83_FR_19347 83 FR 19262 - Proposed Revised Rules of Procedure and Opportunity for Public Review and Comment

83 FR 19262 - Proposed Revised Rules of Procedure and Opportunity for Public Review and Comment

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Bonneville Power Administration

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 85 (May 2, 2018)

Page Range19262-19273
FR Document2018-09085

Bonneville is proposing to revise the rules of procedure that govern its hearings conducted pursuant to section 7(i) of the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act (Northwest Power Act), 16 U.S.C. 839e(i).

Federal Register, Volume 83 Issue 85 (Wednesday, May 2, 2018)
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 2, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19262-19273]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-09085]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Bonneville Power Administration

[BPA File No.: RP-18]


Proposed Revised Rules of Procedure and Opportunity for Public 
Review and Comment

AGENCY: Bonneville Power Administration (BPA or Bonneville), Department 
of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of proposed revised rules of procedure.

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SUMMARY: Bonneville is proposing to revise the rules of procedure that 
govern its hearings conducted pursuant to section 7(i) of the Pacific 
Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act (Northwest Power 
Act), 16 U.S.C. 839e(i).

DATES: Anyone wishing to comment on the proposed revised rules of 
procedure must file such comments no later than 5:00 p.m. PDT on June 
4, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted through Bonneville's website at 
www.bpa.gov/comment. Comments may also be submitted to BPA Public 
Involvement, Bonneville Power Administration, P.O. Box 14428, Portland, 
Oregon 97293. Bonneville requests that all comments contain the 
designation RP-18 in the subject line.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heidi Helwig, DKE-7, BPA 
Communications, Bonneville Power Administration, P.O. Box 3621, 
Portland, Oregon 97208; by phone toll free at 1-800-622-4520; or by 
email to [email protected].
    Responsible Official: Mary K. Jensen, Executive Vice President, 
General Counsel, is the official responsible for the development of 
Bonneville's rules of procedure.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

Part I Introduction and Background
Part II Summary of Proposed Revised Rules of Procedure
Part III Proposed Revised Rules of Procedure

Part I--Introduction and Background

    The Northwest Power Act provides that Bonneville must establish and 
periodically review and revise its rates so that they recover, in 
accordance with sound business principles, the costs associated with 
the acquisition, conservation, and transmission of electric power, 
including amortization of the Federal investment in the Federal 
Columbia River Power System over a reasonable number of years, and 
Bonneville's other costs and expenses. 16 U.S.C. 839e(a)(1). Section 
7(i) of the Northwest Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 839e(i), requires that 
Bonneville's rates be established according to certain procedures, 
including notice of the proposed rates; one or more hearings conducted 
as expeditiously as practicable by a hearing officer; opportunity for 
both oral presentation and written submission of views, data, 
questions, and arguments related to the proposed rates; and a decision 
by the Administrator based on the record.
    In addition, section 212(i)(2)(A) of the Federal Power Act, 16 
U.S.C. 824k(i)(2)(A), provides in part that the Administrator may 
conduct a section 7(i) hearing to determine the terms and conditions 
for transmission service on the Federal Columbia River Transmission 
System under certain circumstances. Such a hearing must adhere to the 
procedural requirements of paragraphs (1) through (3) of section 7(i) 
of the Northwest Power Act, except that the hearing officer makes a 
recommended decision to the Administrator before the Administrator's 
final decision.
    Bonneville last revised its procedures to govern hearings under 
section 7(i) of the Northwest Power Act in 1986. See ``Procedures 
Governing Bonneville Power Administration Rate Hearings,'' 51 Federal 
Register 7611 (1986). Since the establishment of those procedures, 
there have been significant advancements in the technology available to 
conduct the hearings. The proposed revised rules of procedure 
incorporate changes to reflect the manner in which Bonneville has 
applied these advancements. In addition, through conducting numerous 
hearings over the past few decades, Bonneville has gained insight 
regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the current procedures. The 
proposed revisions incorporate changes to make the hearings more 
efficient and procedures that were regularly adopted by order of the 
hearing officer in

[[Page 19263]]

previous hearings. Finally, the proposed revisions explicitly provide 
that the rules apply to any proceeding under section 212(i)(2)(A) of 
the Federal Power Act (``section 212 proceedings'').
    In order to encourage public involvement and assist Bonneville in 
the development of the proposed revised procedures, Bonneville met with 
customers and other interested parties on February 13, 2018, in 
Portland, Oregon, to discuss how the current rules might be revised. 
Bonneville also solicited written comments over a two-week period 
ending February 28, 2018. After reviewing the comments, Bonneville 
incorporated a number of revisions to its proposed rules.
    Although rules of agency procedure are exempt from notice and 
comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act, 
5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A), Bonneville is nevertheless publishing notice of 
the proposed revisions to its procedural rules in the Federal Register 
to promote transparency and public participation. Bonneville will 
accept written comments on the proposed revisions until the deadline 
stated above. After considering the written comments, Bonneville will 
publish the final rules in Federal Register later this year.

Part II--Summary of Proposed Revised Rules of Procedure

    The statements below provide general summaries of some of the 
proposed revisions in each section of the rules.

Section 1010.1 General Provisions

     The proposed revisions specify that the rules apply to 
wholesale power and transmission rate case proceedings and section 212 
proceedings.
     A provision has been added to clarify that the rules do 
not establish substantive standards for the Administrator's final 
decisions.

