1The acronym ‘‘NWP’’ indicates the Northwest 

Pipeline. 

goals of the Administration, NTIA is 

working with the Federal 

Communications Commission (FCC), 

the Department of Agriculture’s Rural 

Utilities Service (RUS), and other 

stakeholders to develop and implement 

economic and regulatory policies that 

foster broadband Internet access 

deployment and adoption. Current and 

detailed data on broadband Internet use 

and access by U.S. households is critical 

to allow policymakers not only to gauge 

progress made to date, but to identify 

problem areas. 

The purpose of the public meeting is 

to provide information to the research 

community regarding the type and 

availability of broadband data that may 

be made publicly available for use by 

the research community, and to hear 

from this research community with 

respect to their data needs. NTIA is 

authorized to conduct studies and 

evaluations concerning communications 

research and development and for 15 

years, has developed and analyzed 

Internet data (including more recently 

the high-speed variety). These activities 

have provided essential data for prudent 

policymaking in this area, including 

fueling the needs of the research 

community whose work could be 

invaluable inputs for sound policies. 

NTIA currently collects broadband 

related data from several sources. 

Pursuant to the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery 

Act) and the Broadband Data 

Improvement Act (BDIA), two 

broadband initiatives within NTIA, the 

Broadband Technology Opportunities 

Program (BTOP) and the State 

Broadband Data and Development Grant 

Program (State Broadband Data 

Program), are accumulating a variety of 

data.2 Under the State Broadband Data 

Program in particular, this includes data 

that will populate a comprehensive, 

interactive, and searchable nationwide 

inventory map of existing broadband 

service capability and availability in the 

United States that depicts the 

geographic extent to which broadband 

service capability is deployed, available, 

and adopted from a commercial or 

public provider throughout each State.3

In October 2009, the Census Bureau 

collected through the Current 

Population Survey (CPS) data based on 

questions that NTIA sponsored and 

developed to provide up-to-date 

information on the extent of U.S. 

broadband adoption and the major 

reasons why current non-users choose 

not to adopt. Data have been generated 

by several demographic and geographic 

categories and must be weighted and 

appropriately aggregated before release. 

Census periodically releases public use 

files containing the raw data collected. 

These various data may be made 

publicly available for use by the 

research community to conduct 

economic, financial, demographic, and 

other studies. Such release, however, 

may be limited by such Federal 

disclosure laws as the Freedom of 

Information Act and the Trade Secrets 

Act. 

Specific information regarding the 

status of and data from specific 

applications for the Broadband 

Technology Opportunities Program 

(BTOP) and the State Broadband Data 

and Development Grant Program (State 

Broadband Data Program) will not be 

discussed at the meeting. 

Matters to Be Considered: The 

meeting will include a discussion of the 

following topics: 

1. The types and frequency of 

broadband Internet access data that 

NTIA can compile through its ongoing 

programs and research that will be 

useful to the research community. For 

example, NTIA has categories of data 

from the BTOP and State Broadband 

Data Program and is gathering 

information through the next CPS that 

may be useful to the research 

community; 

2. The current sources of data 

available to the research community for 

research related to broadband Internet 

access; 

3. The economic, social, policy, or 

other areas that research related to 

broadband Internet access can inform; 

4. The emergent themes, trends, and 

new directions within the research 

community regarding broadband 

Internet access data; 

5. The data format preferred by 

researchers including those for 

distributing broadband-related data on 

the Web to promote maximum 

transparency for researchers and the 

interested public; and 

6. The legal requirements regarding 

the agency’s collection of and 

dissemination of data from third parties. 

Time and Date: The meeting will be 

held on October 30, 2009, from 1:00 

p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. 

The times and the agenda topics are 

subject to change. The meeting may be 

webcast. Please refer to NTIA’s web site, 

http://www.ntia.doc.gov, for the most 

up-to-date meeting agenda and webcast 

information. 

Place: The meeting will be held at the 

U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 

Constitution Avenue, NW, Room 4830, 

Washington, DC 20230. The meeting 

will be open to the public and press on 

a first-come, first-served basis. Space is 

limited. Attendees should bring a photo 

ID and arrive early to clear security. The 

public meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Individuals 

requiring accommodations, such as sign 

language interpretation or other 

ancillary aids, are asked to notify Mr. 

McConnaughey at (202) 482–1880 or 

JMcConnaughey@ntia.doc.gov, at least 

five (5) business days before the 

meeting. 

Dated: October 19, 2009. 

Kathy D. Smith, 

Chief Counsel, National Telecommunications 

and Information Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–25447 Filed 10–21–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–60–S 

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING 

COMMISSION 

Notice of Intent, Pursuant to the 

Authority in Section 2(h)(7) of the 

Commodity Exchange Act and 

Commission Rule 36.3(c)(3), To 

Undertake a Determination Whether 

the NWP Rockies Financial Basis 

Contract, Offered for Trading on the 

IntercontinentalExchange, Inc., 

Performs a Significant Price Discovery 

Function 

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of action and request for 

comment. 

SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission (‘‘CFTC’’ or 

‘‘Commission’’) is undertaking a review 

to determine whether the NWP 1

Rockies Financial Basis (‘‘NWR’’) 

contract, offered for trading on the 

IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (‘‘ICE’’), 

an exempt commercial market (‘‘ECM’’) 

under Sections 2(h)(3)–(5) of the 

Commodity Exchange Act (‘‘CEA’’ or the 

‘‘Act’’), performs a significant price 

discovery function. Authority for this 

action is found in section 2(h)(7) of the 

CEA and Commission rule 36.3(c) 

promulgated thereunder. In connection 

with this evaluation, the Commission 

invites comment from interested parties. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before November 6, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted by any of the following 

methods: 


dcolon on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 203 / Thursday, October 22, 2009 / Notices 54551 

2 74 FR 12178 (Mar. 23, 2009); these rules became 

effective on April 22, 2009. 

3The Commission may commence this process on 

its own initiative or on the basis of information 

provided to it by an ECM pursuant to the 

notification provisions of Commission rule 

36.3(c)(2). 4Where appropriate, the Commission may choose 

to interview market participants regarding their 

impressions of a particular contract. Further, while 

they may not provide direct evidentiary support 

with respect to a particular contract, the 

Commission may rely for background and context 

on resources such as its October 2007 Report on the 

Oversight of Trading on Regulated Futures 

Exchanges and Exempt Commercial Markets (‘‘ECM 

Study’’). http://www.cftc.gov/stellent/groups/ 

public/@newsroom/documents/file/pr5403- 

07_ecmreport.pdf. 

5 7 U.S.C. 2(h)(7)(C). 

• Follow the instructions for 

submitting comments. Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• E-mail: secretary@cftc.gov. Include 

NWP Rockies Financial Basis (NWR) 

Contract in the subject line of the 

message. 

• Fax: (202) 418–5521. 

• Mail: Send to David A. Stawick, 

Secretary, Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 

1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20581. 

• Courier: Same as mail above. 

All comments received will be posted 

without change to http:// 

www.CFTC.gov/. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gregory K. Price, Industry Economist, 

Division of Market Oversight, 

Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 

1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20581. Telephone: (202) 418–5515. 

Email: gprice@cftc.gov; or Susan 

Nathan, Senior Special Counsel, 

Division of Market Oversight, same 

address. Telephone: (202) 418–5133. 

E-mail: snathan@cftc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

On March 16, 2009, the CFTC 

promulgated final rules implementing 

provisions of the CFTC Reauthorization 

Act of 2008 (‘‘Reauthorization Act’’) 2

which subjects ECMs with significant 

price discovery contracts (‘‘SPDCs’’) to 

self-regulatory and reporting 

requirements, as well as certain 

Commission oversight authorities, with 

respect to those contracts. Among other 

things, these rules and rule amendments 

revise the information-submission 

requirements applicable to ECMs, 

establish procedures and standards by 

which the Commission will determine 

whether an ECM contract performs a 

significant price discovery function, and 

provide guidance with respect to 

compliance with nine statutory core 

principles applicable to ECMs with 

SPDCs. These rules became effective on 

April 22, 2009. 

In determining whether an ECM’s 

contract is or is not a SPDC, the 

Commission will evaluate the contract’s 

material liquidity, price linkage to other 

contracts, potential for arbitrage with 

other contracts traded on designated 

contract markets or derivatives 

transaction execution facilities, use of 

the ECM contract’s prices to execute or 

settle other transactions, and other 

factors. 

In order to facilitate the Commission’s 

identification of possible SPDCs, 

Commission rule 36.3(c)(2) requires that 

an ECM operating in reliance on section 

2(h)(3) promptly notify the Commission 

and provide supporting information or 

data concerning any contract: (i) that 

averaged five trades per day or more 

over the most recent calendar quarter; 

and (ii) (A) for which the ECM sells 

price information regarding the contract 

to market participants or industry 

publications; or (B) whose daily closing 

or settlement prices on 95 percent or 

more of the days in the most recent 

quarter were within 2.5 percent of the 

contemporaneously determined closing, 

settlement, or other daily price of 

another agreement. 

