Document ID: FERC-2012-0164-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Rule
Title: Storage Reporting Requirements of Interstate and Intrastate Natural Gas Companies
Posted Date: 2012-01-27T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 18 (Friday, January 27, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 4220-4224]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-1612]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 284

[Docket No. RM11-4-000; Order No. 757]

Storage Reporting Requirements of Interstate and Intrastate 
Natural Gas Companies

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In this Final Rule, the Commission eliminates the semi-annual 
storage reporting requirements for Interstate and Intrastate Natural 
Gas Companies. The Commission finds that these particular reporting 
requirements are largely duplicative with other reporting requirements.

DATES: Effective Date: This rule will become effective March 27, 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Vince Mareino (Legal Information), Office of the General Counsel 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, 
DC 20426, (202) 502-6167, Vince.Mareino@ferc.gov.
Thomas Russo (Technical Information), Office of Enforcement, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 
20426, (202) 502-8792, Thomas.Russo@ferc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table Of Contents

 
                                                               Paragraph
                                                                  No.
 
I. Background...............................................           2
  A. Current Reporting Requirements.........................           2
  B. NOI and NOPR...........................................           6
  C. Comments to the NOPR...................................          11
  D. Executive Orders.......................................          12
II. Discussion..............................................          14
III. Regulatory Requirements................................          16
  A. Information Collection Statement.......................          16
  B. Environmental Analysis.................................          19
  C. Regulatory Flexibility Act.............................          20
  D. Document Availability..................................          21
  E. Effective Date and Congressional Notification..........          24
 

138 FERC ] 61,033

Before Commissioners: Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman; Philip D. Moeller, 
John R. Norris, and Cheryl A. LaFleur.
    (Issued January 19, 2012)

    1. In this Final Rule, the Commission adopts the proposal in the 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) in this docket.\1\ Effective March 
27, 2012, the Commission eliminates its semi-annual storage reporting 
requirements for (1) interstate natural gas companies subject to the 
Commission's jurisdiction under the Natural Gas Act (NGA), as codified 
in 18 CFR 284.13(e); (2) intrastate pipelines providing interstate 
services pursuant to section 311 of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 
(NGPA),\2\ as codified in 18 CFR 284.126(c); and (3) Hinshaw \3\ 
pipelines providing interstate services subject to the Commission's NGA 
jurisdiction pursuant to blanket certificates issued under section 
284.224 of the Commission's regulations, as also codified in 18 CFR 
284.126(c). All of the parties who filed comments in response to the 
NOPR stated that they support this course of action. The Commission 
found in the NOPR that these particular reporting requirements are 
largely duplicative with other reporting requirements.
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    \1\ Storage Reporting Requirements of Interstate and Intrastate 
Natural Gas Companies, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 76 FR 58741 
(2011) FERC Stats. & Regs ] 32.678 (NOPR).
    \2\ 15 U.S.C. 3372.
    \3\ Section 1(c) of the NGA exempts from the Commission's NGA 
jurisdiction pipelines which transport gas in interstate commerce if 
(1) they receive natural gas at or within the boundary of a state, 
(2) all the gas is consumed within that state, and (3) the pipeline 
is regulated by a state Commission. This exemption is referred to as 
the Hinshaw exemption after the Congressman who introduced the bill 
amending the NGA to include Sec.  1(c). See ANR Pipeline Co. v. 
Federal Energy Regulatory Comm'n, 71 F.3d 897, 898 (1995) (briefly 
summarizing the history of the Hinshaw exemption).
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I. Background

A. Current Reporting Requirements

    2. Currently, section 284.13(e) of the Commission's regulations 
requires interstate pipelines to file semi-annual storage reports at 
the end of each complete storage injection and withdrawal season. 
Section 284.126(c) requires similar semi-annual reports by section 311 
and Hinshaw pipelines providing interstate storage service. Pipelines 
must file these reports within 30 days of the end of each complete 
storage injection and withdrawal season, and the reports must be signed 
under oath by a senior official. The reports by the two sets of 
pipelines must include:

    (1) the identity of each customer injecting gas into storage 
and/or withdrawing gas from storage (including, for interstate 
pipelines, any affiliate relationship),
    (2) the rate schedule (for interstate pipelines) or docket 
number (for intrastate pipelines) authorizing the storage injection 
or withdrawal service,

[[Page 4221]]

    (3) the maximum storage quantity and maximum daily withdrawal 
quantity applicable to each storage customer,
    (4) for each storage customer, the volume of gas (in dekatherms) 
injected into and/or withdrawn from storage during the period,
    (5) the unit charge and total revenues received during the 
injection/withdrawal period from each storage customer (including, 
for interstate pipelines, any discounts), and
    (6) for intrastate pipelines, any related docket numbers under 
which the intrastate pipeline reported storage related injection/
withdrawal transportation services.

