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Rule2021-16915

Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines

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Published

August 10, 2021

Effective

October 12, 2021

Issuing agencies

Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission

Abstract

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is amending its regulations to incorporate by reference, with certain enumerated exceptions, the latest version (Version 3.2) of business practice standards adopted by the Wholesale Gas Quadrant of the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) applicable to natural gas pipelines in place of the currently incorporated version (Version 3.1) of those business practice standards. The revisions made by NAESB in this version of the standards are designed to enhance the natural gas industries' system and software security measures and to clarify the processing of certain business transactions.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 151 (Tuesday, August 10, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 151 (Tuesday, August 10, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43590-43598]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16915]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 284

[Docket No. RM96-1-042; Order No. 587-Z]

Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas
Pipelines

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is amending its
regulations to incorporate by reference, with certain enumerated
exceptions, the latest version (Version 3.2) of business practice
standards adopted by the Wholesale Gas Quadrant of the North American
Energy Standards Board (NAESB) applicable to natural gas pipelines in
place of the currently incorporated version (Version 3.1) of those
business practice standards. The revisions made by NAESB in this
version of the standards are designed to enhance the natural gas
industries' system and software security measures and to clarify the
processing of certain business transactions.

DATES:
Effective date: This rule is effective October 12, 2021.
Compliance date: Compliance filings required by this rule are due
on November 12, 2021 and compliance with the standards incorporated in
this rule is required on and after June 1, 2022.
Incorporation by reference: The incorporation by reference of
certain publications listed in this rule is approved by the Director of
the Federal Register as of October 12, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Stanley Wolf (technical issues), Office of Energy Policy and
Innovation, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE,
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-6841, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b1c2c5d0dfddd4c89fc6deddd7f1d7d4c3d29fd6dec7">[email&#160;protected]</a>.

Oscar F. Santillana (technical issues), Office of Energy Market
Regulation, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE,
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-6392, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#056a766664772b76646b716c6969646b6445636077662b626a73">[email&#160;protected]</a>.

Robert McLean (legal issues), Office of the General Counsel, Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC
20426, (202) 502-8156, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a9dbc6cbccdbdd87c4cac5ccc8c7e9cfccdbca87cec6df">[email&#160;protected]</a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Order No. 587-Z

Final Rule

(Issued July 13, 2021)

[[Page 43591]]

Table of Contents

Paragraph Nos.

I. Background........................................ 5
II. Discussion....................................... 12
A. The NAESB WGQ Version 3.2 Business Practice 12
Standards.......................................
1. Modifications to Previous Version of 12
Standards...................................
B. NAESB's Process............................... 22
C. Adoption of Version 3.2 of the Standards...... 23
D. Required Compliance Filings................... 25
E. Implementation Schedule....................... 26
III. Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards.. 28
IV. Incorporation by Reference....................... 29
V. Information Collection Statement.................. 39
VI. Environmental Analysis........................... 46
VII. Regulatory Flexibility Act...................... 47
VIII. Document Availability.......................... 50
IX. Effective Date and Congressional Notification.... 53

1. In this Final Rule, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(Commission) amends its regulations at 18 CFR 284.12 to incorporate by
reference, with certain enumerated exceptions,\1\ the latest version
(Version 3.2) of business practice standards adopted by NAESB's WGQ
applicable to natural gas pipelines that NAESB reported to the
Commission on August 17, 2020 in place of the currently incorporated
version (Version 3.1) of those business practice standards. This Final
Rule requires interstate natural gas pipelines to file compliance
filings with the Commission by November 12, 2021 and to comply with the
standards incorporated by reference in this rule on and after June 1,
2022.
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\1\ As explained below, we are not incorporating by reference in
this Final Rule the optional model contracts and the eTariff-related
standards included in the North American Energy Standards Board
(NAESB) Wholesale Gas Quadrant (WGQ) Version 3.2 package of business
practice standards.
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2. The implementation of these standards and regulations will
promote the additional efficiency and reliability of the natural gas
industries' operations thereby helping the Commission to carry out its
responsibilities under the Natural Gas Act (NGA). Further, the
implementation of these standards will enhance the natural gas
industries' computer security requirements.\2\ In addition, the
implementation of these data requirements will provide additional
transparency to Informational Postings websites and will improve
communication standards.
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\2\ As explained below, NAESB has developed and adopted, in
conjunction with Sandia National Laboratories, a series of business
practice standards to protect the natural gas industries' internet
security.
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3. The NAESB WGQ Version 3.2 package of standards contains
revisions to the NAESB WGQ Version 3.1 package of standards. As
explained further below, in response to the recommendations in the
Sandia National Laboratory (Sandia) \3\ report, NAESB updated the
Quadrant Electronic Delivery Mechanism (EDM) Related Standards and
internet Electronic Transport (IET) Related Standards to specifically:
(1) Require the implementation of fixes or patches for known
vulnerabilities as soon as reasonably practicable in coordination with
other trading partners; (2) specify notification timelines to provide
notice to trading partners of any systems or software that have not
been updated and the potential impact of using the vulnerable system;
(3) include both specific and broad adoptions of system security
measures and specific notification and coordination during outages with
affected trading partners; (4) maintain a minimum encryption strength
of 128 bits, (5) specify that OpenPGP \4\ should be used to create
public and private keys for privacy and digital signature applications;
(6) specify Hyper-Text Transport Protocol Secure (HTTPS) \5\ whenever
secure communication is required to protect information in transit and
support overall privacy needs; (7) use the largest feasible key length
consistent with implementation of current business processes; (8) state
that secure websites should employ individual user credentials; and (9)
encourage security assessments and coordination between customers,
vendors, and trading partners.
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\3\ Sandia is a multidisciplinary national laboratory and
federally funded research and development center for the U.S.
Department of Energy's (DOE) National Nuclear Security
Administration that supports numerous federal, state, and local
government agencies, companies, and organizations.
\4\ OpenPGP is an encryption standard defined by the internet
Engineering Task Force enabling design and implementation free of
licensing fees. At present, the encryption method is generally
considered the most secure.
\5\ HTTPS authentication encrypts username and password
combinations as part of a Uniform Resource Locator address. To
obtain an HTTPS connection, a web browser must contact a trusted,
commercial Certificate Authority, such as a NAESB Authorized
Certificate Authority, to obtain the web server's public key, and
follow other applicable HTTPS procedures.
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4. Further, in response to industry requests or through the normal
course of WGQ activities, NAESB: (1) Updated the Nominations Related
Standards to allow a Service Requester to determine which rights of the
contract its segmentation nomination is using; (2) updated the Quadrant
EDM Related Standards to (i) define a NAESB standard time frame for
information to be retained on a pipeline's Informational Postings
website, (ii) allow for processing functions at the line item level on
Customer Activities websites and allow for the use of icons and/or
graphical control elements for navigation and/or processing functions,
and (iii) make minor revisions designed to add clarity, update the
minimum technical characteristics to account for changes in technology
since the previous version (Version 3.1) of the WGQ standards, and
update the minimum and suggested operating systems and web browsers
that entities should support; (3) updated multiple sets of standards to
remove references to the term ``gigacalories'' and add the term
``gigajoules'' as the standard quantity for nominations, confirmations,
and scheduling in Mexico; and (4) revised the NAESB WGQ data sets or
other technical implementation documentation while not resulting in
modifications to the underlying business practice standards.

