Document ID: FERC-2016-1018-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities
Posted Date: 2016-07-28T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 145 (Thursday, July 28, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 49580-49590]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-17841]

[[Page 49580]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Parts 2 and 38

[Docket No. RM05-5-025]

Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for 
Public Utilities

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes 
to incorporate by reference the latest version (Version 003.1) of 
certain Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols 
for Public Utilities adopted by the Wholesale Electric Quadrant (WEQ) 
of the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB). These standards 
mainly modify and update NAESB's WEQ Version 003 Standards. The 
Commission also proposes to revise its regulations to incorporate 
NAESB's updated Smart Grid Business Practice Standards in the 
Commission's General Policy and Interpretations.

DATES: Comments are due September 26, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Comments, identified by Docket No. RM05-5-025, may be filed 
in the following ways:
     Electronic Filing through 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: Those unable to file electronically 
may mail or hand-deliver comments to: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426.
    Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments and 
additional information on the rulemaking process, see the Comment 
Procedures Section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
Michael P. Lee (technical issues), Office of Energy Policy and 
Innovation, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-6548.

Gary D. Cohen (legal issues), Office of the General Counsel, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 
20426, (202) 502-8321.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

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                                                             Paragraph
                                                              numbers
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I. Background...........................................               6
II. Discussion..........................................              17
  A. Revisions to WEQ OASIS Business Practice Standards               18
   in Light of Commission Policies......................
  1. Overview...........................................              18
  2. Redirects from Conditional Parent Reservations.....              19
  3. Requirement to Post ATC Narrative within One Day...              26
  4. SAMTS Point-to-Point Treatment.....................              28
  5. Clarification of Discretion of Transmission                      30
   Providers to Deny Service Requests under Standard WEQ-
   001-106.2.5..........................................
  6. Modifications to Allow a Transmission Provider to                32
   Extend the Time to Perform its Biennial Reassessment.
  7. Industry-Wide Mechanism for Consistent Posting of                34
   AFC-Related Data.....................................
  8. Use of DUNS Numbers................................              36
  B. Revised and New Standards Designed to Complement                 38
   NERC Reliability Standards and Developments..........
  1. NERC Compliance Registry...........................              38
  2. Electric Industry Registry Standards...............              39
  3. WEQ-023 Modeling Business Practice Standards.......              41
  C. Revisions to WEQ Business Practice Standards Not                 43
   Requested by Commission or Developed to Comply with a
   Commission Directive.................................
  1. Proper Method to Post Off-OASIS Resale Transactions              44
  2. Unmasking of Final State Source and Sink Requests..              46
  3. Modifications to Smart Grid Standards..............              48
  4. Modification to Standards on Abbreviations,                      51
   Acronyms and Definitions of Terms....................
  5. Public Key Infrastructure-Related Standards........              53
  D. Implementation.....................................              56
III. Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards.....              57
IV. Incorporation By Reference..........................              59
V. Information Collection Statement.....................              62
VI. Environmental Analysis..............................              69
VII. Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification...........              70
VIII. Comment Procedures................................              74
IX. Document Availability...............................              78
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    1. In this notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR), the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes to amend its regulations 
under the Federal Power Act \1\ to incorporate by reference the latest 
version of certain Standards for Business Practices and Communication 
Protocols for Public Utilities (Version 003.1) adopted by the Wholesale 
Electric Quadrant (WEQ) of the North American Energy Standards Board 
(NAESB) and filed with the Commission on October 26, 2015 (October 26 
Filing). We also propose to list informationally, as guidance, NAESB's 
updated Smart Grid Business Practice Standards in Standard WEQ-019. In 
addition, as explained further below, there are several NAESB standards 
included in the WEQ Version 003.1 package of standards that we are not 
proposing in this NOPR to incorporate by reference.
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    \1\ 16 U.S.C. 791a, et seq.
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    2. These revised NAESB standards update earlier versions of these 
standards that the Commission previously incorporated by reference into 
its regulations at 18 CFR 38.1 in

[[Page 49581]]

Order Nos. 676-E,\2\ 676-H,\3\ 764,\4\ and 890.\5\ In addition, NAESB 
developed two new suites of standards in coordination with the North 
American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) (the Commission-
certified ``electric reliability organization'' responsible for 
developing and enforcing mandatory Reliability Standards).\6\ These two 
NAESB proposals would establish: (1) NAESB Electric Industry Registry 
(EIR) business practice standards that replace the NERC Transmission 
System Information Networks (TSIN) as the tool to be used by wholesale 
electric markets to conduct electronic transactions via electronic 
tagging (e-Tags); and (2) Modeling Business Practice Standards to 
support and complement NERC's proposed retirement of its ``MOD A'' 
Reliability Standards.\7\
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    \2\ Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols 
for Public Utilities, Order No. 676-E, 74 FR 63288 (Dec. 3, 2009), 
FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,299 (2009).
    \3\ Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols 
for Public Utilities, Order No. 676-H, 79 FR 56939 (Sept. 24, 2014), 
FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,359, at n.81 (2014), corrected, 149 FERC ] 
61,014 (2014).
    \4\ Integration of Variable Energy Resources, Order No. 764, 77 
FR 41,482 (July 13, 2012), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,331 (2012).
    \5\ Preventing Undue Discrimination and Preference in 
Transmission Service, Order No. 890, 72 FR 12266 (Mar. 15, 2007), 
FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,241 (2007).
    \6\ NERC is the Commission-certified ``electric reliability 
organization'' responsible for developing and enforcing mandatory 
Reliability Standards. See section 215 of the Federal Power Act, 16 
U.S.C. 824o (2012).
    \7\ In a February 19, 2014 petition, NERC proposed to retire 
Reliability Standards MOD-001-1a, MOD-004-1, MOD-008-1, MOD-028-2, 
MOD-029-1a, and MOD-030-2 and requested approval of new Reliability 
Standard MOD-001-2. Generally, the ``MOD'' series of NERC 
Reliability Standards pertain to transmission system modeling. The 
Commission issued a NOPR in Docket No. RM14-7-000 that addressed 
NERC's proposal, and the matter is currently pending before the 
Commission. Modeling, Data, and Analysis Reliability Standards, 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 79 FR 36269 (June 26, 2014), 147 FERC 
] 61,208 (2014) (MOD NOPR).
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    3. NAESB's WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards include 
modifications to the following set of existing standards: \8\
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    \8\ On October 26, 2015, NAESB filed a report with the 
Commission (previously referenced as the October 26 Filing) 
presenting all the modifications it has made to the WEQ Version 003 
Business Practice Standards since those standards were incorporated 
by reference by the Commission in 2014 in Order No. 676-H, as well 
as two new suites of standards that it has developed, which are 
further described below in P 12.

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                  WEQ                      Business practice standards
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000....................................  Abbreviations, Acronyms, and
                                          Definition of Terms.
001....................................  Open Access Same-Time
                                          Information System (OASIS).
002....................................  OASIS Standards and
                                          Communication Protocols
                                          (S&CP).
003....................................  OASIS S&CP Data Dictionaries.
004....................................  Coordinate Interchange.
006....................................  Manual Time Error Corrections.
012....................................  Public Key Infrastructure
                                          (PKI).
013....................................  OASIS Implementation Guide.
019....................................  Customer Energy Usage
                                          Information Communication.
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    4. Additionally, the Version 003.1 standards include two new suites 
of standards:

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             WEQ                      Business practice standards
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022..........................  Electric Industry Registry (EIR).
023..........................  Modeling.
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    5. These NAESB standards, developed through the NAESB standards 
development process or the NAESB minor correction process, build upon 
the Version 003 WEQ Business Practice Standards that NAESB filed with 
the Commission on September 18, 2012 and that the Commission 
incorporated by reference into its regulations in Order No. 676-H, a 
final rule issued by the Commission on September 18, 2014.\9\
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    \9\ See supra n.3.
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I. Background

