[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 87 (Friday, May 3, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 19878-19880]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-11048]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 346

[Docket No. RM96-10-000]


Oil Pipeline Cost-of-Service Filing Requirements; Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking

April 29, 1996.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission).

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes 
to revise Part 346 of its regulations to make the cost-of-service 
filing requirements of that Part applicable to the Trans-Alaska 
Pipeline System (TAPS) carriers and carriers delivering oil directly or 
indirectly to TAPS. These carriers were inadvertently excluded from the 
streamlined procedural rules in Part 346 required by the Energy Policy 
Act of 1992.

DATES: Comments are due on or before June 3, 1996.


[[Page 19879]]


ADDRESSES: An original and 14 copies of written comments on this 
proposed rule must be filed in Docket No. RM96-10-000. All filings 
should refer to Docket No. RM96-10-000 and should be addressed to: 
Office of the Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jacob Silverman, Office of the General 
Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, Telephone: (202) 208-2078.

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 Room 2-A, 888 First 
Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20426.
    The Commission Issuance Posting System (CIPS), an electronic 
bulletin board service, provides access to the texts of formal 
documents issued by the Commission. CIPS is available 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 1200bps, full duplex, no 
parity, 8 data bits, and 1 stop bit. The full text of this document 
will be available on CIPS indefinitely in ASCII and WordPerfect 5.1 
format for one year. The complete text on diskette in WordPerfect 
format may also be purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, La 
Dorn Systems Corporation, also located in Room 2-A, 888 First Street, 
N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426.
    The Commission's bulletin board system can also be accessed through 
the FedWorld system directly by modem or through the Internet. To 
access the FedWorld system by modem: Dial (703) 321-3339 and logon to 
the FedWorld system.
<bullet> After logging on, type: /go FERC
    To access the FedWorld system, through the Internet:

<bullet> Telnet to: fedworld.gov
<bullet> Select the option: [1] FedWorld
<bullet> Logon to the FedWorld system
<bullet> Type: /go FERC

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes to 
revise Part 346 of its regulations to make the cost-of-service filing 
requirements of that Part applicable to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline 
System (TAPS) carriers and carriers delivering oil directly or 
indirectly to TAPS.

I. Background

    Order No. 561 <SUP>1 was issued on October 22, 1993, to comply with 
the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (Act of 1992),<SUP>2 which required the 
Commission to establish a simplified and generally applicable 
ratemaking methodology for oil pipelines and to streamline its 
procedures relating to oil pipeline rates. The Act of 1992 excluded 
TAPS, and any pipeline delivering oil directly or indirectly to TAPS, 
from its provisions for ratemaking purposes. Thus, Order No. 561 stated 
that TAPS and the other excluded pipelines would continue to be 
governed by their existing rate methodologies,<SUP>3 but also would be 
subject to the Commission's new procedural rules. Thereafter, on 
October 28, 1994, as a companion to Order No. 561, the Commission 
issued Order No. 571, establishing in Part 346 of its regulations cost-
of-service filing requirements for oil pipelines.<SUP>4 These 
procedural requirements include all the information necessary to 
support a rate filing under the Opinion No. 154-B methodology. However, 
the existing provisions of Part 346 do not apply to TAPS or its feeder 
lines.<SUP>5
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    \1\ Revisions to Oil Pipeline Regulations Pursuant to the Energy 
Policy Act of 1992, Order No. 561, FERC Statutes & Regulations para. 
30,985 (1993); Order on Rehearing, Order No. 561-A, FERC Statutes & 
Regulations para. 31,000 (1994); 58 FR 58778, Nov. 4, 1993.
    \2\ 42 U.S.C. 7172 note (West Supp. 1993).
    \3\ TAPS and the excluded pipelines would continue to justify 
their rates either in accordance with an applicable settlement 
methodology such as, for example, the TAPS Settlement Methodology, 
or under the Opinion No. 154-B cost-of-service methodology.
    \4\ Cost-of-Service Reporting and Filing Requirements for Oil 
Pipelines, FERC Statutes & Regulations 31,006 (1994).
    \5\ See, Milne Point Pipeline Company, 75 FERC para. 61,050 
(1996).
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II. Public Reporting Burden

    The Commission estimates the public reporting burden for the 
collection of information under the proposed rule will remain unchanged 
for rate filings, since what the Commission proposes to codify as the 
information to be provided is that which the Commission's staff 
routinely has requested of oil pipelines for cost-of-service rate 
filings in the past. The information will be collected on FERC-550, 
``Oil Pipeline Rates: Tariff Filings.'' <SUP>6 This estimate includes 
the time for reviewing instructions, researching existing data sources, 
gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing 
the collection of information. The current annual reporting burden 
associated with this information collection requirement was described 
in Order No. 571 and included the burden attributable to all oil 
pipelines, including TAPS and its feeder lines, as follows: FERC-550: 
5,350 hours, 535 responses, and 140 respondents.
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    \6\ FERC-550 is the designation covering oil pipeline tariff 
filings made to the Commission.
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    Comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this 
collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this 
burden, can be sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20426 [Attention: Michael Miller, 
Information Services Division, (202) 208-1415]; and to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB (Attention: Desk Officer for 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), FAX: (202) 395-5167.

III. Discussion

    It has always been the Commission's intent to exclude TAPS and its 
feeder lines only from the simplified ratemaking methodology adopted in 
Order No. 561, not from the streamlined procedural rules required by 
the Act of 1992. Thus, the Commission stated in Order No. 561: <SUP>7

    \7\ FERC Statutes & Regulations para. 30,985 at 30,961.
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    For ratemaking purposes, TAPS and those excluded pipelines [the 
TAPS feeder lines] will continue to be regulated under the 
ratemaking standards that are currently in effect. However, it is 
the Commission's judgment that such exclusion [of TAPS and its 
feeder lines from the provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 1992] 
was intended to apply only to the simplified and generally 
applicable rate methodology, not to the procedural rules that the 
Act of 1992 required the Commission to consider. Otherwise, the 
Commission would be required to enforce one set of procedural rules 
for TAPS and excluded pipelines and another for all other pipelines 
under its jurisdiction under the ICA. This would not be consistent 
with Congress' intent for the Commission to streamline its 
procedures for oil pipelines.

