Document ID: FERC-2007-0302-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities
Posted Date: 2007-02-26T05:00Z

[Federal Register: February 26, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 37)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 8318-8323]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26fe07-33]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 38

[Docket No. RM05-5-003]

 
Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for 
Public Utilities

Issued February 20, 2007.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes 
to incorporate by reference in its regulations revisions to the 
Coordinate Interchange business practice standards (WEQ-004) adopted by 
the Wholesale Electric Quadrant

[[Page 8319]]

(WEQ) of the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB). These 
standards identify the processes and communications necessary to 
coordinate energy transfers that cross boundaries between entities 
responsible for balancing load and generation. Through this rulemaking, 
the Commission seeks to ensure that the Coordinate Interchange business 
practices standards that the Commission incorporates by reference in 
its regulations function compatibly with the North American Electric 
Reliability Council's proposed Version 1 and 2 INT reliability 
standards, currently under review in Docket No. RM06-16-000, in the 
event that the Commission approves such standards.

DATES: Comments on the proposed rule are due March 28, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket No. RM05-5-003, 
by one of the following methods:
     Agency Web Site: http://ferc.gov. Follow the instructions 

for submitting comments via the eFiling link found in the Comment 
Procedures Section of the preamble.
     Mail: Commenters unable to file comments electronically 
must mail or hand deliver an original and 14 copies of their comments 
to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. Please refer 
to the Comment Procedures Section of the preamble for additional 
information on how to file paper comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Patricia Schaub (technical issues), Office of Energy Markets and 
Reliability, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, 
NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-6816.
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:
    1. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes 
to amend its regulations under the Federal Power Act \1\ to incorporate 
by reference a revised version of the Coordinate Interchange Standards 
(designated as WEQ-004) adopted by the Wholesale Electric Quadrant 
(WEQ) of the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) on June 22, 
2006, and filed with the Commission on November 16, 2006. These revised 
standards would replace the Coordinate Interchange business practice 
standards that the Commission previously incorporated by reference into 
its regulations in a prior rulemaking.\2\ The WEQ's Coordinate 
Interchange standards identify the processes and communications 
necessary to coordinate energy transfers crossing boundaries between 
entities responsible for balancing load and generation (Interchange).
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    \1\ 16 U.S.C. 791a, et seq.
    \2\ Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols 
for Public Utilities, Order No. 676, 71 FR 26199 (May 4, 2006), FERC 
Stats. & Regs., Regulations Preambles ] 31,216 (Apr. 25, 2006), 
reh'g denied, Order No. 676-A, 116 FERC ] 61,255 (2006).
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    2. The revised Coordinate Interchange business practice standards 
that the Commission proposes to incorporate by reference in this notice 
of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) are intended to complement revisions to 
the Interchange Scheduling and Coordination group of INT reliability 
standards, dealing with the interchange of energy (INT reliability 
standards), that the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) 
has proposed and that are currently under consideration in the 
rulemaking proceeding in Docket No. RM06-16-000.\3\ In this NOPR, the 
Commission proposes to amend part 38 of its regulations to incorporate 
by reference the WEQ's revisions to the Coordinate Interchange business 
practice standards to ensure that they remain consistent with the 
applicable NERC INT reliability standards. Thus, the Commission 
proposes that the effective date of the revised WEQ Coordinate 
Interchange standards be no earlier than the effective date of the 
corresponding NERC INT reliability standards.
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    \3\ See Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power 
System, 71 FR 64770 (Nov. 3, 2006), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 32,608 at 
P 427-496 (Oct. 20, 2006) (Reliability NOPR).
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Background

