55460 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 187 / Thursday, September 25, 2008 / Proposed Rules 

1 18 CFR 284.12. 

2Standards for Business Practices of Interstate 

Natural Gas Pipelines, Order No. 587, 61 FR 39,053 

(July 26, 1996), FERC Statutes and Regulations, 

Regulations Preambles July 1996–December 2000 

¶ 31,038 (July 17, 1996). 

necessary for the generation of 

electricity that affects the reliability of 

Bulk-Power System but not have a role 

in reactor safety. The Commission 

understands that such facilities would 

not be subject to compliance with cyber 

security regulations developed by the 

NRC. 

7. The Commission believes that the 

plain meaning of the exemption 

language in the eight CIP Reliability 

Standards at issue is that only those 

facilities within a nuclear generation 

plant that are regulated by the NRC are 

exempt from those Standards. The 

exemption language in the eight CIP 

Reliability Standards neither states, nor 

implies, that all facilities within a 

nuclear generation plant are exempt 

from the Standards, regardless of 

whether they are subject to NRC 

regulation. However, the Commission 

believes there is a need to assure that 

there is no potential gap in the 

regulation of critical cyber assets at 

nuclear generation plants and to assure 

that there is no misunderstanding of the 

scope of the exemption in the CIP 

Reliability Standards. The Commission, 

therefore, proposes to clarify that 

Reliability Standards CIP–002–1 

through CIP–009–1 apply to the 

facilities within a nuclear generation 

plant that are not regulated by the NRC. 

8. To be clear, the Commission’s 

intent is to eliminate a potential gap in 

the regulation of critical assets and 

critical cyber assets at nuclear 

generation plants in the United States. 

The Commission reaffirms the language 

of the CIP Reliability Standards—and 

respects the jurisdiction of the NRC— 

and does not intend that those 

Standards apply to facilities within a 

nuclear generation plant that are 

regulated by the NRC. This should allay 

concerns that a specific facility is 

subject to ‘‘dual’’ regulation by both the 

Commission and NRC as to cyber 

security. 

9. In addition to comments on the 

proposed clarification, the Commission 

seeks comment on the following two 

related matters: 

Whether there is a clear delineation 

between those facilities within a nuclear 

generation plant that pertain to reactor safety 

security or emergency response and the nonsafety portion or, as NRC refers to it, the 

‘‘balance of plant.’’ For example, the 

generator itself in a nuclear generation plant 

would seem to be under the CIP Reliability 

Standards, but the motors that operate 

nuclear reactor control rods would seem to 

be under NRC regulation. If the delineation 

is not clear, is there a need for owners and/ 

or operators of nuclear generation plants to 

identify the specific facilities that pertain to 

reactor safety security or emergency response 

and subject to NRC regulation, and the 

balance of plant that is subject to the eight 

CIP Reliability Standards? 

In Order No. 706, the Commission 

approved NERC’s ‘‘(Revised) Implementation 

Plan for Cyber Security Standards CIP–001– 

1 through CIP–009–1’’ for the eight 

cybersecurity Reliability Standards. The 

implementation plan provides a staggered 

approach to implementation that includes 

three tables with separate timelines for 

various industry segments. Table 3, which 

applies to generation owners and generation 

operators, requires achieving compliance 

with the requirements of the CIP Reliability 

Standards by December 31, 2009. The only 

requirement that has a different compliance 

date in Table 3 is CIP–003–1 Requirement 

R2, which must be complied with by June 30, 

2008. The Commission seeks comment on 

whether Table 3 for generation owners and 

generation operators should control the 

implementation schedule of the CIP 

Reliability Standards to the facilities within 

a nuclear generation plant that the NRC does 

not regulate. 

10. Comments on the Commission’s 

proposed clarification are due 30 days 

from the date of issuance of this order, 

after which the Commission intends to 

issue a further order on the matter. 

The Commission orders: The 

Commission directs that this order be 

published in the Federal Register. 

Comments on the Commission’s 

proposed clarification are due 30 days 

from the date of issuance of this order. 

By the Commission. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–22198 Filed 9–24–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

18 CFR Part 284 

[Docket No. RM96–1–029] 

Standards for Business Practices of 

Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines 

September 18, 2008. 

