PL19-4, Notice Requesting Emergency Processing, published in Federal Register

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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 129 / Monday, July 6, 2020 / Notices
Arkansas; Richland Parish, Louisiana;
and Grady and McClain Counties,
Oklahoma, all as more fully set forth in
the application which is on file with the
Commission and open to public
inspection.
The filing may also be viewed on the
web at http://www.ferc.gov using the
eLibrary link. Enter the docket number
excluding the last three digits in the
docket number field to access the
document. For assistance, please contact
FERC Online Support at
[email protected] or toll
free at (866) 208–3676, or TTY, contact
(202) 502–8659.
Any questions concerning this
application may be directed to Lisa
Yoho, Senior Director, Regulatory &
FERC Compliance, Enable Gas
Transmission, LLC, 910 Louisiana
Street, Suite 48040, Houston, Texas
77002, by telephone at (346) 701–2539,
or by email at lisa.yoho@
enablemidstream.com.
Any person or the Commission’s staff
may, within 60 days after issuance of
the instant notice by the Commission,
file pursuant to Rule 214 of the
Commission’s Procedural Rules (18 CFR
385.214) a motion to intervene or notice
of intervention and pursuant to section
157.205 of the regulations under the
NGA (18 CFR 157.205), a protest to the
request. If no protest is filed within the
time allowed therefore, the proposed
activity shall be deemed to be
authorized effective the day after the
time allowed for filing a protest. If a
protest is filed and not withdrawn
within 30 days after the allowed time
for filing a protest, the instant request
shall be treated as an application for
authorization pursuant to section 7 of
the NGA.
Pursuant to section 157.9 of the
Commission’s rules, 18 CFR 157.9,
within 90 days of this Notice the
Commission staff will either: complete
its environmental assessment (EA) and
place it into the Commission’s public
record (eLibrary) for this proceeding, or
issue a Notice of Schedule for
Environmental Review. If a Notice of
Schedule for Environmental Review is
issued, it will indicate, among other
milestones, the anticipated date for the
Commission staff’s issuance of the final
environmental impact statement (FEIS)
or EA for this proposal. The filing of the
EA in the Commission’s public record
for this proceeding or the issuance of a
Notice of Schedule for Environmental
Review will serve to notify federal and
state agencies of the timing for the
completion of all necessary reviews, and
the subsequent need to complete all
federal authorizations within 90 days of

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the date of issuance of the Commission
staff’s FEIS or EA.
Persons who wish to comment only
on the environmental review of this
project should submit an original and
two copies of their comments to the
Secretary of the Commission.
Environmental commenters will be
placed on the Commission’s
environmental mailing list, and will be
notified of any meetings associated with
the Commission’s environmental review
process. Environmental commenters
will not be required to serve copies of
filed documents on all other parties.
However, the non-party commenters,
will not receive copies of all documents
filed by other parties or issued by the
Commission and will not have the right
to seek court review of the
Commission’s final order.
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 the
Commission’s Home Page (http://
ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link. Enter
the docket number excluding the last
three digits in the docket number field
to access the document. At this time, the
Commission has suspended access to
the Commission’s Public Reference
Room, due to the proclamation
declaring a National Emergency
concerning the Novel Coronavirus
Disease (COVID–19), issued by the
President on March 13, 2020. For
assistance, contact the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission at
[email protected] or call
toll-free, (886) 208–3676 or TYY, (202)
502–8659.
The Commission strongly encourages
electronic filings of comments, protests
and interventions in lieu of paper using
the eFiling link at http://www.ferc.gov.
Persons unable to file electronically
should submit an original and two
copies of the protest or intervention to
the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE,
Washington, DC 20426. Hand
delivered submissions in docketed
proceedings should be delivered to
Health and Human Services, 12225
Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland
20852.
Dated: June 29, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020–14423 Filed 7–2–20; 8:45 am]
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40283

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. PL19–4–000]

Commission Information Collection
Activities; Request for Emergency
Processing for FERC–6(PL)
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of information collection
and request for emergency processing.
AGENCY:

In compliance with the
requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(Commission or FERC) is submitting an
emergency request for the information
collection, FERC–6(PL) (One-time Refiling Under Docket PL19–4 of Page 700
of Form No. 6 (Annual Report of Oil
Pipeline Companies)), to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
approval.

SUMMARY:

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ellen Brown may be reached by email
at [email protected] and
telephone at (202) 502–8663.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: FERC–6(PL), One-Time Refiling
Under Docket No. PL19–4 of Page 700
of Form 6 (Annual Report of Oil
Pipeline Companies).
OMB Control No.: TBD.
Type of Request: Request for
Emergency Processing and Approval
Pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.13.
Abstract: In the Energy Policy Act of
1992, Congress required the
Commission to develop a simplified
method for changing oil pipeline rates.
In response, the Commission
established an indexing methodology
that allows oil pipelines to change rates
based upon an annual industry-wide
index.1 The Commission committed to
review the index level every five years
to ensure that the index level continues
to reflect annual industry-wide cost
changes.2 In Order No. 561 and each
successive five-year review, the
Commission calculated the index level
based upon the Kahn Methodology,
which determines the differences over
the prior five-year period between
changes in costs reported on page 700
1 Revisions to Oil Pipeline Regulations Pursuant
to the Energy Policy Act of 1992, Order No. 561,
FERC Stats. & Regs. 30,985, at 30,947 (1993), order
on reh’g, Order No. 561–A, FERC Stats. & Regs.
31,000 (1994), aff’d, Ass’n of Oil Pipe Lines v.
FERC, 83 F.3d 1424 (D.C. Cir. 1996).
2 Id.