    3. The Commission adopted the existing semi-annual storage 
reporting requirements for both interstate and intrastate pipelines in 
1992 as part of Order No. 636,\4\ and there have been only minor 
modifications in the semi-annual storage reporting requirements since 
that date.\5\ However, the Commission has added other reporting 
requirements for both sets of pipelines, which include much of the same 
information as is included in the semi-annual storage reports.
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    \4\ Pipeline Service Obligations and Revisions to Regulations 
Governing Self-Implementing Transportation; and Regulation of 
Natural Gas Pipelines After Partial Wellhead Decontrol, Order No. 
636, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 30,939, order on reh'g, Order No. 636-A, 
FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 30,950, order on reh'g, Order No. 636-B, 61 
FERC ] 61,272 (1992), order on reh'g, 62 FERC ] 61,007 (1993), aff'd 
in part and remanded in part sub nom. United Distribution Cos. v. 
FERC, 88 F.3d 1105 (DC Cir. 1996), order on remand, Order No. 636-C, 
78 FERC ] 61,186 (1997).
    \5\ In 1995 in Order No. 581, the Commission held that it would 
``retain the semi-annual storage reports,'' and ``not exempt 
intrastate storage companies charging market-based rates from the 
requirement to file semi-annual storage reports,'' and made minor 
changes to the regulatory text. Revisions to Uniform System of 
Accounts, Forms, Statements, and Reporting Requirements for Natural 
Gas Companies, Order No. 581, 60 FR 53019, 53049-51, FERC Stats. & 
Regs. ] 31,026 (1995), order on reh'g, Order No. 581-A, FERC Stats. 
& Regs. ] 31,032 (1996).
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    4. First, in 2000, the Commission issued Order No. 637,\6\ revising 
the reporting requirements for interstate pipelines in order to require 
them to post on their Internet Web sites basic information on the terms 
of each transportation and storage contract with individual shippers, 
no later than the first nomination under a transaction.\7\ These 
posting requirements are set forth in section 284.13(b) of the 
Commission's regulations.\8\ That section requires interstate pipelines 
to make daily postings of the same types of information about both firm 
and interruptible storage transactions as is contained in the 
interstate pipelines' semi-annual storage reports, except for (1) the 
amount of gas injected and withdrawn from storage by each individual 
customer, (2) storage revenues from each individual customer, and (3) 
the rate schedule authorizing the injection or withdrawal service.\9\ 
Order No. 637 also retained the existing requirement that interstate 
pipelines post an index of their firm customers each quarter and 
expanded the information that must be included in that index.\10\ Among 
other things, that index must include the rate schedule under which 
service under each firm contract is provided. However, Order No. 637 
did not significantly modify the semi-annual storage reporting 
requirement for interstate pipelines.\11\
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    \6\ Regulation of Short-Term Natural Gas Transportation Services 
and Regulation of Interstate Natural Gas Transportation Services, 
Order No. 637, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,091, clarified, Order No. 
637-A, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,099, reh'g denied, Order No. 637-B, 
92 FERC ] 61,062 (2000), aff'd in part and remanded in part sub nom. 
Interstate Natural Gas Ass'n of America v. FERC, 285 F.3d 18 (DC 
Cir. 2002), order on remand, 101 FERC ] 61,127 (2002), order on 
reh'g, 106 FERC ] 61,088 (2004), aff'd sub nom. American Gas Ass'n 
v. FERC, 428 F.3d 255 (DC Cir. 2005).
    \7\ The information to be posted includes the name of the 
shipper, the contract number (for firm service), the rate charged, 
the maximum rate, the duration (for firm service), the receipt and 
delivery points and zones covered, the quantity of natural gas 
covered, any special terms or details (such as any deviations from 
the tariff), and whether any affiliate relationship exists.
    \8\ 18 CFR 284.13(b).
    \9\ Because the semi-annual reporting periods are tied to the 
injection and withdrawal season, the time periods covered by that 
report do not correspond with the time periods covered by the 
interstate pipelines' reports.
    \10\ Order No. 637 moved the index of customers requirement from 
Sec.  284.106(c) to Sec.  284.13(c).
    \11\ Order No. 637 moved the interstate semi-annual storage 
reporting requirement from Sec.  284.106(b) to Sec.  284.13(e), and 
eliminated the requirement that interstate pipelines identify in 
their semi-annual storage reports any related docket numbers under 
which the interstate pipeline reported storage-related injection/
withdrawal transportation services.
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    5. Order No. 637 did not modify any of the reporting requirements 
for section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines. However, in 2010, the Commission 
issued Order No. 735 to bring the transactional reporting requirements 
for section 311 pipelines and Hinshaw pipelines closer in line with the 
18 CFR 284.13(b) posting requirements for interstate pipelines.\12\ As 
amended by Order Nos. 735 and 735-A, section 284.126(b) requires that 
section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines file quarterly reports of their 
transportation and storage transactions in a standardized electronic 
format, and it requires that those reports be public. The revised 
quarterly reports require section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines to report 
the same types of information about firm and interruptible storage 
transactions as is contained in their semi-annual storage reports, 
except for storage revenues from each individual storage customer. In 
addition, because the semi-annual reporting periods are tied to the 
injection and withdrawal season, the time periods covered by each 
report do not correspond precisely. Order No. 735 did not modify the 
existing semi-annual storage reporting requirement for section 311 and 
Hinshaw pipelines in section 284.126(c) of the Commission's regulations 
in any way.
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    \12\ Contract Reporting Requirements of Intrastate Natural Gas 
Companies, Order No. 735, 75 FR 29404, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,310, 
131 FERC ] 61,150, order on reh'g, Order No. 735-A, 75 FR 80685, 133 
FERC ] 61,216 (2010).
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B. NOI and NOPR

