Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2005 / Proposed Rules 319

1Order No. 2004, 68 FR 69134 (Dec. 11, 2003), 

III FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles ¶

31,155 (Nov. 25, 2003); Order No. 2004–A, 69 FR 

23562 (Apr. 29, 2004), III FERC Stats. & Regs. 

Regulations Preambles ¶ 31,161 (Apr. 16, 2004); 

Order No. 2004–B, 69 FR 48371 (Aug. 10, 2004) III 

FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations and Preambles ¶

31,166 (Aug. 2, 2004).

Corrective Actions and Repetitive 

Inspections (Cracking Found) 

(g) If any crack is found during any 

inspection required by paragraph (f) of this 

AD, do paragraph (g)(1) or (g)(2) of this AD. 

(1) If the crack is less than or equal to 1.2 

inches long: Before further flight, stop-drill 

the crack and apply sealants, in accordance 

with the Accomplishment Instructions of 

Airbus Service Bulletin A330–54–3021, 

including Appendix 01, dated February 4, 

2004, or do paragraph (h) of this AD. If the 

crack is stop-drilled and sealants applied, 

then repeat the inspection required by 

paragraph (f) of this AD at intervals not to 

exceed 500 flight hours, and do paragraph 

(g)(1)(i) or (g)(1)(ii) of this AD, as applicable. 

(i) During the repeat inspections required 

by paragraph (g)(1) of this AD, if the existing 

crack does not extend to be longer than 1.2 

inches, and no additional crack is found: 

Within 4,600 flight cycles after the crack is 

initially found, do paragraph (h) of this AD. 

(ii) During any repeat inspection required 

by paragraph (g)(1) of this AD, if any crack 

that was previously less than or equal to 1.2 

inches long is found to have extended to be 

greater than 1.2 inches long; or if an 

additional crack is found: Before further 

flight, do paragraph (h) of this AD. 

(2) If any crack is found that is greater than 

1.2 inches long: Before further flight, do 

paragraph (h) of this AD.

Note 3: This AD does not allow continued 

flight with a known crack that is greater than 

1.2 inches long.

Repair or Replacement of Firewall 

(h) If any crack is found: At the applicable 

time specified in paragraph (g) of this AD, 

repair the LAPF firewall or replace the LAPF 

firewall with a new firewall, as applicable, in 

accordance with the Accomplishment 

Instructions of Airbus Service Bulletin A330–

54–3021, including Appendix 01, dated 

February 4, 2004. Then, within 3,000 flight 

hours after replacement of the LAPF firewall, 

inspect the firewall in accordance with 

paragraph (f) of this AD.

Note 4: There is no terminating action at 

this time for the inspections required by this 

AD.

Reporting Requirement 

(i) If any crack is found during any 

inspection required by this AD: Submit a 

report of the findings to Airbus, Department 

AI/SE–E5, 1 Rond Point Maurice Bellonte, 

31707 Blagnac Cedex, France. Submit the 

report at the applicable time specified in 

paragraph (i)(1) or (i)(2) of this AD. The 

report must include the inspection results, a 

description of any discrepancies found, the 

airplane serial number, and the number of 

landings and flight hours on the airplane. 

Submitting Appendix 01 of Airbus Service 

Bulletin A330–54–3021, dated February 4, 

2004, is an acceptable means of 

accomplishing this requirement. Under the 

provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) has 

approved the information collection 

requirements contained in this AD and has 

assigned OMB Control Number 2120–0056. 

(1) If the inspection was done after the 

effective date of this AD: Submit the report 

within 30 days after the inspection. 

(2) If the inspection was done before the 

effective date of this AD: Submit the report 

within 30 days after the effective date of this 

AD. 

Alternative Methods of Compliance 

(AMOCs) 

(j) The Manager, International Branch, 

ANM–116, Transport Airplane Directorate, 

FAA, has the authority to approve AMOCs 

for this AD, if requested in accordance with 

the procedures found in 14 CFR 39.19. 

Related Information 

(k) French airworthiness directive F–2004–

028 R1, dated September 15, 2004, also 

addresses the subject of this AD.

Issued in Renton, Washington, on 

December 27, 2004. 

