Washington Administrative Code › Title 480 - Utilities and Transportation Commission › Chapter 480-93 - Gas companiesSafety › Section 480-93-240 - Annual pipeline safety fee methodology

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1)
			 This rule sets forth the commission's fee methodology for the annual regulatory
			 fee paid by a gas pipeline company as that term is defined in RCW  81.88.010.
			 For the purposes of this section, a gas pipeline company is called "company" or
			 "companies" and the "commission's pipeline safety program" means the pipeline
			 safety program that includes each company.
(2) Each company will pay an annual pipeline
			 safety fee as established in the methodology set forth in subsection (3) of
			 this section.
(3) The fee will be
			 set by general order of the commission entered before September 1 of each year
			 and will be collected in four equal installments payable on the first day of
			 each quarter as listed below:
1st quarter fee installment due September 1;
2nd quarter fee installment due December 1;
3rd quarter fee installment due March 1;
4th quarter fee installment due June 1.
(a) The total of pipeline safety fees will be
			 calculated to recover no more than the costs of the legislatively authorized
			 workload represented by current appropriations for the commission's pipeline
			 safety program, less the amount received in total base grants through the
			 Federal Department of Transportation. Federal grants, other than the federal
			 base grant, received by the commission for additional activities not included
			 or anticipated in the legislatively directed workload will not be credited
			 against company pipeline safety fees, nor will the work supported by grants be
			 considered a cost for purposes of calculating such fees. To the extent that the
			 actual base grant proceeds are different than the amount credited, the
			 difference will be applied in the following year.
(b) Total pipeline safety fees as determined
			 in (a) of this subsection will be calculated in two parts:
(i) The commission's annual overhead charge
			 to the pipeline safety program will be allocated among companies according to
			 each gas pipeline company's share of the total of all pipeline miles within
			 Washington as reported by companies in their annual reports to the
			 commission.
(ii) After deducting
			 the commission's annual overhead charge, the remainder of the total pipeline
			 safety fee commission's annual pipeline safety program allotment will be
			 allocated among companies in proportion to each company's share of the program
			 staff hours that are directly attributable to particular companies. The
			 commission will determine each company's share by dividing the total hours
			 directly attributable to the company during the two preceding calendar years
			 (as reflected in the program's timekeeping system) by the total of directly
			 attributable hours for all companies over the same period.
(iii) For fee setting purposes, any program
			 hours related to a commission investigation of an incident attributed to
			 third-party damage that results in penalties collected under RCW  19.122.055 will not be directly attributed to the owner of the damaged gas
			 pipeline.
(c) The
			 commission general order setting fees pursuant to this rule will detail the
			 specific calculation of each company's pipeline safety fee including the
			 allocations set forth in (b) of this subsection.