    6. NAESB is a non-profit standards development organization 
established in late 2001 (as the successor to the Gas Industry 
Standards Board (GISB), which was established in 1994) and serves as an 
industry forum for the development of business practice standards and 
communication protocols for the wholesale and retail natural gas and 
electricity industry sectors. Since 1995, NAESB and its predecessor, 
the GISB, have been accredited members of the American National 
Standards Institute (ANSI), complying with ANSI's requirements that its 
standards reflect a consensus of the affected industries.\10\
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    \10\ Prior to the establishment of NAESB in 2001, the 
Commission's development of business practice standards for the 
wholesale electric industry was aided by two ad hoc industry working 
groups established during the rulemaking proceeding that resulted in 
issuance of Order No. 889 and the creation of the OASIS, while 
GISB's efforts involved the development of business practice 
standards for the wholesale natural gas industry. Once formally 
established, NAESB took over the standards development previously 
handled by GISB and by the electric working groups.
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    7. NAESB's standards include business practices intended to 
standardize and streamline the transactional processes of the natural 
gas and electric industries, as well as communication protocols and 
related standards designed to improve the efficiency of communication 
within each industry. NAESB supports all three quadrants of the gas and 
electric industries--wholesale gas, wholesale electric, and retail 
markets quadrant.\11\ All participants in the gas and electric 
industries are eligible to join NAESB and participate in standards 
development.
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    \11\ The retail gas quadrant and the retail electric quadrant 
were combined into the retail markets quadrant. NAESB continues to 
refer to these working groups as ``quadrants'' even though there are 
now only three quadrants.
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    8. NAESB develops its standards under a consensus process so that 
the standards draw support from a wide range of industry members. 
NAESB's procedures are designed to ensure that all persons choosing to 
participate can have input into the development of a standard, 
regardless of whether they are members of NAESB, and each standard 
NAESB adopts is supported by a consensus of the relevant industry 
segments. Standards that fail to gain consensus support are not 
adopted. NAESB's consistent practice has been to submit a report to the 
Commission after it has made revisions to existing business practice 
standards or has developed and adopted new business practice standards. 
NAESB's standards are voluntary standards, which become mandatory for 
public utilities upon incorporation by reference by the Commission.
    9. In Order No. 676,\12\ the Commission not only incorporated by 
reference into its regulations business practice standards and 
communication protocols

[[Page 49582]]

for the wholesale electric industry, it also established a formal 
ongoing process for reviewing and upgrading the Commission's OASIS 
standards and other wholesale electric industry business practice 
standards. In later orders in this series, the Commission incorporated 
by reference revisions to these standards.\13\
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    \12\ Standards for Business Practices and Communication 
Protocols for Public Utilities, Order No. 676, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 
31,216 (2006).
    \13\ Standards for Business Practices and Communication 
Protocols for Public Utilities, Order No. 676-C, FERC Stats. & Regs. 
] 31,274, reh'g denied, Order No. 676-D, 124 FERC ] 61,317 (2008); 
See supra n.2; Standards for Business Practices and Communication 
Protocols for Public Utilities, Order No. 676-F, FERC Stats. & Regs. 
] 31,309 (2010); Standards for Business Practices and Communication 
Protocols for Public Utilities, Order No. 676-G, 78 FR 14654 (Mar. 
7, 2013), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,343 (2013); See supra n.3.
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    10. The WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards include six 
OASIS-related standards \14\ that NAESB modified in response to 
directives and guidance provided in Order Nos. 676-E, 676-H, and 890. 
Specifically, in response to the Commission's guidance in Order No. 
676-E, NAESB modified its OASIS standards to explicitly permit a 
transmission provider to extend the performance of the biennial 
assessment. In response to the Commission's guidance in Order No. 676-
H, NAESB made four modifications to the OASIS suite of standards 
regarding: (1) The treatment of redirects for transmission service from 
conditional parent reservations; (2) the one-day requirement for the 
posting of Available Transfer Capability (ATC) Narratives; (3) the 
treatment of point-to-point reservations under Service Across Multiple 
Transmission Systems (SAMTS); and (4) the clarification of the 
requirements under which a transmission provider may deny a request to 
terminate service. To implement Commission guidance in Order No. 890, 
NAESB modified standards to allow for the consistent posting of 
Available Flowgate Capability (AFC) related data on OASIS sites.
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    \14\ The OASIS suite of standards is used collectively by NAESB 
to reference four business practice standards: WEQ-001 Open Access 
Same-Time Information System (OASIS); WEQ-002 OASIS Standards and 
Communication Protocols (S&CP); WEQ-003 OASIS S&CP Data 
Dictionaries; and WEQ-013 OASIS Implementation Guide.
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    11. In addition, as part of the standards development process, 
NAESB made two additional revisions to the OASIS suite of standards 
that were not made in response to Commission orders. First, NAESB 
modified WEQ-001 and WEQ-013 to require resellers to enter off-OASIS 
resale transactions into OASIS sites in the ``accepted'' status to 
provide the assignee of the resale the opportunity to confirm the 
transaction on the OASIS. Second, NAESB revised WEQ-002-4.3.6.2 to 
allow for the unmasking of the source and sink of a request for 
transmission when that request is moved to any final state.
    12. NAESB has adopted certain new and revised WEQ Version 003.1 
Business Practice Standards based on developments involving NERC. 
First, NAESB developed the WEQ-022 Electric Industry Registry (EIR) 
Business Practice Standards to complement the transfer of registry 
functions from the NERC TSIN to the NAESB EIR. The EIR database serves 
as a central repository of information required for commercial 
interactions, including electronic transactions via e-Tags. Second, 
NAESB developed the WEQ-023 Modeling Business Practice Standards in 
response to a NERC petition to delete and retire the six ``MOD A'' 
Reliability Standards. As mentioned above, NERC filed a petition with 
the Commission on February 10, 2014 proposing to retire NERC's six MOD 
A Reliability Standards and replace them with Reliability Standard MOD-
001-2, which NERC states will focus exclusively on the reliability 
aspects of ATC and AFC.\15\ On February 7, 2014, NERC submitted a 
request to NAESB (Standards Request 14002) \16\ asking NAESB to 
consider adopting standards that address the commercial and business 
aspects of the MOD standards proposed for retirement. NAESB 
subsequently developed the WEQ-023 Business Practice Standards to 
support and complement the proposed retirement of the MOD A Reliability 
Standards. The WEQ-023 Business Practice Standard specifies the 
requirements for calculating ATC and AFC and supports the task of 
reporting on the commercial aspects of these calculations.\17\
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    \15\ As mentioned above, NERC proposes to retire Reliability 
Standards MOD-001-1a, MOD-004-1, MOD-008-1, MOD-028-2, MOD-029-1a, 
and MOD-030-2.
    \16\ https://www.naesb.org/pdf4/r140.
    \17\ These terms are defined in WEQ-000-1.
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    13. Third, NAESB has adopted revisions to NAESB standards that need 
to match up with NERC's Interchange Scheduling and Coordination (INT) 
Reliability Standards. In this regard, NAESB modified certain WEQ-000 
and WEQ-004 Business Practice Standards to complement NERC's proposal 
to modify the INT Reliability Standards, including removal of the Load 
Serving Entity (LSE) category as one of the functional registration 
categories in the NERC Compliance Registry.\18\
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    \18\ NAESB October 26 Filing at 3.
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    14. NAESB also includes as part of its Version 003.1 Business 
Practice Standards additional non-OASIS standards modifications to WEQ 
Version 003.1 that it made in the course of normal standards 
development. In Order No. 764, the Commission required transmission 
providers to provide for the scheduling of interchange in 15-minute 
intervals. In response, NAESB made two changes to the WEQ-004 
Coordinate Interchange Business Practice Standards. NAESB also modified 
WEQ-019 to ensure consistency between WEQ Business Practice Standards 
and other standards organizations' standards. Additionally, NAESB 
modified WEQ-000 to harmonize definitions with NAESB Retail Market 
Quadrant efforts.
    15. In Order 676-H, the Commission incorporated by reference WEQ 
Business Practice Standards to support Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). 
The WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards include additional 
PKI modifications to WEQ-002, WEQ-004, and WEQ-012 to support the NAESB 
Authorized Certification Authority (Certification Authority) 
Certification Program and to account for technological advances.
    16. NAESB also has in place a process to make necessary minor 
corrections to its standards, when needed. The WEQ Version 003.1 
Business Practice Standards include seven new minor corrections made by 
NAESB.\19\
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    \19\ These corrections are identified and explained in the 
October 26 Filing.
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II. Discussion