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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 129 / Monday, July 6, 2020 / Notices

of FERC Form No. 6 3 and changes in the
Producer Price Index for Finished
Goods (PPI–FG). The index level is then
set at PPI–FG plus (or minus) this
differential. In the 2020 five-year
review, the Commission will measure
pipeline cost changes over the period
from 2014–2019 in order to establish the
index level for the five-year period from
2021–2026.
On May 21, 2020, the Commission
issued a Policy Statement on
Determining Return on Equity for
Natural Gas and Oil Pipelines (ROE
Policy Statement), in which the
Commission adopted a revised
methodology for determining return on
equity (ROE) used to calculate oil
pipelines’ Annual Cost of Service on
page 700 of FERC Form No. 6.4 The
issuance of the ROE Policy Statement
may affect the oil pipeline industry’s
2019 costs reported on page 700 that the
Commission will use in the 2020 fiveyear review. Thus, the ROE Policy
Statement encouraged pipelines to file,
on a one-time basis, updated page 700
data for 2019 reflecting the
Commission’s revised methodology and
solicited comments on this voluntary
information collection pursuant to the
PRA by June 26, 2020.
The Commission received five
comments in response to the ROE Policy

Statement, one of which addressed the
information collection for oil pipelines.
On June 11, 2020, Liquids Shippers
Group filed a motion for reconsideration
of the ROE Policy Statement and a
request for expedited action (Motion).
The Motion asserts that the voluntary
information collection improperly gives
pipelines discretion to file ROEs that are
higher, which would increase the index
level, while refraining from filing ROEs
that are lower, which would decrease
the index level. Thus, the Motion states
that the information collection will bias
the record in the five-year review
proceeding.
The Commission will address the
Motion in due course. However, the
Motion should not affect the
Commission’s request for OMB’s
emergency processing and approval of
the FERC–6(PL). First, the Motion does
not reference the PRA or the burdens
the information collection would
impose. Second, the Motion addresses
the information collection from the
perspective of shippers, rather than
pipelines that will be subject to the
information collection. Third, the
Motion seeks to convert this voluntary
information collection into a mandatory
one and implementing a mandatory
collection at this time would likely
delay the five-year review. Fourth, the

Commission will address the merits of
Liquids Shippers Group’s claims
regarding the calculation of the index
level in the five-year review proceeding
itself, where the Commission has
requested comments on this very issue.5
The effect of this data on the
Commission’s analysis in the five-year
review will depend upon how many
pipelines file updated page 700 data and
the comments that the Commission
receives.
Accordingly, the Commission
requests that OMB review and approve
FERC–6(PL) [the request to have
pipelines voluntarily refile, on a onetime basis, page 700 of their 2019 FERC
Form No. 6] in order to reflect the ROE
Policy Statement. The Commission
requests emergency processing of this
information collection because this
collection is essential to the mission of
the Commission and public harm is
reasonably likely to occur if normal
clearance procedures are followed.
FERC submitted a formal request to
OMB on June 29, 2020 for emergency
approval of the one-time FERC–6(PL).6
The Commission requested an OMB
decision on FERC–6(PL) by July 6, 2020.
Estimate of Annual Burden.7 The
Commission estimates the annual public
reporting burden and cost 8 for the
information collection as:

FERC–6(PL)—ESTIMATED ANNUAL BURDEN DUE TO DOCKET NO. PL19–49
[Figures may be rounded]
Number of
potential
respondents

Annual
number of
responses per
Respondent

Total number
of responses

(1)

(2)

(1)*(2) = (3)

Average burden
hours and cost ($)
per response

Total annual burden hours
and total annual cost
($)

Cost per
respondent
($)
(5) ÷ (1) = (6)

(4)

(3)*(4) = (5)

Updated ROE Study ...............................
Refile FERC Form No. 6, page 700 .......

244
244

1
1

244
244

187.5 hrs.; $15,000
0.5 hrs.; $40 ...........

45,750 hrs.; $3,660,000 ......
122 hrs.; $9,760 ..................

$15,000
40

Total, Due to PL19–4 ......................

244

1

244

................................

45,872 hrs.; $3,669,760 ......

15,040

Dated: June 29, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020–14422 Filed 7–2–20; 8:45 am]

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BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

3 FERC Form No. 6 (OMB Control No. 1902–
0022), the Annual Report of Oil Pipeline
Companies, is required by 18 CFR 357.2.
4 Inquiry Regarding the Commission’s Policy for
Determining Return on Equity, 171 FERC 61,155
(2020).
5 Five-Year Review of the Oil Pipeline Index, 171
FERC 61,239 at PP 2, 8.
6 The request pending at OMB (ICR 202005–
1902–002) for approval of the voluntary re-filing of

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Page 700 of the FERC Form No. 6 will be retracted.
It is being replaced by the request for emergency
approval of the FERC–6(PL).
7 Burden is the total time, effort, or financial
resources expended by persons to generate,
maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information
to or for a Federal agency. For further explanation
of what is included in the information collection
burden, refer to Title 5 of Code of Federal
Regulations 1320.3.

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8 The Commission staff estimates that the
industry’s skill set and cost (for wages and benefits)
for performing the ROE study and completing and
filing FERC–6(PL) is comparable to the
Commission’s skill set and average cost. The FERC
2019 average salary plus benefits for one FERC fulltime equivalent (FTE) is $167,091/year or $80.00/
hour.
9 The Commission staff has conservatively
assumed a 100 percent voluntary response rate.

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