I. Background

5. Since 1996, the Commission has adopted regulations to
standardize the business practices and communication methodologies of
interstate natural gas pipelines to create a more integrated and
efficient pipeline system. These regulations have been promulgated in

[[Page 43592]]

the Order No. 587 series of orders,\6\ wherein the Commission has
incorporated by reference standards for interstate natural gas pipeline
business practices and electronic communications that were developed
and adopted by NAESB's WGQ. Upon incorporation by reference, this
version of the standards will replace the currently incorporated
version (Version 3.1) of those business practice standards.
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\6\ This series of orders began with the Commission's issuance
of Standards for Bus. Pracs. of Interstate Nat. Gas Pipelines., Ord.
No. 587, 61 FR 39053 (July 26, 1996), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,038
(1996) (cross-referenced at 76 FERC ] 61,042).
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6. On August 17, 2020, NAESB filed a report informing the
Commission that it had adopted and ratified WGQ Version 3.2 of its
business practice standards applicable to interstate natural gas
pipelines. Version 3.2 of the WGQ includes business practice standards
developed and modified in response to industry requests and directives
from the NAESB Board of Directors. This version also includes the
standards developed in response to the recommendations of Sandia, which
in 2019 issued a cybersecurity surety assessment of the NAESB standards
sponsored by DOE (Sandia Surety Assessment),\7\ and the standards
developed to enable the use of distributed ledger technologies when
transacting the NAESB Base Contract for Sale and Purchase of Natural
Gas.
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\7\ In April 2017, NAESB announced that Sandia, through funding
provided by DOE, would be performing a surety assessment of the
NAESB standards. As determined by Sandia and DOE, the purpose of the
surety assessment was to analyze cybersecurity elements within the
standards, focusing on four areas: (1) The NAESB Certification
Program for Accredited Certification Authorities, including the
Wholesale Electric Quadrant (WEQ)-012 Public Key Infrastructure
Business Practice Standards, the NAESB Accreditation Requirements
for Authorized Certificate Authorities, and the Authorized
Certification Authority Process; (2) the WEQ Open Access Same-Time
Information Systems suite of standards; (3) the WGQ and Retail
Markets Quadrant IET and Quadrant EDM Related Standards Manual; and
(4) a high-level dependency analysis between the gas and electric
markets to evaluate the different security paradigms the markets
employ.
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7. The NAESB report identifies all the changes made to the WGQ
Version 3.1 Standards and summarizes the deliberations that led to the
changes being made. It also identifies changes to the existing
standards that were considered but not adopted due to a lack of
consensus or other reasons.
8. On February 18, 2021, the Commission issued a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking proposing to amend its regulations to incorporate by
reference, with certain enumerated exceptions, the NAESB WGQ Version
3.2 business practice standards (referenced above) applicable to
natural gas pipelines.\8\
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\8\ Standards for Bus. Pracs. of Interstate Nat. Gas Pipelines,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 86 FR 12879 (Mar. 5, 2021), 174 FERC
] 61,103 (2021) (Version 3.2 NOPR).
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9. In response to the Version 3.2 NOPR, NAESB and the Interstate
Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) filed comments. NAESB
clarifies that Standards 4.3.60 and 10.3.16 do not require multi-factor
(e.g., two-factor) authentication on an individual basis. NAESB
clarifies that Standard 4.3.60 states that a Customer Activities
website should be protected by [Hyper-Text Transport Protocol] (HTTP)
\9\ Basic Authentication using transport layer security and require a
single logon/password pair for each user session. NAESB further
clarifies that Standard 10.3.16 states that trading partners should
implement HTTP Basic Authentication using transport layer security.\10\
INGAA supports NAESB's clarifying comments.\11\
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\9\ HTTP is the original communications protocol of the internet
which enables a web browser to depict text, pictures, shapes, live
data, and click targets on a web browser. However, username and
password combinations are not encrypted in HTTP Basic
Authentication.
\10\ NAESB Cmts. at 1.
\11\ INGAA Cmts. at 3.
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10. INGAA expresses support for the Commission's proposal to
incorporate by reference NAESB's WGQ Version 3.2 business practice
standards. INGAA also supports the Commission's proposal in the Version
3.2 NOPR, but urges the Commission to ensure that implementation of a
Final Rule in this proceeding occurs for the first gas day of the
month, but not prior to April 1, 2022, after the winter heating season.
INGAA states that implementation of a Final Rule in this proceeding
will require substantial time and effort from both pipelines and their
customers to alter business systems, scheduling, and coordination
processes and, thus, it would be best to schedule implementation to not
occur during the winter heating season.\12\
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\12\ Id. at 2.
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11. Further, INGAA states that requiring implementation to occur
for the first gas day of the month is important for both pipelines and
shippers. INGAA explains that while pipelines update their software to
accommodate the new NAESB version ahead of the implementation date,
both pipelines and shippers need to ensure that contract, nomination,
allocation, invoice, and other changes will be fully in place and
working properly with the start of the gas month. INGAA states that
this is consistent with the industry's monthly billing cycle and shall
avoid the complications of a mid-month transition.\13\
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\13\ Id.
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II. Discussion

