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The
NewsRoom
Release #: 3072
Date: April 12, 2004
MMS
to Explore Potential Pipeline Authority Public Meetings
Announced In
Federal Register
A recent court order determined that the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) did not have authority to require
data submittals for certain natural gas pipelines in the Outer
Continental Shelf (OCS) and indicated the Interior Department may be
the most appropriate federal regulator of pipeline access.
Based on that court order, today the Department
of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) published an
advance notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register.
The notice requests comments and announces a series of public meetings
designed to gain public input on the bureau’s potential implementation
of pipeline authority for oil and natural gas.
The MMS is exploring the authority to ensure open
and non-discriminatory access to oil and gas pipelines, and is
interested in hearing from the public on the “open and
non-discriminatory access” provisions of the Outer Continental Shelf
Lands Act (OCSLA) and the Department’s responsibilities.
The MMS is now seeking public comments to better
determine its role in regulating oil and natural gas pipelines under
its OCSLA authority.
Companies engaged in the activity of moving oil
and natural gas production on the Outer Continental Shelf may still be
subject to the FERC’s jurisdiction. However, if the FERC declares
that a company’s facilities perform a “gathering” function rather than
a “transportation’ function, then the facilities are exempt from the
FERC’s jurisdiction under the Natural Gas Act. As such, the FERC will
not impose its ratemaking authorities (tariff calculation guidelines)
on that facility. Ensuring open and nondiscriminatory access to these
gathering pipelines may then fall to the MMS.
Given this authority, the MMS encourages the
public and other interested parties to provide comments and
participate in the planned public meetings in order to define changes
to MMS programs and regulations. The advanced notice of proposed
rulemaking gives the public an opportunity to provide input to the MMS
regarding what actions or processes the Secretary should initiate to
assure those responsibilities are met.
In addition, MMS is interested in circumstances
under which a service provider would deny service to a shipper and is
soliciting comments from any party that feels they have been denied
open and non-discriminatory access to pipelines on the OCS, as well as
suggestions for actions that could have been taken to prevent this
from happening.
The public meetings will be held on the following
dates at these specific locations:
April 27, 2004 9:00 a.m.
- Public
Meeting
Hotel
Intercontinental
2222
West Loop South
Houston, TX
May 11, 2004 9:00 a.m.
- Public Meeting
DOI
Yates Auditorium
1849 C.
Street N.W.
Washington, DC
May 14, 2004 9:00 a.m.
- Public Meeting
MMS
Room 111
1201
Elmwood Park Blvd
New
Orleans, LA
More information is available in the
Federal Register notice available online.
MMS is
the federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages
the nation's oil, natural gas, and other mineral resources on the
Outer Continental Shelf in Federal offshore waters. The agency also
collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal
and American Indian lands. Between 1982 and 2003, MMS distributed
more than $135 billion in revenues from onshore and offshore lands, an
average of more than $6 billion per year, to the Nation, States and
American Indians. Nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the
Land and Water Conservation Fund annually for the development of State
and Federal park and recreation lands.
Relevant Web Sites
MMS Main Website
Media Contacts
Curtis Carey
(202) 208-3985
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for
America
U.S. Department of the Interior |