In accordance with 5 CFR 1320, the information collection is approved for three years.
table that charts list comparision
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
12/31/2019
36 Months From Approved
12/31/2016
765
0
773
5,978
0
8,076
0
0
41,750
The Commission's regulatory jurisdiction over oil pipelines includes: (a)the regulation of rates and practices of oil pipeline companies engaged in interstate transportation; (b)the establishment of equal service conditions to provide shippers with equal access to pipeline transportation; and (c)the establishment of reasonable rates for transporting petroleum and petroleum products by pipeline.
Order No. 561 (issued 10/22/1993 in Docket No. RM93-11) revised the Commissionâs âregulations of oil pipelines in order to implement the requirements of Title XVIII of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. The revisions provide a simplified and generally applicable method for regulating oil pipeline rates by use of an index for setting rate ceilings for such rates. In certain circumstances, an oil pipeline would be permitted to establish rates using a traditional cost of service or other methods of ratemaking.â As discussed further in Order No. 650 (issued 8/27/2004 in Docket RM93-11-002), â[a]mong other things, Order No. 561 established a price cap for oil pipeline rates, to be adjusted annually based upon changes in the Producer Price Index for Finished Goods (published each May by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics) minus one percent (PPI-1). Order No. 561 recognized that its responsibilities under the Interstate Commerce Act, to both shippers and pipelines, required monitoring of the relationship between the change in the selected index and the actual cost changes experienced by the industry. Therefore, the Commission stated that it would review the choice of index every 5 years. â
The filing requirements for oil pipeline tariffs and rates under the FERC-550 data collection provide the Commission with the information it needs to analyze the rates, practices, and service conditions of oil pipelines. As a result, the Commission can implement statutory directives for the federal regulation of these carriers to determine whether the proposed tariffs and rates are just and reasonable.
US Code:
49 USC 1
Name of Law: Interstate Commerce Act
Program Decrease. The one-time burden imposed by Order 780 (issued May 16, 2013, in Docket No. RM12-15-000; 78 FR 32090, 5/29/2013) has been completed and is being correspondingly removed as a program decrease (âchange due to agency discretionâ). Similarly, that annual cost burden is being removed. (That results in a reduction of 167 respondents representing 167 responses and 3,340 hrs. [figures approved by OMB on 9/30/2013], due to completion of that effort. That was represented in reginfo.gov and ROCIS in a separate stand-alone IC which is removed in this submittal.)
Adjustments in Estimate. The estimates for nos. of pipelines (respondents), filings (responses), and average annual no. of responses per respondent have changed since the previous OMB approval, due to various factors, described below.
⢠The Commission has seen an increase in the number of FERC-550 filings. There were 779 filings in all of 2015. [Between January 1, 2016 to August 23, 2016there were 658 FERC-550 filings, compared to 607 filings during that period in 2015.]
The increase of filings is due to the number of pipelines (respondents) which had to decrease their rates to remain under the ceiling established by the oil index. The oil index ceiling decreased because of downward fluctuations in the economy.
⢠In addition, the number of oil pipelines (respondents) that filed tariff filings in 2015 increased by 80 to 208. The increase of 80 new midstream oil pipelines since the last renewal occurred because fracking and horizontal drilling during recent years significantly increased the amount of crude oil and petroleum products that need to be transported from wells to markets. We expect the number of pipelines needing to file tariffs over the next 3 years to be at least 208. [The number we report for the next renewal cycle (in approximately 2019) will likely increase. New pipelines continued to be proposed in 2016, and construction on some of them began in 2016.]
⢠The average number of annual filings per respondent [for the remaining IC, Oil Pipeline Rates-Tariff Filings] decreased from 4.734 to 3.68.
$1,242,657
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
Norma McOmber 202 502-8022
Reginfo record details
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
IC16-10_550_20160825-3052.doc
IC16-10_550_80_549_FR 2016-20977.pdf
550 final Supporting Statement update12-16-16.docx
FERC-550: Oil Pipeline Rates - Tariff Filings