    Likewise, the Commission meant the procedural rules of Part 346 to 
apply to TAPS and its feeder lines, but Order No. 571 neglected to 
include them. This is the interpretation that is consistent with the 
mandate of the Act of 1992 that the Commission streamline its 
procedures in order to avoid unnecessary regulatory costs and delays, 
and with the Commission's explicit desire to enforce one set of 
procedural rules for all pipelines. However, Part 346 of the 
regulations governing oil pipeline filing requirements inadvertently 
excluded TAPS and its feeder pipelines.

[[Page 19880]]

Accordingly, the Commission proposes to amend Part 346 to apply to TAPS 
and its feeder lines. Thus, the TAPS carriers and the TAPS feeder lines 
will be required to comply with the cost-of-service filing requirements 
of Part 346 when they seek to establish rates under the Opinion No. 
154-B methodology. These requirements are no more than a codification 
of the information that these carriers now must provide routinely in 
response to the Commission staff's requests for information to support 
their cost-of-service rate filings, and, thus, should not create any 
additional burden for carriers making cost-of-service filings. 
Carriers' including cost-of service supporting information with their 
initial filings instead of filing it at a time later in the regulatory 
process also will satisfy the requirement of the Act of 1992 to avoid 
unnecessary regulatory costs and delays.

IV. 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.\8\ The Commission 
has categorically excluded certain actions from these requirements as 
not having a significant effect on the human environment.\9\ The action 
proposed here is procedural in nature and therefore falls within the 
categorical exclusions provided in the Commission's regulations.\10\ 
Therefore, neither an environmental impact statement nor an 
environmental assessment is necessary and will not be prepared in this 
rulemaking.
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    \8\ Order No. 486, Regulations Implementing the National 
Environmental Policy Act, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Statutes 
and Regulations (Regulations Preambles 1986-1990) para. 30,783 
(1987).
    \9\ 18 CFR 380.4.
    \10\ See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii).
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V. Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act \11\ generally requires the 
Commission to describe the impact that a proposed rule would have on 
small entities or to certify that the rule will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. An analysis 
is not required if a proposed rule will not have such an impact.\12\
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    \11\ 5 U.S.C. 601-612.
    \12\ 5 U.S.C. 605(b).
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    Pursuant to section 605(b), the Commission certifies that the 
proposed rules and amendments, if promulgated, will not have a 
significant adverse economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities.

VI. Information Collection Requirements

    Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations require OMB to 
approve certain information collection requirements imposed by an 
agency. \13\ The information collection requirements in this proposed 
rule are contained in FERC-550 ``Oil Pipeline Rates: Tariff filings'' 
(1902-0089).
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    \13\ 5 CFR 1320.11.
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    The Commission's Office of Pipeline Regulation uses the data 
collected in these information requirements to investigate the rates 
charged by oil pipeline companies subject to its jurisdiction, to 
determine the reasonableness of rates, and when appropriate prescribe 
just and reasonable rates.
    The revisions in the proposed rule will not change the reporting 
requirements of FERC-550. This rule therefore is not subject to OMB 
review. Nevertheless, the Commission is submitting a copy of the 
proposed rule to OMB for informational purposes. Interested persons may 
obtain information on these reporting requirements by contacting the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., 
Washington, DC 20426 [Attention: Michael Miller, Information Services 
Division, (202) 208-1415]. Comments on the requirements of this rule 
can be sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB 
(Attention: Desk Officer for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), 
FAX: (202) 395-5167.

VII. Comment Procedures

    Copies of this notice of proposed rulemaking can be obtained from 
the Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, Room 2-A, 888 First 
Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426. Any person desiring to file 
comments should submit an original and fourteen (14) copies of such 
comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, 
N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426, not later than June 3, 1996.
    All written comments will be placed in the Commission's public 
files and will be available for public inspection in the Commission's 
public reference room at 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20426, 
during regular business hours.

List of Subjects

18 CFR Part 346

    Pipelines, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    By direction of the Commission.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.

    In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission gives notice of 
its proposal to amend Part 346, Chapter I, Title 18, Code of Federal 
Regulations, as set forth below.

PART 346--OIL PIPELINE COST-OF-SERVICE FILING REQUIREMENTS

    1. The authority citation for Part 346 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7101-7352; 49 U.S.C. 60502; 49 App. U.S.C. 
1-85.

    2. Sections 346.1 introductory text and 346.2 introductory text are 
proposed to be revised as follows:


Sec. 346.1  Content of filing for cost-of-service rates.

    A carrier that seeks to establish rates pursuant to Sec. 342.2(a) 
of this chapter, or a carrier that seeks to change rates pursuant to 
Sec. 342.4(a) of this chapter, or a carrier that otherwise seeks to 
establish or change rates by filing cost, revenue, and throughput data 
supporting such rates, must file:
* * * * *


Sec. 346.2  Materials in support of initial rates or change in rates.

    A carrier that files for rates pursuant to Sec. 342.2(a) or 
Sec. 342.4(a) of this chapter, or a carrier that otherwise files to 
establish or change rates by filing cost, revenue, and throughput data 
supporting such rates, must file the following statements, schedules, 
and supporting workpapers. The statement, schedules, and workpapers 
must be based upon an appropriate test period.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 96-11048 Filed 5-2-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P