    17. As discussed below, with certain enumerated exceptions, we 
propose to incorporate by reference (into the Commission's regulations 
at 18 CFR 38.1(b)) the NAESB WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice 
Standards.\20\ The Version 003.1 standards will replace the Version 003 
standards currently incorporated by reference into the Commission's 
regulations. Where we have proposed in this NOPR to incorporate a NAESB 
Business Practice

[[Page 49583]]

Standard by reference into the Commission's regulations, this has been 
based on a preliminary determination that the standard at issue is 
consistent with the Commission's findings in Order No. 676-H and does 
not appear inconsistent with any Commission directives or findings in 
other orders.
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    \20\ Consistent with our past practice, we do not propose to 
incorporate by reference into the Commission's regulations the 
following standards: Standards of Conduct for Electric Transmission 
Providers (WEQ-009); Contracts Related Standards (WEQ-010); and WEQ/
WGQ eTariff Related Standards (WEQ-014). We also do not propose to 
incorporate by reference at this time the WEQ-023 Modeling Business 
Practice Standards. We do not propose to incorporate by reference 
standard WEQ-009 because it contains no substantive standards and 
merely serves as a placeholder for future standards. We do not 
propose to incorporate by reference standard WEQ-010 because this 
standard contains an optional NAESB contract regarding funds 
transfers and the Commission does not require utilities to use such 
contracts. Moreover, as discussed more specifically in the section 
below on Redirects from Conditional Parent Reservations, we do not 
propose in this NOPR to incorporate by reference certain portions of 
WEQ-001.
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A. Revisions to WEQ OASIS Business Practice Standards in Light of 
Commission Policies

1. Overview
    18. The NAESB WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards contain 
six modifications to the OASIS suite of standards that NAESB developed 
to ensure consistency with certain policies articulated by the 
Commission in Order Nos. 676-H, 676-E, and 890. NAESB states that four 
of the six modifications align the OASIS suite of standards with 
guidance provided by the Commission in Order No. 676-H concerning the 
treatment of redirects for transmission service from conditional parent 
reservations, the one-day requirement for the posting of ATC 
Narratives, the treatment of point-to-point reservations under SAMTS, 
and new clarification of the requirements under which a transmission 
provider may deny a request to terminate service. In response to a 
directive in Order No. 676-E, NAESB also modified standards to 
explicitly permit a transmission provider to extend the performance of 
the biennial reassessment. Additionally, to implement the Commission's 
guidance provided in Order No. 890, NAESB modified pertinent standards 
to allow for the consistent posting of AFC-related data on OASIS sites.
2. Redirects From Conditional Parent Reservations
    19. In Order No. 676-H, the Commission declined to incorporate by 
reference NAESB Standards WEQ-001-9.5 and WEQ-001-10.5. The Version 
003.0 WEQ-001-9.5 stated that, ``upon confirmation of the request to 
Redirect on a firm basis, the Capacity Available to Redirect shall be 
reduced by the amount of the redirected capacity granted for the time 
period of that Redirect.'' The Version 003.0 WEQ-001-10.5 contained 
nearly identical language relating to the confirmation of requests to 
redirect on a non-firm basis. The Commission explained that it found 
both of these standards inconsistent with the Commission's precedent in 
Dynegy Power Marketing, Inc.\21\ and Entergy Services, Inc.\22\ With 
regard to Standard WEQ-001-9.5, the Commission explained that, ``as we 
found in these orders, reducing the capacity available to redirect 
prior to the passage of the conditional reservation deadline could lead 
to a customer paying firm transmission charges and losing capacity on 
both its original path and its redirect path.'' \23\ The Commission 
further explained that the Dynegy policy ``effects a reasonable 
balancing of interests between the customer and the transmission owner 
by ensuring that the customer does not potentially lose rights to 
capacity, while at the same time still permitting the transmission 
owner to sell available capacity on a short term basis until the 
redirect becomes unconditional.'' The Commission also found that 
Standard WEQ-001-10.5 raised similar concerns regarding the 
confirmation of requests to redirect on a non-firm basis and also 
declined to incorporate by reference Standard WEQ-001-10.5 and 
requested that NAESB, likewise, give consideration to reworking this 
standard.
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    \21\ 99 FERC ] 61,054, at P 9 (2002) (Dynegy).
    \22\ 143 FERC ] 61,143, at P 25 & n.68 (2013) (Entergy).
    \23\ Id. P 47.
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    20. As the Commission stated in Entergy,\24\ our guiding precedent 
on the issue of when a customer requesting redirect loses rights on the 
original path was set in Dynegy.\25\ In Dynegy, the Commission found 
that a transmission customer receiving firm transmission service does 
not lose its rights to its original path until the redirect request 
satisfies all of the following criteria: (1) It is accepted by the 
transmission provider; (2) it is confirmed by the transmission 
customer; and (3) it passes the conditional reservation deadline under 
section 13.2 of its Open Access Transmission Tariff.
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    \24\ Id. P 25 & n.68.
    \25\ Dynegy, 99 FERC ] 61,054 at P 9.
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    21. Having NAESB revise its standards to accommodate the 
Commission's policy in this area will help avoid confusion by public 
utilities as to their responsibilities under the Commission's policy 
and under the NAESB standards. The Commission's concern in Dynegy and 
Entergy was that a redirecting customer would lose its rights to the 
unconditional parent path and be left with no transmission service 
during the redirect period if the requested redirect was preempted by a 
competing service request.
    22. We appreciate the extensive work that NAESB and its stakeholder 
have undertaken in response to our directive in Order 676-H. NAESB has 
reached consensus on standards relating to redirects related to 
unconditional parent reservations, and we propose to incorporate those 
standards by reference into our regulations.
    23. NAESB reports, however, that it was unsure whether and to what 
extent the Dynegy policy applies to conditional parent reservations and 
non-firm service, and no consensus could be reached with respect to 
such standards. It therefore adopted a standard (WEQ-001-9.5) that 
allows individual transmission providers to craft provisions in their 
individual tariffs for how they will address redirects of requests for 
firm transmission service, rather than having an industry-wide business 
practice for such transactions. Because it could not reach consensus on 
these issues, the standards also do not prescribe when a public utility 
must reduce uncommitted capacity to account for redirects. NAESB also 
adopted a similar rewrite of the standard (WEQ-001-10.5) on redirects 
on a non-firm basis.
    24. The concern about the negative effects of the potential loss of 
the customer's parent path when the parent reservation is conditional 
and subject to competition arguably is much less compelling than when 
the parent reservation is unconditional. While Dynegy carved out an 
exception for unconditional parent reservations, the Commission has not 
explicitly ruled on whether Dynegy applies to conditional parent 
reservations, and such an extension may go beyond the policy concern 
with losing firm service articulated in Entergy.
    25. We, therefore, invite comment on whether the Commission should 
apply the Dynegy policy to conditional and non-firm redirects. Parties 
also should address the four redirect-related issues on which 
stakeholders have been unable to reach consensus. These are: (1) The 
treatment of a firm redirect for transmission service following the 
preemption of the conditional parent reservation; (2) the circumstances 
under which a firm redirect for transmission service may return to the 
conditional parent reservation; (3) the number of subsequent firm 
redirects for transmission service that can stem from the original firm 
redirect for transmission service; and (4) the proper treatment of 
requests to redirect requests for non-firm transmission service. Based 
on these responses, the Commission will consider whether it will adopt 
regulations regarding redirects from conditional parent reservations 
and non-firm service.
3. Requirement To Post ATC Narrative Within One Day
    26. NAESB developed Standard WEQ-001-14 to meet the requirement