II. Determination of a SPDC 

A. The SPDC Determination Process 

Commission rule 36.3(c)(3) 

establishes the procedures by which the 

Commission makes and announces its 

determination on whether a specific 

ECM contract serves a significant price 

discovery function. Under those 

procedures, the Commission will 

publish a notice in the Federal Register 

that it intends to undertake a 

determination as to whether the 

specified agreement, contract, or 

transaction performs a significant price 

discovery function and to receive 

written data, views, and arguments 

relevant to its determination from the 

ECM and other interested persons.3

After prompt consideration of all 

relevant information,4 the Commission 

will, within a reasonable period of time 

after the close of the comment period, 

issue an order explaining its 

determination. Following the issuance 

of an order by the Commission that the 

ECM executes or trades an agreement, 

contract, or transaction that performs a 

significant price discovery function, the 

ECM must demonstrate, with respect to 

that agreement, contract, or transaction, 

compliance with the core principles 

under section 2(h)(7)(C) of the CEA 5

and the applicable provisions of Part 36. 

If the Commission’s order represents the 

first time it has determined that one of 

the ECM’s contracts performs a 

significant price discovery function, the 

ECM must submit a written 

demonstration of its compliance with 

the core principles within 90 calendar 

days of the date of the Commission’s 

order. For each subsequent 

determination by the Commission that 

the ECM has an additional SPDC, the 

ECM must submit a written 

demonstration of its compliance with 

the core principles within 30 calendar 

days of the Commission’s order. 

B. NWP Rockies Financial Basis 

Contract 

The NWR contract is cash settled 

based on the difference between the 

bidweek price index for a particular 

calendar month at the NWP, Rockies 

hub, as published by Platts in its Inside 

IFERC’s Gas Market Report, and the 

final settlement price of the New York 

Mercantile Exchange’s (NYMEX’s) 

physically-delivered Henry Hub natural 

gas futures contract for the same 

calendar month. The Platts bidweek 

price is computed from fixed-price, 

bilateral transactions executed during 

the last five business days of a given 

month, where the transactions specify 

the delivery of natural gas at the NWP, 

Rockies hub, during the following 

calendar month. The price index is 

computed as the volume-weighted 

average of the applicable natural gas 

transactions. Bidweek prices are 

published on the first business day of 

the month in which the gas flows. The 

size of the NWR contract is 2,500 

mmBtu, and the unit of trading is any 

multiple of 2,500 mmBtu. The NWR 

contract is listed for up to 120 calendar 

months commencing with the next 

calendar month. 

Based upon a required quarterly 

notification filed on July 27, 2009 

(mandatory under Rule 36.3(c)(2)), the 

ICE reported that, with respect to its 

NWR contract, the total number of 

trades was 3,013 in the second quarter 

of 2009, resulting in a daily average of 

47.1 trades. During the same period, the 

NWR contract had a total trading 

volume of 276,187 contracts and an 

average daily trading volume of 4,315.4 

contracts. Moreover, the open interest as 

of June 30, 2009, was 349,931 contracts. 

It appears that the NWR contract may 

satisfy the material liquidity, price 

linkage, and material price reference 

factors for SPDC determination. With 

respect to material liquidity, trading in 

the NWR contract averaged more than 

4,000 contracts on a daily basis, with 

nearly 50 separate transactions each 

day. In addition, the open interest in the 


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54552 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 203 / Thursday, October 22, 2009 / Notices 

6 17 CFR 36, Appendix A. 

7 44 U.S.C. 3507(d). 

8 7 U.S.C. 19(a). 

subject contract was substantial. In 

regard to price linkage, the final 

settlement of the NWR contract is based, 

in part, on the final settlement price of 

the NYMEX’s physically-delivered 

natural gas contract, where the NYMEX 

is registered with the Commission as a 

designated contract market (‘‘DCM’’). In 

regard to material price reference, while 

it did not specifically address the 

natural gas contracts under review, the 

ECM Study stated that, in general, 

market participants view the ICE as a 

price discovery market for certain 

natural gas contracts. Natural gas 

contracts based on actively-traded hubs 

are transacted on the ICE’s electronic 

trading platform, with the remainder 

being completed over-the-counter and 

potentially submitted for clearing by 

voice brokers. In addition, the ICE sells 

its price data to market participants in 

a number of different packages which 

vary in terms of the hubs covered, time 

periods, and whether the data are daily 

only or historical. For example, the ICE 

offers the ‘‘West Gas End of Day’’ and 

‘‘OTC Gas End of Day’’ data packages 

with access to all price data or just 12, 

24, 36, or 48 months of historical data. 

III. Request for Comment 

In evaluating whether an ECM’s 

agreement, contract, or transaction 

performs a significant price discovery 

function, section 2(h)(7) of the CEA 

directs the Commission to consider, as 

appropriate, four specific criteria: Price 

linkage, arbitrage, material price 

reference, and material liquidity. As it 

explained in Appendix A to the Part 36 

rules,6 the Commission, in making 

SPDC determinations, will apply and 

weigh each factor, as appropriate, to the 

specific contract and circumstances 

under consideration. 