A. The NAESB WGQ Version 3.2 Business Practice Standards

1. Modifications to Previous Version of Standards
a. Modifications in Response to the Sandia Surety Assessment
12. NAESB revised previously incorporated standards and developed
new standards in response to the recommendations in the Sandia Surety
Assessment. Specifically, NAESB adopted revisions to the WGQ EDM
Related Business Practice Standards, which establish the framework for
the electronic dissemination and communication of information between
parties in the North American wholesale gas marketplace, and to the WGQ
IET Related Business Practice Standards, which define the
implementation of various technologies necessary to communicate
transactions and other electronic data using standard protocols for
electronic commerce over the internet between trading partners. First,
NAESB adopted two new standards, 4.3.109 and 10.3.28, to provide that
trading partners should evaluate software fixes or patches for known
vulnerabilities within 30 days and implement the fix or patch as soon
as reasonably practicable based on the severity of the risk. Second,
NAESB adopted two new standards, 4.3.110 and 10.3.29, to provide that
trading partners should mutually agree to the version of the EDM and
IET to be used. Third, the new standards specify notification and
coordination timelines with trading partners, where applicable, to
address vulnerable systems or software as soon as possible. Fourth, the
Sandia Surety Assessment recommended that NAESB consider guidelines for
configuration and logging, network traffic monitoring, alerting
systems, and manual continuity of operations in the event of abnormal
behavior or failure conditions within the system. In response, NAESB
added language to new Standards 4.3.110 and 10.3.28 to include both
specific and broad adoptions of such system security measures.
13. Further, NAESB added language to existing Standards 4.3.60,
4.3.61, 10.2.33, and 10.3.25 to clarify the Transport Layer Security
protocol,\14\

[[Page 43593]]

which encrypts data to hide information from electronic observers on
the internet. NAESB also deleted all references to the Secure Sockets
Layer protocol in the standards.
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\14\ The National Institute of Standards and Technology Special
Pub. 800-52 requires government Transport Layer Security servers and
clients to support Transport Layer Security Version 1.2 and
recommends support for Transport Layer Security Version 1.3 by the
year 2024.
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14. Concerning identification key lengths, the Sandia Surety
Assessment recommended that Rivest-Shamir-Adelman keys \15\ must be no
shorter than 2048 bits, Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm keys
\16\ must be no shorter than 224 bits, Hash \17\ algorithms should be
from the Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA)-2 \18\ or SHA-3 families, and
acceptable Advanced Encryption Standard key lengths range from 128, to
192, to 256. The Sandia Surety Assessment recommended that, in general,
implementors use the largest feasible key length consistent with
implementation of current business processes. In response, NAESB
deleted Standard 4.3.83 to remove legacy support references and
maintain a minimum encryption strength of 128 bits. Further, NAESB
revised existing Standards 10.2.34 and 10.3.15 to delete a proprietary
Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) \19\-related hyperlink and to accommodate
license-free OpenPGP, respectively. NAESB also adopted a new Standard
10.2.39 to specify that OpenPGP should be used to create public and
private keys for privacy and digital signature applications.
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\15\ Rivest-Shamir-Adelman is a public key infrastructure
algorithm composed of a public component and a private component
that is typically installed on a recognized Certificate Authority.
\16\ Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm public keys
generate an encrypted signature to validate data.
\17\ A Hash is a cryptology technique used for digital
signatures in which a series of numbers that may represent, for
example, a password, an image, a document, or an executable file is
used to generate a cryptographic hash (i.e., a large number).
\18\ SHA-2 is a set of cryptographic hash functions.
\19\ PGP is a proprietary (i.e., an organization must pay to use
it) encryption program developed to enhance the confidentiality and
integrity of data.
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15. Further, NAESB revised existing Standards 4.3.60, 4.3.84,
10.3.4, and 10.3.16 to specify HTTPS, which is an encrypted version of
HTTP, whenever a secure communication is required to protect
information in transit and support overall privacy needs.
b. Modifications in Response to Industry Requests
16. The following section describes standards development efforts
undertaken by NAESB in response to industry requests or through the
normal course of WGQ activities that resulted in modifications to the
Nomination Related Standards, Quadrant EDM Related Standards, and an
effort that impacted multiple sets of standards. NAESB made
corresponding revisions, where appropriate, to the related data sets
and technical implementation as part of the standards development
effort.
i. Nomination Related Standards
17. NAESB revised existing Standards 1.3.27, 1.4.1, and 1.4.2 to
add a new data element ``Capacity Block ID'' to allow a Service
Requester to determine which primary point rights of the contract their
segmented nomination \20\ is using and eliminate an existing manual
business process from the TSP to automate the business process.
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\20\ In order for a Service Requester to have control over its
segmented nomination(s), the Transportation Service Provider (TSP)
will require a ``Capacity Block ID'' to be submitted with each
nomination line item specifying a Transaction Type of ``Segmented.''
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ii. Quadrant Electronic Delivery Mechanism Related Standards
18. NAESB developed two new standards, Standard 4.3.107 to
establish a standard data retention period for retrieval of
Operationally Available data from the Informational Postings website,
and Standard 4.3.108, to establish a standard data retention period for
retrieval of Notices for the subcategories of Critical, Non-Critical,
and Planned Service Outage from the Informational Postings website.
iii. Revisions Impacting Multiple Standards
19. NAESB revised multiple standards \21\ and data sets \22\ to
remove references to the term ``gigacalories'' and add the term
``gigajoules,'' as the standard quantity for nominations,
confirmations, and scheduling in Mexico.
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\21\ NAESB WGQ Version 3.2 Standards 1.3.14, 1.3.15, 1.3.82, and
3.3.3.
\22\ NAESB WGQ Version 3.2 Standards 0.4.1 through 0.4.3, 1.4.1,
1.4.3 through 1.4.6, 2.4.1, 2.4.6, 2.4.17, 3.4.1, 3.4.2, and 5.4.24
through 5.4.26.
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iv. Other Material in NAESB's Report
20. NAESB revised multiple data sets which impacted technical
implementation documentation only.
21. Further, NAESB revised its optional model contracts and
corresponding Mexican and Canadian Addendums to reflect a standard
digital representation of natural gas trade events. NAESB states that
these revisions are intended to capitalize on smart contracts and
distributed ledger technologies.

