[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 111 (Friday, June 7, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 29040-29044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-14062]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
25 CFR Part 175
RIN 1076-AD45
Indian Electric Power Utilities
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The regulations on Indian electric power utilities were
identified for reinvention under the National Performance Review. This
proposed revision is written in plain English to make the rule easier
to read and understand for utility customers and operators.
DATES: Comments by interested parties must be in writing and we must
receive them before August 6, 1996.
ADDRESSES: You must mail or hand carry your comments to Terrance
Virden, Acting Director, Office of Trust Responsibilities, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, N.W., MS
4513 MIB, Washington, D.C. 20240.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ross Mooney, Chief, Branch of
Irrigation and Power, Division of Water and Land Resources, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, N.W., MS
4513 MIB, Washington, D.C. 20240, Phone Number (202)208-5480.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We are publishing this proposed rule by the
authority delegated by the Secretary of the Interior to the Assistant
Secretary--Indian Affairs by 209 DM 8.
Our policy is to give the public an opportunity to participate in
the rule making process by submitting written comments regarding
proposed rules. We will consider all comments received during the
public comment period. We will determine necessary revisions and issue
the final rule. Please refer to this preamble's ADDRESSES section for
where you must submit your written comments on this proposed rule.
We certified to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that
these proposed regulations meet the applicable standards provided in
Sections 2(a) and 2(b)(2) of Executive Order 12778.
This rule is not a significant rule under Executive Order 12866 and
does not require approval by the Office of Management and Budget.
This rule imposes no unfunded mandates on any governmental or
private entity and is in compliance with the provisions of the Unfunded
Mandates Act of 1995.
We determined this proposed rule:
(a) Does not constitute a major Federal action significantly
affecting the human environment, and no detailed statement is needed
under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969;
(b) Does not have significant takings implications in accordance
with Executive Order 12630; and
(c) Does not have significant Federalism effects.
(d) Does not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.
601 et seq.).
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
Section 175.13(a) contains information collection requirements. As
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507(d)),
the Bureau of Indian Affairs has submitted a copy of this section to
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its review.
We need to know the customer's name, address, phone number, social
security number, the kind of service desired, and where the service is
needed.
All information is collected when applying for electric service.
Reporting and record keeping burden for this collection of information
is estimated to average 15 minutes for each response, including time
for gathering and maintaining data and completing and reviewing the
collection of information. The total reporting and record keeping
burden for this collection is estimated to be less than 1188 hours per
year.
Organizations and individuals wishing to submit comments on the
information collection requirement should direct them to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Room 10202, New Executive
Office Building, Washington, D.C.
[[Page 29041]]
20503; Attention Desk Officer for U.S. Department of the Interior.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs considers comments by the public on
this proposed collection of information in:
Evaluating whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Bureau,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
Enhancing the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the information
to be collected; and
Minimizing the burden of the collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the use of appropriate collection
techniques or other form of information technology.
OMB is required to make a decision concerning the collection of
information contained in these proposed regulations between 30 and 60
days after publication of this document in the Federal Register.
Therefore, a comment to the OMB is best assured of having its full
affect if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication. This does not
affect the deadline for the public to comment to the Bureau of Indian
Affairs on the proposed rule.
List of Subjects in 25 CFR Part 175
Indian-lands, Irrigation.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, we propose to revise Part
175 of Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as follows:
PART 175--INDIAN ELECTRIC POWER UTILITIES
Subpart A--General Provisions
Sec.
175.01 Definitions
175.02 Does this part apply to you?
175.03 Do you need to comply?
175.04 Information Collection.
Subpart B--How do we operate a power facility?
175.10 We prepare a manual to tell you how we operate.
175.11 What are our responsibilities?
175.12 What are our employees' responsibilities?
175.13 What are your responsibilities?
175.14 How can you lose your electric service?
Subpart C--What Does It Cost Us To Operate A Power Facility?
175.20 What will we bill you for?
Subpart D--How do we pay for Operating a Power Facility?
175.30 What do your power bills pay for?
175.31 We charge service fees.
175.32 We charge electric power rates.
175.33 We charge to recover costs of purchased power for resale to
you.
175.34 How we notify you?
175.35 How do we bill you?
175.36 How do you pay us?
Subpart E--How do we Extend or Upgrade Your Power System?
175.40 When do we extend or upgrade your power system?
175.41 You can pay for system extension or upgrades.
175.42 You may receive a refund of your construction costs.
175.43 We need a right-of-way for your system.
Subpart F--If you do not Agree with our Actions.
175.50 You may appeal to us.
175.51 You may appeal to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals.
175.52 While your appeal is pending.
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; sec. 2, 49 Stat. 1039-1040; 54 Stat.