Kevin M. Mullin, 

Acting Manager, Transport Airplane 

Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service.

[FR Doc. 05–50 Filed 1–3–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

18 CFR Part 284 

[Docket Nos. RM96–1–026 and RM96–1–

015] 

Standards for Business Practices of 

Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines 

December 21, 2004.

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

and termination order. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission is proposing to 

amend in Docket No. RM96–1–026 its 

regulations governing standards for 

conducting business practices with 

interstate natural gas pipelines. The 

Commission is proposing to incorporate 

by reference the most recent version of 

the standards, Version 1.7, promulgated 

December 31, 2003, by the Wholesale 

Gas Quadrant (WGQ) of the North 

American Energy Standards Board 

(NAESB); the standards ratified by 

NAESB on June 25, 2004, to implement 

Order No. 2004, and the standards 

implementing gas quality reporting 

requirements ratified by NAESB on 

October 20, 2004. These standards can 

be obtained from NAESB at 1301 

Fannin, Suite 2350, Houston, TX 77002, 

713–356–0060, http://www.naesb.org.

The Commission is also terminating a 

rulemaking, instituted by a Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking in Docket No. 

RM96–1–015, issued on June 30, 2000, 

which examined whether the 

Commission should require pipelines to 

permit shippers to designate and rank 

the contracts under which gas flows on 

their systems.

DATES: Comments in Docket No. RM96–

1–026 are due February 18, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be filed 

electronically via the eFiling link on the 

Commission’s Web site at http://

www.ferc.gov. Commenters unable to 

file comments electronically must send 

an original and 14 copies of their 

comments to: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, Office of the Secretary, 

888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 

20426. Refer to Comment Procedures 

Section of the preamble for additional 

information on how to file comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jamie Chabinsky, Office of the General 

Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20426. 202–502–

6040. 

Marvin Rosenberg, Office of Markets, 

Tariffs, and Rates, Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, 888 First 

Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. 

202–502–8292. 

Kay Morice, Office of Markets, Tariffs, 

and Rates, Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20426. 202–502–

6507.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. The Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission (Commission) proposes in 

Docket No. RM96–1–026 to amend 

§ 284.12 of its open access regulations 

governing standards for conducting 

business practices and electronic 

communications with interstate natural 

gas pipelines. The Commission is 

proposing to adopt the most recent 

version, Version 1.7, of the consensus 

standards promulgated by the 

Wholesale Gas Quadrant (WGQ) of the 

North American Energy Standards 

Board (NAESB). The Commission is also 

proposing to adopt the standards 

ratified by NAESB on June 25, 2004, to 

implement Order No. 2004 1 and the 

standards to implement gas quality 

reporting requirements ratified by 

NAESB on October 20, 2004, in 

Recommendation R03035A, which 

NAESB intends to include in its next 

320 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2005 / Proposed Rules 

2Standards For Business Practices Of Interstate 

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

(July 26, 1996), FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations 

Preambles [July 1996-December 2000] ¶ 31,038 

(July 17, 1996), Order No. 587–B, 62 FR 5521 (Feb. 

6, 1997), FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles 

[July 1996-December 2000] ¶ 31,046 (Jan. 30, 1997), 

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

FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles [July 

1996-December 2000] ¶ 31,050 (Mar. 4, 1997), 

Order No. 587–G, 63 FR 20072 (Apr. 23, 1998), 

FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles [July 

1996-December 2000] ¶ 31,062 (Apr. 16, 1998), 

Order No. 587–H, 63 FR 39509 (July 23, 1998), 

FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles [July 

1996-December 2000] ¶ 31,063 (July 15, 1998); 

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

Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles [July 1996-

December 2000] ¶ 31,067 (Sept. 29, 1998), Order 

No. 587–K, 64 FR 17276 (Apr. 9, 1999), FERC Stats. 

& Regs. Regulations Preambles [July 1996-December 

2000] ¶ 31,072 (Apr. 2, 1999); Order No. 587–M, 65 

FR 77285 (Dec. 11, 2000), FERC Stats. & Regs. 

Regulations Preambles [July 1996-December 2000] ¶

31,114 (Dec. 11, 2000); Order No. 587–N, 67 FR 

11906 (Mar. 18, 2002), III FERC Stats. & Regs. 