Section 1010.2 Definitions

     Various definitions were added or revised in this section.

Section 1010.3 Hearing Officer

     A provision has been added to clarify that parties should 
contact the hearing clerk with procedural questions rather than 
Bonneville counsel or rates staff.
     A provision has been added to recognize that the hearing 
officer can establish special rules of practice that are consistent 
with the proposed rules.

Section 1010.4 Initiation of Proceeding

     A provision has been added to require the Federal Register 
notice initiating the proceeding to include the proposed new or revised 
terms and conditions of transmission service for section 212 
proceedings.
     A provision has been added to require the Federal Register 
notice to include procedures for requesting access to the secure 
website for purposes of filing petitions to intervene.
     A provision has been added to require the Federal Register 
notice to state that the scope of a proceeding may include new issues 
that arise as a result of circumstances or events occurring outside of 
the proceeding.

Section 1010.5 Ex Parte Communications

     Proposed revisions more clearly prohibit ex parte 
communications with the hearing officer.
     A provision has been added to clarify that communications 
between the hearing officer and the hearing clerk (or other staff 
providing administrative support to the hearing officer) are not ex 
parte.
     The procedures for addressing ex parte communications have 
been revised to provide that written ex parte communications and 
written summaries of oral ex parte communications will be posted on 
Bonneville's website rather than being made available in Bonneville's 
Public Involvement Office.

Section 1010.6 Intervention

     The procedures for intervention were modified to provide 
prospective intervenors access to the secure website before filing a 
petition to intervene. Once access has been granted, a petition to 
intervene can be filed through the secure website.

Section 1010.7 Joint Parties

     A provision has been added to encourage parties with 
similar interests to establish joint parties and describes how to form 
joint parties.

Section 1010.8 Participants

     A provision has been added to describe the manner in which 
members of the general public, who are not parties, can submit 
comments.

Section 1010.9 Prehearing Conference

     A provision has been added to recognize that the hearing 
officer will hold a prehearing conference to adopt a procedural 
schedule and any special rules of practice that are consistent with the 
proposed rules.

Section 1010.10 Filing and Service of Documents

     Provisions have been added to require that litigants file 
all documents through the secure website and that such filings will 
constitute service on all parties.

Section 1010.11 Pleadings

     Provisions were added to specify the types of pleadings, 
establish format and content requirements, and clarify rights and 
procedures for filing responsive pleadings.
     Procedures have been added to govern interlocutory appeal 
of an order of the hearing officer to the Administrator.

Section 1010.12 Clarification Sessions and Data Requests

     The scope of permissible data requests has been revised. 
Data requests must seek information that is relevant to an issue in the 
proceeding and proportional to the needs of the case according to a 
variety of factors listed in the rule.
     Provisions have been added to require litigants to be 
reasonable in the number and breadth of data requests.
     Provisions have been added to govern the treatment of 
information that is privileged, commercially sensitive, or pertains to 
critical electric infrastructure.
     Provisions have been added to govern the process for 
filing and responding to motions to compel. In deciding a motion to 
compel, the hearing officer will consider a variety of factors, 
including the potential impact of the decision on completing the 
proceeding according to the procedural schedule.

Section 1010.13 Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits

     The proposed revisions establish format and content 
requirements for prefiled testimony and exhibits and specify that 
litigants will have the opportunity to rebut the direct testimony of 
other litigants.
     The proposed revisions clarify that materials incorporated 
into prefiled testimony by reference or by providing a link to a 
website will not be considered part of the record even if the prefiled 
testimony is accepted into the record. Any materials that a litigant 
wants included in the record should be submitted as an exhibit and 
subsequently moved in to evidence.
     The proposed revisions specify that prefiled testimony and 
exhibits are not part of the record until they have been admitted into 
evidence by the hearing officer and provide procedures for moving those 
materials into the record.

Section 1010.14 Cross-Examination

     The proposed revisions specify the procedures for filing 
cross-examination

[[Page 19264]]

statements and provide that witnesses generally will be cross-examined 
as a panel.
     The proposed revisions clarify that witnesses are not 
required to perform calculations on the stand or answer questions about 
calculations that they did not perform.
     Friendly cross-examination is prohibited, except that 
counsel for a litigant with a position that is not adverse to the 
witnesses may seek leave from the hearing officer to ask limited 
follow-up questions of a witness after any redirect testimony. Any 
follow-up questions are limited to the scope of the cross-examination.
     The proposed revisions broadly define cross-examination 
exhibits and require litigants to file all cross-examination exhibits 
for a witness two business days before the witness is scheduled to 
appear.
     Litigants must provide physical copies of cross-
examination exhibits at the beginning of cross-examination.

Section 1010.15 Stipulations

     A provision has been added to provide that the hearing 
officer may admit into evidence stipulations on any issue of fact.

Section 1010.16 Official Notice

     A provision has been added to recognize that the hearing 
officer or the Administrator may take official notice of certain 
matters, and provides guidelines for litigants requesting official 
notice.

Section 1010.17 Briefs

     The proposed revisions include a standard outline and 
format for briefs in order to help Bonneville identify parties' 
specific issues and recommendations and prepare the records of decision 
in a more orderly manner.
     The briefing provisions specify that Bonneville may file 
briefs in section 212 proceedings and that the Administrator may allow 
additional briefing opportunities in such proceedings.