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission is proposing to 

amend its regulations governing 

standards for business practices of 

interstate natural gas pipelines to 

incorporate by reference the most recent 

version of the standards, Version 1.8, 

adopted by the Wholesale Gas Quadrant 

of the North American Energy Standards 

Board (NAESB) and to make other 

minor corrections. 

DATES: Comments are due November 10, 

2008. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by docket number by any of 

the following methods: 

• Agency Web Site: http:// 

www.ferc.gov. Documents created 

electronically using word processing 

software should be filed in native 

applications or print-to-PDF format and 

not in a scanned format. 

• Mail/Hand Delivery: Commenters 

unable to file comments electronically 

must mail or hand deliver an original 

and 14 copies of their comments to: 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

Secretary of the Commission, 888 First 

Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gary D. Cohen, Office of the General 

Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20426, 202–502– 

8321. 

William W. Lohrman, Office of Energy 

Market Regulation, Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, 888 First 

Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, 

202–502–8070. 

Kay I. Morice, Office of Energy Market 

Regulation, Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20426, 202–502– 

6507. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. The Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission (Commission) proposes to 

amend § 284.12 of its regulations (which 

prescribes standards for pipeline 

business operations and 

communications) 1 to incorporate by 

reference the most recent version, 

Version 1.8, of the consensus standards 

adopted by the Wholesale Gas Quadrant 

(WGQ) of the North American Energy 

Standards Board (NAESB) (Version 1.8 

Standards). In addition, the Commission 

proposes to amend § 284.12(b) of its 

regulations to make minor corrections. 

I. 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), 


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3NAESB WGQ Working Paper on Internet 

Electronic Transport at 6, dated Mar. 3, 2004. 

4Some of the standards subsequently were 

corrected and these minor corrections were applied 

to the Version 1.8 Capacity Release Related 

Standards on Dec. 13, 2006. 

5The NAESB WGQ adopted Internet Electronic 

Transport Related Standards, Version 1.8, on Sept. 

30, 2006. The EDM Standards require pipelines to 

conduct certain standardized business transactions 

across the Internet according to certain prescribed 

protocols. In this NOPR, the Commission proposes 

to make these standards mandatory for interstate 

natural gas pipelines. We are not proposing to make 

these standards mandatory for retail transactions. 

6Standards for Business Practices for Interstate 

Natural Gas Pipelines; Standards for Business 

Practices for Public Utilities, Order No. 698, 72 FR 

38,757 (July 16, 2007), FERC Stats. & Regs., 

Regulations Preambles ¶ 31,251 (June 25, 2007); 

Order No. 698-A, order granting clarification and 

denying reh’g, 121 FERC ¶ 61,264 (2007). 

7Standards of Conduct for Transmission 

Providers, Order No. 2004, 68 FR 69,134 (Dec. 11, 

2003), FERC Stats. & Regs., Regulations Preambles 

¶ 31,155 (Nov. 25, 2003); Order No. 2004–A, order 

on reh’g, 69 FR 23,562 (Apr. 29, 2004), FERC Stats. 

& Regs., Regulations Preambles ¶ 31,161 (Apr. 16, 

2004); Order No. 2004–B, order on reh’g, 69 FR 

48,371 (Aug. 10, 2004), FERC Stats. & Regs., 

Regulations and Preambles ¶ 31,166 (Aug. 2, 2004); 

Order No. 2004–C, order on reh’g, 70 FR 284 (Jan. 

4, 2005), FERC Stats. & Regs., Regulations 

Preambles ¶ 31,172 (Dec. 21, 2004); Order No. 

2004–D, order on clarification and reh’g, 110 FERC 

¶ 61,320 (2005). 

8 In its Version 1.8 Standards, the WEQ made the 

following changes to its Version 1.7 standards: 

It revised Principles 1.1.9, 4.1.2, 4.1.6, and 4.1.7, 

Definitions 2.2.4, 4.2.1, 4.2.11, 4.2.12, 4.2.13, and 

4.2.20, Standards 1.3.54, 1.3.60, 1.3.61, 1.3.63, 

2.3.21, 2.3.35, 2.3.51, 4.3.1, 4.3.2, 4.3.5, 4.3.16, 

4.3.18, 4.3.22, 4.3.23, and 4.3.25, and Datasets 1.4.1 

through 1.4.7, 2.4.1 through 2.4.4, 2.4.7, 2.4.8, 3.4.1, 

5.4.1 through 5.4.3, 5.4.5, 5.4.7 through 5.4.11, 

5.4.13, 5.4.14, 5.4.15, and 5.4.18 through 5.4.22. 