    3. NAESB is a non-profit standards development organization 
established in January 2002 that serves as an industry forum for the 
development and promotion of business practice standards that promote a 
seamless marketplace for wholesale and retail natural gas and 
electricity. Since 1995, NAESB and its predecessor, the Gas Industry 
Standards Board, 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.
    4. NAESB's standards include business practices that 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 four quadrants of the gas and electric industries--
wholesale gas, wholesale electric, retail gas, and retail electric. All 
participants in the gas and electric industries are eligible to join 
NAESB and participate in standards development.
    5. NAESB's procedures are designed to ensure that all industry 
members can have input into the development of a standard, whether or 
not they are members of NAESB, and each standard NAESB adopts is 
supported by a consensus of the relevant industry segments.
    6. In Order No. 676, the Commission not only adopted business 
practice standards and communication protocols for the wholesale 
electric industry, it also established a formal ongoing process for 
reviewing and upgrading the Commission's Open Access Same-Time 
Information Systems (OASIS) standards and other wholesale electric 
industry business practice standards. In addition, the Commission 
incorporated by reference NAESB standards designed to coordinate 
business practices with reliability standards approved by the 
Commission under section 215 of the Federal Power Act (FPA).
    7. On April 4, 2006, as modified on August 28, 2006, NERC filed 107 
proposed reliability standards with the Commission for approval under 
section 215 of the FPA, including Version 1 INT reliability standards. 
On October 20, 2006, in Docket No. RM06-16-000, the Commission issued a 
notice of proposed rulemaking (i.e., the Reliability NOPR) proposing to 
approve 83 of NERC's 107 proposed reliability standards, including its 
INT reliability standards.\4\ The Reliability NOPR also explained that 
NERC would be submitting revised versions of some of these standards in 
November of 2006. On November 15, 2006, NERC filed revised proposed 
reliability standards including revised INT reliability standards INT-
001-2 (Interchange Information) and INT-003-2 (Interchange Transaction 
Information). Final action on the Reliability NOPR is currently 
pending. In addition, as the Commission noted in the Reliability NOPR, 
NERC removed certain standards from its proposed reliability standards 
because they actually were business practice standards that would be 
addressed by NAESB.\5\
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    \4\ See Reliability NOPR at P 427-496.
    \5\ Reliability NOPR at P 439 and P 452.
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    8. The WEQ revised its Coordinate Interchange standards to support 
NERC's Version 1 INT reliability standards. On June 22, 2006, the WEQ

[[Page 8320]]

membership ratified the revisions to the Coordinate Interchange 
standards. On November 16, 2006, NAESB filed the revised Coordinate 
Interchange standards with the Commission for appropriate action. On 
February 5, 2007, NAESB filed a report in this docket that describes 
how their proposed Coordinate Interchange business practice standards 
map to NERC's INT reliability standards.
    9. The revised Coordinate Interchange business practice standards 
(WEQ-004) facilitate the transfer of electric energy between entities 
responsible for balancing load and generation (Balancing Authorities). 
The term ``Interchange'' in this context refers to energy transfers 
across boundaries between Balancing Authorities. The Coordinate 
Interchange business practice standards identify the processes needed 
to facilitate interchange transactions, and specify the arrangements 
and data to be communicated to the entity responsible for authorizing 
implementation of interchange transactions (Interchange Authority).
    10. The WEQ adopted revisions to its Coordinate Interchange 
business practice standards for three main reasons: (1) To incorporate 
business practice standards that had previously been included by NERC 
in its proposed reliability standards; (2) to modify the definitions 
and standards to better integrate with NERC's corresponding reliability 
standards; and (3) to eliminate an appendix and update standards to 
reflect current operating conditions in the Eastern and Western 
Interconnections, and within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas 
(ERCOT).

Standards Previously Included by NERC in Its Reliability Standards

    11. The Reliability NOPR noted that NERC deleted certain 
requirements previously included in its proposed reliability standards 
with the expectation that NAESB would include them in its business 
practice standards. The deleted NERC standards include Requirements 
R1.1, R3, R4, and R5 of INT-001-0, which relate to the timing and 
content of e-tags, and Requirement R1.1.3 of INT-003-0, which addresses 
ramp starting time and duration.
    12. The revised Coordinate Interchange business practice standards 
the WEQ adopted to replace the deleted NERC standards include:
     WEQ Standards 004-1, and 004-3.1 replace NERC INT-001-0 
Requirement R1.1. The revised WEQ standards address how requests for 
Interchange should be made and who is responsible for submitting such 
requests.
     WEQ Standards 004-3, 004-5, 004-8.1, and 004-8.2 replace 
NERC's INT-001-0 Requirement R3. These standards establish the timing 
requirements for submitting requests for Interchange. The WEQ's timing 
table (Appendix D referenced in WEQ Standard 004-8.1) has been revised 
to better match up with the timing table in NERC's INT-005-1.
     WEQ Standard 004-5 replaces NERC's INT-001-0 Requirement 
R4. This standard addresses the data that should be included in a 
request for Interchange and who is responsible for ensuring that these 
data are included in the request for Interchange.
     WEQ Standard 004-12 replaces NERC's INT-001-0 Requirement 
R5. This standard requires that parties involved in an Interchange must 
have personnel and facilities on site and immediately available to 
receive notification of changes to the Interchange.
     WEQ Standards 004-17, 004-17.1, and 004-17.2 replace 
NERC's INT-003-0 Requirement R1.1.3. These standards establish the 
default ramp rates that apply to an Interchange unless otherwise agreed 
to by the parties involved.