Section 1010.18 Oral Argument

     Provisions have been added to permit oral argument and 
establish procedures for providing notice of intent to present oral 
argument.

Section 1010.19 Telephone Conferences

     A provision has been added to provide guidelines for 
telephone conferences.

Section 1010.20 Hearing Officer's Recommended Decision

     A provision has been added to address the hearing 
officer's recommended decision in section 212 proceedings.

Section 1010.21 Final Record of Decision

     A provision has been added to note that the Administrator 
will issue a Final Record of Decision in all ratemaking and section 212 
proceedings.

Section 1010.22 Expedited Proceedings

     Expedited proceedings are defined as extending 90-120 days 
from the date the Federal Register Notice is published.

Part III--Proposed Revised Rules of Procedure

Bonneville Power Administration
United States Department of Energy
Rules of Procedure
Section 1010.1 General Provisions
    (a) General rule of applicability
    (b) Exceptions to general rule of applicability
    (c) Effective date
    (d) Scope of rules
    (e) Waiver
    (f) Computation of time
Section 1010.2 Definitions
Section 1010.3 Hearing Officer
Section 1010.4 Initiation of Proceeding
Section 1010.5 Ex Parte Communications
    (a) General rule
    (b) Exceptions
    (c) Application
    (d) Notice of meetings
    (e) Written communications
    (f) Oral communications
    (g) Notice and opportunity for rebuttal
Section 1010.6 Intervention
    (a) Filing
    (b) Contents
    (c) Time
    (d) Opposition
Section 1010.7 Joint Parties
Section 1010.8 Participants
Section 1010.9 Prehearing Conference
Section 1010.10 Filing and Service
Section 1010.11 Pleadings
    (a) Types of pleadings
    (b) Content
    (c) Format
    (d) Answers to pleadings
    (e) Replies to answers
    (f) Interlocutory appeal
Section 1010.12 Clarification Sessions and Data Requests
    (a) Clarification sessions
    (b) Data Requests and responses
    (c) Information that is attorney-client privileged or attorney 
work product
    (d) Commercially Sensitive Information and CEII
    (e) Disputes regarding responses to Data Requests
    (f) Sanctions
    (g) Moving responses to Data Requests into Evidence
Section 1010.13 Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits
    (a) General rule
    (b) Items by reference
    (c) Moving Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits into Evidence
    (d) Motions to strike
Section 1010.14 Cross-Examination
Section 1010.15 Stipulations
Section 1010.16 Official Notice
Section 1010.17 Briefs
    (a) General rule
    (b) Initial brief
    (c) Brief on exceptions
    (d) Additional briefing rule for proceedings pursuant to Section 
1010.1(a)(2)
    (e) Optional brief and memorandum of law
    (f) Waiver of issues or arguments
Section 1010.18 Oral Argument
Section 1010.19 Telephone Conferences
Section 1010.20 Hearing Officer's Recommended Decision
Section 1010.21 Final Record of Decision
Section 1010.22 Expedited Proceedings
    (a) General rule
    (b) Extensions
Attachment A--Brief Template

Section 1010.1 General Provisions

    (a) General rule of applicability. These rules apply to all 
proceedings conducted under the procedural requirements contained in 
Section 7(i) of the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and 
Conservation Act (Northwest Power Act), 16 U.S.C. 839e(i), for the 
purpose of:
    (1) Revising or establishing rates under Section 7 of the Northwest 
Power Act;
    (2) revising or establishing terms and conditions of general 
applicability for transmission service on the Federal Columbia River 
Transmission System pursuant to Section 212(i)(2)(A) of the Federal 
Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 824k(i)(2)(A); or
    (3) addressing other matters the Administrator determines are 
appropriate for such rules.
    (b) Exceptions to general rule of applicability. These rules do not 
apply to:
    (1) Proceedings regarding implementation of rates or formulae 
previously adopted by the Administrator and approved, on either an 
interim or final basis, by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission;
    (2) Proceedings required by statute or by contract, in which the 
Administrator does not propose either (a) a new rate, formula rate, 
discount, credit, surcharge or other rate change, or (b) any new terms 
and conditions of transmission service or revisions thereto; or
    (3) Contract negotiations unless otherwise provided by paragraph 
(a) of this section.
    (c) Effective date. These rules will become effective 30 days after 
publication of the final rules in the Federal Register.
    (d) Scope of rules. These rules are intended to establish 
procedures and

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processes for all proceedings described in paragraph (a) of this 
section. These rules do not establish substantive standards for the 
Administrator's final decisions on issues in such proceedings.
    (e) Waiver. To the extent permitted by law, the Administrator may 
waive any section of these rules or prescribe any alternative 
procedures the Administrator determines to be appropriate.
    (f) Computation of time. Except as otherwise required by law, any 
period of time specified in these rules or by order of the Hearing 
Officer is computed to exclude the day of the event from which the time 
period begins to run and any day that is not a Business Day. The last 
day of any time period is included in the time period, unless it is not 
a Business Day. If the last day of any time period is not a Business 
Day, the period does not end until the close of business on the next 
Business Day.