It added Principles 0.1.3, 4.1.40, and 10.1.1 

through 10.1.9, Definitions 0.2.1, 0.2.2, 0.2.3, and 

10.2.1 through 10.2.38, Standards 0.3.11 through 

0.3.15, 2.3.65, 4.3.89 through 4.3.93, and 10.3.1 

through 10.3.25, and Data Sets 0.4.1, 2.4.17, 2.4.18, 

and 5.4.23. 

It deleted Principles 4.1.9 and 4.1.25, and 

Standards 4.3.6, 4.3.19, 4.3.21, and 4.3.63. 

It deleted the following standards from the EDM 

Related Standards and moved them to the Internet 

Electronic Transport Related Standards: Standards 

4.3.7 through 4.3.15, 4.3.37, 4.3.64, 4.3.70, 4.3.71, 

and 4.3.88. 

9The Commission is continuing its past practice 

and is not proposing to incorporate by reference 

Standards 4.3.4 and 10.3.2., because they are 

inconsistent with the Commission’s record 

retention requirement in 18 CFR 284.12(b)(3)(v). 

10 In addition, the Commission proposes to 

amend § 284.12(b) to make two minor corrections. 

First, we propose to correct the reference to the 

‘‘Gas Industry Standards Board’’ to refer to the 

‘‘North American Energy Standards Board 

Wholesale Gas Quadrant.’’ Second, we propose to 

correct the reference to the paragraph incorporating 

the NAESB standards by reference from paragraph 

(b)(1) to paragraph (a)(1). 

11This 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— 

Distributors, End Users, Pipelines, Producers, and 

Services (including marketers and computer service 

providers). For final approval, 67 percent of the 

WGQ’s general membership voting must ratify the 

standards. 

12Pub L. No. 104–113, section 12(d), 110 Stat. 775 

(1996), 15 U.S.C. 272 note (1997). 

13Promotion of a More Efficient Capacity Release 

Market, Order No. 712, 73 FR 37058 (June 30, 2008), 

FERC Stats. & Regs., Regulations Preambles ¶ 31,271 

(June 19, 2008). 

a private consensus standards developer 

composed of members from all segments 

of the natural gas industry. The WGQ is 

an accredited standards organization 

under the auspices of the American 

National Standards Institute (ANSI). 

NAESB’s stated mission is to ‘‘take the 

lead in developing and implementing 

standards across the industry to 

simplify and expand electronic 

communication, and to streamline 

business practices. The vision of NAESB 

is a seamless North American 

marketplace for energy, as recognized by 

its customers, the business community, 

industry participants and regulatory 

bodies.’’ 3

3. On September 14, 2007, NAESB 

submitted a report to the Commission 

stating that it had adopted a new 

version of its standards, Version 1.8, 

dated September 30, 2006.4 NAESB 

reports that the Version 1.8 Standards 

include a new set of standards for 

‘‘Internet Electronic Transport’’ that is 

applicable to the retail gas and electric 

markets as well as the wholesale gas 

market, changes to the Electronic 

Delivery Mechanism (EDM) Related 

Standards, an additional standard 

related to reporting on gas quality, and 

maintenance changes to the Nomination 

Related Standards and Flowing Gas 

Related Standards.5 NAESB also reports 

that the Version 1.8 standards include 

several standards already adopted by 

the Commission, including gas-electric 

coordination standards to support 

communications between pipelines and 

gas-fired generators,6 gas quality 

reporting standards to support reporting 

of gas quality specifications and 

reporting of the underlying assumptions 

and methodologies, and business 

practice standards to support 

implementation of Order No. 2004 on 

Standards of Conduct.7

II. Discussion 

4. The Commission proposes to 

incorporate by reference in its 

regulations Version 1.8 of the NAESB 

WGQ’s consensus standards,8 with two 

exceptions.9 Adoption of Version 1.8 

will continue the process of updating 

and improving NAESB’s business 

practice standards for the wholesale gas 

market. The new Internet Electronic 

Transport Related Standards will help 

create a more seamless electronic 

marketplace by providing consistent 

electronic protocols across the 

wholesale gas, as well as the retail gas 

and retail electric markets. The 

standards also include a new standard 

for gas quality reporting (Standard 

4.3.93) that will provide the industry 

with important information about how 

pipelines determine gas quality. 