Regulations Preambles ¶ 31,125 (Mar. 11, 2002), 

Order No. 587–O, 67 FR 30788 (May 8, 2002), III 

FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles ¶ 31,129 

(May 1, 2002); Order No. 587–R, 68 FR 13813 (Mar. 

21, 2003), III FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations 

Preambles ¶ 31,141 (Mar. 12, 2003).

3Order No. 587–R, 68 FR 13813 (Mar. 21, 2003), 

III FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles ¶

31,141 (Mar. 12, 2003).

4Standards 0.3.3 through 0.3.10, 5.3.59 and 

5.3.60.

5Creditworthiness Standards for Interstate 

Natural Gas Pipeline, Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (NOPR), 69 FR 8587 (Feb. 25, 2004), IV 

FERC Stats. & Regs. Proposed Regulations ¶ 32,573 

(Feb. 12, 2004).

6The standards ratified June 25, 2004 modified 

Definition 4.2.1 and Standards 4.3.16, 4.3.18, 

4.3.22, 4.3.23, 4.3.25 and deleted Standards 4.3.6, 

4.3.19, 4.3.21 and 4.3.63. They added Principle 

0.1.z1 and deleted Principle 4.1.25.

7The standards ratified October 20, 2004 

modified Standard 4.3.23 and added Principle 

4.1.p1 and Standards 4.3.s1, 4.3.s2, 4.3.s3, and 

4.3.s4.

8 In Version 1.7 of its standards, the NAESB WGQ 

added a new implementation guide entitled 

‘‘Additional Standards,’’ which contains general or 

topic specific standards. Previously these standards 

were included in each of five original 

implementation guides: Nominations, Flowing Gas, 

Invoicing, Electronic Delivery Mechanism, and 

Capacity Release.

9Pursuant to the regulations regarding 

incorporation by reference, copies of Version 1.7 are 

available from NAESB. 5 U.S.C. 552 (a)(1); 1 CFR 

51 (2001).

10 In Version 1.7 the NAESB WGQ made the 

following changes to its standards, excluding the 

creditworthiness standards. It revised Standards 

1.3.32, 2.3.21, 4.3.1, 4.3.2, 5.3.2, 5.3.7, 5.3.41, and 

5.3.42, and Datasets 1.4.1 through 1.4.7, 2.4.1 

through 2.4.16, 3.4.1 through 3.4.4, and 5.4.1 

through 5.4.22. It added Principles 1.1.22, 2.1.6, 

5.1.2, 5.1.3, and 5.1.4, Definitions 2.2.4, 2.2.5 and 

5.2.3, and Standards 0.3.2, 2.3.51 through 2.3.64, 

and 5.3.44 through 5.3.58. It deleted Principles 

1.1.6, 1.1.8, 1.1.19, and 4.1.14, and Standards 

1.3.78, 2.3.24, 2.3.36 through 2.3.39, and 5.3.6.

version of standards (Version 1.8). The 

proposed rule is intended to benefit the 

public by adopting the most recent and 

up-to-date standards governing business 

practices and electronic 

communication. The Commission is 

also terminating a rulemaking instituted 

by a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

issued in Docket No. RM96–1–015 on 

June 30, 2000 (65 FR 41885), which 

examined whether the Commission 

should require pipelines to permit 

shippers to designate and rank the 

contracts under which gas flows on 

their systems.

Background 

2. Since 1996, in the Order No. 587 

series,2 the Commission has adopted 

regulations to standardize the business 

practices and communication 

methodologies of interstate pipelines in 

order to create a more integrated and 

efficient pipeline grid. In this series of 

orders, the Commission incorporated by 

reference consensus standards 

developed by the WGQ (formerly the 

Gas Industry Standards Board or GISB), 

a private consensus standards developer 

composed of members from all segments 

of the natural gas industry.

3. NAESB is an accredited standards 

organization under the auspices of the 

American National Standards Institute 

(ANSI). 