Section 1010.2 Definitions

    Capitalized terms not otherwise defined in these rules have the 
meaning specified below.
    (a) ``Administrator'' means the BPA Administrator or the acting 
Administrator.
    (b) ``Bonneville'' or ``BPA'' means the Bonneville Power 
Administration.
    (c) ``Business Day'' means any day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, 
day on which Bonneville closes and does not reopen prior to its 
official close of business, or legal public holiday as designated in 5 
U.S.C. 6103.
    (d) ``Commercially Sensitive Information'' means information in the 
possession of a Litigant (including its officers, employees, agents, or 
experts) that is not otherwise publicly available and has economic 
value or could cause economic harm if disclosed, including but not 
limited to information that is copyrighted, licensed, proprietary, 
subject to a confidentiality obligation, or contains trade secrets or 
similar information that could provide a risk of competitive 
disadvantage or other business injury.
    (e) ``Counsel'' means any member in good standing of the bar of the 
highest court of any state, commonwealth, possession, territory, or the 
District of Columbia. Counsel appearing in a proceeding must conform to 
the standards of ethical conduct required of practitioners in the 
Federal courts of the United States.
    (f) ``Critical Energy/Electric Infrastructure Information'' or 
``CEII'' means information related to (1) a system or asset of the 
bulk-power system, whether physical or virtual, the incapacity or 
destruction of which would negatively affect national security, 
economic security, public health or safety, or any combination of such 
matters; or (2) specific engineering, vulnerability, or detailed design 
information about proposed or existing critical infrastructure that (i) 
relates details about the production, generation, transportation, 
transmission, or distribution of energy; (ii) could be useful to a 
person in planning an attack on critical infrastructure; (iii) is 
exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, 
5 U.S.C. 552; and (iv) does not simply give the general location of the 
critical infrastructure.
    (g) ``Cross-examination Exhibit'' means any document or other 
material to be presented to a witness for any purpose on cross-
examination.
    (h) ``Data Request(s)'' means a written request for information in 
any form, including documents, or an admission submitted in accordance 
with Section 1010.12(b).
    (i) ``Draft Record of Decision'' means the document that sets forth 
the Administrator's proposed decision on each issue in the pending 
proceeding.
    (j) ``Ex Parte Communication'' means an oral or written 
communication (1) relevant to the merits of any issue in the pending 
proceeding; (2) that is not on the Record; and (3) with respect to 
which reasonable prior notice to Parties has not been given.
    (k) ``Evidence'' means any material admitted into the Record by the 
Hearing Officer.
    (l) ``Federal Register Notice'' means the notice identified under 
Section 1010.4.
    (m) ``Final Record of Decision'' means the document that sets forth 
the Administrator's final decision on each issue in the pending 
proceeding.
    (n) ``Hearing Clerk'' means the individual(s) assisting the Hearing 
Officer as designated in the Federal Register Notice.
    (o) ``Hearing Officer'' means the official designated by the 
Administrator to conduct a proceeding under these rules.
    (p) ``Hearing Officer's Recommended Decision'' means the document 
that sets forth the Hearing Officer's recommendation to the 
Administrator on each issue in a proceeding pursuant to Section 
1010.1(a)(2).
    (q) ``Litigant(s)'' means Bonneville and all Parties to the pending 
proceeding.
    (r) ``Participant'' means any Person who is not a Party and who 
submits oral or written comments pursuant to Section 1010.8.
    (s) ``Party'' means any Person whose intervention is effective 
under Section 1010.6. A Party may be represented by its Counsel or 
other qualified representative, provided that such representative 
conforms to the ethical standards prescribed in Section 1010.2(e).
    (t) ``Person'' means an individual; partnership; corporation; 
limited liability company; association; an organized group of persons; 
municipality, including a city, county, or any other political 
subdivision of a state; state, including any agency, department, or 
instrumentality of a state; a province, including any agency, 
department, or instrumentality of a province; the United States or 
other nation, or any officer, or agent of any of the foregoing acting 
in the course of his or her employment or agency.
    (u) ``Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits'' means any testimony, 
exhibits, studies, documentation, or other materials in a Litigant's 
direct or rebuttal case submitted in accordance with the procedural 
schedule. Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits do not include pleadings, 
briefs, or Cross-examination Exhibits.
    (v) ``Rate'' means the monetary charge, discount, credit, 
surcharge, pricing formula, or pricing algorithm for any electric power 
or transmission service provided by Bonneville, including charges for 
capacity and energy. The term excludes, but such exclusions are not 
limited to, transmission line losses, leasing fees or charges from 
Bonneville for operation and maintenance of customer-owned facilities. 
A rate may be set forth in a contract; however, other portions of a 
contract do not thereby become part of the rate for purposes of these 
rules.
    (w) ``Record'' means (1) Evidence; (2) transcripts, notices, 
briefs, pleadings, and orders from the proceeding; (3) comments 
submitted by Participants; (4) the Hearing Officer's Recommended 
Decision, if applicable; (5) the Draft Record of Decision, if any; and 
(6) such other materials and information as may have been submitted to, 
or developed by, the Administrator.
    (x) ``Secure website'' means the website established and maintained 
by Bonneville for proceedings under these rules.

