19832 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 87 / Friday, May 3, 1996 / Rules and Regulations

Exchange

FY 1993–1995

cumulative

volume

Percentage

of total volume across

exchanges

Minneapolis Grain Exchange ................................................................................................................................... 2,644,863 0.1866

Philadelphia Board of Trade .................................................................................................................................... 107,875 0.0076

Total ............................................................................................................................................................... 1,417,468,987 100.0000

Finally, the staff calculates the current

fees by applying the appropriate

exchange data to the formula. The

following is an example of how the rule

enforcement and financial review fees

for exchanges are calculated.

Example: The Minneapolis Grain Exchange

(MGE) average annual cost is $23,196.63 and

its percentage of total volume over the last

three years is 0.1866. The annual average

total cost for all exchanges during that same

time period is $914,962.35. As a result, the

MGE fee for fiscal 1996 is:

(.5)($23,196.63)+(.5)(.001866)($914,962.35) =

current fee or $11,598.32 + $853.69 =

$12,452.01

As stated in 1993 when the formula

was adopted, if the calculated fee using

this formula is higher than actual costs,

the exchange pays actual costs. If the

calculated fee using the formula is less

than actual costs then the exchange pays

the calculated fee. No exchange will pay

more than actual costs. Also, if an

exchange has no volume over the threeyear period it pays a flat 50% of actual

costs.

The National Futures Association

(NFA) is a registered futures association

which is responsible for regulating the

practices of its members. In its oversight

role, the Commission performs rule

enforcement and financial reviews of

the NFA. The Commission’s average

annual cost for reviewing the National

Futures Association during fiscal years

1993 through 1995 is $255,333.91. The

National Futures Association will

continue to be charged 100% of its

actual costs.

Based upon this formula the fees for

all of the exchanges and the NFA for

fiscal 1996 are as follows:

Exchange/NFA 1996 fee

Chicago Board of Trade .................................................................................................................................................................. $264,915.17

Chicago Mercantile Exchange ......................................................................................................................................................... 243,452.97

Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange ............................................................................................................................................... 43,337.95

New York Mercantile/COMEX Exchange ........................................................................................................................................ 192,708.42

New York Cotton/New York Futures Exchange .............................................................................................................................. 34,480.14

Kansas City Board of Trade ............................................................................................................................................................ 10,142.47

Minneapolis Grain Exchange ........................................................................................................................................................... 12,452.01

Philadelphia Board of Trade ............................................................................................................................................................ 1,346.08

National Futures Association ........................................................................................................................................................... 255,333.91

Total ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 1,058,169.12

As in the calculation of fees in

previous years, the fiscal 1996 fee for

the Chicago Board of Trade includes the

MidAmerica Commodity Exchange.

V. Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Regulatory Flexibility Act

(‘‘RFA’’), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq, requires

agencies to consider the impact of rules

on small businesses. The fees

implemented in this release affect

contract markets (also referred to as

‘‘exchanges’’) and registered futures

associations. The Commission has

previously determined that contract

markets are not ‘‘small entities’’ for

purposes of the Regulatory Flexibility

Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq, 47 FR 18618

(April 30, 1982). Registered futures

associations also are not considered

‘‘small entities’’ by the Commission.

Therefore, the requirements of the

Regulatory Flexibility Act do not apply

to contract markets or registered futures

associations. Accordingly, the

Chairman, on behalf of the Commission,

certifies that the fees implemented

herein do not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities.

* * * * *

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

1996, by the Commission.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 96–11014 Filed 5–02–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

18 CFR Part 284

[Docket No. RM95–4–002]

Revisions to Uniform System of

Accounts, Forms, Statements, and

Reporting Requirements for Natural

Gas Companies

Issued April 29, 1996.

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; Order On

Clarification.

SUMMARY: On February 29, 1996, the

Commission issued a notice adopting

specifications for the electronic filing of

the Index of Customers and discount

transportation rate report. The

electronic filing of these reports was

required by Order No. 581. In response

to a request for clarification, or in the
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 87 / Friday, May 3, 1996 / Rules and Regulations 19833

1The notice, entitled ‘‘Notice Adopting Electronic

Filing Specifications for Index of Customers and

Discount Transportation Rate Report,’’ is

unreported. (February 29 Notice). 61 FR 8870,

March 6, 1996.

2Revisions to Uniform System of Accounts,

Forms, Statements, and Reporting Requirements for

Natural Gas Companies, 60 FR 53019 (October 11,

1995).

3 Id.

4To be codified at 18 CFR 284.106(c) and

284.223(b). II FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶¶24,866 and

24,943. The file must also be filed with the

Commission; however, no paper copies of the Index

of Customers are required to be filed.

5To be codified at 18 CFR 284.7(c)(6). II FERC

Stats. & Regs. ¶24,847.

6 Instruction Manual for Electronic Filing of the

Index of Customers at 4, and Instruction Manual for

Electronic Filing of the Discount Transportation

Rate Report at 4.

alternative rehearing, of the February 29

Notice filed by the National Registry of

Capacity Rights, Inc., the Commission

agrees with the Registry that several

items in the electronic filing instruction

manuals should be modified, and

indicates that the Commission’s staff

will issue revised instruction manuals

incorporating the modifications in the

near future.