[[Page 49584]]

in Order No. 890 for transmission providers to post a narrative in 
instances when ATC remains unchanged at a value of zero for six months 
or longer. In addition, Standard WEQ-001-15 requires transmission 
providers to post a brief narrative that explains the reason for a 
change in monthly or yearly ATC values on a constrained path when a 
monthly or yearly ATC value changes as a result of a 10 percent change 
in total transfer capability. In Order No. 676-H, the Commission 
declined to incorporate by reference Standards WEQ-001-14.1.3 and WEQ-
011-15.1.2 after determining that these standards did not meet the 
Commission's requirement to post the ATC narrative as soon as 
feasible.\26\ The Commission requested that NAESB ``revise these 
standards to provide for a one-day posting requirement.'' \27\ In 
response, NAESB modified Standards WEQ-001-14.1.3 and WEQ-011-15.1.2 
and adopted business practice standards to support the one-day posting 
requirement.
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    \26\ Order No. 676-E, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,299 at P 39.
    \27\ Id. P 29.
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    27. NAESB's revised standards appear consistent with our findings 
in Order No. 676-H and do not appear inconsistent with any Commission 
directives or findings in other orders. Moreover, as we explained 
above,\28\ below,\29\ and in previous orders, the NAESB standards are 
developed in an open consensus process that assures that the standards 
draw support from a wide range of industry members before being 
developed and adopted. Accordingly, we propose to incorporate by 
reference, into the Commission's regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, NAESB's 
revised standards on the timing of the required posting of ATC 
narratives, as set forth in NAESB's WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice 
Standards.
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    \28\ See supra P 8.
    \29\ See infra P 57.
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4. SAMTS Point-to-Point Treatment
    28. The NAESB SAMTS business practice standards that the Commission 
incorporated by reference in Order No. 676-H were developed in response 
to a Commission finding in Order No. 890 requesting that NAESB develop 
business practice standards in this area.\30\ In Order No. 676-H, the 
Commission found reasonable a NAESB request to treat a conditional 
point-to-point reservation included in a coordinated group displaced 
through preemption as comparable to a reservation being superseded as a 
result of preemption.\31\ NAESB therefore includes in the Version 003.1 
standards modifications to the SAMTS-related standards to permit a 
customer with preempted transmission capacity from a reservation 
associated with a coordinated group to alter (reduce or terminate) the 
capacity of coordinate requests in the coordinated group.
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    \30\ Order No. 890, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,241 at P 1377.
    \31\ Order No. 676-H, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,359 at P 65.
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    29. The Commission finds that NAESB's revised standards are 
consistent with our findings in Order No. 676-H and do not appear 
inconsistent with any Commission directives or findings in other 
orders. Accordingly, we propose to incorporate by reference, into the 
Commission's regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, NAESB's revised standards on 
SAMTS-Related standards as set forth in the WEQ Version 003.1 Business 
Practice Standards.
5. Clarification of Discretion of Transmission Providers To Deny 
Service Requests Under Standard WEQ-001-106.2.5
    30. In Order No. 676-H, the Commission declined to incorporate by 
reference Standard WEQ-001-106.2.5, explaining that the standard was 
``unclear in its application and could be read to allow Transmission 
Providers discretion to deny requests to terminate service in 
situations where this might not be warranted.'' \32\ In response, NAESB 
modified Standard WEQ-001-106.2.1, added Standard WEQ-001-106.2.1.1, 
and deleted Standard WEQ-001-106.2.5. Together, these revised standards 
clarify that a transmission customer should submit an accurate 
termination request and, if the transmission customer fails to do so, 
the transmission provider may deny the request.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \32\ Id. P 58.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    31. NAESB's revised standards appear consistent with our findings 
in Order No. 676-H and do not appear inconsistent with any Commission 
directives or findings in other orders. Accordingly, we propose to 
incorporate by reference, into the Commission's regulations at 18 CFR 
38.1, NAESB's revised Standards WEQ-WEQ-001-106.2.21, WEQ-001-
106.2.1.1, and WEQ-001-106.2.5, as set forth in the WEQ Version 003.1 
Business Practice Standards.
6. Modifications To Allow a Transmission Provider To Extend the Time To 
Perform Its Biennial Reassessment
    32. In Order No. 676-E, the Commission stated ``we reiterate here 
the Commission's finding in Order No. 890 that a transmission provider 
is permitted to extend the timeframe to reassess the availability of 
conditional firm service. Since the Version 002.1 Standards do not 
specifically address this issue, we would ask the industry, working 
through NAESB, to continue to look at additional business practice 
standards facilitating a transmission provider's extension of its right 
to perform a reassessment.'' \33\ In response to this request, NAESB, 
in its Version 003.1 Standards, adopted modifications to five standards 
in the WEQ-001 OASIS Business Practice Standards and one standard in 
the WEQ-013 OASIS Implementation Guide Business Practice Standards that 
explicitly allow a transmission provider to extend the deadline by 
which it must perform its biennial reassessment of the availability on 
its system of conditional firm service.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \33\ Order No. 676-E, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,299 at P 72.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    33. NAESB's revised standards appear consistent with our findings 
in Order No. 676-E and do not appear inconsistent with any Commission 
directives or findings in other orders. Accordingly, we propose to 
incorporate by reference, into the Commission's regulations at 18 CFR 
38.1, NAESB's revisions to five standards to extend the deadline by 
which a transmission provider must perform its biennial reassessment of 
the availability on its system of conditional firm service, as set 
forth in the WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards.
7. Industry-Wide Mechanism for Consistent Posting of AFC-Related Data
    34. In Order No. 890-A, the Commission explained that ``[t]o the 
extent MidAmerican or its customers find it beneficial also to post 
AFC, MidAmerican is free to post both ATC and AFC values.'' \34\ In the 
WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards, NAESB includes revisions 
to provide an industry-wide mechanism for posting of AFC-related data. 
NAESB adds three new data elements to the list of valid data element 
values for SYSTEM_ATTRIBUTE and SYSTEM_ELEMENT_TYPE in WEQ-003 OASIS 
Data Dictionary and to the system data OASIS template in WEQ-013 OASIS

[[Page 49585]]

Implementation Guide Business Practice Standards.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \34\ Order No. 890-A, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,261 at P 51.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    35. NAESB's revised standards appear consistent with our findings 
in Order No. 890-A and do not appear inconsistent with any Commission 
directives or findings in other orders. Accordingly, we propose to 
incorporate by reference, into the Commission's regulations at 18 CFR 
38.1, NAESB's revisions to the data elements in the OASIS Data 
Dictionary and to the data OASIS Template in Standard WEQ-013 to 
provide an industry-wide mechanism for posting of AFC-related data, as 
set forth in the WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards.
8. Use of DUNS Numbers
    36. In Order No. 768, the Commission eliminated the requirement to 
use DUNS numbers \35\ in Electronic Quarterly Report filings and stated 
that ``DUNS numbers have proven to be imprecise identification systems, 
as entities may have multiple DUNS numbers, only one DUNS number, or no 
DUNS number at all.'' \36\ NAESB has adopted revisions to Standard WEQ-
001-3.1 to eliminate the use of a DUNS number to identify an 
organization in OASIS postings. For consistency, NAESB also adopted 
changes or modifications to the Standard WEQ-000 Abbreviations, 
Acronyms, and Definition of Terms Business Practice Standards, WEQ-001 
OASIS Business Practice Standards, WEQ-003 OASIS Data Dictionary 
Business Practice Standards, and WEQ-013 OASIS Implementation Guide 
Business Practice Standards.
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    \35\ The Data Universal Numbering System, abbreviated as DUNS or 
D-U-N-S, is a proprietary system developed and regulated by Dun & 
Bradstreet that assigns a unique numeric identifier, referred to as 
a ``DUNS number'' to a single business entity.
    \36\ Electricity Market Transparency Provisions of Section 220 
of the Federal Power Act, Order No. 768, 77 FR 61896, FERC Stats. & 
Regs. ] 31,336, at P 171 (2012).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    37. NAESB's revised standards appear consistent with the 
Commission's findings in Order No. 768 and do not appear inconsistent 
with any Commission directives or findings in other orders. 
Accordingly, we propose to incorporate by reference, into the 
Commission's regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, NAESB's revisions to Standard 
WEQ-002-4.3.6.2.