B. NAESB's Process

22. NAESB used its consensus procedures to develop and approve the
WGQ Version 3.2 Standards. As the Commission found in Order No. 587,
the adoption of consensus standards is appropriate, because the
consensus process helps ensure the reasonableness of the standards by
requiring that the standards draw support from a broad spectrum of
industry participants representing all segments of the industry.
Moreover, since the industry itself must conduct business under these
standards, the Commission's regulations should reflect those standards
that have the widest possible support. In section 12(d) of the National
Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (NTT&AA),\23\ Congress
affirmatively requires federal agencies to use technical standards
developed by voluntary consensus standards organizations, like NAESB,
as means to carry out policy objectives or activities determined by the
agencies unless an agency determines that the use of such standards
would be inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical.
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\23\ Public Law 104-113, 12(d), 110 Stat. 775 (1996).
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C. Adoption of Version 3.2 of the Standards

23. In the Version 3.2 NOPR, the Commission proposed to incorporate
by reference, in its regulations, Version 3.2 of the NAESB WGQ
consensus business practice standards, with the exception of NAESB's
standards specifying the terms of optional model contracts and the
eTariff-related standards.\24\ None of the commenters opposed the
Commission's proposal to incorporate by reference the NAESB WGQ Version
3.2 business practice standards as proposed in the Version 3.2
NOPR.\25\
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\24\ Version 3.2 NOPR, 174 FERC ] 61,103 at n.1 & P 19.
\25\ NAESB's clarifying comments regarding revised existing
Standards 4.3.60 and 10.3.16 are discussed separately in section II
above.
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24. After a review of the comments filed in response to the Version
3.2 NOPR, and because the revisions made by NAESB in this version of
the standards are designed to enhance the natural gas industries'
system and software security measures and to clarify the processing of
certain business transactions, we amend Part 284 of the Commission's
regulations to incorporate by reference the NAESB WGQ Version 3.2
business practice standards, with the exceptions (as explained in the
Version 3.2 NOPR) of the optional model contracts and the eTariff-
related standards.

[[Page 43594]]

D. Required Compliance Filings

25. As suggested by INGAA, we have selected an implementation
schedule for compliance with this Final Rule that delays implementation
until after the 2021-2022 winter heating period. To implement the
standards that we are incorporating by reference in this Final Rule, we
will require each interstate natural gas pipeline to file a separate
tariff record reflecting the changed standards by November 12, 2021, to
take effect on June 1, 2022 \26\ We are adopting this implementation
schedule to give the interstate natural gas pipelines subject to these
standards adequate time to implement these changes.
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\26\ To aid in compliance, promptly after issuance of this Final
Rule, we will post a sample tariff record on the Commission's
website that may be accessed at <a href="https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/elibrary">https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/elibrary</a>. All interstate natural gas pipelines are to file their
tariff records in conformance with this sample tariff record.
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E. Implementation Schedule