4. On April 14, 2004 NAESB filed 

with the Commission a report informing 

the Commission that the WGQ had 

adopted a new version of its standards, 

Version 1.7. NAESB reports that Version 

1.7 includes standards for partial day 

recalls which were requested in Order 

No. 587–N. The Commission previously 

incorporated these standards by 

reference in Order No. 587–R.3 Version 

1.7 also contains ten standards 

regarding creditworthiness 4 which the 

Commission proposed to adopt in a 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) 

in Docket No. RM04–4–000.5 Version 

1.7 contains revisions that more 

accurately reflect the workings of the 

market including the definition of 

transaction types, charge types, Service 

Codes, and Reduction Reason Codes. 

Other revisions update standards that 

contained outmoded references, make 

the naming conventions more uniform, 

and permit use of proprietary entity 

codes when D–U–N–S numbers are 

not available. In addition, the Version 

1.7 standards update the treatment of 

allocations as well as requests for 

information on scheduled quantities, 

allocations, and shipper imbalances. 

Finally, NAESB reports that the WGQ 

continues work on requests for new and 

revised business practices, information 

requirements, code value assignments, 

technical implementation and mapping 

or interpretations.

5. On August 6, 2004, NAESB filed 

with the Commission a report informing 

the Commission that on June 25, 2004 

the WGQ membership ratified a package 

of modifications to the Version 1.7 

standards to implement Order No. 2004 

(2004 Annual Plan Item 2 FERC Order 

2004).6 These standards modify the 

Informational Posting requirements for 

pipeline Web sites to reflect the 

information required to be posted 

pursuant to Order No. 2004 and will be 

included as part of Version 1.8.

6. On October 1, 2004, NAESB filed 

a report with the Commission informing 

the Commission that errata to Version 

1.7 of the NAESB WGQ standards were 

adopted by the Executive Committee on 

August 26, 2004 and, following a 

member comment period, the errata 

would be applied to Version 1.7 on 

October 15, 2004. The errata contain 

minor corrections which remove the 

table of code values for Bidder Affiliate 

from Standard 5.4.13 and correct the 

Transaction Status Code data element in 

the Code Values Dictionary of Standard 

1.4.2.

7. On November 1, 2004, NAESB filed 

a report with the Commission informing 

the Commission that on October 20, 

2004 the WGQ membership ratified 

standards to implement gas quality 

reporting requirements 

(Recommendation R03035A).7 These 

standards require a pipeline to provide 

a link on its Informational Posting Web 

Site to its gas quality tariff provisions, 

or a simple reference guide to such 

information. In addition, a pipeline is 

required to provide on its Informational 

Postings Web site, in a downloadable 

format, daily average gas quality 

information for prior day(s) to the extent 

available for locations(s) that are 

representative of mainline gas flow for 

the most recent three-month period.

Discussion 

8. The Commission is proposing to 

adopt Version 1.7 of the NAESB WGQ’s 

consensus standards;8 the standards to 

implement Order No. 2004 ratified by 

NAESB on June 25, 2004 (2004 Annual 

Plan Item 2 FERC Order 2004); and the 

standards governing gas quality 

reporting ratified by NAESB on October 

20, 2004 (Recommendation R03035A).9

Pipelines would be required to 

implement the standards three months 

after a final rule is issued. Because the 

Version 1.7 standards include the 

partial day recall standards adopted by 

the Commission in Order No. 587–R, 

separate reference to these standards is 

no longer necessary and is proposed to 

be removed.

9. Adoption of Version 1.710 of the 

NAESB WGQ standards will help 

continue the process of updating and 

improving the current standards. In 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2005 / Proposed Rules 321

11 18 CFR 358.5(b)(4). It may be that this 

information is intended to be posted under the 

‘‘Non-discrimination Rqmts.’’ category, but there is 

no specific subcategory dealing with voluntary 

consent information.

12See Cinergy Oasis, http://oasis.midwestiso.org/

OASIS/CIN; National Grid Oasis Log, http://

www.nationalgridus.com/OASIS/keydocs.asp; 

Entergy FERC Order No. 2004 Standards of 

Conduct, http://oasis.e-terrasolutions.com/

documents/EES/

Order_2004_Standards_of_Conduct.htm; Peco 

FERC Standards of Conduct, http://oasis.peco.com; 

ANR Pipeline Co., http://tebb.elpaso.com/ebbANR/

ebbmain.asp?sPipelineCode=ANR; Blue Lake Gas 

Storage Company, http://www.gasnom.com/ip/

bluelake/; Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp., 

http://www.1line.williams.com/Files/Transco/

TranscoInfoPostingFrameset.html; CenterPoint 

Energy Gas Transmission Company, http://

pipelines.centerpointenergy.com/ebb-mainngt.html.