    6. In December 2010, the Commission issued a Notice of Inquiry 
(NOI) to consider whether and how the semi-annual storage reports 
required of both interstate and intrastate pipelines should be 
modified.\13\ After analyzing the comments in response to the NOI, the 
Commission issued a NOPR in September 2011, proposing to eliminate the 
semi-annual storage reports.
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    \13\ Storage Reporting Requirements of Interstate and Intrastate 
Natural Gas Companies, Notice of Inquiry, 75 FR 80758 FERC Stats. & 
Regs. ] 35,568 (2010) (NOI).
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    7. In the NOPR, the Commission found that the semi-annual storage 
reports are now largely duplicative with other reporting requirements, 
which gather the same or similar information, but present it to the 
public in a more standardized and accessible form. For interstate 
pipelines, the Commission found that the semi-annual storage reports 
overlap with the section 284.13(b) daily transactional posting 
requirements established in Order No. 637,\14\ described above.\15\ The 
Commission stated that, as Order No. 637 found, the information 
included in the interstate pipelines' daily postings of both 
transportation and storage contracts ``provides price transparency so 
shippers can make informed purchasing decisions, and also permits

[[Page 4222]]

both shippers and the Commission to monitor actual transactions for 
evidence of the possible abuse of market power.'' \16\ Accordingly, the 
NOPR found that there appeared to be no need to require interstate 
pipelines to continue filing an additional semi-annual report of their 
storage transactions containing much the same information Order No. 637 
requires them to post on a daily basis to accomplish the goal of price 
transparency.
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    \14\ Regulation of Short-Term Natural Gas Transportation 
Services and Regulation of Interstate Natural Gas Transportation 
Services, Order No. 637, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,091, clarified, 
Order No. 637-A, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,099, reh'g denied, Order 
No. 637-B, 92 FERC ] 61,062 (2000), aff'd in part and remanded in 
part sub nom. Interstate Natural Gas Ass'n of America v. FERC, 285 
F.3d 18 (DC Cir. 2002), order on remand, 101 FERC ] 61,127 (2002), 
order on reh'g, 106 FERC ] 61,088 (2004), aff'd sub nom. American 
Gas Ass'n v. FERC, 428 F.3d 255 (DC Cir. 2005).
    \15\ The information to be posted includes the name of the 
shipper, the contract number (for firm service), the rate charged, 
the maximum rate, the duration (for firm service), the receipt and 
delivery points and zones covered, the quantity of natural gas 
covered, any special terms or details (such as any deviations from 
the tariff), and whether any affiliate relationship exists.
    \16\ Order No. 637, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,091 at 31,320.
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    8. The NOPR recognized that the semi-annual storage reports do 
provide certain information that is not provided by the interstate 
pipelines' daily Web site postings, concerning the volume of gas each 
customer injects into and/or withdraws from storage and the total 
revenues received from each storage customer. However, the Commission 
found that the primary value of information about injections and 
withdrawals from storage is to permit shippers to monitor the 
availability of storage capacity and whether shippers or the pipeline 
are withholding storage capacity.\17\ Section 284.13(d) requires 
interstate pipelines to provide on their Web sites ``equal and timely 
access to information relevant to the availability of all 
transportation services whenever capacity is scheduled, including * * * 
in storage fields, whether the capacity is available directly from the 
pipeline or through capacity release.'' \18\ The NOPR stated that, 
while these postings do not provide individual shipper injection and 
withdrawal information, they appear more useful to shippers because 
they provide information about the availability of capacity at the time 
shippers are seeking to schedule capacity. By contrast, the semi-annual 
storage reports are not filed until up to 30 days after the completion 
of each injection and withdrawal season. The NOPR also found that, 
while the section 284.13(b) daily postings do not require interstate 
storage providers to post the revenues collected from each customer, 
that section does require such storage providers to post the per-unit 
rates they charge to each customer, thus enabling shippers to monitor 
the storage provider's actions for potentially discriminatory 
practices.
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    \17\ See Order No. 637, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,091 at 31,320.
    \18\ In addition, the Energy Information Administration 
publishes weekly underground storage data, including base gas, 
working gas in storage, and injection and withdrawal volumes by 