Section 1010.3 Hearing Officer

    (a) The Hearing Officer is responsible for conducting the 
proceeding, managing the development of the Record, and resolving 
procedural matters. In addition, in a proceeding pursuant to Section 
1010.1(a)(2), the Hearing Officer is responsible for

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making a Recommended Decision to the Administrator as set forth in 
Section 1010.20.
    (b) The Hearing Officer shall not expand the scope of the 
proceeding beyond the scope established in the Federal Register Notice. 
If the Hearing Officer is uncertain whether a potential action would 
improperly allow information outside the scope to be entered into 
Evidence, the Hearing Officer shall certify the question directly to 
the Administrator for a determination.
    (c) The Hearing Officer may, in his or her discretion, issue 
special rules of practice to implement these rules, provided that such 
special rules are consistent with these rules.
    (d) Except as provided in Section 1010.12(c), the Hearing Officer 
may issue protective orders or make other arrangements for the review 
of information requested in a Data Request.
    (e) The Hearing Officer may reject or exclude all or part of any 
document or materials not submitted in accordance with these rules or 
order a Litigant to conform such document or materials to the 
requirements of these rules.
    (f) Litigants shall direct communications regarding procedural 
issues to the Hearing Clerk. The Hearing Clerk's contact information 
will be provided in the Federal Register Notice.

Section 1010.4 Initiation of Proceeding

    (a) Any proceeding conducted under these rules will be initiated on 
the day a notice of Bonneville's initial proposal is published in the 
Federal Register.
    (b) The Federal Register Notice will:
    (1) State, as applicable, the proposed rates and/or the proposed 
new or revised terms and conditions of transmission service, a 
statement of the justification and reasons supporting such proposals, 
and any additional information required by law;
    (2) State the procedures for requesting access to the Secure 
website for purposes of filing petitions to intervene and the deadline 
for filing such petitions;
    (3) State the deadline and the procedures for Participants to 
submit comments;
    (4) If applicable, state that the proceeding is an expedited 
proceeding under Section 1010.22 and explain the reasons for the 
expedited proceeding;
    (5) State the date on which the Hearing Officer will conduct the 
prehearing conference;
    (6) In a proceeding pursuant to Section 1010.1(a)(2), state the 
date on which the Hearing Officer will issue the Hearing Officer's 
Recommended Decision, which date shall be used by the Hearing Officer 
in establishing the procedural schedule for the proceeding;
    (7) State the date(s) on which the Administrator expects to issue 
the Draft Record of Decision, if any, and the Final Record of Decision, 
which date(s) shall be used by the Hearing Officer in establishing the 
procedural schedule for the proceeding;
    (8) Define the scope of the proceeding and specify:
    (i) Issues that are not within the scope of the proceeding;
    (ii) That only Bonneville may prescribe or revise the scope of the 
proceeding;
    (iii) That Bonneville may revise the scope of the proceeding to 
include new issues that arise as a result of circumstances or events 
occurring outside the proceeding that are substantially related to the 
rates or terms and conditions under consideration in the proceeding; 
and
    (iv) That, if Bonneville revises the scope of the proceeding to 
include new issues, Bonneville will provide public notice, a reasonable 
opportunity to intervene, testimony or other information regarding such 
issues, and an opportunity for Parties to respond to Bonneville's 
testimony or other information.
    (9) Provide other information that is pertinent to the proceeding.

Section 1010.5 Ex Parte Communications

    (a) General Rule. No Party or Participant in any proceeding under 
these rules shall make Ex Parte Communications to the Administrator, 
other Bonneville executives, any Bonneville staff member, the Hearing 
Officer, or the Hearing Clerk. In addition, no Bonneville staff member 
shall make Ex Parte Communications to the Hearing Officer or the 
Hearing Clerk. The Administrator, other Bonneville executives, 
Bonneville staff members, and the Hearing Officer shall not initiate or 
entertain Ex Parte Communications; however, communications among the 
Administrator, other Bonneville executives, and Bonneville staff 
members are not Ex Parte Communications.
    (b) Exceptions. The following communications will not be considered 
Ex Parte Communications subject to paragraph (a) of this section:
    (1) Relating to matters of procedure only;
    (2) If otherwise authorized by law or other portions of these 
rules;
    (3) From or to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission;
    (4) Which all Litigants agree may be made on an ex parte basis;
    (5) Relating to communications in the ordinary course of business, 
information required to be exchanged pursuant to contracts, or 
information that Bonneville provides in response to a Freedom of 
Information Act request;
    (6) Relating to a request for supplemental information necessary 
for an understanding of factual materials contained in documents filed 
in a proceeding under these rules and which is made after coordination 
with Counsel for Bonneville;
    (7) Relating to a topic that is only secondarily the object of a 
proceeding, for which Bonneville is statutorily responsible under 
provisions other than Northwest Power Act Section 7, or which is 
eventually decided other than through a Section 7(i) proceeding; or
    (8) Between the Hearing Officer and Hearing Clerk or other staff 
supporting the Hearing Officer.
    (c) Application. The prohibitions contained in this Section 1010.5 
apply from the day on which Bonneville publishes the Federal Register 
Notice and continue until the day the Administrator issues the Final 
Record of Decision in the proceeding.
    (d) Notice of meetings. Bonneville will give reasonable notice to 
all Parties of any meeting that it intends to hold with any customer 
group or member of the public when it reasonably appears that matters 
relevant to any issue in the pending proceeding will be discussed.
    (e) Written communications. Any written Ex Parte Communication 
received by the Administrator, other Bonneville executives, any 
Bonneville staff member, the Hearing Officer, or the Hearing Clerk will 
be promptly delivered to Counsel for Bonneville. The document will be 
posted for public review in a section of Bonneville's website for ex 
parte materials. The Ex Parte Communication will not become part of the 
Record.
    (f) Oral communications. If the Administrator, other Bonneville 
executives, any Bonneville staff member, the Hearing Officer, or the 
Hearing Clerk receives an oral offer of any Ex Parte Communication, 
they shall decline to listen to such communication and explain that 
such communication is prohibited by this Section 1010.5. If 
unsuccessful in preventing such communication, the recipient thereof 
shall advise the communicator that he or she will not consider the 
communication. The recipient shall promptly prepare a statement setting 
forth the substance of the communication and the circumstances thereof 
and deliver the statement to Counsel for Bonneville. The statement will 
be posted for public review on the