422; sec. 5, 43 Stat. 475-476; 45 Stat. 210-211; and sec. 7, 62
Stat. 273.
Subpart A--General Provisions
Sec. 175.01 Definitions.
Appellant means any person who files an appeal under this part.
Customer means any individual, business, or government entity to
whom we provide the services of a utility or who seeks to have us
provide the services of a utility.
Customer Service means the assistance or service we provide to
customers, other than the actual delivery of electric power or energy,
including, but not limited to, such items as: line extension, system
upgrade, meter testing, connection or disconnection, special meter
reading, or other assistance or service as provided for in the
operations manual.
Electric Power Utility or Utility means that program administered
by the Bureau of Indian Affairs which provides for the marketing of
electric power or energy.
Electric Service means the delivery of electric energy or power by
the utility to the point of delivery pursuant to execution of a service
agreement or special contract as provided for in the operations manual.
Inventory valuation means our accounting procedures for fixing the
costs for supplies we hold in inventory.
Operations Manual means the utility's written compilation of its
procedures and practices which govern service the utility provides.
Power Rates means the charges we establish in a rate schedule(s)
for electric service we provide to a customer.
Purchased Power means power or energy we buy from another power
marketing organization for resale to our customers.
Service means electric service and customer service which we
provide.
Service Agreement means the written form provided by the utility
which constitutes a binding agreement between the customer and the
utility for service except for service which the utility provides to
the customer under a special contract.
Service Fees means charges for providing administrative or customer
service to customers, prospective customers, and other entities having
business relationships with the utility.
Service Life means the period of time we can expect performance to
design standards from a plant or capitalized equipment.
Special Contract means a written agreement between the utility and
a customer for special conditions of service.
Utility office(s) means the current or future facility or
facilities which the utility uses for conducting general business with
customers.
We means the United States Government, the Department of the
Interior, the Secretary, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and all who are
authorized to represent us in matters covered under this part.
You means a customer of a Bureau of Indian Affairs power utility.
Sec. 175.02 Does this part apply to you?
The purpose of this part is to regulate the electric power
utilities administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Sec. 175.03 Do you need to comply?
All utilities and customers of utilities administered by the Bureau
of Indian Affairs are bound by this part.
Sec. 175.04 Information collection.
The information collection requirements contained in Sec. 175.13(a)
will be approved by the Office of Management and Budget as required by
44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. We collect this information to provide you the
appropriate electric power service and an accurate bill. You must
provide this information to obtain electric power service.
Subpart B--How Do We Operate a Power Facility?
Sec. 175.10 We prepare a manual to tell you how we operate.
We will establish an operations manual to administer the utility
consistent with this part and all applicable laws and regulations. We
will amend the operations manual as needed.
(a) We will notify you of changes we propose to make to the
operations
[[Page 29042]]
manual. We will notify you of a proposed action to establish or amend
the operations manual at least 30 days before the effective date of the
proposed action so that you may comment on our proposed action. We will
publish notices of the proposed action in the Federal Register. The
notice will give you:
(1) A brief description of the proposed action;
(2) The effective date of the proposed action;
(3) The name, address and telephone number of the person you should
contact if you have comments or questions; and
(4) The period of time you have to submit your comments or views of
the proposed action.
(b) We will consider your comments. We will consider your comments
before we establish or amend the operations manual. We will notify you
of any decisions we make finalizing the operations manual and we will
provide an explanation of how we made the decisions in the notice.
Sec. 175.11 What are our responsibilities?
We must:
(a) Provide you with reliable energy. We will define the specific
types of service and limitations on our service in our operations
manual.
(b) Construct and operate facilities in accordance with accepted
industry practice.
(c) Exercise reasonable care in protecting your equipment and
property.
(d) Comply with additional requirements we define in the operations
manual.
(e) Read your meters or authorize you to read your meters at
intervals prescribed in the operations manual, service agreement, or
special contract, except where we cannot read the meter due to
conditions described in the operations manual.
(f) Get your permission to operate or handle your equipment, except
to eliminate what, in our judgment, is an unsafe condition.
(g) Prevent the unauthorized use of electricity.
Sec. 175.12 What are our employees responsibilities?
Our employees are forbidden to accept any personal compensation
from you or any payment for services related to their employment by the
utility.
Sec. 175.13 What are your responsibilities?
You must:
(a) Enter into a written service agreement or special contract with
us to obtain electrical power services.
(b) Install and operate your equipment in compliance with the
National Electrical Manufacturers Association Standards and/or the
National Electrical Code of the National Board of Fire Underwriters for
Electric Wiring and Apparatus as they apply to you.
(c) Pay all your financial obligations resulting from your
receiving utility service.