storage facility type and region. Available at http://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/data.cfm#storage.
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    9. For section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines, the NOPR found, the semi-
annual storage reports substantially overlap with the amended section 
284.126(b) quarterly reporting requirement established in Order No. 
735, described above.\19\ The NOPR recognized that, unlike the semi-
annual storage reports, the section 284.126(b) quarterly reports do not 
require section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines to report per-customer 
storage revenues. However, the Commission found that the pipelines 
commenting in this proceeding had provided detailed arguments that 
providing the public with individual customer storage revenue is 
burdensome, while proponents of collecting this information had not 
provided any convincing reason why the Commission should continue to 
require all section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines to provide this 
information in periodic reports.
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    \19\ Contract Reporting Requirements of Intrastate Natural Gas 
Companies, Order No. 735, 75 FR 29404, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,310, 
order on reh'g, Order No. 735-A, 75 FR 80685, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 
31,318 (2010) (errata issued June 24, 2011).
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    10. The Commission concluded that, to the extent the semi-annual 
storage reports do include information not reported elsewhere, the 
burden of requiring pipelines to report that information appears to 
outweigh any benefits to the Commission or the public of requiring such 
information to continue to be reported on a regular basis. However, if 
such information is needed in a particular case, the Commission retains 
the ability to seek such information through a data request to the 
pipeline in question.

C. Comments to the NOPR

    11. Eleven companies and associations, listed in the Appendix to 
this order, filed comments in response to the NOPR. Every comment 
supported the proposal. While two parties had filed comments on the NOI 
opposing elimination of the semi-annual storage reports,\20\ to which 
the Commission responded in the NOPR, neither of these parties filed 
comments on the NOPR. Several commenters on the NOPR urged the 
Commission to act as soon as possible in order to eliminate the 
reporting requirement before the next round of reports are due on April 
30, 2012. Spectra \21\ also recommended that the Commission review 
other regulations for possible redundancies, but did not suggest any 
specific regulations for review.
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    \20\ The American Public Gas Association and the Independent Oil 
and Gas Association of West Virginia.
    \21\ Spectra Energy Transmission, LLC and Spectra Energy 
Partners, LP file jointly on behalf of themselves and their 
subsidiaries, which operate numerous natural gas storage facilities.
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D. Executive Orders

    12. On January 18, 2011, President Obama issued an executive order 
\22\ and a presidential memorandum on regulatory flexibility, small 
business, and job creation.\23\ The Commission, as an independent 
agency, is not subject to requirements of those presidential documents. 
Nonetheless, Chairman Wellinghoff directed Commission staff to perform 
an internal assessment of the effectiveness of Commission regulations. 
Subsequently, on July 11, 2011, the President issued an executive order 
asking independent regulatory agencies such as the Commission to take 
steps to reassess and streamline existing regulations.\24\ On November 
8, 2011, the Commission issued its plan for retrospective analysis of 
existing rules, setting forth the schedule for complying with the 
executive orders.\25\
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    \22\ Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review, Exec. Order 
13563, 76 FR 3821 (Jan. 21, 2011).
    \23\ Regulatory Flexibility, Small Business, and Job Creation, 
Presidential Memorandum, 76 FR 3827 (Jan. 21, 2011).
    \24\ Regulation and Independent Regulatory Agencies, Exec. Order 
13579, 76 FR 41587 (2011).
    \25\ Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules, Docket 
No. AD12-6-000, 76 FR 70913 (2011).
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    13. The Commission continually seeks to streamline its regulations 
in order to foster competitive markets, facilitate enhanced 
competition, and avoid imposing undue burdens on regulated entities or 
unnecessary costs on those entities or their customers. In analyzing 
the comments received in response to the NOI and NOPR, the Commission 
considered the goals of those executive orders. In this Final Rule, the 
Commission is seeking to streamline our natural gas pipeline reporting 
requirements, as part of our continuing efforts to ensure Commission 
regulations are effective, timely, and up to date.