[[Page 19267]]

ex parte website identified in paragraph (e) of this section.
    (g) Notice and opportunity for rebuttal. Bonneville will notify 
Parties when any Ex Parte Communication has been posted on the ex parte 
website identified in paragraph (e) of this section. A motion seeking 
the opportunity to rebut any facts or contentions in an Ex Parte 
Communication must be filed within five Business Days of Bonneville's 
notification that the communication has been posted on the ex parte 
website. The Hearing Officer will grant such a motion if he or she 
finds that providing the opportunity to rebut the Ex Parte 
Communication is necessary to prevent substantial prejudice to a 
Litigant.

Section 1010.6 Intervention

    (a) Filing. A Person seeking to become a Party in a proceeding 
under these rules must request access to the Secure website pursuant to 
the procedures set forth in the Federal Register Notice initiating the 
proceeding. After being granted access, such Person shall file a 
petition to intervene through the Secure website.
    (b) Contents. A petition to intervene must state the name, address, 
and email address of the Person and the Person's interests in the 
outcome of the proceeding. Petitioners may designate no more than eight 
individuals on whom service will be made. If the petitioner requires 
additional individuals to be added to the service list, it may request 
such relief from the Hearing Officer. Entities that directly purchase 
power or transmission services under Bonneville's rate schedules, or 
trade organizations representing those entities, will be granted 
intervention, based on a petition filed in conformity with this Section 
1010.6. Other petitioners must explain their interests in sufficient 
detail to permit the Hearing Officer to determine whether they have a 
relevant interest in the proceeding.
    (c) Time.
    (1) Petitions must be filed by the deadline specified in the 
Federal Register Notice, unless Bonneville provides a subsequent 
opportunity to intervene pursuant to Section 1010.4(b)(8)(iv).
    (2) Late interventions are strongly disfavored. Granting an 
untimely petition to intervene must not be a basis for delaying or 
deferring any procedural schedule. A late intervenor must accept the 
Record developed prior to its intervention. In acting on an untimely 
petition, the Hearing Officer shall consider whether:
    (i) The petitioner has a good reason for filing out of time;
    (ii) Any disruption of the proceeding might result from granting a 
late intervention;
    (iii) The petitioner's interest is adequately represented by 
existing Parties; and
    (iv) Any prejudice to, or extra burdens on, existing Parties might 
result from permitting the intervention.
    (d) Opposition. Any opposition to a timely petition to intervene 
must be filed within two Business Days after the deadline for filing 
petitions to intervene. Any opposition to a late-filed petition to 
intervene must be filed within two Business Days after service of the 
petition.

Section 1010.7 Joint Parties

    (a) Parties with common interests or positions in a pending 
proceeding are encouraged to form a Joint Party for purposes of filing 
pleadings, Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits, and briefs and for 
conducting cross-examination. Such grouping will be without derogation 
to the right of any Party to represent a separate point of view where 
its position differs from that of the Joint Party in which it is 
participating.
    (b) To form a Joint Party, one member of the proposed Joint Party 
must email a list of proposed Joint Party members to the Hearing Clerk 
and to Counsel for each proposed member and represent that all of the 
named members are in concurrence with the formation of the Joint Party. 
The Hearing Clerk will form the Joint Party, assign a Joint Party code, 
and email notice to all Litigants, stating the Joint Party code and 
listing the Joint Party members.

Section 1010.8 Participants

    (a) Any Participant may submit written comments for the Record or 
present oral comments in legislative-style hearings, if any, for the 
purpose of receiving such comments. The Federal Register Notice will 
set forth the procedures and deadline for Participant comments. In the 
event new issues arise after such deadline due to unforeseen 
circumstances, the Hearing Officer may extend the deadline for 
Participant comments. Participant comments will be made available on 
Bonneville's website.
    (b) The Hearing Officer may allow reasonable questioning of a 
Participant by Counsel for any Litigant if the Participant presents 
oral comments at a legislative-style hearing.
    (c) Participants do not have the rights of Parties. The procedures 
in Sections 1010.6, 1010.7, and 1010.9 through 1010.19 are not 
available to Participants.
    (d) Parties may not submit Participant comments. Employees of 
organizations that have intervened may submit Participant comments as 
private individuals (that is, not speaking for their organizations) but 
may not use the comment procedures to further promote specific issues 
raised by their intervenor organizations.

Section 1010.9 Prehearing Conference

    A prehearing conference will be held on the date specified in the 
Federal Register Notice. During the conference, the Hearing Officer 
shall establish (1) a procedural schedule, and (2) any special rules of 
practice in accordance with Section 1010.3(c).

