[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 151 (Friday, August 6, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43012-43013]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-20295]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Research and Special Programs Administration
[Docket No. RSPA-99-6045]
Pipeline Safety: Report of the Cost-Benefit Analysis Framework
Working Group
AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces a one day public meeting to be conducted
by RSPA's Office of Pipeline Safety to review the final report of the
Cost-Benefit Analysis Framework Working Group. This informal working
group, consisting of representatives of the gas and hazardous liquid
pipeline industry, the Federal government, and academics, developed a
framework for use by RSPA to identify and compare the economic costs
and benefits of alternative safety actions that could affect the
regulated pipeline industry. RSPA invites representatives of the
pipeline industry, state and local government, and the public to attend
this meeting, make presentations, ask questions, and submit comments to
the docket.
DATES: The public meeting will begin at 9:00 am on September 29, 1999,
and end no later than 5:00 pm. Persons wishing to make a short
presentation may pre-register by contacting Marvin Fell at (202) 366-
6205 to be placed on the speakers list. Persons not pre-registered will
be allowed to make comments after the registered speakers have
completed their presentations.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the U.S. Department of
Transportation, Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Room 8236-40,
Washington, DC. Non-federal employee visitors are admitted into the DOT
headquarters building through the southwest entrance at Seventh and E
Streets, SW.
Information on Services for Individuals With Disabilities
For information on facilities or services for individuals with
disabilities or to request special assistance at the meeting contact
Marvin Fell at (202) 366-6205.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marvin Fell, (202) 366-6205, or by e-
mail (marvin.fell@rspa.dot.gov), regarding this notice. The report, A
Collaborative Framework for Office of Pipeline Safety Cost-Benefit
Analyses (Framework), will be available after August 11, 1999, for
inspection and copying in the DOT Dockets Unit, 400 Seventh Street, SW,
Washington, DC, between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm each business day. A copy
of the Framework is also available over the Internet at the Office of
Pipeline Safety's website, ops.dot.gov. A transcript of the public
meeting will be available from the Dockets Unit approximately three
weeks after the meeting.
Written comments may be mailed or hand-delivered to the DOT Dockets
Unit, Plaza 401, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street,
SW, Washington, DC 20590-0001. Comments may also be sent by e-mail to
dms.dot.gov. Please refer to the docket number in your submission.
Comments must be submitted by November 1, 1999.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Accountable Pipeline Safety and
Partnership Act of 1996 requires RSPA to identify the costs and
benefits associated with proposed gas and hazardous liquid pipeline
regulations. Under the Act, the Secretary of Transportation must
propose or issue a regulation only after making a reasoned
determination that the benefits of the regulation justify its costs.
OPS believes that a collaborative process is the optimal approach for
meeting the statutory requirements for cost-benefit analysis and for
improving the quality of information used in regulatory policy
decisions.
In the spring of 1997, RSPA's Office of Pipeline Safety formed the
Cost-Benefit Analysis Framework Working Group (Working Group) to
collaboratively develop guidelines for performing cost-benefit
analyses. Members in this working group included representatives of
RSPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the
Department of the Interior (DOI), the American Petroleum Institute
(API), the Gas Research Institute (GRI), the American Gas Association
(AGA), the Interstate Natural Gas Association (INGAA), the American
Public Gas Association (APGA), and the Carnegie-Mellon Research
Institute. A number of hazardous liquid, natural gas distribution, and
natural gas transmission companies.
Members of the Working Group will discuss the cost-benefit
framework report prepared by the Working Group at this public meeting.
Members of the Working Group will also present a case study employing
the cost-benefit framework to illustrate the application of the
framework's process and guidance.
1. Potential Benefits for All Stakeholders
Initial objectives for the Working Group were to explore members'
perspectives and experiences with government cost-benefit analyses and
to provide members with enough background and knowledge to enable
effective participation. In meeting these objectives, the Working Group
concluded that RSPA needed a documented framework with which to carry
out pipeline safety cost-benefit analyses. Such a framework, its
process and guidance, the Working Group believed, is necessary to
enable all stakeholders to participate effectively in future pipeline
safety initiatives. The Working Group anticipates that the framework
will produce the following results:
More informed decision making in public policy
transactions.
Clearer regulatory priorities and transparent tradeoffs
between alternative outcomes.
Identification of important factors besides economic
efficiency for decision makers to consider, such as distributional
equity or the potential for irreversible or unintended consequences.
More efficient regulations that solve actual problems.
More informed stakeholders, more efficient and effective
interactions among stakeholders, and decreased
[[Page 43013]]
potential for prolonged conflicts and litigations.
Promotion of mutual understanding and interests.
2. Guiding Principles
In the early stages of their effort, the Working Group crafted a
set of guiding principles for pipeline cost-benefit analyses. The
Working Group agreed on fourteen principles that should guide the
evaluation of pipeline safety cost-benefit analyses. RSPA intends to
refine or modify these guiding principles whenever needed to be
consistent with changes in economic theory and methods. Throughout the
effort, the Working Group exercised care to ensure that the guiding
principles and the cost-benefit framework reflect and are consistent
with standard accepted economic concepts and practices. One major
reference for the Working Group in developing the guiding principles
and framework is the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) guidance
for economic analyses.
3. Framework
As envisioned by the Working Group, the framework consists of a
process for interaction among stakeholders representing the government,
industry, environmental, and safety constituencies, and the public. The
Working Group's report, A Collaborative Framework for Office of
Pipeline Safety Cost-Benefit Analyses, describes each of the major
process components of the framework and gives detailed guidance to
carry out each process component. The major process components in the
framework are:
Identifying and defining the target problem.
Identifying all available alternatives for addressing the
target problem.
Defining the analytical baseline.
Defining the scope of the analysis.
Analyzing costs.
Analyzing benefits.
Interpreting and using cost-benefit results.
Evaluating the value and effectiveness of the cost-benefit
process.
4. Illustrative Case Study--Pipeline Mapping
Since extensive cost data are available for RSPA's voluntary
pipeline mapping initiative, the Working Group elected to do a cost-
benefit analysis of this initiative. This case study provided the
Working Group a way to illustrate, test, and refine the framework. The
Working Group report presents the analytical results of this case
study, reviews the challenges inherent to the application of the
framework to analyze the costs and benefits of the initiative, and
describes the ``lessons learned.''
RSPA invites discussions and comments on the Cost-Benefit Analysis
Framework Working Group's final report, A Collaborative Framework for
Office of Pipeline Safety Cost-Benefit Analyses.
Issued in Washington, DC on August 2, 1999.
Richard B. Felder,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 99-20295 Filed 8-5-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P