13This process first requires a super-majority vote 

of 17 out of 25 members of the WGQ’s Executive 

Committee with support from at least two members 

from each of the five industry segments—interstate 

pipelines, local distribution companies, gas 

producers, end-users, and services (including 

marketers and computer service providers). For 

final approval, 67% of the WGQ’s general 

membership must ratify the standards.

14Pub L. 104–113, ‘‘12(d), 110 Stat. 775 (1996), 

15 U.S.C. 272 note (1997).

15Standards For Business Practices Of Interstate 

Natural Gas Pipelines, Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking, 65 FR 41885 (July 7, 2000), IV FERC 

Stats. & Regs. Proposed Regulations ¶ 32,552 (June 

30, 2000). The Commission has issued a final rule 

regarding the other proposed regulatory changes in 

the NOPR. Standards For Business Practices Of 

Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines, Order No. 587–M, 

65 FR 77285 (Dec. 11, 2000), FERC Stats. & Regs. 

Regulations Preambles [July 1996–December 2000] 

¶ 31,114 (Nov. 30, 2000).

adopting the Version 1.7 standards, the 

Commission is proposing to adopt the 

new ‘‘Additional Standards’’

implementation guide that contains 

standards generally applicable to all the 

business processes. This section 

includes the creditworthiness standards 

that have already been noticed for 

comment in Docket No. RM04–4–000. 

The Commission will address the 

comments filed on these standards prior 

to issuing a final rule, and, therefore, 

there is no need to file comments on 

these standards in this proceeding. The 

Additional Standards also include 

standards governing the use of common 

codes to identify entities in transactions.

10. The NAESB standards with 

respect to the Order No. 2004 affiliate 

standards establish uniform posting 

requirements for the Commission 

requirements. The NAESB standards, 

however, were developed prior to the 

issuance of Order No. 2004–A, and 

Revised Standard 4.3.23 does not 

specify a location for posting voluntary 

consent to information disclosure by 

non-affiliated customers as required by 

§ 358 of the Commission regulations.11

Electric utilities and pipelines have 

been posting this information as a 

separate category from other nondiscrimination requirements.12 Posting 

this information as a separate category 

represents a better practice, since it will 

make it easier for the Commission as 

well as other parties to find and access 

this information, and the Commission 

expects all electric utilities and 

pipelines to follow this practice. Since 

requiring a separate posting is not 

inconsistent with the NAESB standard, 

the Commission is proposing to 

incorporate the NAESB standard by 

reference. We expect that in future 

versions of its standards, NAESB will 

reflect such a requirement.

11. The Commission recognizes that 

the NAESB Wholesale Electric Quadrant 

is also working on posting standards, 

and NAESB should ensure that the 

standards relating to Order No. 2004 

postings are as similar as possible across 

the industries. This will ensure that 

locating information is as seamless as 

possible for the Commission and 

common users of these Web sites. 

12. The Commission is also proposing 

to adopt the NAESB standards related to 

gas quality in WGQ Recommendation 

R03035A. These standards require a 

pipeline to provide a link on its 

Informational Posting Web site to its gas 

quality tariff provisions, or a simple 

reference guide to such information. In 

addition, a pipeline is required to 

provide on its Informational Postings 

Web site, in a downloadable format, 

daily average gas quality information for 

prior day(s) to the extent available for 

locations(s) that are representative of 

mainline gas flow for the most recent 

three-month period. Adoption of these 

standards will provide greater 

transparency to shippers with respect to 

the gas quality requirements of 

interstate pipelines and available 

information on gas quality on such 

pipelines’ systems.