26. To implement these standards, we require interstate natural gas
pipelines to file tariff records to reflect the changed standards by
November 12, 2021. None of the comments took issue with the
Commission's explanation of its policies on tariff filings and on
waiver requests to comply with these standards.\27\ Therefore, we are
not modifying these policies in this Final Rule and affirm the
explanation of those policies the Commission made in the Version 3.2
NOPR.
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\27\ Version 3.2 NOPR, 174 FERC ] 61,103 at PP 20-24.
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27. In addition, consistent with the requirements in Order No. 587-
W,\28\ we are including the following filing requirements for the
November 12, 2021 compliance filing to increase the transparency of the
pipelines' incorporation by reference of the NAESB WGQ Standards so
that shippers and the Commission will know which tariff provision(s)
implements each standard as well as the status of each standard.
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\28\ Standards for Bus. Pracs. of Interstate Nat. Gas Pipelines,
Ord. No. 587-W, 80 FR 67302 (Nov. 2, 2015), 153 FERC ] 61,061, at P
42 (2015) (Ord. No. 587-W).
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(1) The pipelines must designate a single tariff record under which
every NAESB standard currently incorporated by reference by the
Commission is listed.\29\ This section should be a separate tariff
record under the Commission's electronic tariff filing requirement and
should be filed electronically using the eTariff portal using the Type
of Filing Code 580. We will post on the Commission's eLibrary website
(under Docket No. RM96-1-042) a sample tariff record, to provide filers
an illustrative example to aid them in preparing their compliance
filings; \30\
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\29\ See supra n.21.
\30\ Id.
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(2) For each standard, each pipeline must specify in the tariff
record a list of all the NAESB standards currently incorporated by
reference by the Commission:
(a) whether the standard is incorporated by reference;
(b) for those standards not incorporated by reference, the tariff
provision that complies with the standard; \31\ and
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\31\ For example, pipelines are required to include the full
text of the NAESB nomination and capacity release timeline standards
(WGQ Standards 1.3.2(i-vi) and 5.3.2, respectively) in their
tariffs. See, e.g., Standards for Bus. Pracs. of Interstate Nat. Gas
Pipelines, Ord. No. 587-U, 75 FR 16337 (Apr. 1, 2010), 130 FERC ]
61,212, at P 39 & n.42 (2010). Each pipeline's submittal is to
identify which tariff provision complies with each of these
standards.
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(c) a statement identifying any standards for which the pipeline
has been granted a waiver, extension of time, or other variance with
respect to compliance with the standard.\32\
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\32\ Shippers can use the Commission's electronic tariff system
to locate the tariff record containing the NAESB WGQ standards,
which will indicate the docket number in which any waiver or
extension of time was granted.
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(3) If the pipeline is requesting a continuation of a previously
granted waiver or extension of time to comply with certain NAESB WGQ
standards, it must include a table in its transmittal letter that
states the standard for which a waiver or extension of time was
granted, and the docket number or order citation to the proceeding in
which the waiver or extension of time was granted.

III. Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards

28. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-119 (section
11) (Feb. 10, 1998) provides that when a federal agency issues or
revises a regulation containing a standard, the agency should publish a
statement in the Final Rule stating whether the adopted standard is a
voluntary consensus standard or a government-unique standard. In this
Final Rule, we are incorporating by reference voluntary consensus
standards developed by NAESB's WGQ. In section 12(d) of NTT&AA,
Congress affirmatively requires federal agencies to use technical
standards developed by voluntary consensus standards organizations to
carry out policy objectives or activities determined by the agencies
unless use of such standards would be inconsistent with applicable law
or otherwise impractical.\33\
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\33\ Public Law 104-113, 12(d), 110 Stat. 775 (1996), 15 U.S.C.
272 note (1997).
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IV. Incorporation by Reference

29. The Office of the Federal Register requires agencies
incorporating material by reference in final rules to discuss the ways
that the materials it incorporates by reference are reasonably
available to interested parties and how interested parties can obtain
the materials.\34\ The regulations also require agencies to summarize,
in the preamble of the final rule, the material it incorporates by
reference. The standards that we are incorporating by reference in this
Final Rule consist of seven suites of NAESB WGQ Business Practice
Standards that address a variety of topics and are designed to
streamline the transactional processes for the wholesale natural gas
industry by promoting a more competitive and efficient market. These
include the: Additional Business Practice Standards; Nominations
Related Business Practice Standards; Flowing Gas Related Business
Practice Standards; Invoicing Related Business Practice Standards;
Quadrant Electronic Delivery Mechanism Related Business Practice
Standards; Capacity Release Related Business Practice Standards; and
internet Electronic Transport Related Business Practice Standards. We
summarize these standards below.
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\34\ 1 CFR 51.5 (2020). See Incorporation by Reference, 79 FR
66267 (Nov. 7, 2014).
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30. The Additional Business Practice Standards address six areas:
Creditworthiness; Storage Information; Gas/Electric Operational
Communications; Operational Capacity; Unsubscribed Capacity; and
Location Data Download.
<bullet> The Creditworthiness related standards describe
requirements for the exchange of information, notification, and
communication between parties during the creditworthiness evaluation
process.
<bullet> The Storage Information related standards define the
information to be provided to natural gas service requesters related to
storage activities and/or balances.
<bullet> The Gas/Electric Operational Communications related
standards define communication protocols intended to improve
coordination between the gas and electric industries in daily
operational communications between transportation service providers and
gas-fired power plants. The standards include requirements for
communicating anticipated power generation fuel for the upcoming day as

[[Page 43595]]