B. Revised and New Standards Designed To Complement NERC Reliability 
Standards and Developments

1. NERC Compliance Registry
    38. The WEQ Version 003.1 standards include modifications to the 
WEQ-004 Coordinate Interchange Business Practice Standards to include 
in the EIR items eliminated by NERC, in Docket No. RR15-4-000, from the 
NERC Compliance Registry including the elimination of the LSE, the 
Purchase Selling Entity, and the Interchange Authority roles. This 
proposal was accepted by the Commission in orders issued on March 19, 
2015 \37\ and on October 15, 2015.\38\ Because the Commission has 
accepted the elimination of the LSE function from the NERC Compliance 
Registry, we propose to incorporate by reference, into the Commission's 
regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, the NAESB modifications of WEQ-004 
pertaining to Coordinate Interchange Business Practices.
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    \37\ North American Electric Reliability Corporation, 150 FERC ] 
61,213 (2015).
    \38\ North American Electric Reliability Corporation, 153 FERC ] 
61,024, at P 20 (2015).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Electric Industry Registry Standards
    39. On November 13, 2012, the NAESB EIR replaced the NERC TSIN as 
the industry registry, a tool previously used by wholesale electric 
markets to help them develop e-Tags for electronic scheduling. Thus, 
the NAESB EIR is now the tool the industry uses to support OASIS users 
in the electronic scheduling of transactions by acting as the central 
repository for information used by the wholesale electric industry in 
the creation of e-Tags. The WEQ-004 Coordinate Interchange Business 
Practice Standards and e-Tag Functional Specifications and Schema 
provide the commercial framework for e-Tagging. The new WEQ-022 EIR 
Business Practice Standards establish business practices for the NAESB 
EIR and provide guidance for registry users.
    40. NAESB's revised Standard WEQ-004 appears reasonable and does 
not appear inconsistent with any Commission directives or findings in 
other orders. Accordingly, we propose to incorporate by reference, into 
the Commission's regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, NAESB's revised Standard 
WEQ-004 as set forth in the WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice 
Standards.
3. WEQ-023 Modeling Business Practice Standards
    41. WEQ's Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards includes a new 
suite of standards, the WEQ-023 Modeling Business Practice Standards, 
which address technical issues affecting the calculation of ATC for 
wholesale electric transmission services. NAESB developed these 
Modeling standards after NERC proposed to retire the bulk of its MOD A 
Reliability Standards, which address ATC calculation, and NERC 
requested that NAESB consider developing replacement Business Practice 
Standards for requirements that NERC identified as being potentially 
relevant for commercial purposes.\39\ WEQ-023 includes two new 
requirements not previously included in the NERC Reliability Standards 
related to contract path management. These two standards, WEQ-023-1.4 
and WEQ-023-1.4.1, limit the amount of firm transmission service across 
a path between balancing authorities to the contract path limit for 
that given path.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \39\ NERC's proposal is currently pending before the Commission 
in the rulemaking proceeding in Docket No. RM14-7-000, see supra 
n.7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    42. The Commission is considering NERC's proposed retirement of its 
ATC-related Reliability Standards in Docket No. RM14-7-000. In 
addition, the Commission has established a proceeding in Docket No. 
AD15-5-000 to consider proposed changes to the calculation of ATC, and 
has conducted a technical conference and received comments regarding 
such changes.\40\ As a result, we are not proposing to incorporate by 
reference the WEQ-023 Modeling Business Practice Standards in this 
NOPR, but will consider these standards as part of the overall inquiry 
into ATC calculation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \40\ See, e.g., the December 18, 2014 status report filed by 
NAESB in Docket Nos. RM05-5-000 and RM14-7-000, and the Commission's 
April 21, 2015 workshop, Available Transfer Capability Standards for 
Wholesale Electric Transmission Services, Docket No. RM15-5-000.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Revisions to WEQ Business Practice Standards Not Requested by 
Commission or Developed To Comply With a Commission Directive

    43. In addition to the standards revisions that NAESB made to 
comply with various Commission directives and requests, NAESB also 
developed and adopted five revisions to the Business Practice Standards 
at its own initiative. These revisions: (1) Introduce a requirement for 
resellers to post off-OASIS resale transactions on the OASIS in the 
``accepted'' status to provide the assignee of the resale the 
opportunity to confirm the transaction on the OASIS; (2) allow for the 
unmasking of the source and sink of a request for transmission service, 
once that request is moved to any final state; (3) modify the 
Commission's existing non-mandatory guidance on Smart Grid standards; 
(4) modify the WEQ Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Definition of Terms in 
Standard WEQ-000 to maintain consistency between the defined terms used 
in the NAESB standards, including revisions to the

[[Page 49586]]