13. The NAESB WGQ approved the 

standards under NAESB’s consensus 

procedures.13 As the Commission found 

in Order No. 587, adoption of consensus 

standards is appropriate because the 

consensus process helps ensure the 

reasonableness of the standards by 

requiring that the standards draw 

support from a broad spectrum of all 

segments of the industry. Moreover, 

since the industry itself has to conduct 

business under these standards, the 

Commission’s regulations should reflect 

those standards that have the widest 

possible support. In section 12(d) of the 

National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act of 1995 (NTT&AA), 

Congress affirmatively requires federal 

agencies to use technical standards 

developed by voluntary consensus 

standards organizations, like NAESB, as 

means to carry out policy objectives or 

activities.14

14. Additionally, the Commission is 

terminating a separate rulemaking 

(proposed in Docket No. RM96–1–015). 

On June 30, 2000, the Commission 

issued a NOPR proposing, along with 

other matters, to adopt a regulation 

requiring pipelines to permit shippers to 

designate and rank the transportation 

contracts under which gas will flow on 

the pipeline’s system.15 The WGQ 

standards currently require pipelines to 

use shipper ‘‘rankings when making 

reductions during the scheduling 

process’’ (Standard 1.3.23), but the 

WGQ could not reach consensus on a 

standard for cross-contract ranking that 

would apply to all three pipeline 

scheduling models. The comments and 

the information provided during the 

technical conference did not reveal a 

method of accomplishing cross-contract 

ranking that would provide improved 

and more consistent results than the 

current standards. Accordingly, the 

Commission is terminating the 

rulemaking in Docket No. RM96–1–015.

Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus 

Standards 

15. Office of Management and Budget 

Circular A–119 (§ 11) (February 10, 

1998) provides that Federal Agencies 

should publish a request for comment in 

a NOPR when the agency is seeking to 

issue or revise a regulation proposing to 

adopt a voluntary consensus standard or 

a government-unique standard. In this 

NOPR, the Commission is proposing to 

incorporate by reference voluntary 

consensus standards developed by the 

WGQ. 

Information Collection Statement 

16. The following collections of 

information contained in this proposed 

rule have been submitted to the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review under Section 3507(d) of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 

U.S.C. 3507(d). The Commission solicits 

comments 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. The following 

burden estimate includes the costs to 

implement the NAESB WGQ’s Version 

1.7 standards as modified by the 

standards ratified by NAESB on June 25, 

2004 and October 20, 2004, which 

incorporate the most recent and up-toVerDate jul<14>2003 15:58 Jan 03, 2005 Jkt 205001 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\04JAP1.SGM 04JAP1
322 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2005 / Proposed Rules 

16 5 CFR 1320.11.

17 44 U.S.C. 3504 note, Pub. L. 105–277, 1701, 

112 Stat. 2681–749 (1998).

18Order No. 486, Regulations Implementing the 

National Environmental Policy Act, 52 FR 47897 

(Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations 

Preambles 1986–1990 ¶ 30,783 (1987).

19 18 CFR 380.4 (2004).

20See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii), 380.4(a)(5), 

380.4(a)(27) (2004).

21 5 U.S.C. 601–612 (2000).

date standards governing electronic 

communication. The burden estimates 

are primarily related to start-up to 

implement the latest version of the 

standards and will not result in ongoing costs.

Data collection Number of

respondents 

Number of

responses per

respondent 

Hours per

response 

Total Number of 

hours 

FERC–545 ............................................................................................... 93 1 38 3,534 

FERC–549C ............................................................................................. 93 1 2,614 243,102 

Total Annual Hours for Collection 

(Reporting and Recordkeeping, (if 

appropriate)) = 246,636.

17. Information Collection Costs: The 

Commission seeks comments on the 

costs to comply with these 

requirements. It has projected the 

average annualized cost for all 

respondents to be the following:

FERC–549C FERC–545 

Annualized Capital/Startup Costs ........................................................................................................................ $12,691,327 $184,495 

Annualized Costs (Operations & Maintenance) .................................................................................................. 0 0 

Total Annualized Costs ................................................................................................................................ 12,691,327 184,495 

Total Cost for all Respondents = 

$12,875,722. 

18. OMB regulations 16 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–545, Gas Pipeline Rates: 

Rates Change (Non-Formal); FERC–

549C, Standards for Business Practices 

of Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines. 

Action: Proposed collections. 

OMB Control Nos.: 1902–0154, 1902–

0174. 