Changes To Better Conform With NERC's Proposed INT Reliability 
Standards

    13. The WEQ also modified the Coordinate Interchange definitions 
and business practice standards to better coordinate with NERC's INT 
reliability standards. This follows the Commission's directive in Order 
No. 676 that, ``[i]n future versions of the standards, NAESB should use 
the NERC definitions relating to reliability.'' \6\ The modifications 
include:
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    \6\ Order No. 676 at P 40.
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     New and revised definitions, such as changing Reliability 
Authority to Reliability Coordinator.
     Changes to definitions resulting from WEQ's efforts to 
match the language used in NERC's ``Glossary of Terms Used in 
Reliability Standards'' (Glossary) where appropriate. For example, the 
WEQ added a definition for ``Arranged Interchange'' using the same 
language as NERC.
     Changes to definitions, such as the ``Request for 
Interchange'' definition, where the words are not identical, but are 
compatible with NERC's, facilitating coordination with the NERC INT 
reliability standards but reflecting the different responsibilities of 
the two organizations.
     Changes to definitions, where NERC does not have a 
corresponding definition in its Glossary, but the WEQ modified its 
definitions, such as the ``Approval Entity'' definition, to reflect the 
definition changes previously discussed.
     Changes to delete definitions no longer needed in the 
Coordinate Interchange business practice standards or that had been 
replaced by other definitions. Deleted definitions include: Checkout 
Process; Interchange Transaction; Interchange Transaction Tag; 
Interconnection; Market Operator; Scheduling Agent; and Transmission 
Service Provider.
     Changes to the Coordinate Interchange business practice 
standards made to better coordinate with NERC's INT reliability 
standards. The standards were modified to: (1) Incorporate the revised 
definitions; (2) provide greater detail, as in WEQ Standard 004-3; (3) 
add new standards to clarify and better coordinate with NERC, such as 
in WEQ Standard 004-2.2; and (4) delete standards that are no longer 
appropriate, such as WEQ Standard 004-1.2.

Changes To Reflect Current Business Practices of the Eastern and 
Western Interconnections and ERCOT

    14. The Coordinate Interchange business practices standards were 
also modified to reflect the current business practices of the Eastern 
and Western Interconnections and ERCOT. Language previously included in 
Appendix A was moved to Coordinate Interchange business practice 
standards 004-3, 004-3.1, and 004-8.2.

Discussion

    15. In this NOPR, we propose to incorporate by reference the WEQ's 
revised Coordinate Interchange standards in part 38 of the Commission's 
regulations to coordinate with the consideration already under way in 
Docket No. RM06-16-000 of the complementary NERC INT reliability 
standards.\7\ Adoption of revised business practice standards is 
intended to be coordinated with the adoption of the complementary 
reliability standards to ensure that public utilities comply with a 
consistent set of standards. To ensure that the NAESB and NERC 
standards remain consistent, we propose that the effective date of 
these standards be no earlier than the effective date of the NERC 
standards if, and

[[Page 8321]]

when, they are approved by the Commission.
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    \7\ The revised WEQ business practice standards we are proposing 
to incorporate by reference in this NOPR are the standards for 
Coordinate Interchange (WEQ-004, June 22, 2006) including Purpose, 
Applicability, and Standards 004-0 through 004-17.2 and 004-A 
through 004-D.
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    16. We are pleased that NAESB and NERC have been able to work 
together to separate out business and reliability decisions and to 
generally coordinate their adoption of standards. In the Reliability 
NOPR, the Commission urged NERC and NAESB to coordinate their filing of 
standards. We stated:

    In the future, to ensure that there is not a gap in Reliability 
Standards or business practices, the Commission expects filings from 
NERC and NAESB to be coordinated to allow for the seamless transfer 
of Requirements from Reliability Standards to Business Practices.\8\
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    \8\ Reliability NOPR at P 439.

