In accordance
with 5 CFR 1320, the information collection is approved for three
years.
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 Commission’s
“regulations 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.” As discussed further in
Order No. 650 (issued 8/27/2004 in Docket RM93-11-002), “[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. ” 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 (‘change due to
agency discretion’). 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
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