II. Discussion

    14. In this Final Rule, the Commission eliminates the semi-annual 
storage reporting requirements both for interstate pipelines and for 
section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines that are currently codified in 18 CFR 
284.13(e) and 18 CFR 284.126(c), respectively. All of the parties who 
filed comments in response to the NOPR stated that they support this 
course of action. As detailed in the above section, the NOPR found that 
these reports are largely duplicative of other reporting requirements. 
For the limited amount of information not reported elsewhere, the

[[Page 4223]]

NOPR found that the burden of requiring pipelines to report outweighs 
any benefits to the Commission or the public of requiring such 
information to be reported on a regular basis. All the commenters on 
the NOPR support that conclusion. If any information that is no longer 
collected as a result of the elimination of the semi-annual storage 
reports is needed in a particular case, the Commission retains the 
ability to seek such information through a data request to the pipeline 
in question.
    15. Accordingly, the Commission finds that elimination of the semi-
annual storage reports will help streamline our natural gas reporting 
requirements and avoid imposing unnecessary burdens on regulated 
pipelines, without adversely affecting the ability of the Commission 
and shippers to monitor storage transactions for evidence of the 
possible abuse of market power.

III. Regulatory Requirements

A. Information Collection Statement

    16. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations require 
that OMB approve certain reporting, recordkeeping, and public 
disclosure requirements (collections of information) imposed by an 
agency.\26\ Therefore, the Commission is providing notice of its 
elimination of the information collections. This rule will be submitted 
to OMB for review in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995.\27\
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    \26\ 5 CFR 1320.
    \27\ 44 U.S.C. 3507(d).
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    17. The Commission shall eliminate two reporting requirements and 
remove the burden of those requirements from jurisdictional entities.
    Information Collections:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                            Filings per                    Annual burden   Total annual
     Information collection (or part of)  eliminated        Part of OMB      Number of    respondent per   Burden hours      hours per     burden hours
                                                            Control No.     respondents        year         per filing      respondent      eliminated
                                                          ..............             (a)             (b)             (c)         (b x c)     (a x b x c)
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FERC-549 requirements in 18 CFR 284.13(e)...............       1902-0086             155               2              12              24            3720
FERC-537 requirements in 18 CFR 284.126(c)..............       1902-0060              50               2              27              54            2700
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Grand Total.........................................  ..............             205  ..............  ..............  ..............            6420
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    The elimination of the semi-annual storage reports will save 
industry an estimated $394,731 annually (for the 6,420 burden 
hours).\28\
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    \28\ The cost estimate is based on a work year of 2,080 hours 
and includes salary and benefits. For FERC-549, an estimate of $58 
per hour is used. For FERC-537, $137,874 per work year is used.
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    Title: Semi-annual storage reporting requirements for Interstate 
and Intrastate Natural Gas Companies (currently codified in 18 CFR 
284.13(e) [component of FERC-549, OMB Control No. 1902-0086] and 18 CFR 
284.126(c) [component of FERC-537, OMB Control No. 1902-0060]).
    Respondents: Interstate and Intrastate Natural Gas Companies.
    Internal review: The Commission has reviewed the semi-annual 
storage reporting requirements for Interstate and Intrastate Natural 
Gas Companies that are currently codified in 18 CFR 284.13(e) and 18 
CFR 284.126(c). The Commission has determined that the reports are 
largely duplicative of other reporting requirements.
    18. Interested persons may obtain information on the reporting 
requirements being eliminated by contacting: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426 [Attention: 
Ellen Brown, Office of the Executive Director, email: 
DataClearance@ferc.gov, Phone: (202) 502-8663, fax: (202) 273-0873]. 
Comments on the requirements being deleted in this rule may also be 
sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 
Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503 [Attention: Desk Officer 
for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission]. For security reasons, 
comments should be sent by email to OMB at oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. Please reference OMB Control Nos. 1902-0086 
(FERC-549) and 1902-0060 (FERC-537) in your submission.