terms ``Demand Reduction Value'' and ``Energy Efficiency'' to mirror 
definitions proposed by the Retail Market Quadrant and prevent industry 
confusion; and (5) modify the Commission's PKI-related standards. We 
will now separately discuss each of these revisions.
1. Proper Method To Post Off-OASIS Resale Transactions
    44. NAESB's WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards include a 
revision to the WEQ-013 OASIS Implementation Guide Business Practice 
Standards to allow off-OASIS resale transactions to be posted directly 
to the OASIS under an ``accepted'' status. Prior to the modification to 
WEQ-013-2.6.7.2, these transactions were posted only as confirmed 
transactions. NAESB has also adopted a revision to the WEQ-001 OASIS 
Business Practice Standards (WEQ-013-2.6.7.2) as a conforming change 
requiring a service agreement between an assignee and a transmission 
provider to be executed once the assignee has confirmed the resale 
transaction on the OASIS.
    45. NAESB's revised standards on this subject appear reasonable and 
do not appear inconsistent with any directives or findings in any 
Commission orders. Accordingly, we propose to incorporate by reference, 
into the Commission's regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, NAESB's revisions to 
Standard WEQ-013-2.6.7.2 and to the WEQ-013 OASIS Implementation Guide 
Standards.
2. Unmasking of Final State Source and Sink Requests
    46. NAESB's WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards modify 
Standard WEQ-002-4.3.6.2 to unmask the source and sink for a request 
for transmission service for all instances where the request for 
transmission service is moved to any final state. Prior to this 
modification, masking of the source and sink of a request for 
transmission service was permitted until the status of that request was 
confirmed.
    47. NAESB's revised standards appear reasonable and do not appear 
inconsistent with any directives or findings in any Commission order. 
Accordingly, we propose to incorporate by reference, into the 
Commission's regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, NAESB's revisions to Standard 
WEQ-002-4.3.6.2.
3. Modifications to Smart Grid Standards
    48. In Order 676-H, the Commission recognized the values of the 
Smart Grid standards and encouraged ``further developments in 
interoperability, technological innovation and standardization in this 
area.'' In Order No. 676-H, the Commission adopted in its regulations 
as non-mandatory guidance five Smart Grid related standards: (1) WEQ-
016 Specifications for Common Electricity Product and Pricing 
Definition Business Practice Standards; (2) WEQ-017 Specifications for 
Common Schedule Communication Mechanism for Energy Transactions; (3) 
WEQ-018 Specifications for Wholesale Standard Demand Response Signals 
Business Practice Standards; (4) WEQ-019 Customer Energy Usage 
Information Communication Business Practice Standards; and (5) WEQ-020 
Smart Grid Standards Data Elements Table Business Practice Standards. 
This guidance is published in the Federal Register at 18 CFR 2.27.
    49. In its Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards, NAESB has 
modified the Standard WEQ-019 Customer Energy Usage Information 
Communication Business Practice Standards. NAESB made this modification 
so that the revised standard will operate in harmony with other smart 
grid standards, including the Smart Energy Profile 2.0, the 
International Electrotechnical Commission Information Model, the NAESB 
REQ.21 Energy Service Providers Interface, and standards developed by 
the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning 
Engineers.
    50. Standard WEQ-019 provides for energy usage information and this 
revision allows consumers access to their energy usage information. 
These standards will not only be used by the wholesale electric 
industry, but also are important initiatives for use in ongoing utility 
programs for consumer data access. We, therefore, propose to revise our 
non-mandatory guidance that we listed in 18 CFR 2.27(d) to reference 
NAESB's updated Standard WEQ-019 as set out in the Version 003.1 
package of WEQ Business Practice Standards, replacing the existing 
reference in 18 CFR 2.27(d) to Standard WEQ-019 as set out in the 
Version 003 WEQ Business Practice Standards.
4. Modification to Standards on Abbreviations, Acronyms and Definitions 
of Terms
    51. Also included in Version 003.1 is a modification to WEQ 
Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Definition of Terms in Standard WEQ-000 to 
maintain consistency between the defined terms used in the NAESB 
standards, and modified the terms ``Demand Reduction Value'' and 
``Energy Efficiency'' to mirror definitions proposed by the Retail 
Market Quadrant and prevent industry confusion.
    52. NAESB's revised standards appear reasonable and do not appear 
inconsistent with any directives or findings in any Commission orders. 
Accordingly, we propose to incorporate by reference, into the 
Commission's regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, NAESB's revisions to Standard 
WEQ-000.
5. Public Key Infrastructure-Related Standards
    53. NAESB includes three modifications to support the WEQ-012 PKI 
Business Practice Standards previously incorporated by reference by the 
Commission in Order No. 676-H.\41\ The three PKI-related modifications 
made in the Version 003.1 Standards were to the WEQ-012 PKI Business 
Practice Standards, the WEQ-002 OASIS Standards and Communication 
Protocols Business Practice Standards, and the WEQ-004 Coordinate 
Interchange Business Practice Standards. NAESB modified WEQ-012 to 
accommodate technology changes and security advances as well as to 
remove standards specifying criteria a certificate authority must meet. 
NAESB moved the standards specifying criteria that must be met out of 
the Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards and into a second 
document that outlines the prerequisites a certificate authority must 
meet to become a NAESB Certification Authority.\42\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \41\ These three modifications were not included in the Version 
003 filing NAESB made on September 18, 2012 but rather were filed 
separately by NAESB on January 29, 2013 following the conclusion of 
standards development. See Submittal of Modifications to the NAESB 
Public Key Infrastructure Standards and Other Standards to support 
the Public Key Infrastructure, Docket Nos. RM05-5-000 and RM05-5-
022, January 29, 2013.
    \42\ The specifications document was created in recognition that 
certificate authorities may not be subject to the Commission's 
jurisdictional authority under the Federal Power Act and that 
specification requirements can be modified through an accelerated 
process versus standards development.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    54. NAESB modified five standards and added three standards WEQ-
002, which require the use of a certificate issued by a NAESB 
Certification Authority to access an OASIS site and include 
requirements related to support the implementation of PKI on OASIS 
sites as well as revisions to reflect the transmission of the registry 
from the NERC TSI to the NAESB EIR. NAESB includes one new standard, 
WEQ-004-2.3, which requires all e-Tagging communication to be secured 
by certifications issued by a NAESB Certification Authority. NAESB also 
includes modifications to WEQ-000 for consistency purposes.

[[Page 49587]]

    55. In Order No. 676-H, the Commission incorporated by reference 
the WEQ-012 PKI Business Practice Standards. In Version 003.1, NAESB 
has filed three modifications to support these standards, requesting 
that the Commission also incorporate by reference these modifications. 
We propose to incorporate these revised standards by reference into the 
Commission's regulations. These revised standards will require public 
utilities to conduct transactions securely when using the internet and 
will eliminate confusion over which transactions involving public 
utilities must follow the approved PKI procedures to secure their 
transactions. The revisions support the NAESB Authorized Certification 
Authority (ACA) Certification Program and account for technological 
advances following the original adoption of the standards by NAESB.\43\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \43\ We note the NAESB ACA Certification Program is solely a 
service offered by NAESB, and is not include in WEQ-012.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

D. Implementation

    56. Consistent with the policy that we introduced in Order No. 676-
H,\44\ we propose upon issuance of a final rule, to establish a 
specific date by which all public utilities must file compliance 
filings revising their tariffs to acknowledge their responsibility to 
comply with the revised standards. In Order No. 676-H, we permitted 
public utilities that wish to incorporate the complete set of NAESB 
standards into their tariffs without modification to avoid having to 
make future compliance filings by specifying in their compliance filing 
that they are incorporating into their tariff all of the standards 
incorporated by reference by the Commission as specified in Part 38 of 
the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure as updated and 
revised. Those public utilities that followed this approach after the 
issuance of Order No. 676-H will not need to make a compliance filing 
revising their tariff after issuance of a final rule in this proceeding 
as long as they continue to incorporate all of the standards without 
modification. Public utilities that have not availed themselves of this 
option in complying with Order No. 676-H would be free to do so in 
complying with a final rule in this proceeding.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \44\ Order No. 676-H, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,359 at P 71.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards

    57. The NAESB WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards were 
adopted by NAESB under NAESB's consensus procedures.\45\ As the 
Commission found in Order No. 676, adoption of consensus standards is 
appropriate because the consensus process helps ensure the 
reasonableness of the standards by requiring that the standards draw 
support from a broad spectrum of all segments of the industry. 
Moreover, since the industry itself has to conduct business under these 
standards, the Commission's regulations should reflect those standards 
that have the widest possible support. In section 12(d) of the National 
Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, Congress affirmatively 
requires federal agencies to use technical standards developed by 
voluntary consensus standards organizations, like NAESB, as a means to 
carry out policy objectives or activities unless use of such standards 
would be inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical.\46\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \45\ Under this process, to be approved a standard must receive 
a super-majority vote of 67 percent of the members of the WEQ's 
Executive Committee with support from at least 40 percent from each 
of the five industry segments--transmission, generation, marketer/
brokers, distribution/load serving entities, and end users. For 
final approval, 67 percent of the WEQ's general membership must 
ratify the standards.
    \46\ Public Law 104-113, 12(d), 110 Stat. 775 (1996), 15 U.S.C. 
272 note (1997).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    58. 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 WEQ of NAESB.