Standard 4.3.93 requires that the 

pipelines post on their web sites 

specific information on how the 

pipelines determine gas quality, 

including the industry standard (or 

other methodology, as applicable) that 

the pipeline uses for the following: 

procedures used for obtaining natural 

gas samples, analytical test method(s), 

and calculation method(s), in 

conjunction with any physical 

constant(s) and underlying 

assumption(s). The revisions to the 

Nomination Related Standards and 

Flowing Gas Related Standards are 

designed to ensure that these standards 

reflect current market practices.10

5. The NAESB WGQ approved the 

Version 1.8 Standards under NAESB’s 

consensus procedures.11 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 industry participants 

representing 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.12

6. The Commission proposes that 

natural gas pipelines be required to 

implement the Version 1.8 Standards on 

the first day of the month three months 

after a final rule is issued. Based on past 

practice, we are proposing this 

implementation schedule in order to 

give the natural gas pipelines subject to 

these standards adequate time to 

prepare for these changes. In addition, 

the Commission proposes that pipelines 

be required to file tariff sheets to reflect 

the changed standards two months 

before the implementation date. 

7. In Order No. 712,13 the Commission 

recently revised various aspects of the 

Commission’s capacity release 

standards, revisions which bear upon 

the current NAESB standards in Version 

1.8. We appreciate NAESB’s quick 


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14See Minutes of July 1, 2008 Meeting of the 

WGQ Business Practice Subcommittee, http:// 

naesb.org/pdf3/wgq_bps_712_070108fm.doc. 

15The current standard, for example, does not 

separately require a specific posting of whether 

capacity is subject to recall, apparently leaving this 

information to be included in Special Terms and 

Miscellaneous Notes. Given the additional types of 

information that must now be posted, NAESB needs 

to consider whether including all this information 

in Special Terms and Miscellaneous Notes is still 

appropriate. 

16 Data collection FERC–545 covers rate change 

filings made by natural gas pipelines, including 

tariff changes. (OMB Control No. 1902–0154). 

17 Data collection FERC–549C covers Standards 

for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas 

Pipelines. (OMB Control No. 1902–0174). 

18 5 CFR 1320.11. 

action in already starting the process of 

revising its standards.14 Creating 

standardized procedures applicable to 

asset manager agreements (AMAs), 

releases related to state retail 

unbundling initiatives, and the other 

changes adopted in that rule will help 

to make conducting and reporting these 

processes more efficient. Order No. 712 

requires that the pipelines add 

additional information to their Internet 

websites. As part of NAESB’s 

reexamination of its posting standard 

(Standard 5.4.20), NAESB should seek 

to make sure that its revisions result in 

a consistent system of reporting capacity 

release information relative to capacity 

recall conditions, AMAs, state 

unbundling releases, storage, and other 

categories of releases, so that the 

Commission and the public easily will 

be able to identify the releases in each 

category and any terms and conditions 

applicable to those releases.15

III. Notice of Use of Voluntary 

Consensus Standards 

8. Office of Management and Budget 

Circular A–119 (section 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. 

IV. Information Collection Statement 

9. 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 ‘‘public 

protection’’ provisions of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 require each 

agency to display a currently valid 

control number and inform respondents 

that a response is not required unless 

the information collection displays a 

valid OMB control number on each 

information collection or provides a 

justification as to why the information 

collection number cannot be displayed. 

In the case of information collections 

published in regulations, the control 

number is to be published in the 

Federal Register. The following burden 

estimate includes the costs to 

implement the Version 1.8 Standards, 

which incorporate the most recent and 

up-to-date standards governing business 

practices of and electronic 

communication with interstate natural 

gas pipelines. 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 16 .................................................................................................... 168 1 10 1,680 

FERC–549C 17 ................................................................................................. 126 1 1,181 148,806 

Total Annual Hours for Collection (Reporting and Recordkeeping (if appropriate)) = 150,486.

10. 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–545 FERC–549C 

Annualized Capital/Startup Costs .................................................................................................................... $211,680 $12,743,010 

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

Total Annualized Costs ............................................................................................................................ 211,680 12,743,010 

Total Cost for all Respondents = 12,954,690.