As part of its evaluation, the 

Commission will consider the written 

data, views, and arguments from any 

ECM that lists the potential SPDC and 

from any other interested parties. 

Accordingly, the Commission requests 

comment on whether the ICE’s NWR 

contract performs a significant price 

discovery function. Commenters’ 

attention is directed particularly to 

Appendix A of the Commission’s Part 

36 rules for a detailed discussion of the 

factors relevant to a SPDC 

determination. The Commission notes 

that comments which analyze the 

contracts in terms of these factors will 

be especially helpful to the 

determination process. In order to 

determine the relevance of comments 

received, the Commission requests that 

commenters explain in what capacity 

are they knowledgeable about one or 

several of the subject contracts. 

IV. Related Matters 

A. Paperwork Reduction Act 

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(‘‘PRA’’) 7 imposes certain requirements 

on federal agencies, including the 

Commission, in connection with their 

conducting or sponsoring any collection 

of information, as defined by the PRA. 

Certain provisions of final Commission 

rule 36.3 impose new regulatory and 

reporting requirements on ECMs, 

resulting in information collection 

requirements within the meaning of the 

PRA; OMB previously has approved and 

assigned OMB control number 3038– 

0060 to this collection of information. 

B. Cost-Benefit Analysis 

Section 15(a) of the CEA 8 requires the 

Commission to consider the costs and 

benefits of its actions before issuing an 

order under the Act. By its terms, 

section 15(a) does not require the 

Commission to quantify the costs and 

benefits of such an order or to determine 

whether the benefits of such an order 

outweigh its costs; rather, it requires 

that the Commission ‘‘consider’’ the 

costs and benefits of its action. Section 

15(a) further specifies that the costs and 

benefits shall be evaluated in light of 

five broad areas of market and public 

concern: (1) Protection of market 

participants and the public; (2) 

efficiency, competitiveness, and 

financial integrity of futures markets; (3) 

price discovery; (4) sound risk 

management practices; and (5) other 

public interest considerations. 

The bulk of the costs imposed by the 

requirements of Commission Rule 36.3 

relate to significant and increased 

information-submission and reporting 

requirements adopted in response to the 

Reauthorization Act’s directive that the 

Commission take an active role in 

determining whether contracts listed by 

ECMs qualify as SPDCs. The enhanced 

requirements for ECMs will permit the 

Commission to acquire the information 

it needs to discharge its newlymandated responsibilities and to ensure 

that ECMs with SPDCs are identified as 

entities with the elevated status of 

registered entity under the CEA and are 

in compliance with the statutory terms 

of the core principles of section 

2(h)(7)(C) of the Act. The primary 

benefit to the public is to enable the 

Commission to discharge its statutory 

obligation to monitor for the presence of 

SPDCs and extend its oversight to the 

trading of SPDCs. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on October 14, 

2009 by the Commission. 

David A. Stawick, 

Secretary of the Commission. 

[FR Doc. E9–25239 Filed 10–21–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 

COMMISSION 

Establishment of a Public Consumer 

Product Safety Incident Database; 

Notice of Hearing 

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of public hearing. 

SUMMARY: The Consumer Product Safety 

Commission (Commission) will conduct 

a public hearing to receive views from 

all interested parties on Section 212 of 

the Consumer Product Safety 

Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), 

Establishment of a Public Consumer 

Product Safety Incident Database. 

Participation by members of the public 

is invited. Oral presentations 

concerning the Commission’s 

implementation of Section 212 of the 

Consumer Product Safety Improvement 

Act of 2008 (CPSIA), Establishment of a 

Public Consumer Product Safety 

Incident Database, will become part of 

the public record. 

DATES: The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. 

on November 10, 2009. Requests to 

make oral presentations and the written 

text of any oral presentations must be 

received by the Office of the Secretary 

not later than 5 p.m. Eastern Standard 

Time (EST) on November 3, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be in the 

Hearing Room, 4th Floor of the Bethesda 

Towers Building, 4330 East West 

Highway, Bethesda, Maryland 20814. 

Requests to make oral presentations can 

be made online at http://www.cpsc.gov/ 

cgibin/dbmeeting.aspx or, send an email, call, or write Todd A. Stevenson, 

Office of the Secretary, Consumer 

Product Safety Commission, 4330 East 

West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland 

20814; e-mail cpsc-os@cpsc.gov; 

telephone (301) 504–7923; facsimile 

(301) 504–0127 not later than 5 p.m. 

EST on November 3, 2009. Texts of oral 

presentations should be captioned 

‘‘Establishment of a Public Consumer 

Product Safety Incident Database’’ and 

sent by electronic mail (e-mail) to cpscos@cpsc.gov, or mailed or delivered to 

the Office of the Secretary, Consumer 

Product Safety Commission, 4330 East 

West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland 

20814, not later than 5 p.m. EST on 

November 3, 2009. 


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