[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 67 (Thursday, April 7, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-8301]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: April 7, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
18 CFR Part 284
[Docket No. RM93-4-000]
Standards for Electronic Bulletin Boards Required Under Part 284
of the Commission's Regulations
Issued April 1, 1994.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.
ACTION: Final rule; order accepting data sets and implementation guide.
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SUMMARY: On December 23, 1993, the Commission issued a final rule in
this proceeding requiring pipelines to implement standards and
protocols by June 1, 1994. The Commission is accepting standardized
data sets providing information related to released capacity and an
implementation guide for downloading this information using Electronic
Data Interchange according to standards promulgated by the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) Accredited Standards Committee
(ASC) X12.
DATES: Pipelines must implement the data sets and implementation guide
by June 1, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 825 North Capitol
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Goldenberg, Office of the
General Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 825 North
Capitol Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-2294.
Marvin Rosenberg, Office of Economic Policy, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 825 North Capitol Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202)
208-1283.
Brooks Carter, Office of Pipeline and Producer Regulation, Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, 825 North Capitol Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-0666.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In addition to publishing the full text of
this document in the Federal Register, the Commission also provides all
interested persons an opportunity to inspect or copy the contents of
this document during normal business hours in room 3104, 941 North
Capitol Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.
The Commission Issuance Posting System (CIPS), an electronic
bulletin board service, provides access to the texts of formal
documents issued by the Commission. CIPS is available at no charge to
the user and may be accessed using a personal computer with a modem by
dialing (202) 208-1397. To access CIPS, set your communications
software to use 300, 1200, or 2400 bps, full duplex, no parity, 8 data
bits, and 1 stop bit. CIPS can also be accessed at 9600 bps by dialing
(202) 208-1781. The full text of this notice will be available on CIPS
for 30 days from the date of issuance. The complete text on diskette in
WordPerfect format may also be purchased from the Commission's copy
contractor, La Dorn Systems Corporation, also located in room 3104, 941
North Capitol Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
Order Accepting Data Sets and Implementation Guide
Issued April 1, 1994.
On December 23, 1993, the Commission issued a final rule in this
proceeding requiring pipelines to implement standards and protocols by
June 1, 1994.1 The rule required pipelines to provide information
included in standardized data sets on their Electronic Bulletin Boards
and to permit users to download this information using Electronic Data
Interchange according to standards promulgated by the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12.
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\1\Standards For Electronic Bulletin Boards Required Under part
284 Of The Commission's Regulations, Order No. 563, 59 FR 516 (Jan.
5, 1994), III FERC Stats. & Regs. Preambles 30,988 (Dec. 23,
1993).
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In the rule, the Commission recognized that as pipelines began the
implementation process, they might discover that changes or
modifications to the standardized data sets were necessary. The
Commission also recognized that an ASC X12 implementation guide would
need to be developed to correspond with the final data sets. The
revisions to the data sets and the implementation guide were to be
developed by the industry Working Groups that had been working on these
standards, and the Working Groups were to provide the required
documents to the Commission in sufficient time to permit implementation
by June 1, 1994.
On March 4, 1994, Working Groups 1 & 2 filed revised capacity
release data sets and an implementation guide for downloading these
data sets using Electronic Data Interchange according to ASC X12
standards. Public notice of this filing was issued on March 7, 1994,
with comments due by March 15, 1994. Only one comment was received,
from the National Registry of Capacity Rights, Inc., which supported
acceptance of the data sets.
The Commission is accepting the data sets and implementation guide
to be implemented by the pipelines by June 1, 1994, subject to the
order on rehearing in this proceeding. Pipelines should not delay
implementation of the data sets until the Commission's rehearing order.
Should the Commission grant rehearing and eliminate any data elements,
those fields simply would be left blank. If the Commission determines
to add fields to the data sets, the Commission will not require those
fields to be implemented by June 1, 1994. The Working Groups would be
given the opportunity to design the new data fields for later
implementation. The data sets will be made available at the
Commission's Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 941 North
Capitol Street as soon as is possible.
In the final rule, the Commission required pipelines to provide
downloads using a standard ASCII format. On March 10, 1994, public
notice was given of an ASCII file structure submitted by Enron Gas
Service, with comments due by March 17, 1994. On March 18, 1994, the
Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) filed a comment
to clarify that the ASCII file structure was not a consensus product of
the Working Group. INGAA also asserts work is underway on an
alternative approach that would make ASCII files available to users
without requiring the pipelines to maintain two separate standards, ASC
X12 and ASCII. Numerous parties also have sought rehearing of the
requirement to provide ASCII downloads.
The Commission will determine whether to require an ASCII download,
and the implementation date if it is required, in the rehearing order.
If the industry or Working Groups formulate an alternative approach,
they should inform the Commission of that approach as soon as possible.
The Commission Orders
The data sets and implementation guide filed on March 4, 1994, in
this proceeding are accepted to be implemented by June 1, 1994, subject
to the order on rehearing in this docket.
By the Commission.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 94-8301 Filed 4-6-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