Respondents: Business or other for 

profit, (Interstate natural gas pipelines 

(Not applicable to small business)). 

Frequency of Responses: One-time 

implementation (business procedures, 

capital/start-up). 

Necessity of Information: This 

proposed rule, if implemented, would 

upgrade the Commission’s current 

business practice and communication 

standards to the latest edition approved 

by the NAESB WGQ (Version 1.7). The 

implementation of these standards is 

necessary to increase the efficiency of 

the pipeline grid and is consistent with 

the mandate that agencies provide for 

electronic disclosure of information.17

19. The information collection 

requirements of this proposed rule will 

be reported directly to the industry 

users. The implementation of these data 

requirements will help the Commission 

carry out its responsibilities under the 

Natural Gas Act to monitor activities of 

the natural gas industry to ensure its 

competitiveness and to assure the 

improved efficiency of the industry’s 

operations. The Commission’s Office of 

Markets, Tariffs and Rates will use the 

data in rate proceedings to review rate 

and tariff changes by natural gas 

companies for the transportation of gas, 

for general industry oversight, and to 

supplement the documentation used 

during the Commission’s audit process. 

20. Internal Review: The Commission 

has reviewed the requirements 

pertaining to business practices and 

electronic communication with natural 

gas interstate pipelines and made a 

determination that the proposed 

revisions are necessary to establish a 

more efficient and integrated pipeline 

grid. Requiring such information 

ensures both a common means of 

communication and common business 

practices which provide participants 

engaged in transactions with interstate 

pipelines with timely information and 

uniform business procedures across 

multiple pipelines. These requirements 

conform to the Commission’s plan for 

efficient information collection, 

communication, and management 

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 estimates associated with the 

information requirements.

21. Interested persons may obtain 

information on the reporting 

requirements by contacting the 

following: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20426. (Attention: 

Michael Miller, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer, phone: (202) 502–

8415, fax: (202) 273–0873 e-mail: 

michael.miller@ferc.gov.) 

22. Comments concerning the 

collection of information(s) and the 

associated burden estimate(s), should be 

sent 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) 395–7856, fax: (202) 395–7285). 

Environmental Analysis 

23. 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.18 The Commission has 

categorically excluded certain actions 

from these requirements as not having a 

significant effect on the human 

environment.19 The actions proposed 

here fall within categorical exclusions 

in the Commission’s regulations for 

rules that are clarifying, corrective, or 

procedural, for information gathering, 

analysis, and dissemination, and for 

sales, exchange, and transportation of 

natural gas that requires no construction 

of facilities.20 Therefore, an 

environmental assessment is 

unnecessary and has not been prepared 

in this NOPR.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification 

24. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 

1980 (RFA)21 generally requires a 

description and analysis of final rules 

that will have significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The regulations proposed here 

impose requirements only on interstate 

pipelines, the majority of which are not 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2005 / Proposed Rules 323

22Commenters may request their comments in 

Docket No. RM04–4–000 to be incorporated by 

reference into this docket.

small businesses, and would not have a 

significant economic impact. These 

requirements are, in fact, designed to 

benefit all customers, including small 

businesses. Accordingly, 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.

Comment Procedures 

25. The Commission invites interested 

persons to submit written comments on 

the matters and issues proposed in this 

notice to be adopted, including any 

related matters or alternative proposals 

that commenters may wish to discuss.22

Comments are due February 18, 2005. 

Comments must refer to Docket No. 

RM96–1–026, and must include the 

commenter’s name, the organization 

they represent, if applicable, and their 

address. Comments may be filed either 

in electronic or paper format.

26. Comments may be filed 

electronically via the eFiling link on the 

Commission’s Web site at http://

www.ferc.gov. The Commission accepts 

most standard word processing formats 

and commenters may attach additional 

files with supporting information in 

certain other file formats. Commenters 

filing electronically do not need to make 

a paper filing. Commenters that are not 

able to file comments electronically 

must send an original and 14 copies of 

their comments to: Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, Office of the 

Secretary, 888 First Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20426. For paper 

filings, the original and 14 copies of 

such comments should be submitted to 

the Office of the Secretary, Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 

First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. 