    In this instance, although the adoption of the standards was 
coordinated, the filing of notification to the Commission was not as 
coordinated as we would like it to be. In the future, we expect that 
NAESB and NERC will coordinate their submittals of any subsequent 
revisions to their respective interrelated standards and that each 
filing will reference its counterparts, to help assure coordinated 
implementation of future standards. We appreciate the supplemental 
information NAESB filed on February 5, 2007, and request that NERC and 
NAESB include in their filings the details showing how their respective 
standards relate to each other.
    17. NAESB's standards correspond to NERC's Version 1 INT 
reliability standards. On November 15, 2006, NERC filed updated INT 
reliability standards (NERC's Version 2 INT reliability standards) with 
the Commission in Docket No. RM06-16-000. Review of the changes made to 
the Version 2 standards does not indicate that the WEQ would need to 
make any additional modifications to its Coordinate Interchange 
standards. We invite comments on whether NERC's Version 2 INT 
reliability standards necessitate any additional standards beyond those 
included in the WEQ's Coordinate Interchange business practice 
standards.
    18. The Commission is not proposing in this rulemaking that public 
utilities make tariff filings to include the revised Coordinate 
Interchange standards in their tariffs. Instead, we propose that, when 
the WEQ next updates its wholesale electric standards, if the 
Commission decides to incorporate this next standard version into its 
regulations, public utilities will then be required to include these 
standards in their tariffs.

Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards

    19. The NAESB WEQ approved the revised Coordinate Interchange 
standards under NAESB's consensus procedures.\9\ 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 means to carry out policy 
objectives or activities.\10\
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    \9\ 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.
    \10\ Pub L. 104-113, Sec.  12(d), 110 Stat. 775 (1996), 15 
U.S.C. 272 note (1997).
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    20. 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 a voluntary consensus standard 
developed by the WEQ.

Information Collection Statement

    21. The following collection of information contained in this 
proposed rule has 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 
following burden estimate is based on the projected costs for the 
industry to implement revisions to the WEQ's Coordinate Interchange 
standards (WEQ-004).

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                                                                     Number of
                 Data collection                     Number of     responses per     Hours per     Total number
                                                    respondents     respondent       response        of hours
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FERC-717........................................             220               1               8            1760
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............            1760
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Total Annual Hours for Collection

    (Reporting and Recordkeeping, (if appropriate)) = 1760.
    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: \11\
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    \11\ The total annualized costs for the information collection 
is $264,000. This number is reached by multiplying the total hours 
to prepare responses (1760 hours) by an hourly wage estimate of $150 
(a composite estimate that includes legal, technical and support 
staff rates, $90 + $35 + $25). $264,000 = $150 x 1760.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            FERC-717
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Annualized Capital/Startup Costs......................          $264,000
Annualized Costs (Operations & Maintenance)...........               N/A
                                                       -----------------

[[Page 8322]]

    Total Annualized Costs............................           264,000
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    22. OMB regulations \12\ require OMB to approve certain information 
collection requirements imposed by agency rule. The Commission is 
submitting notification of this proposed rule to OMB. These information 
collections are mandatory requirements.
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    \12\ 5 CFR 1320.11.
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    Title: Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols 
for Public Utilities (FERC-717) (formerly Open Access Same Time 
Information System).
    Action: Proposed collection.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0173.
    Respondents: Business or other for profit, (Public Utilities--Not 
applicable to small businesses).
    Frequency of Responses: One-time implementation (business 
procedures, capital/start-up).
    Necessity of the Information: This proposed rule, if implemented 
would upgrade the Commission's business practice and communication 
protocols (methods by which computers coordinate their communications) 
governing Coordinate Interchange transactions to complement revisions 
to the NERC INT reliability standards under consideration in the 
rulemaking proceeding in Docket No. RM06-16-000. The implementation of 
these standards and regulations is necessary to increase the efficiency 
of the wholesale electric power grid. The standards being adopted 
define procedures for market participants to request the implementation 
of Interchange Transactions or agreements to transfer energy from a 
seller to a buyer that crosses one or more Balancing Authority 
boundaries.
    23. The information collection requirements of this proposed rule 
are based on the transition from transactions being made under the 
Commission's existing business practice standard governing Coordinate 
Interchange transactions to conducting such transactions under the 
proposed revision to the Coordinate Interchange standards (WEQ-004). 
Our preliminary view, subject to our review of any comments that are 
filed on this NOPR proposal, is that the Commission's incorporation by 
reference of these revised standards will keep these WEQ business 
practice standards consistent with the NERC INT reliability standards.
    24. Internal Review: The Commission has reviewed the revised 
business practice standards and has made a preliminary determination 
that the proposed revisions are necessary to maintain consistency 
between the business practice standards and reliability standards on 
this subject. 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.
    25. Interested persons may obtain information on the reporting 
requirements by contacting the following: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, Attn: Michael Miller, Office of the Executive Director, 888 
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, Tel: (202) 502-8415 / Fax: 
(202) 273-0873, E-mail: michael.miller@ferc.gov.
    26. 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) 395-7856, 
fax: (202) 395-7285].