well as any operating problems that might hinder gas-fired power plants
from receiving contractual gas quantities.
<bullet> The Operational Capacity related standards define
requirements of the transportation service provider related to the
reporting and requesting of a transportation service provider's
operational capacity, total scheduled quantity, and operationally
available capacity.
<bullet> The Unsubscribed Capacity related standards define
requirements of the transportation service provider related to the
reporting and requesting of a transportation service provider's
available unsubscribed capacity.
<bullet> The Location Data Download related standards define
requirements for the use of codes assigned by the transportation
service provider for locations and common codes for parties
communicating electronically.
31. The Nominations Related Business Practice Standards define the
process by which a natural gas service requester with a natural gas
transportation contract nominates (or requests) service from a pipeline
or a transportation service provider for the delivery of natural gas.
32. The Flowing Gas Related Business Practice Standards define the
business processes related to the communication of entitlement rights
of flowing gas at a location, of the entitlement rights on a
contractual basis, of the management of imbalances, and of the
measurement and gas quality information of the actual flow of gas.
33. The Invoicing Related Business Practice Standards define the
process for the communication of charges for services rendered
(Invoice), communication of details about funds rendered in payment for
services rendered (Payment Remittance), and communication of the
financial status of a customer's account (Statement of Account).
34. The Quadrant Electronic Delivery Mechanism Related Business
Practice Standards define the framework for the electronic
dissemination and communication of information between parties in the
North American wholesale gas marketplace for Electronic Data
Interchange/EDM transfers, batch flat file/EDM transfers, informational
postings websites, Electronic Bulletin Boards/EDM, and interactive flat
file/EDM.
35. The Capacity Release Related Business Practice Standards define
the business processes for communication of information related to the
selling of all or any portion of a transmission service requester's
contract rights.
36. The internet Electronic Transport Related Business Practice
Standards define the implementation of various technologies necessary
to communicate transactions and other electronic data using standard
protocols for electronic commerce over the internet between trading
partners.
37. The Commission's regulations provide that copies of the
standards incorporated by reference may be obtained from NAESB at
<a href="https://www.naesb.org//">https://www.naesb.org//</a> or (713) 356-0060. Once the Novel Coronavirus
Disease (COVID-19) restrictions are lifted, copies of the standards may
be inspected at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Public
Reference Room, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426, Phone: (202)
502-8371, <a href="https://www.ferc.gov/">https://www.ferc.gov/</a>. At this time, the Commission has
suspended access to the Commission's Public Reference Room due to the
President's March 13, 2020 proclamation declaring a National Emergency
concerning COVID-19.
38. NAESB is a private consensus standards developer that develops
voluntary wholesale and retail standards related to the energy
industry. The procedures used by NAESB make its standards reasonably
available to those affected by Commission regulations, which generally
is comprised of entities that have the means to acquire the information
they need to effectively participate in Commission proceedings.
Participants can join NAESB, for an annual membership cost of $8,000,
which entitles them to full participation in NAESB and enables them to
obtain these standards at no additional cost. Non-members may obtain
the Individual Standards Manual or Booklets for each of the seven
Manuals by email for $250 per manual, which in the case of these
standards would total $1,750. Non-members also may obtain the complete
set of Standards Manuals, Booklets, and Contracts on USB flash drive
for $2,000. NAESB also provides a free electronic read-only version of
the standards for a three-business day period or, in the case of a
regulatory comment period, through the end of the comment period. In
addition, NAESB considers requests for waivers of the charges on a
case-by-case basis depending on need.

V. Information Collection Statement

39. OMB regulations require that OMB approve certain reporting,
record keeping, and public disclosure requirements (information
collection) imposed by an agency.\35\ Therefore, we are submitting this
proposed information collection to OMB for review in accordance with
section 3507(d) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Upon approval
of a collection of information, OMB will assign an OMB control number
and an expiration date. Respondents subject to the filing requirements
of a rule will not be penalized for failing to respond to these
collections of information unless the collection of information
displays a valid OMB control number.
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\35\ 5 CFR 1320.11 (2020).
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40. The Commission solicited comments on the need for this
information, whether the information will have practical utility, the
accuracy of the provided burden estimates, ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected, and any
suggested methods for minimizing respondents' burden, including the use
of automated information techniques. No comments were filed raising any
objections to the burden estimate presented in the Version 3.2 NOPR.
Accordingly, we will use that same burden estimate in this Final Rule.
41. Public Reporting Burden: The burden estimates for this Final
Rule are for one-time implementation of the information collection
requirements of this Final Rule (including tariff filing, documentation
of the process and procedures, and information technology work).
42. The collections of information related to this Final Rule fall
under FERC-545 (Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Change (Non-Formal)) \36\ and
FERC-549C (Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas
Pipelines).\37\ The following estimates of reporting burden are related
only to this Final Rule and include the costs to pipelines for
compliance with the Commission's directives in this Final Rule. The
burden estimates are primarily related to implementing these standards
and regulations and will not result in ongoing costs.
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\36\ FERC-545 covers rate change filings made by natural gas
pipelines, including tariff changes.
\37\ FERC-549C covers Standards for Business Practices of
Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines.

[[Page 43596]]

RM96-1-042 Final Rule (Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Annual number
respondents of responses Total number Average burden hr. per Total annual burden hours Annual costs
\38\ per respondent of responses response & total annual cost \39\ per respondent
(1) (2) (1)*(2) = (3) (4)...................... (3)*(4) = (5)............ (5)/(1) = (6)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FERC-545 (one-time)............... 178 1 178 10 hrs.; $1,010.......... 1,780 hrs.; $179,780..... $1,010
FERC-549C (one-time).............. 178 1 178 100 hrs.; $10,100........ 17,800 hrs.; $1,797,800.. $10,100
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total............................. .............. .............. 356 ......................... 19,580 hrs.; $1,977,580.. ..............
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The one-time burden (for both the FERC-545 and FERC-549C) will take
place in Year 1 and will be averaged over three years:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\38 \ The number of respondents is the number of entities in
which a change in burden from the current standards to the proposed
exists, not the total number of entities from the current or
proposed standards that are applicable.
\39\ The estimated hourly cost (salary plus benefits) provided
in this section is based on the salary figures for May 2019 posted
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Utilities sector
(available at <a href="https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics3_221000.htm">https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics3_221000.htm</a>) and
scaled to reflect benefits using the relative importance of employer
costs for employee compensation from June 2020 (available at <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm">https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm</a>). The hourly estimates for
salary plus benefits are:
Computer and Information Systems Manager (Occupation Code: 11-
3021), $101.58
Computer and Information Analysts (Occupation Code: 15-1210),
$87.42
Electrical Engineer (Occupation Code: 17-2071), $70.19
Legal (Occupation Code: 23-0000), $142.65
The average hourly cost (salary plus benefits), weighting all of
these skill sets evenly, is $100.50. We round it to $101/hour.