11. OMB regulations 18 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 (i.e., the Version 

1.8 Standards). The implementation of 

these standards is necessary to increase 

the efficiency of the pipeline grid, make 

pipelines’ electronic communications 


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19 44 U.S.C. 3504 note, Pub. L. 105–277, 1701, 

112 Stat. 2681–749 (1998). 

20Order No. 486, Regulations Implementing the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 52 FR 

47,897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & Regs., 

Regulations Preambles 1986–1990 ¶ 30,783 (Dec. 

10, 1987). 

21 18 CFR 380.4. 

22See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii), 380.4(a)(5), 

380.4(a)(27). 

23 5 U.S.C. 601–612. 

24 5 U.S.C. 601–604. 

25 5 U.S.C. 603(a). 

26 5 U.S.C. 605(b). 

27 5 U.S.C. 601(3), citing section 3 of the Small 

Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 623. Section 3 of the SBA 

defines a ‘‘small business concern’’ as a business 

which is independently owned and operated and 

which is not dominant in its field of operation. The 

Small Business Size Standards component of the 

North American Industry Classification System 

(NAICS) defines a small natural gas pipeline 

company as one that transports natural gas and 

whose annual receipts (total income plus cost of 

goods sold) did not exceed $6.5 million for the 

previous year. 

more secure, and is consistent with the 

mandate that agencies provide for 

electronic disclosure of information.19

Requiring such information ensures 

both a common means of 

communication and common business 

practices that provide participants 

engaged in transactions with interstate 

pipelines with timely information and 

uniform business procedures across 

multiple pipelines. 

12. 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 

Energy Market Regulation 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. 

13. Internal Review: The Commission 

has reviewed the requirements 

pertaining to business practices and 

electronic communication with 

interstate natural gas pipelines and 

made a determination that the proposed 

revisions are necessary to establish a 

more efficient and integrated pipeline 

grid. 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. 

14. 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 Executive 

Director, Phone: (202) 502–8415, fax: 

(202) 273–0873, E-mail: 

michael.miller@ferc.gov]. 

15. 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) 395–7345, fax: (202) 395–7285]. 

V. Environmental Analysis 

16. 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.20 The Commission has 

categorically excluded certain actions 

from these requirements as not having a 

significant effect on the human 

environment.21 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.22 Therefore, an 

environmental assessment is 

unnecessary and has not been prepared 

as part of this NOPR. 

VI. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Certification 

17. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 

1980 (RFA) 23 generally requires a 

description and analysis of final rules 

that will have significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. In drafting a rule an agency is 

required to: (1) Assess the effect that its 

regulation will have on small entities; 

(2) analyze effective alternatives that 

may minimize a regulation’s impact; 

and (3) make the analysis available for 

public comment.24 In its NOPR, the 

agency must either include an initial 

regulatory flexibility analysis (Initial 

RFA) 25 or certify that the proposed rule 

will not have a ‘‘significant impact on 

a substantial number of small 

entities.’’ 26

18. The regulations proposed here 

impose requirements only on interstate 

pipelines, the majority of which are not 

small businesses. In this regard, we note 

that, under the industry standards used 

for the RFA, a natural gas pipeline 

company qualifies as a ‘‘small entity’’ if 

it had annual receipts of $6.5 million or 

less.27 Most companies regulated by the 

Commission do not fall within the 

RFA’s definition of a small entity. 

Approximately 168 entities would be 

potential respondents subject to data 

collection FERC–545 reporting 

requirements; of those, about 126 

natural gas companies (including 

storage) would also be subject to data 

collection FERC 549–C reporting 

requirements. Nearly all of these entities 

are large entities. For the year 2007 (the 

most recent year for which information 

is available), only four companies not 

affiliated with larger companies had 

annual revenues of less than $6.5 

million, which is about three percent of 

the total universe of potential 

respondents. Moreover, these 

requirements are designed to benefit all 

customers, including small businesses. 

As noted above, adoption of consensus 

standards helps ensure the reasonable of 

the standards by requiring that the 

standards draw support from a broad 

spectrum of industry participants 

representing all segments of the 

industry. Because of that representation 

and the fact that industry conducts 

business under these standards, the 

Commission’s regulations should reflect 

those standards that have the widest 

possible support. 