DATES: Pipelines must implement the

data sets for the Index of Customers

starting on April 1, 1996, and for the

discount transportation rate report,

starting with the first filing after April

1, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, 888 First Street, N.E.,

Washington, D.C. 20426.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Richard A. White, Office of the General

Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, 888 First Street, N.E.,

Washington, D.C. 20426, (202) 208–

0491

Elizabeth A. Taylor, Office of Pipeline

Regulation, 888 First Street, N.E.,

Washington, D.C. 20426, (202) 208–

0826

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 the

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 cumputer 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

Or:

• Point your Web Browser to: http://

www.fedworld.gov

• Scroll down the page to select

FedWorld Telnet Site

• Select the option: [1] FedWorld

• Logon to the FedWorld system

• Type: /go FERC

On February 29, 1996, the Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission

(Commission) issued a notice adopting

specifications for the electronic filing of

the Index of Customers and discount

transportation rate report.1 The

electronic filing of these reports was

required by Order No. 581.2 The

National Registry of Capacity Rights,

Inc. (the Registry) has filed an

emergency request for clarification, or in

the alternative, rehearing, of the

February 29 Notice. The Registry seeks

clarification of several items in the

electronic filing instruction manuals

adopted by the February 29 Notice.

I. Background

On September 28, 1995, the

Commission issued Order No. 581,

amending its Uniform System of

Accounts, its forms, and its reports and

statements for natural gas companies.3

These changes include modifications to

the Commission’s electronic filing

requirements. Specifically, interstate

pipelines transporting or storing gas

under subparts B and G of Part 284 of

the Commission’s regulations must now

provide an electronic Index of

Customers on their electronic bulletin

boards (EBBs) through a downloadable

file that is updated quarterly.4 In

addition, the discount rate report,

previously filed only on paper, will now

be filed both on paper and

electronically.5

Although Order No. 581 imposed new

electronic filing requirements, it did not

include the final electronic filing

specifications. The final electronic filing

specifications were formulated by the

Commission staff after several informal

technical conferences with the industry,

and were issued in the February 29

Notice. The February 29 Notice

included two appendices: Appendix A

was the ‘‘Instruction Manual for

Electronic Filing of the Index of

Customers,’’ and Appendix B was the

‘‘Instruction Manual for Electronic

Filing of the Discount Transportation

Rate Report.’’

On March 13, 1996, the Registry filed

an emergency request for clarification,

or in the alternative, rehearing, of the

February 29 Notice. The Registry

requests clarification of four items in the

instruction manuals contained in

Appendices A and B to the February 29

Notice. The clarifications sought are

discussed below.

II. Discussion

First, the Registry seeks clarification

of General Instruction 1(b) of both the

Instruction Manual for Electronic Filing

of the Index of Customers (Index of

Customers instructions) and Instruction

Manual for Electronic Filing of the

Discount Transportation Rate Report

(discount rate report instructions).

Instruction 1(b) states, in part, that ‘‘[i]f

the respondent does not want to report

a value for a specific data item on the

record, then the data item can be

omitted * * *.’’ 6 The Registry seeks

clarification that this phrase was not

intended to give respondents the

discretion to choose whether to comply

with the reporting requirements.

The Registry is correct. The statement

purporting to give respondents

discretion whether or not to comply

with the reporting requirements was

made unintentionally. All respondents

subject to sections 284.106(c), and

284.223(b) of the Commission’s

regulations must comply with the Index

of Customers instructions. Similarly, all

respondents subject to section

284.7(c)(6) must comply with the

discount rate report instructions.

Therefore, to avoid any confusion, the

passage the Registry quotes should be

revised to read: ‘‘If a data element is not

applicable, the data element must be

omitted, * * *.’’

Second, the Registry seeks

confirmation that the OMB control

number listed on Appendices A and B
19834 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 87 / Friday, May 3, 1996 / Rules and Regulations

7 Instruction Manual for Electronic Filing of the

Index of Customers at 3, and Instruction Manual for

Electronic Filing of the Discount Transportation

Rate Report at 3.

8Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C.

§§ 3501–3520; to be codified at 5 CFR Part 1320.

9Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. 96–

511, 94 Stat. 2826, amended 1986, formerly codified

at 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35. These former regulations

are contained in the 1995 and earlier versions of 5

CFR Part 1320.

10To be codified at 5 CFR 1320.3(f)(1).

11To be codified at 5 CFR 1320.3(f)(2).

12 Instruction Manual for Electronic Filing of the

Index of Customers at 2.