Section 1010.10 Filing and Service

    (a) Unless otherwise specified, a Litigant shall make any filing 
provided for by these rules with the Hearing Officer through the Secure 
website. Such filing will constitute service on all Litigants. If the 
Secure website is unavailable for filing, a Litigant shall serve the 
document to be filed on the Hearing Officer, Hearing Clerk, and all 
Litigants through email and thereafter file the document on the Secure 
website as soon as practicable when the Secure website becomes 
available.
    (b) In addition to Parties whose petitions to intervene are granted 
by the Hearing Officer, the Administrator may designate additional 
Persons upon whom service will be made.
    (c) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, service 
will not be made upon Participants.
    (d) Submission of Data Requests and responses to such requests is 
governed by Section 1010.12(b), except that paragraph (e) of this 
section governs the timing of such requests and responses.
    (e) All filings provided for by these rules must be made, and Data 
Requests and responses must be submitted, on Business Days no later 
than 4:30 p.m., Pacific Time, in accordance with the procedural 
schedule adopted by the Hearing Officer. Filings made outside of these 
times are deemed to have been filed on the next Business Day and, if 
such day is after an applicable deadline, may be rejected by the 
Hearing Officer.

Section 1010.11 Pleadings

    (a) Types of pleadings. Pleadings include petitions to intervene, 
motions, answers, and replies to answers. Pleadings do not include 
Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits, Cross-examination Exhibits, Data 
Requests and responses, or briefs.
    (b) Content. Pleadings must include the docket number and title of 
the proceeding, the name of the Litigant filing the pleading, the 
specific relief sought, any relevant facts and law, and

[[Page 19268]]

an electronic signature (typed as ``/s/Name'') of the Litigant's 
representative. Pleadings must follow the document numbering system 
established by the Hearing Officer and display the document number in 
the footer of the pleading.
    (c) Format. Pleadings must be filed as text-recognized PDFs 
converted directly from a word processing software and conform to the 
following format: (1) Page size must be 8\1/2\ by 11 inches; in 
portrait orientation; (2) margins must be at least 1 inch on all sides; 
(3) text must be double-spaced, with the exception of headings, block 
quotes, and footnotes; and (4) font size must be comparable to 12 
points Times New Roman (10 points Times New Roman for footnotes) or 
larger. Parties are encouraged to conform legal citations to the most 
current edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 
published by The Harvard Law Review Association.
    (d) Answers to pleadings. Unless otherwise determined by the 
Hearing Officer, answers to pleadings must be filed within four 
Business Days of service of the pleading.
    (e) Replies to answers. Unless otherwise determined by the Hearing 
Officer, replies to answers are not allowed.
    (f) Interlocutory appeal. Interlocutory appeal to the Administrator 
of an order issued by the Hearing Officer is discouraged. Such an 
appeal will only be permitted upon a motion filed within five Business 
Days of the order being appealed and an order by the Hearing Officer 
certifying the ruling to the Administrator. The Hearing Officer shall 
certify the ruling to the Administrator upon finding that:
    (1) The order terminates a Party's participation in the proceeding 
and the Party's inability to participate thereafter could cause it 
substantial and irreparable harm;
    (2) Review is necessary to prevent substantial prejudice to a 
Litigant; or
    (3) Review could save the Administrator, Bonneville, and the 
Parties substantial effort or expense, or some other factor is present 
that outweighs the costs in time and delay of exercising review.
    The Administrator may accept or reject the Hearing Officer's 
certification of a ruling at his or her discretion. An answer to a 
motion for interlocutory appeal must be filed in accordance with 
paragraph (d) of this section.