B. Environmental Analysis

    19. 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.\29\ The 
Commission has categorically excluded certain actions from these 
requirements as not having a significant effect on the human 
environment.\30\ The actions taken here fall within categorical 
exclusions in the Commission's regulations for rules that are 
corrective, clarifying, or procedural, for information gathering, 
analysis, and dissemination, and for sales, exchange, and 
transportation of natural gas that requires no construction of 
facilities.\31\ Therefore an environmental review is unnecessary and 
has not been prepared in this rulemaking.
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    \29\ Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969, Order No. 486, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. 
& Regs., Preambles 1986-1990 ] 30,783 (1987).
    \30\ 18 CFR 380.4.
    \31\ See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii), 380.4(a)(5), and 380.4(a)(27).
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C. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    20. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) \32\ generally 
requires a description and analysis of final rules that will have 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
Most of the natural gas companies regulated by the Commission do not 
fall within the RFA's definition of a small entity.\33\ Any economic 
impact from the rulemaking would be due to the elimination of 
unnecessary filing burdens and costs on small and large entities. 
Accordingly, the Commission certifies that this rule will not have a 
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities.
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    \32\ 5 U.S.C. 601-612.
    \33\ See 5 U.S.C. 601(3) (citing section 3 of the Small Business 
Act, 15 U.S.C. 623, which defines a ``small business concern'' as a 
business which is independently owned and operated and which is not 
dominant in its field of operation. The Small Business Size 
Standards component of the North American Industry Classification 
System defines a small natural gas pipeline company as one that 
transports natural gas and whose annual receipts (total income plus 
cost of goods sold) did not exceed $7 million for the previous 
year).
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D. Document Availability

    21. In addition to publishing the full text of this document, 
except for the Appendix, in the Federal Register, the Commission 
provides all interested persons an opportunity to view and/or print the 
contents of this document via

[[Page 4224]]

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 p.m. Eastern time) at 888 First Street NE., Room 
2A, Washington, DC 20426.
    22. From the Commission's Home Page on the Internet, this 
information is available on eLibrary. The full text of this document, 
including the Appendix, 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.
    23. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the Commission's 
Web site during normal business hours from the Commission's Online 
Support at (202) 502-6652 (toll free at 1-866-208-3676) or e-mail at 
ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or the Public Reference Room at (202) 502-
8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. E-mail the Public Reference Room at 
public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.

E. Effective Date and Congressional Notification

    24. These regulations are effective March 27, 2012. The Commission 
has determined, with the concurrence of the Administrator of the Office 
of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, that this rule is not a 
``major rule'' as defined in section 351 of the Small Business 
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. The rule is being 
submitted to the Senate, House, Government Accountability Office, and 
the Small Business Administration.

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 284

    Continental shelf, Natural gas, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    By the Commission.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.

    In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission amends Part 284, 
Chapter I, Title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, as follows.

PART 284--CERTAIN SALES AND TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS UNDER THE 
NATURAL GAS POLICY ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED AUTHORITIES

0
1. The authority citation for part 284 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 717-717w, 3301-3432; 42 U.S.C. 7101-7352; 
43 U.S.C. 1331-1356.

Sec.  284.13  [Amended]

0
2. Section 284.13 is amended as follows:
0
a. Paragraph (e) is removed.
0
b. Paragraph (f) is redesignated as paragraph (e).

Sec.  284.126  [Amended]

0
3. Section 284.126 is amended by removing paragraph (c).

Appendix

                  List of Commenters and Abbreviations
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                Commenter                          Abbreviation
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American Gas Association................  AGA.
Cranberry Pipeline Corporation..........  Cranberry.
Enogex LLC..............................  Enogex.
Enstor Operating Company, LLC...........  Enstor.
Interstate Natural Gas Association of     INGAA.
 America.
Jefferson Island Storage & Hub, LLC.....  Jefferson.
Niska Gas Storage LLC...................  Niska.
Northern Natural Gas Company............  Northern.
Spectra Energy Transmission, LLC &        Spectra.
 Spectra Energy Partners, LP.
Texas Pipeline Association..............  TPA.
Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline       Williston Basin.
 Company.
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[FR Doc. 2012-1612 Filed 1-26-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P