13See 75 FERC ¶ 61,009 (1996), where the

Commission authorized staff to issue further

electronic and paper filing specifications related to

the forms modified by Order Nos. 581 and 582.

are valid OMB control numbers, and

that no other OMB numbers are needed,

in light of the boilerplate language

contained in the General Information

sections of the Appendices. Specifically,

the language states that ‘‘You [referring

to the respondent] shall not be

penalized for failure to respond to this

collection of information unless the

collection of information displays a

valid OMB control number.’’ 7 The

Registry is concerned that if another

number is needed, but not provided,

then pipelines will not be required to

comply with the new requirements.

Collections of information by federal

government agencies are subject to the

recently enacted Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995.8 The Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995 revises the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1980.9 The original act

required that a data collection form

display a valid OMB control number. In

addition to this requirement, the new

act requires that the OMB control

number be displayed on the front page

of the form.10 Further, under the new

rules, where the collection is

accomplished through electronic

formats, the control number must be

placed near the title.11 In compliance

with these directives, the Index of

Customers instructions and discount

rate report instructions display a valid

OMB control number on the front page

immediately below the title. The OMB

control number displayed below the

title is valid, and is displayed according

to applicable law. Further, no other

OMB numbers are needed.

Third, the Registry suggests that in the

Index of Customers instructions,

‘‘General Information,’’ more detailed

language be used in the ‘‘Purpose’’

section. Specifically, the Registry

proposes that the sentence, ‘‘[t]he

instructions herein will provide the

format for the electronic dissemination

of the data on the respondent’s EBB,

* * *’’ be clarified to indicate that the

dissemination of the data is by means of

a downloadable file in the tab-delimited

format, through the respondent’s EBB.

The ‘‘Purpose’’ section of the Index of

Customers instructions reads in its

entirety:

This data submission is required under 18

CFR § 284.106(c) and § 284.223(b), which

state that each calendar quarter an interstate

pipeline must file with the Commission an

index of all of its firm transportation and

storage customers under contract as of the

first day of the calendar quarter. The pipeline

must also post an electronic format of this

information on its electronic bulletin board

(EBB). The instructions herein will provide

the format for the electronic dissemination of

the data on the respondent’s EBB, as well as

the electronic file submitted to the

Commission.12

The ‘‘Purpose’’ section states

explicitly that the Index of Customers

instructions apply to the file to be

posted on the pipeline’s EBB. Since the

body of the instructions make very clear

that a tab-delimited file format is to be

used, there is no reason to add to the

‘‘Purpose’’ section the reference to the

tab format that the Registry seeks.

However, there is nothing in the

purpose section or the body of

instructions that indicates that the file is

to be downloadable, as required by the

regulations referenced in the ‘‘Purpose’’

section, sections 284.106(c) and

284.223(b). To be aware of this fact, the

reader would have to refer to the

regulations themselves. To ensure that

there is no confusion, the ‘‘Purpose’’

section should be clarified to include

the fact that the file must be

downloadable from the pipeline’s EBB.

Therefore, the last sentence of the

‘‘Purpose’’ section will be changed to

read: ‘‘The instructions herein will

provide the format for the electronic

dissemination of the data on the

respondent’s EBB in a downloadable

file, as well as for the electronic file

submitted to the Commission.’’

Finally, because the Index of

Customers instructions and discount

rate report instructions, which are

Appendices A and B, respectively, to

the order, each have three

subappendices that are also entitled

‘‘Appendices’’ A, B, and C, the Registry

suggests that the subappendices be

retitled to something other than

‘‘appendices’’ to prevent confusion.

While the subappendices to the

instruction manuals have titles that are

the same as the titles of the appendices

to the order, we do not anticipate that

confusion will arise. The instruction

manuals are disseminated through the

Commission’s public reference division,

or from the bulletin board, as standalone documents. In other words, they

will no longer be entitled, ‘‘Appendix

A’’ and ‘‘Appendix B.’’ Thus, the only

appendices associated with these

electronic filing specifications will be

Appendices A, B, and C of each

instruction manual.

In addition to the above matters raised

by the Registry, the Commission’s staff

has identified other minor matters in the

Index of Customers instructions and

discount rate report instructions that

require clarification and/or

modifications. These additional

changes, and the changes discussed in

this order, will be incorporated in a

revised Index of Customers instruction

manual and discount rate report

instruction manual to be issued in the

near future by the staff.13

By the Commission.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–11049 Filed 5–02–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

19 CFR PART 10

[T.D. 96–35]

RIN 1515–AB93

Suspension of United States-Canada

Free-Trade Agreement Implementing

Regulations

AGENCY: Customs Service, Department

of the Treasury.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This document amends the

Customs Regulations implementing the

duty preference provisions of the United

States-Canada Free-Trade Agreement

(CFTA) to reflect that operation of the

CFTA was suspended, by agreement of

the Governments of the United States

and Canada, as a result of the entry into

force of the North American Free Trade

Agreement (NAFTA) on January 1, 1994.

The CFTA implementing regulations in

question remain in effect only with

regard to merchandise imported from

Canada that was entered or withdrawn

from warehouse for consumption prior

to the entry into force of the NAFTA.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 3, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Myles Harmon, Office of Regulations

and Rulings (202–482–7000).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On January 2, 1988, the United States

and Canada entered into the United