IV. Incorporation by Reference

    59. The Office of the Federal Register requires agencies 
incorporating material by reference in final rules to discuss, in the 
preamble of the final rule, the ways that the materials it incorporates 
by reference are reasonably available to interested parties and how 
interested parties can obtain the materials.\47\ The regulations also 
require agencies to summarize, in the preamble of the final rule, the 
material it incorporates by reference. The NAESB standards we are 
proposing to incorporate by reference in this Final Rule can be 
summarized as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \47\ 1 CFR 51.5. See Incorporation by Reference, 79 FR 66267 
(Nov. 7, 2014).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Revisions to OASIS Standards. The Version 003.1 standards 
include revisions to six OASIS-related standards made to conform to 
directives and guidance provided by the Commission in Order Nos. 676-E, 
676-H, and 890. In addition, NAESB modified WEQ-001 and WEQ-013 to 
require resellers to enter off-OASIS resale transactions into OASIS 
sites in the ``accepted'' status to provide the assignee of the resale 
the opportunity to confirm the transaction on the OASIS and revised 
WEQ-002-4.3.6.2 to allow for the unmasking of the source and sink of a 
request for transmission when that request is moved to any final state. 
Finally, NAESB modified WEQ-001, WEQ-003, and WEQ-013 to be consistent 
with the Commission's treatment of Data Universal Numbering System 
(DUNS) numbers.
     Revisions to NERC-Related Standards. NAESB modified 
existing standards and developed new standards based on developments 
involving NERC. In addition, NAESB has adopted revisions to NAESB 
standards that need to match up with NERC's Interchange Scheduling and 
Coordination (INT) Reliability Standards. The Commission is proposing 
to incorporate by reference the WEQ-022 standards and the standards 
relating to NERC's INT standards.\48\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \48\ As discussed above, NAESB has also adopted modifications to 
NERC-related standards, such as WEQ-023, that we do not propose in 
this NOPR to incorporate by reference.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Standards Development. NAESB also modified four additional 
standards in the course of normal standards development. In response to 
Order No. 764, NAESB modified WEQ-004 to provide for the scheduling of 
interchange in 15-minute intervals and modified WEQ-019 to ensure 
consistency between WEQ Business Practice Standards and other standards 
organizations' standards. Additionally, NAESB modified WEQ-000 to 
harmonize definitions with NAESB Retail Market Quadrant efforts.
     PKI Modifications. The standards include additional PKI 
modifications to WEQ-002, WEQ-004, and WEQ-012 to support the NAESB 
Authorized Certification Authority (Certification Authority) 
Certification Program and to account for technological advances.
     Minor Corrections. Under its process to make necessary 
minor corrections to its standards, when needed, the WEQ Version 003.1 
Business Practice Standards include seven new minor corrections made by 
NAESB.
    60. Our regulations provide that copies of the NAESB standards 
incorporated by reference may be obtained from the North American

[[Page 49588]]

Energy Standards Board, 801 Travis Street, Suite 1675, Houston, TX 
77002, Phone: (713) 356-0060. NAESB's Web site is located at http://www.naesb.org/ org/. Copies of the standards may be inspected at the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Public Reference and Files 
Maintenance Branch, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, Phone: 
(202) 502-8371, http://www.ferc.gov.\49\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \49\ 18 CFR 284.12.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    61. NAESB is a private consensus standards developer that develops 
voluntary wholesale and retail standards related to the energy 
industry. The procedures used by NAESB make its standards reasonably 
available to those affected by the Commission regulations, which 
generally is comprised of entities that have the means to acquire the 
information they need to effectively participate in Commission 
proceedings.\50\ NAESB provides a free electronic read-only version of 
the standards for a three business day period or, in the case of a 
regulatory comment period, through the end of the comment period.\51\ 
Participants can join NAESB, for an annual membership cost of $7,000, 
which entitles them to full participation in NAESB and enables them to 
obtain these standards at no additional cost.\52\ Non-members may 
obtain a complete set of Standards Manuals, Booklets, and Contracts on 
CD for $2,000 and the Individual Standards Manual or Booklets for each 
standard by email for $250 per manual or booklet.\53\ In addition, 
NAESB considers requests for waivers of the charges on a case by case 
basis based on need.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \50\ As a private, consensus standards developer, NAESB needs 
the funds obtained from its membership fees and sales of its 
standards to finance the organization. The parties affected by these 
Commission regulations generally are highly sophisticated and have 
the means to acquire the information they need to effectively 
participate in Commission proceedings.
    \51\ Procedures for non-members to evaluate work products before 
purchasing are available at https://www.naesb.org/misc/NAESB_Nonmember_Evaluation.pdf. See Incorporation by Reference, 79 
FR at 66271, n.51 & 53 (Nov. 7, 2014) (citing to NAESB's procedure 
of providing ``no-cost, no-print electronic access,'' NAESB Comment 
at 1, http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=OFR-2013-0001-
0023).
    \52\ North American Energy Standards Board Membership 
Application, https://www.naesb.org/pdf4/naesbapp.pdf.
    \53\ NAESB Materials Order Form, https://www.naesb.org//pdf/ordrform.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

V. Information Collection Statement

    62. The following collection of information contained in this 
proposed rule is subject to review by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) under section 3507(d) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507(d).\54\ OMB's regulations require approval of 
certain information collection requirements imposed by agency 
rules.\55\ Upon approval of a collection(s) of information, OMB will 
assign an OMB control number and an expiration date. Respondents 
subject to the filing requirements of this rule will not be penalized 
for failing to respond to these collections of information unless the 
collections of information display a valid OMB control number.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \54\ 44 U.S.C. 3507(d).
    \55\ 5 CFR 1320.11.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    63. 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.
    64. The following burden estimate is based on the projected costs 
for the industry to implement the new and revised business practice 
standards adopted by NAESB and proposed to be incorporated by reference 
in this NOPR.\56\
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    \56\ Commission staff estimates that industry is similarly 
situated in terms of hourly cost (wages plus benefits). Based on the 
Commission average cost (wages plus benefits) for 2016, $74.50/hour 
is used.

                                                             Revisions in NOPR in RM05-5-025
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Annual number
                                            Number of     of responses    Total number    Average burden (hours) & cost     Total annual burden hours &
                                           respondents   per respondent   of responses           ($) per response              total annual cost ($)
                                                    (1)             (2)     (1)*(2)=(3)  (4)............................  (3)*(4)=(5)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FERC-516E 57 58 (tariff filing)........             132               1             132  6..............................  792 hours.
                                                                                         $447...........................  $59,004.
FERC-717 (compliance with standards) 59             132               1             132  30 \60\........................  3,960 hours.
                                                                                         $2,235.........................  $295,020.
                                        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total..............................  ..............  ..............             264  36 hours.......................  4,752 hours.
                                                                                         $2,682.........................  $354,024.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Costs To Comply With Paperwork Requirements

    The estimated annual costs are as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \57\ This burden category is intended for ``FERC-516,'' the 
Commission's identifier that corresponds to OMB Control No. 1902-
0096 (Electric Rate Schedules and Tariff Filings). However, another 
unrelated item is pending OMB review using this OMB Control No. and 
only one item per OMB Control No. may be pending at a time. 
Therefore, to ensure timely submission, Commission staff is using 
FERC-516E (OMB Control No. TBD), a temporary collection number.
    \58\ These information collection requirements are one-time 
burden estimates. After implementation in Year 1, the revision 
proposed in this NOPR would be complete.
    \59\ ``FERC-717'' is the Commission's identifier that 
corresponds to OMB control no. 1902-0173 that identifies the 
information collection associated with Standards for Business 
Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities.
    \60\ The 30-hour estimate was developed in Docket No. RM05-5-
013, when the Commission prepared its estimate of the scope of work 
involved in transitioning to the NAESB Version 002.1 Business 
Practice Standards. See Order No. 676-E, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 
31,299 at P 134. We have retained the same estimate here, because 
the scope of the tasks involved in the transition to Version 003.1 
of the Business Practice Standards is very similar to that for the 
transition to the Version 003 Standards.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     FERC-516E: 132 entities * 1 response/entity * (6 hours/
response * $74.50/hour) = $57,024.
     FERC-717: 132 entities * 1 response/entity * (30 hours/
response * $74.50/hour) = $285,120.
    Titles: Electric Rate Schedule Filing (FERC-516E); Open Access Same 
Time Information System and Standards for Business Practices and 
Communication Protocols for Public Utilities (FERC-717).