FERC-545: 1,780 hours / 3 = 593 hours/year over three years
FERC-549C: 17,800 hours / 3 = 5,933 hours/year over three years

The number of responses is also averaged over three years (for both
the FERC-545 and FERC-549C):

FERC-545: 178 responses / 3 = 59 responses/year
FERC-549C: 178 responses / 3 = 59 responses/year

The responses and burden for Years 1-3 will total respectively as
follows:

Year 1: 59 responses; 593 hours (FERC-545); 5,933 hours (FERC-549C)
Year 2: 59 responses; 593 hours (FERC-545); 5,933 hours (FERC-549C)
Year 3: 59 responses; 593 hours (FERC-545); 5,933 hours (FERC-549C)

Title: FERC-545, Gas Pipeline Rates: Rates Change (Non-Formal);
FERC-549C, Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas
Pipelines.
Action: Proposed information collections.
OMB Control Nos.: 1902-0154 (FERC-545), 1902-0174 (FERC-549C).
Respondents: Business or other for profit (e.g., Natural Gas
Pipelines, applicable to only a few small businesses).
Frequency of Responses: One-time implementation (related to
business procedures, capital/start-up).
Necessity of Information: In response to the recommendations in the
Sandia report, the revisions in this Final Rule to the Commission's
regulations will upgrade current business practices and communication
standards by updating the Quadrant EDM Related Standards and IET
Related Standards to specifically: (1) Require the implementation of
fixes or patches for known vulnerabilities as soon as reasonably
practicable in coordination with other trading partners; (2) specify
notification timelines to provide notice to trading partners of any
systems or software that have not been updated and the potential impact
of using the vulnerable system; (3) include both specific and broad
adoptions of system security measures and specific notification and
coordination during outages with affected trading partners; (4)
maintain a minimum encryption strength of 128 bits; (5) specify that
OpenPGP should be used to create public and private keys for privacy
and digital signature applications; (6) specify HTTPS whenever secure
communication is required to protect information in transit and support
overall privacy needs; (7) use the largest feasible key length
consistent with implementation of current business processes; (8) state
that secure websites should employ individual user credentials; and (9)
encourage security assessments and coordination between customers,
vendors, and trading partners.
43. Further, in response to industry requests or through the normal
course of WGQ activities, the revisions in this Final Rule to the
Commission's regulations will upgrade current business practices and
communication standards by specifically: (1) Updating the Nominations
Related Standards to allow a Service Requester to determine which
rights of the contract its segmentation nomination is using; (2)
updating the Quadrant EDM Related Standards to (i) define a NAESB
standard time frame for information to be retained on a pipeline's
Informational Postings website, (ii) allow for processing functions at
the line item level on Customer Activities websites and allow for the
use of icons and/or graphical control elements for navigation and/or
processing functions, and (iii) make minor revisions designed to add
clarity, update the minimum technical characteristics to account for
changes in technology since the previous version (Version 3.1) of the
WGQ standards, and update the minimum and suggested operating systems
and web browsers that entities should support; (3) updating multiple
sets of standards to remove references to the term ``gigacalories'' and
add the term ``gigajoules'' as the standard quantity for nominations,
confirmations, and scheduling in Mexico; and (4) revising the NAESB WGQ
data sets or other technical implementation documentation while not
resulting in modifications to the underlying business practice
standards. The package of standards also includes minor corrections.
The implementation of these data requirements will provide additional
transparency to Informational Postings websites and will improve
communication standards. The implementation of these standards and
regulations will promote the additional efficiency and reliability of
the natural gas industries' operations thereby helping the Commission
to carry out its responsibilities under the NGA. In addition, the
Commission's Office of

[[Page 43597]]

Enforcement will use the data for general industry oversight.
Internal Review: We have reviewed the requirements pertaining to
business practices of interstate natural gas pipelines and have
determined that the revisions are necessary to establish a more
efficient and integrated pipeline grid. These requirements conform to
the Commission's plan for efficient information collection,
communication, and management within the natural gas pipeline
industries. We determined, through our internal review, that there is
specific, objective support for the burden estimates associated with
the information requirements.
44. Interested persons may obtain information on the reporting
requirements by contacting the following: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426 [Attention: Ellen
Brown, Office of the Executive Director], email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1256736673517e777360737c717752747760713c757d64">[email&#160;protected]</a>, telephone: (202) 502-8663, fax: (202) 273-0873.
45. Comments concerning the collection of information(s) and the
associated burden estimate(s), should be sent to the contact listed
above and to the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs, Washington, DC 20503 [Attention: Desk Officer
for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission], telephone: (202) 395-
0710; fax: (202) 395-4718.

VI. Environmental Analysis

46. The Commission is required to prepare an Environmental
Assessment or an Environmental Impact Statement for any action that may
have a significant adverse effect on the human environment.\40\ The
actions that we take here fall within categorical exclusions in the
Commission's regulations for rules that are clarifying, corrective, or
procedural, for information gathering, analysis, and dissemination, and
for rules regarding sales, exchange, and transportation of natural gas
that require no construction of facilities.\41\ Therefore, an
environmental review is unnecessary and has not been prepared as part
of this Final Rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\40\ Reguls. Implementing the Nat'l Envt'l Pol'y Act, Ord. No.
486, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & Regs. Preambles
1986-1990 ] 30,783 (1987) (cross-referenced at 41 FERC ] 61,284).
\41\ See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii), 380.4(a)(5), and 380.4(a)(27)
(2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

VII. Regulatory Flexibility Act

47. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) \42\ generally
requires a description and analysis of final rules that will have
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
The Commission is not required to make such analysis if proposed
regulations would not have such an effect.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\42\ 5 U.S.C. 601-612.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