(d) Comply with additional requirements we may define in the
operations manual.
(e) Prevent unauthorized use of electricity.
(f) Not install or use equipment which will adversely affect the
utility system or other customers of the utility.
Sec. 175.14 How can you lose your electric service?
We may discontinue your service if you do not comply with our
requirements as stated in this part and in the operations manual. We
will define our procedures for discontinuing your service in the
operations manual.
Subpart C--What Does It Cost To Operate a Power Facility?
Sec. 175.20 What will we bill you for?
(a) We will bill you for the following three types of costs:
(1) Service fees are for services we provide to you that are not
power consumption; i.e., you apply for electricity where there are no
poles and wires, we charge you the cost of installing the poles and
wire.
(2) Electric power rate is the cost of power we provide to you;
i.e., your meter reading.
(3) Purchased power costs are the costs of power we buy for resale
to you.
(b) We will compute our costs to operate a power facility as the
total marginal costs for: power generation, power transmission, power
distribution, operation and maintenance, debt servicing, capital
improvements, minus miscellaneous revenues.
(c) We will compute our inventory valuation based on a last in--
first out (LIFO) depreciation method and we will depreciate our plants
and capital equipment by applying straight line depreciation over the
service life of the plant or equipment. We will include plant and
equipment service life tables in the operations manual.
Subpart D--How Do We Pay for Operating a Power Utility?
Sec. 175.30 What do your power bills pay for?
The Act of August 7, 1946 (60 Stat. 895), as amended by the Act of
August 31, 1951 (65 Stat. 254) provides that we collect revenues from
power operations to:
(a) Pay our expenses for operating and maintaining the utility.
(b) Create and maintain reserve funds to be available so that we
can:
(1) Make repairs and replacements to the utility;
(2) Defray emergency expenses for the utility;
(3) Ensure the continuous operation of the utility.
(c) Amortize construction costs allocated to be returned from power
revenues, in accordance with the repayment provisions of the applicable
statutes or contracts.
(d) Pay other expenses and obligations chargeable to power revenues
to the extent required or permitted by law.
Sec. 175.31 We charge service fees.
Annually we will unilaterally establish service fees to recover our
expenses for providing services to you. We will publish a schedule of
the service fees and the effective date in the Federal Register, as
provided in Sec. 175.34. Our decision on the amount of the service fees
is final. The fees will remain in effect until we amend them.
Sec. 175.32 We charge electric power rates.
Annually we will review the rates we charge for electric power or
energy. We will use the annual review to decide if the revenues we
collect are sufficient to pay for our costs defined under Sec. 175.30.
If our current rates and fees are not sufficient to cover our costs, we
will conduct further studies to determine whether we should adjust the
rates and to prepare rate schedules which will return sufficient
revenues. If we decide we must adjust the rates we charge, we will
inform you. We will publish a notice of the rate increase in the
Federal Register, as provided in Sec. 175.34.
Sec. 175.33 We charge to recover costs of purchased power for resale
to you.
When the cost we pay for purchased power or energy changes, we will
compute how much it changes the cost for services we provide to you and
we will adjust the power rates accordingly. When we decide we must
adjust the rates we charge, we will inform you. We will publish a
notice of the rate increase in the Federal Register, as provided in
Sec. 175.34.
Sec. 175.34 How we notify you.
(a) If we decide we must adjust the rates or fees we charge, we
will inform you of the proposed adjustments. We will publish in the
Federal Register a notice of the proposed change. The notice will give
you:
[[Page 29043]]
(1) A description of the proposed action;
(2) The name, address, and telephone number of the person you
should contact if you have comments or questions; and
(3) The period of time you have to submit your comments or views of
the proposed action.
(b) You may comment on our proposed changes. You may submit written
statements to us. We will incorporate your statements into our record.
(c) We will consider your comments. We will consider all your
written statements before we finalize the proposed changes. We will
decide any issues you raise concerning the proposed changes. We will
notify you of our decisions and provide you an explanation of how we
made the decisions through a notice which we will publish in the
Federal Register. The changes will remain in effect until we make
further adjustments using these same procedures.
Sec. 175.35 How do we bill you?
(a) Metered customers--We will compute your bills using the
published rate schedules. We will bill you monthly unless you have a
special contract with different billing arrangements. We will measure
your power or energy demand using the register on the meter at your
point of delivery. We will estimate your power or energy demand if:
your meter has failed; the seal on your meter is broken; or our
employees cannot read the meter registrations. We will base our
estimate on the pattern of your prior power consumption or on an
estimate of your electric load if you have no billing history with us.
(b) Unmetered customers--We will bill you according to the
provisions of your special contract.
(c) Service fee billing--We will send you a special bill for other
services we provide you.