[[Page 49589]]

    Action: Proposed collection.
    OMB Control Nos.: TBD (FERC-516E); 1902-0173 (FERC-717).
    Respondents: Business or other for profit (Public Utilities--
Generally not applicable to small businesses).\61\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \61\ See infra PP 72-73.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Frequency of Responses: One-time implementation (business 
procedures, capital/start-up).
    65. Necessity of the Information: This proposed rule, if 
implemented would upgrade the Commission's current business practice 
and communication standards and protocols modifications to support 
compliance with requirements established by the Commission in Order 
Nos. 890, 890-A, 890-B, and 890-C, as well as modifications to the 
OASIS-related standards to support Order Nos. 676, 676-A, 676-E, and 
717.
    66. Internal Review: The Commission has reviewed the revised 
business practice standards and has made a preliminary determination 
that the proposed revisions that we propose here to incorporate by 
reference are both necessary and useful. In addition, the Commission 
has assured itself, by means of its internal review, that there is 
specific, objective support for the burden estimate associated with the 
information requirements.
    67. Interested persons may obtain information on the reporting 
requirements by contacting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
Office of the Executive Director, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 
20426 [Attn: Ellen Brown, email: DataClearance@ferc.gov, phone: (202) 
502-8663, fax: (202) 273-0873].
    68. Comments concerning the information collections proposed in 
this NOPR and the associated burden estimates should be sent to the 
Commission at this docket and by email to the Office of Management and 
Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs [Attention: Desk 
Officer for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission]. For security 
reasons, comments should be sent by email to OMB at the following email 
address: oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. Please reference the docket 
number of this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Docket No. RM05-5-25) and 
OMB Control Nos. TBD (FERC-516E) and 1902-0173 (FERC-717) in your 
submission.

VI. Environmental Analysis

    69. 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.\62\ The 
Commission has categorically excluded certain actions from these 
requirements as not having a significant effect on the human 
environment.\63\ 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 electric power that requires no construction of 
facilities.\64\ Therefore, an environmental assessment is unnecessary 
and has not been prepared in this NOPR.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \62\ Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969, Order No. 486, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. 
& Regs., Regulations Preambles 1986-1990 ] 30,783 (1987).
    \63\ 18 CFR 380.4.
    \64\ See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii), 380.4(a)(5), 380.4(a)(27).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

VII. Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    70. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) \65\ generally 
requires a description and analysis of proposed rules that will have 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The RFA does not mandate any particular outcome in a rulemaking. It 
only requires consideration of alternatives that are less burdensome to 
small entities and an agency explanation of why alternatives were 
rejected.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \65\ 5 U.S.C. 601-612.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    71. The Small Business Administration (SBA) revised its size 
standards (effective January 22, 2014) for electric utilities from a 
standard based on megawatt hours to a standard based on the number of 
employees, including affiliates. Under SBA's standards, some 
transmission owners will fall under the following category and 
associated size threshold: Electric bulk power transmission and 
control, at 500 employees.\66\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \66\ 13 CFR 121.201, Sector 22 (Utilities), NAICS code 221121 
(Electric Bulk Power Transmission and Control).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    72. The Commission estimates that 5 of the 132 respondents are 
small. The Commission estimates that the impact on these entities is 
consistent with the paperwork burden of $2,682 per entity used 
above.\67\ The Commission does not consider $2,682 to be a significant 
economic impact.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \67\ 36 hours at $74.50/hour = $2,682.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    73. Based on the above, the Commission certifies that 
implementation of the proposed Business Practice Standards will not 
have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
Accordingly, no initial regulatory flexibility analysis is required.

VIII. Comment Procedures

    74. The Commission invites interested persons to submit comments on 
the matters and issues proposed in this notice to be adopted, including 
any related matters or alternative proposals that commenters may wish 
to discuss. Comments are due September 26, 2016. Comments must refer to 
Docket No. RM05-5-025 and must include the commenter's name, the 
organization they represent, if applicable, and their address in their 
comments.
    75. The Commission encourages comments to 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. Documents created electronically using word processing 
software should be filed in native applications or print-to-PDF format 
and not in a scanned format. Commenters filing electronically do not 
need to make a paper filing.
    76. Commenters that are not able to file comments electronically 
must send an original of their comments to: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426.
    77. 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.

IX. Document Availability

    78. 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 the Commission's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov) and 
in the Commission's Public Reference Room during normal business hours 
(8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time) at 888 First Street NE., Room 2A, 
Washington, DC 20426.
    79. From the Commission's Home Page on the Internet, this 
information is available on eLibrary. The full text of this document is 
available on eLibrary 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.
    80. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the Commission's 
Web site during normal business hours from the

[[Page 49590]]

Commission's Online Support at (202) 502-6652 (toll free at 1-866-208-
3676) or email at ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or the Public Reference 
Room at (202) 502-8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. Email the Public Reference 
Room at public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.

List of Subjects

18 CFR Part 2

    Electric utilities, Guidance and policy statements.

18 CFR Part 38

    Conflict of interests, Electric power plants, Electric utilities, 
Incorporation by reference, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    By direction of the Commission.

    Dated: July 21, 2016.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
    In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission proposes to amend 
parts 2 and 38, chapter I, title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, as 
follows:

PART 2--GENERAL POLICY AND INTERPRETATIONS

0
1. The authority citation for part 2 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 601; 15 U.S.C. 717-717z, 3301-3432, 16 
U.S.C. 792-828c, 2601-2645; 42 U.S.C. 4321-4370h, 7101-7352.

0
2. Amend Sec.  2.27 by revising paragraph (d) to read as follows:

Sec.  2.27  Availability of North American Energy Standards Board 
(NAESB) Smart Grid Standards as non-mandatory guidance.

* * * * *
    (d) WEQ-019, Customer Energy Usage Information Communication (WEQ 
Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015); and
* * * * *

PART 38--STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC UTILITY BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND 
COMMUNICATIONS

0
3. The authority citation for part 38 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 791-825r, 2601-2645; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 42 
U.S.C. 7101-7352.

0
4. Amend Sec.  38.1, by revising paragraph (b) to read as follows:

Sec.  38.1  Incorporation by reference of North American Energy 
Standards Board Wholesale Electric Quadrant standards.

* * * * *
    (b) The business practice and electronic communication standards 
the Commission incorporates by reference are as follows:
    (1) WEQ-000, Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Definition of Terms 
(Version 003.1, Sep., 30, 2015);
    (2) WEQ-001, Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS), 
OASIS Version 2.1 (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015) with the exception 
of Standards 001-9.5, 001-10.5, 001-14.1.3, 001-15.1.2 and 001-
106.2.5);
    (3) WEQ-002, Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS) 
Business Practice Standards and Communication Protocols (S&CP), OASIS 
Version 2.1 (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015);
    (4) WEQ-003, Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS) Data 
Dictionary Business Practice Standards, OASIS Version 2.1 (WEQ Version 
003.1, Sep. 30, 2015);
    (5) WEQ-004, Coordinate Interchange (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 
2015);
    (6) WEQ-005, Area Control Error (ACE) Equation Special Cases (WEQ 
Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015);
    (7) WEQ-006, Manual Time Error Correction (WEQ Version 003, Sep. 
30, 2015);
    (8) WEQ-007, Inadvertent Interchange Payback (WEQ Version 003.1, 
Sep. 30, 2015);
    (9) WEQ-008, Transmission Loading Relief (TLR)--Eastern 
Interconnection (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015);
    (10) WEQ-011, Gas/Electric Coordination (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 
30, 2015);
    (11) WEQ-012, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) (WEQ Version 003.1, 
Sep. 30, 2015);
    (12) WEQ-013, Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS) 
Implementation Guide, OASIS Version 2.1 (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 
2015);
    (13) WEQ-015, Measurement and Verification of Wholesale Electricity 
Demand Response (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015);
    (14) WEQ-021, Measurement and Verification of Energy Efficiency 
Products (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015).
    (15) WEQ-022, Electric Industry Registry Business Practice 
Standards (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015); and
    (16) WEQ-023, Modeling Business Practice Standards (WEQ Version 
003.1, Sep. 30, 2015).

[FR Doc. 2016-17841 Filed 7-27-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P