19878 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 87 / Friday, May 3, 1996 / Proposed Rules

(iv) Gross positions held in the

personal accounts or ‘‘controlled

accounts,’’ as defined in § 1.3(j), of any

person in the member’s immediate

family, unless such person is not a

dependent of the member and does not

reside at the member’s residence;

(v) Net positions held in ‘‘customer’’

accounts, as defined in § 1.17(b)(2), at

the member’s affiliated firm; and,

(vi) Gross position of any customer

who constitutes a significant portion of

business for the member or the

member’s affiliated firm.

(3) Abstention Decision.

(i) Prior to the start of any selfregulatory organization’s governing

board, disciplinary committee or

oversight panel deliberations or voting

on a matter, appropriate self-regulatory

organization staff shall:

(A) review the positions described in

paragraph (b)(2) of this section for each

member of such body based upon:

(1) The most recent large trader

reports and clearing records available to

the staff;

(2) Position information provided by

the member to the staff pursuant to

Paragraph (c) of this section; and,

(3) Any other source of position

information which is readily available

to the staff;

(B) Determine whether any such

member is subject to any of the

conditions listed in paragraphs (b)(1) or

(2) of this section; and,

(C) Direct any such member to abstain

from deliberations and voting on the

matter.

(ii) Whenever the staff of a selfregulatory organization makes an

abstention determination pursuant to

paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section, the

appropriate governing board,

disciplinary committee or oversight

panel shall include in the minutes or

records of its subsequent meeting the

following information regarding any

such determination:

(A) The names of all members who

attended the meeting in person or who

otherwise were present by electronic

means;

(B) The name of any member who

voluntarily recused himself from

deliberations and/or voting on a matter

and the reason for the recusal, if stated;

(C) The names of the individuals

reviewing the positions described in

paragraph (b)(2) of this section;

(D) A list referencing the position

information which was reviewed for

each member;

(E) The name of any member who was

directed to abstain from any

deliberations and voting on a matter and

the reason for the abstention;

(F) A description of the procedures

followed in making any determination

on abstentions from deliberations and

voting; and,

(G) In those instances when a

committee member is permitted to

deliberate but not vote on a matter

pursuant to this paragraph (b)(4) of this

section, a full description of the views

expressed by such member during

deliberations.

(4) Participation in Deliberations.

(i) A self-regulatory organization

governing board, disciplinary committee

or oversight panel may permit a member

to participate in deliberations prior to a

vote on a matter for which he otherwise

would be required to abstain under the

self-regulatory organization’s rules

implementing the requirements of

paragraph (b)(2) of this section. In

making such a determination, the

presiding body should consider the

following factors:

(A) Whether the member has

expertise, knowledge or experience in

the matter under consideration which

few or no other members of the

presiding body have;

(B) Whether the ability of the

presiding body to deliberate

meaningfully would be adversely

affected by the non-participation of the

member; and,

(C) Whether the member’s

participation in deliberations is

necessary for the presiding body to

achieve a quorum in the matter.

(ii) Any determination to so allow a

member to participate in deliberations

on a matter shall be approved by each

of those members of the presiding body

who are present and who are nonmembers of the self-regulatory

organization.

(c) Disclosure Requirement. Each

member of a self-regulatory organization

governing board, disciplinary committee

or oversight panel which is to consider

a matter referred to in paragraph (b)(2)

of this section shall disclose to the

appropriate self-regulatory organization

staff prior to such consideration the

position information referred to in

paragraph (b)(2) of this section which is

known or should be known to the

member at that time. For these

purposes, members shall be presumed

to have knowledge of those positions

referred to in paragraphs (b)(2) (i)

through (iv) of this section.

(d) Violations of Self-Regulation

Organization Rules. No self-regulatory

organization may permit a person to

engage in deliberations or voting on a

matter if it would violate any rule

adopted by the self-regulatory

organization in compliance with

paragraphs (b) (1) or (2) of this section.

(e)Liability to Other Parties. No selfregulatory organization or selfregulatory organization official,

employee or member, other than the

member whose position or positions are

being reviewed, or delegee or agent

thereof, shall be subject to liability

under this section, except for liability in

an action initiated by the Commission,

in connection with the review required

by paragraph (b)(3) and any action taken

or required to be taken thereunder.

PART 156—BROKER ASSOCIATIONS

1. The authority citation for Part 156

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6b, 6c, 6j(d), 7a(b) and

12a.

2. Section 156.4 would be proposed to

be added to read as follows:

§ 156.4 Disclosure of Broker Association

Membership

Each contract market shall post in a

location accessible to the public a list of

all registered broker associations which

identifies for each such association the

name of each person who is a member

or otherwise has a direct beneficial

interest in the association. This list shall

be updated at least semi-annually.

Issued in Washington, D.C. on April 29,

1996, by the Commission.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 96–10936 Filed 5–2–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–P

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.

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.
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 87 / Friday, May 3, 1996 / Proposed Rules 19879

1Revisions to Oil Pipeline Regulations Pursuant

to the Energy Policy Act of 1992, Order No. 561,

FERC Statutes & Regulations ¶ 30,985 (1993); Order

on Rehearing, Order No. 561–A, FERC Statutes &

Regulations ¶ 31,000 (1994); 58 FR 58778, Nov. 4,

1993.

2 42 U.S.C. 7172 note (West Supp. 1993).

3TAPS 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.

4Cost-of-Service Reporting and Filing

Requirements for Oil Pipelines, FERC Statutes &

Regulations 31,006 (1994).

5See, Milne Point Pipeline Company, 75 FERC

¶ 61,050 (1996).

6FERC–550 is the designation covering oil

pipeline tariff filings made to the Commission. 7FERC Statutes & Regulations ¶ 30,985 at 30,961.

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.

• After logging on, type: /go FERC

To access the FedWorld system,

through the Internet:

• Telnet to: fedworld.gov

• Select the option: [1] FedWorld

• Logon to the FedWorld system

• 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 1 was issued on October

22, 1993, to comply with the Energy

Policy Act of 1992 (Act of 1992),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,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.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.5

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.’’ 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.

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: 7

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.
19880 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 87 / Friday, May 3, 1996 / Proposed Rules

8Order 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).

9 18 CFR 380.4.

10See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii).

11 5 U.S.C. 601–612.

12 5 U.S.C. 605(b). 13 5 CFR 1320.11.

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-ofservice 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.

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

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).

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-OFSERVICE 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:

§ 346.1 Content of filing for cost-of-service

rates.

A carrier that seeks to establish rates

pursuant to § 342.2(a) of this chapter, or

a carrier that seeks to change rates

pursuant to § 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:

* * * * *

§ 346.2 Materials in support of initial rates

or change in rates.

A carrier that files for rates pursuant

to § 342.2(a) or § 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

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

19 CFR Part 101

Extension of Port Limits of Columbus,

OH

AGENCY: U.S. Customs Service,

Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking;

extension of comment period.

SUMMARY: This notice extends the

period of time within which interested

members of the public may submit

comments concerning the proposal to

amend the Customs Regulations

pertaining to the field organization of