Sec. 175.36 How do you pay us?
(a) You may pay us in person or you may mail your payment to the
utility office which we designate in our operations manual. We may
refuse for cause to accept personal checks for payment of bills.
(b) What if your check bounces? We will try to collect payment from
you if your bank returns your check due to insufficient funds or other
cause. We will assess interest, penalties and administrative charges
for each delinquent account and collection action we take other than
court proceedings. We will consider your account to be delinquent if
you do not redeem your check and we may discontinue your service. We
will accept only cash, a cashier's check, or a money order to cover an
unredeemed check and associated charges.
Subpart E--How Do We Extend or Upgrade Your Power System?
Sec. 175.40 When do we extend or upgrade your power system?
We may extend or upgrade a power system to serve new or increased
loads.
Sec. 175.41 You can pay for system extensions or upgrades.
You may contract with us to finance the construction necessary to
extend or upgrade the power system if the construction would not be
adverse to the interest of the utility. We must approve your
construction plans and specifications, any items you furnish, or
construction you perform. You may also:
(a) Furnish materials or equipment for an extension or upgrade to
the system;
(b) Install materials or equipment for an extension or upgrade to
the system; or
(c) Pay us to install materials or equipment for an extension or
upgrade to the system.
Sec. 175.42 You may receive a refund of your construction costs.
We may refund all or part of your payment for construction costs.
If we do this, we will stipulate the arrangements for your refund in a
special contract. We will consider refunding your costs if:
(a) Additional customers are later served by your extension or
upgrade; or
(b) We determine that the service will provide substantial economic
benefits to the utility as a whole.
Sec. 175.43 We need a right of way for your system.
You are responsible for obtaining the rights of way necessary for
us to furnish services to you where there is no existing right(s) of
way for our facilities. All rights of way, material, or equipment you
furnish or install will be our property.
Subpart F--If You Do Not Agree With Our Actions
Sec. 175.50 You may appeal to us.
(a) If you feel any of our actions or decisions adversely affect
you, you may file a notice of appeal with us within 30 days of our
action. You must submit the notice of appeal in writing and clearly
identify the decision which you are appealing. We will grant no
extension of time for filing a notice of appeal. We will list the
address where appeals must be sent in the operations manual.
(b) Within 30 days after you file a notice of appeal, you must file
a statement with us which lists the reasons for your appeal. In the
statement you must explain why you believe the decision under appeal is
wrong and you must include your arguments and any supporting
documentation. You may file the statement of reason(s) at the same time
as the notice of appeal. We may summarily dismiss your appeal if you do
not file a statement of reason(s).
(c) You must deliver your documents to us or ensure they are
received in the facility officially designated for receipt of mail
addressed to us.
(d) Within 30 days of your filing your statement of reasons, we
will:
(1) Decide your appeal in writing; or
(2) Refer your appeal to the Office of Hearings and Appeals Board
of Indian Appeals for a decision.
Sec. 175.51 You may appeal to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals.
(a) You may file an appeal of any decision with the Office of
Hearings and Appeals Board of Indian Appeals if:
(1) We do not decide your appeal within 30 days of your filing your
statement of reasons; or
(2) You do not agree with our decision regarding an action you
appealed to us.
(b) We will list the address for the Office of Hearings and Appeals
Board of Indian Appeals in the operations manual.
(c) To file your appeal with the Office of Hearings and Appeals
Board of Indian Appeals, you must follow the provision of 43 CFR, part
4, subpart D, except that you must file a notice of appeal from a
decision under Secs. 175.31 and 175.33 within 30 days of publication of
the decision. If the Office of Hearings and Appeals Board of Indian
Appeals does not receive an appeal within the time frames defined in 43
CFR part 4, subpart D, our decision will be final.
(d) If we refer your appeal to the Office of Hearings and Appeals
Board of Indian Appeals rather than deciding the appeal ourself, we
will make the referral.
Sec. 175.52 While your appeal is pending
If your appeal involves:
(a) Our discontinuing your service, we do not have to resume your
service during the appeal process unless you meet our requirements.
(b) The amount of a bill and you have paid the bill, we will
acknowledge that you have paid the bill under protest until the final
decision on your appeal is rendered.
[[Page 29044]]
(c) The amount of a bill and you have not paid the bill and the
final decision on the appeal requires you to pay the bill, we will
consider your bill to be a delinquent account subject to interest,
penalties, and administrative charges, as required by the Federal
Claims Collection Act of 1966, as amended, 31 U.S.C. 3717.
(d) An electric power rate, we will implement the rate and it will
remain in effect subject to the final decision on the appeal.
Dated: May 8, 1996.
Ada E. Deer,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 96-14062 Filed 6-6-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-02-P