Environmental Analysis

    27. 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.\13\ The 
Commission has categorically excluded certain actions from these 
requirements as not having a significant effect on the human 
environment.\14\ 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.\15\ Therefore, an environmental assessment is unnecessary 
and has not been prepared in this NOPR.
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    \13\ Order No. 486, Regulations Implementing the National 
Environmental Policy Act, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & 
Regs., Regulations Preambles 1986-1990 ] 30,783 (1987).
    \14\ 18 CFR 380.4.
    \15\ See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii), 380.4(a)(5), 380.4(a)(27).
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Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    28. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) \16\ generally 
requires a description and analysis of final rules that will have 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The regulations proposed here impose requirements only on public 
utilities, which are not small businesses, and, these requirements are, 
in fact, designed to benefit all customers, including small businesses.
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    \16\ 5 U.S.C. 601-612.
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    29. The Commission has followed the provisions of both the RFA and 
the Paperwork Reduction Act on potential impact on small business and 
other small entities. Specifically, the RFA directs agencies to 
consider four regulatory alternatives to be considered in a rulemaking 
to lessen the impact on small entities: tiering or establishment of 
different compliance or reporting requirements for small entities, 
classification, consolidation, clarification or simplification of 
compliance and reporting requirements, performance rather than design 
standards, and exemptions. As the Commission originally stated in Order 
No. 889, the OASIS regulations now known as Standards for Business 
Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities, apply only 
to public utilities that own, operate, or control transmission 
facilities subject to the Commission's jurisdiction and should a small 
entity be subject to the Commission's jurisdiction, it may file for 
waiver of the requirements. This is consistent with the exemption 
provisions of the RFA. Accordingly, pursuant to section 605(b) of the 
RFA,\17\ the Commission hereby certifies that the regulations proposed 
herein will not have a significant adverse impact on a substantial 
number of small entities.
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    \17\ 5 U.S.C. 605(b).
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Comment Procedures

    30. 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 March 28, 2007. Comments must refer to 
Docket No. RM05-5-003, 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.
    31. Comments may be filed electronically via the eFiling link on 
the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov. The Commission 

accepts

[[Page 8323]]

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 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.
    32. 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.

Document Availability

    33. 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.
    34. From FERC's Home Page on the Internet, this information is 
available in the eLibrary. The full text of this document is available 
in the 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.\18\
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    \18\ NAESB's November 16, 2006 submittal is also available for 
viewing in eLibrary. The link to this file is as follows: http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/nvcommon/NVViewer.asp?Doc=11182760:0
.

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    35. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the FERC's Web 
site during our normal business hours. For assistance contact FERC 
Online Support at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or toll-free at (866) 208-
3676, or for TTY, contact (202) 502-8659.

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 38

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

    By direction of the Commission.
Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
    In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission proposes to amend 
Chapter I, Title 18, part 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as 
follows:

PART 38--BUSINESS PRACTICE STANDARDS AND COMMUNICATION PROTOCOLS 
FOR PUBLIC UTILITIES

    1. 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.

    2. In Sec.  38.2, paragraph (a)(4) is revised to read as follows:

Sec.  38.2  Incorporation by reference of North American Energy 
Standards Board Wholesale Electric Quadrant standards.

    (a) * * *
    (4) Coordinate Interchange (WEQ-004, June 22, 2006);
* * * * *

[FR Doc. E7-3232 Filed 2-23-07; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717-01-P