19. Accordingly, pursuant to § 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. 

VII. Comment Procedures 

20. The Commission invites interested 

persons to submit written comments on 

the matters and issues proposed for 

incorporation by reference in this 

NOPR, including any related matters or 

alternative proposals that commenters 

may wish to discuss. Comments are due 

November 10, 2008. Comments must 

refer to Docket No. RM96–1–029, 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. 

21. 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 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with PROPOSALS
55464 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 187 / Thursday, September 25, 2008 / Proposed Rules 

1Petition of the United States Postal Service 

Requesting Initiation of a Proceeding to Consider 

Further Proposed Methodology Changes for the FY 

2008 ACR (Proposals Ten-Eleven), September 12, 

2008 (Petition). 

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, Secretary of the 

Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20426. For paper 

filings, the original and 14 copies of 

such comments should be submitted to 

the Secretary of the Commission, 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 

20426. 

22. 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. 

VIII. Document Availability 

23. 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. 

24. 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. 

25. User assistance is available for 

eLibrary and the FERC’s Web site during 

the Commission’s normal business 

hours. For assistance, contact FERC 

Online Support by e-mail at 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or by 

telephone at 202–502–6652 (toll-free 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. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

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 (vi), 

adding paragraph (a)(1)(vii), and 

revising the introductory text of 

paragraph (b) to read as follows: 

§ 284.12 Standards for pipeline business 

operations and communications. 

(a) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(i) Additional Standards (General 

Standards, Creditworthiness Standards, 

and Gas/Electric Operational 

Communications Standards) (Version 

1.8, September 30, 2006); 

(ii) Nominations Related Standards 

(Version 1.8, September 30, 2006); 

(iii) Flowing Gas Related Standards 

(Version 1.8, September 30, 2006); 

(iv) Invoicing Related Standards 

(Version 1.8, September 30, 2006); 

(v) Quadrant Electronic Delivery 

Mechanism Related Standards (Version 

1.8, September 30, 2006) with the 

exception of Standard 4.3.4; 

(vi) Capacity Release Related 

Standards (Version 1.8, September 30, 

2006 (with minor corrections applied 

December 13, 2006); and 

(vii) Internet Electronic Transport 

Related Standards (Version 1.8, 

September 30, 2006) with the exception 

of Standard 10.3.2. 

* * * * * 

(b) Business practices and electronic 

communication requirements. An 

interstate pipeline that transports gas 

under subparts B or G of this part must 

comply with the following 

requirements. The regulations in this 

paragraph adopt the abbreviations and 

definitions contained in the North 

American Energy Standards Board 

Wholesale Gas Quadrant standards 

incorporated by reference in paragraph 

(a)(1) of this section. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. E8–22206 Filed 9–24–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION 

39 CFR Part 3001 

[Docket No. RM2008–6; Order No. 108] 

Periodic Reporting Rules 

AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; availability of 

rulemaking petition. 

SUMMARY: Under a new law, the Postal 

Service must file an annual compliance 

report with the Postal Regulatory 

Commission on costs, revenues, rates, 

and quality of service associated with its 

products. It has filed documents with 

the Commission to change some of the 

methods it uses to compile the fiscal 

year 2008 report. In the Commission’s 

view, these documents constitute a 

rulemaking petition. Therefore, this 

document provides an opportunity for 

the public to comment on potential 

changes in periodic reporting rules. 

DATES: 1. Initial comments: September 

26, 2008. 

2. Reply comments: October 3, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments 

electronically via the Commission’s 

Filing Online system at http:// 

www.prc.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Stephen L. Sharfman, General Counsel, 

202–789–6820 and 

stephen.sharfman@prc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulatory 

History, 73 FR 51983 (September 8, 

2008). 

On September 12, 2008, the Postal 

Service filed a petition to initiate an 

informal rulemaking proceeding 

comparable to Docket No. RM2008–2 to 

consider two more proposed changes to 

the costing methods approved for 

periodic reporting.1 In Docket No. 

RM2008–2, nine numbered proposals 

are the subject of notice and comment 

rulemaking procedures. The Postal 

Service proposes that the two additional 

proposed changes be referred to as 

Proposal Ten and Proposal Eleven to 

avoid confusion with the nine proposals 

already under review. The Postal 

Service’s petition describes its two 

additional proposals, explains their 

background, objectives, rationale, and, 

to the extent possible, their likely 

impact in FY 2008. 

I. Procedural Expedition 

The same factors that led the 

Commission to expedite review of the 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with PROPOSALS