27. All comments will be placed in 

the Commission’s public files and may 

be viewed, printed, or downloaded 

remotely as described in the Document 

Availability section below. Commenters 

on this proposal are not required to 

serve copies of their comments on other 

commenters. 

Document Availability 

28. In addition to publishing the full 

text of this document in the Federal 

Register, the Commission provides all 

interested persons an opportunity to 

view and/or print the contents of this 

document via the Internet through 

FERC’s home page (http://www.ferc.gov) 

and in FERC’s Public Reference Room 

during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. 

to 5 p.m. eastern time) at 888 First 

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

20426. 

29. From FERC’s home page on the 

Internet, this information is available in 

eLibrary. The full text of this document 

is available in eLibrary both in PDF and 

Microsoft Word format for viewing, 

printing, and/or downloading. To access 

this document in eLibrary, type the 

docket number excluding the last three 

digits of this document in the docket 

number field.

30. User assistance is available for 

eLibrary and the FERC’s Web site during 

our normal business hours. For 

assistance contact FERC Online Support 

at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or tollfree at (866) 208–3676, or for TTY, 

contact (202) 502–8659.

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 284 

Continental shelf, Incorporation by 

reference, Natural gas, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements.

By direction of the Commission. 

Linda Mitry, 

Deputy Secretary.

In consideration of the foregoing, the 

Commission proposes to amend part 

284, Chapter I, Title 18, Code of Federal 

Regulations, as follows:

PART 284—CERTAIN SALES AND 

TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS 

UNDER THE NATURAL GAS POLICY 

ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED 

AUTHORITIES 

1. The authority citation for part 284 

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 717–717w, 3301–

3432; 42 U.S.C. 7101–7352; 43 U.S.C. 1331–

1356.

2. Section 284.12 is amended by 

revising paragraphs (a)(1)(i) through (v) 

and adding a new paragraph (a)(1)(vi) to 

read as follows:

§ 284.12 Standards for pipeline business 

operations and communications. 

(a) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(i) Additional Standards (General 

Standards and Creditworthiness 

Standards) (Version 1.7, December 31, 

2003); 

(ii) Nominations Related Standards 

(Version 1.7, December 31, 2003, 

including errata, October 15, 2004); 

(iii) Flowing Gas Related Standards 

(Version 1.7, December 31, 2003); 

(iv) Invoicing Related Standards 

(Version 1.7, December 31, 2003); 

(v) Electronic Delivery Mechanism 

Related Standards (Version 1.7, 

December 31, 2003) with the exception 

of Standard 4.3.4, and including the 

standards contained in 2004 Annual 

Plan Item 2 (June 25, 2004) (Order No. 

2004 standards), and the standards 

contained in Recommendation R03035A 

(October 20, 2004) gas quality reporting; 

and 

(vi) Capacity Release Related 

Standards (Version 1.7, December 31, 

2003, including errata, October 15, 

2004).

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 05–17 Filed 1–3–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 93 

[OAR–2003–0049, FRL–7857–2] 

Options for PM2.5 and PM10 Hot-Spot 

Analyses in the Transportation 

Conformity Rule Amendments for the 

New PM2.5 and Existing PM10 National 

Ambient Air Quality Standards; 

Extension of Comment Period

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Supplemental notice of 

proposed rule; extension of comment 

period. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency is extending the comment 

period for the supplemental proposal 

that included additional options for 

assessing localized impacts of 

individual transportation projects in 

particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) 

nonattainment and maintenance areas 

and requested comment on all options 

proposed. The supplemental notice of 

proposed rulemaking was published in 

the Federal Register on December 13, 

2004 (69 FR 72140). EPA is extending 

the comment period for the proposed 

rule to January 27, 2005.

DATES: Written comments on this 

supplemental proposal (69 FR 72140) 

must be received on or before January 

27, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. OAR–2003–

0049 by one of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Agency Web site: http://

www.epa.gov/edocket. EDOCKET, EPA’s 

electronic public docket and comment 

system, is EPA’s preferred method for 

receiving comments. Follow the on-line 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• E-mail: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov.

• Fax: 202–566–1741. 

• Mail: Air Docket, Environmental 

Protection Agency, Mailcode: 6102T,