48. As we stated in the WGQ Version 3.2 NOPR, approximately 178
interstate natural gas pipelines, both large and small, are potential
respondents subject to the requirements adopted by this rule. Most of
the natural gas pipelines regulated by the Commission do not fall
within the RFA's definition of a small entity,\43\ which is currently
defined for natural gas pipelines as a company that, in combination
with its affiliates, has total annual receipts of $30 million or
less.\44\ For the year 2019, only 11 companies not affiliated with
larger companies had annual revenues in combination with its affiliates
of $30 million or less and therefore could be considered a small entity
under the RFA. This represents about six percent of the total universe
of potential respondents that may have a significant burden imposed on
them. We estimate that the one-time implementation cost of the
proposals in this Final Rule is $1,977,580 (or $11,110 per entity,
regardless of entity size).\45\ We do not consider the estimated
$11,110 impact per entity to be significant. Moreover, these
requirements are designed to benefit all customers, including small
businesses that must comply with them. Further, as noted above,
adoption of consensus standards helps ensure the reasonableness of the
standards by requiring that the standards draw support from a broad
spectrum of industry participants representing all segments of the
industry. Because of that representation and the fact that industry
conducts business under these standards, the Commission's regulations
should reflect those standards that have the widest possible support.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\43\ See 5 U.S.C. 601(3) citing section 3 of the Small Business
Act (SBA), 15 U.S.C. 623. Section 3 of the SBA defines a ``small
business concern'' as a business which is independently owned and
operated, and which is not dominant in its field of operation
(2019).
\44\ 13 CFR 121.201 (Subsector 486--Pipeline Transportation;
North American Industry Classification System code 486210; Pipeline
Transportation of Natural Gas) (2020). ``Annual Receipts'' are total
income plus cost of goods sold.
\45\ This number is derived by dividing the total cost figure by
the number of respondents. $1,977,580/178 = $11,110.
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49. Accordingly, pursuant to section 605(b) of the RFA,\46\ the
regulations being promulgated herein should not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\46\ 5 U.S.C. 605(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

VIII. Document Availability

50. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the
Federal Register, we provide all interested persons an opportunity to
view and/or print the contents of this document via the internet
through the Commission's Home Page (<a href="https://www.ferc.gov/">https://www.ferc.gov/</a>). At this
time, we have suspended access to the Commission's Public Reference
Room due to the President's March 13, 2020 proclamation declaring a
National Emergency concerning COVID-19.
51. From the Commission's Home Page on the internet, this
information is available on eLibrary. The full text of this document is
available on eLibrary in PDF and Microsoft Word format for viewing,
printing, and/or downloading. To access this document in eLibrary, type
the docket number excluding the last three digits of this document in
the docket number field.
52. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the Commission's
website during normal business hours from the Commission's Online
Support at (202) 502-6652 (toll free at 1-866-208-3676) or email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#14727166777b7a787d7a71676164647b666054727166773a737b62">[email&#160;protected]</a>, or the Public Reference Room at (202) 502-
8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. Email the Public Reference Room at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a0d0d5c2ccc9c38ed2c5c6c5d2c5cec3c5d2cfcfcde0c6c5d2c38ec7cfd6">[email&#160;protected]</a>.

IX. Effective Date and Congressional Notification

53. These regulations are effective October 12, 2021. We have
determined (with the concurrence of the Administrator of the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB) that this rule is not a
``major rule'' as defined in section 351 of the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. This Final Rule is being
submitted to the Senate, House, and Government Accountability Office.

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 284

Incorporation by reference, Natural gas, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.

By direction of the Commission.

Issued: July 15, 2021.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.

In consideration of the foregoing, we amend part 284, chapter I,
title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, as follows:

PART 284--CERTAIN SALES AND TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS UNDER THE
NATURAL GAS POLICY ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED AUTHORITIES

0
1. The authority citation for part 284 continues to read as follows:

[[Page 43598]]

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 717-717z, 3301-3432; 42 U.S.C. 7101-7352;
43 U.S.C. 1331-1356.

0
2. Amend Sec. 284.12 by revising paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) to read as
follows:

Sec. 284.12 Standards for pipeline business operations and
communications.

(a) * * *
(1) An interstate pipeline that transports gas under subparts B or
G of this part must comply with the business practices and electronic
communications standards as promulgated by the North American Energy
Standards Board, as incorporated herein by reference in paragraphs
(a)(1)(i) through (vii) of this section.
(i) Additional Standards (Version 3.2, August 15, 2020);
(ii) Nominations Related Standards (Version 3.2, August 15, 2020);
(iii) Flowing Gas Related Standards (Version 3.2, August 15, 2020);
(iv) Invoicing Related Standards (Version 3.2, August 15, 2020);
(v) Quadrant Electronic Delivery Mechanism Related Standards
(Version 3.2, August 15, 2020);
(vi) Capacity Release Related Standards (Version 3.2, August 15,
2020); and
(vii) internet Electronic Transport Related Standards (Version 3.2,
August 15, 2020).
(2) This incorporation by reference was approved by the Director of
the Federal Register in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part
51. Copies of these standards may be obtained from the North American
Energy Standards Board, 801 Travis Street, Suite 1675, Houston, TX
77002, Phone: (713) 356-0060. NAESB's website is at <a href="https://www.naesb.org/">https://www.naesb.org/</a>. Copies may be inspected at the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, Public Reference Room, 888 First Street NE,
Washington, DC 20426, Phone: (202) 502-8371, <a href="https://www.ferc.gov/">https://www.ferc.gov/</a>, or
at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For
information on the availability of this material at NARA, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#abcdd985c2c5d8dbcec8dfc2c4c5ebc5cad9ca85ccc4dd">[email&#160;protected]</a>, or go to: <a href="http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations.html">www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations.html</a>.
* * * * *

[FR Doc. 2021-16915 Filed 8-9-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P

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