FERC staff plans to hold two joint technical conferences later this month with the Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) and Department of Energy (DOE) to discuss how to rebuild the natural gas pipeline infrastructure and apportion gas supplies in the event of a disaster — natural or otherwise.

The FERC-OPS conference will be held on April 22 at 9 a.m. and will focus on “whether and how” to expedite and streamline permitting and approvals for pipeline reconstruction in the wake of a disaster [AD02-14]. The FERC-DOE conference will take place the following day at 9 a.m. and will explore “whether and how” to expedite processes for re-allocating gas among shippers, pipelines and local distribution companies (LDCs) during emergencies [AD02-15]. The public conferences will be held at the Commission’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

The staffs of FERC, the OPS and DOE are expected to offer overviews of their current regulatory processes and recent experiences in dealing with emergency situations. Other federal agencies, as well as energy industry representatives, are invited to participate.

The notices of the conferences pose a number of questions for presenters to consider: What industry practices exist to respond to incidents of intentional or accidental damage, and/or to address emergency-related re-allocations of natural gas? Does the industry need additional flexibility to respond to such incidents? What are the antitrust implications of pipeline companies coordinating construction and operations to restore service? Are there any existing regulations and authorities that could be relied on to facilitate re-routing or reconstruction in the event of an emergency, and/or to ease the transportation of emergency re-allocations of gas? In the event of an emergency, what agency should take the lead? Should the Commission have the authority to compel construction in certain emergency circumstances? How can gas requirements be identified and prioritized to ensure delivery of available gas to the most critical needs during emergencies? What types of events or contingencies is the industry already prepared to face?

Interested parties can contact Carol Connors in FERC’s Office of External Affairs at carol.connors@ferc.gov.

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