Section 1010.12 Clarification Sessions and Data Requests

    (a) Clarification sessions.
    (1) The Hearing Officer may schedule one or more informal 
clarification sessions for the purpose of allowing Litigants to 
question witnesses about the contents of their Prefiled Testimony and 
Exhibits and the derivation of their recommendations and conclusions. 
The Hearing Officer will not attend the clarification sessions. 
Clarification sessions will not be used to conduct cross-examination, 
and discussions in clarification sessions will not be transcribed or 
become part of the Record. Litigants may participate in clarification 
sessions by phone or other technology made available by Bonneville.
    (2) If a Litigant does not make any witness available for a 
clarification session, the witness's Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits 
may be subject to a motion to strike.
    (b) Data Requests and responses. All Data Requests and responses to 
Data Requests must be submitted according to the rules in this Section 
1010.12(b) and Section 1010.10(e). For purposes of this Section 
1010.12(b), ``Requesting Litigant'' means the Litigant that submitted 
the Data Request at issue, and ``Responding Litigant'' means the 
Litigant that received the Data Request.
    (1) Scope in general. Except as otherwise provided in this Section 
1010.12(b), a Data Request may seek information or an admission 
relevant to any issue in the proceeding; provided, however, such 
requests must be proportional to the needs of the proceeding 
considering the importance of the issues at stake, the amount in 
controversy, the Litigants' relative access to relevant information, 
the Litigants' resources, the extent of the Responding Litigant's 
testimony on the subject and participation in the proceeding, the 
importance of the information sought to develop Evidence on the issue, 
and whether the burden or expense of responding to the request 
outweighs the likely benefit if the response were admitted into 
Evidence.
    (i) Each Litigant shall be reasonable in the number and breadth of 
its Data Requests in consideration of the factors listed in paragraph 
(b)(1) of this section. A Litigant that believes it has received one or 
more unreasonable Data Request(s) from another Litigant may object to 
the request(s) on that basis. Any dispute over such an objection will 
be resolved in accordance with the procedures in paragraph (e) of this 
section.
    (ii) A Litigant shall not be required to perform any new study or 
analysis, but a Litigant may, in its sole discretion and without 
waiving any objection to any Data Request, agree to perform such study 
or analysis.
    (iii) A Litigant shall not be required to produce publicly 
available information.
    (iv) A Litigant shall not be required to produce information that 
is unduly burdensome to provide or produce the same information 
multiple times in response to cumulative or duplicative Data Requests.
    (v) A Litigant shall not be required to produce any information 
that is protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege or 
attorney work product doctrine.
    (vi) Bonneville shall not be required to produce documents that, in 
the opinion of Counsel for Bonneville, may be exempt from production 
under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, or the Trade 
Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1905.
    (2) Submitting Data Requests. All Data Requests must be submitted 
through the Secure website.
    (i) A Data Request must identify the Prefiled Testimony and 
Exhibits (page and line numbers) or other material addressed in the 
request.
    (ii) A Litigant shall not submit a Data Request seeking the 
response to another Data Request.
    (iii) During the period established in the procedural schedule for 
submitting Data Requests immediately following the filing of 
Bonneville's Initial Proposal, Parties may submit Data Requests only to 
Bonneville.
    (iv) A multi-part Data Request must include a reasonably limited 
number of subparts, and all subparts must address only one section or 
other discrete portion of a Litigant's Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits. 
Each subpart of a multi-part Data Request will be considered a separate 
Data Request for purposes of this Section 1010.12(b).
    (3) Responding to Data Requests. All Responses to Data Requests, 
except responses containing Commercially Sensitive Information or CEII, 
must be submitted through the Secure website.
    (i) Except as otherwise provided by the Hearing Officer, a Litigant 
must provide a response to each Data Request no later than five 
Business Days after the day that the Data Request is submitted through 
the Secure website. The Hearing Officer may specify exceptions to this 
rule and establish alternative deadlines, for example, for periods 
spanning holidays.
    (ii) An objection to a data request will be considered a response 
for purposes of this Section 1010.12(b). In any response that includes 
one or more objections, the Litigant must state the grounds for the 
objection(s) and why any

[[Page 19269]]

information or admission is being withheld.
    (iii) As soon as a Responding Litigant estimates that it will not 
be able to respond to one or more Data Requests by the due dates 
because of the volume of or other burden caused by the request(s), the 
Responding Litigant shall contact the Requesting Litigant and confer 
about a possible delay in the due date. If the Litigants have not 
resolved the matter by the due date, the Responding Litigant shall file 
an objection on the due date and supplement the objection with a 
response in good faith as soon as possible thereafter. Any dispute over 
such an objection will be resolved in accordance with the procedures in 
paragraph (e) of this section.
    (c) Information that is attorney-client privileged or attorney work 
product. If a Responding Litigant withholds information from a response 
to a Data Request on the basis of attorney-client privilege or the 
attorney work product doctrine, it must object and so state in its 
response. Upon written request by Counsel for the Requesting Litigant, 
the Responding Litigant must submit a supplemental response to the Data 
Request that includes a declaration made by Counsel for such Litigant 
in accordance with 28 U.S.C. 1746 stating that the information withheld 
is protected from disclosure by attorney-client privilege or the 
attorney work product doctrine, and identifying, without revealing 
information that itself is privileged or protected, the information 
withheld. The Hearing Officer may not order in camera review or release 
of information that a Litigant has withheld from a response to a Data 
Request on the basis of attorney-client privilege or the attorney work 
product doctrine.
    (d) Commercially Sensitive Information and CEII.
    (1) When a Responding Litigant has determined that responding to a 
Data Request will require it to produce Commercially Sensitive 
Information or CEII that is otherwise discoverable, the Litigant shall 
notify and confer with the Requesting Litigant to attempt to agree to 
the terms of a proposed protective order, including a non-disclosure 
certificate, to govern exchange and use of the Commercially Sensitive 
Information or CEII. If the conferring Litigants agree to the terms of 
a proposed protective order, they must file the proposed order with the 
Hearing Officer along with a motion seeking adoption of the order. If 
the conferring Litigants are unable to agree to the terms of a 
protective order within three Business Days of starting to confer, each 
Litigant shall file a proposed protective order, and the Hearing 
Officer shall enter an order adopting a protective order to govern the 
exchange and use of Commercially Sensitive Information or CEII. Such 
protective order may be, but is not required to be, based upon the 
proposed protective orders filed by the Litigants and must be 
consistent with the requirements in paragraph (d)(2) of this section. 
Once the Hearing Officer has adopted a protective order, and the 
Requesting Litigant has filed its signed non-disclosure certificate(s), 
the Responding Litigant must provide the Commercially Sensitive 
Information or CEII to the Requesting Litigant within three Business 
Days.
    (2) Any protective order proposed by a Litigant or adopted by the 
Hearing Officer must be consistent with the following requirements but 
is not limited to these requirements:
    (i) Prior to receiving any Commercially Sensitive Information or 
CEII, a Litigant that wants access to such information must file on the 
Secure website signed non-disclosure certificate(s) for any individual 
that the Litigant intends to have access to such information.
    (ii) Any documents or other materials that include Commercially 
Sensitive Information or CEII, including any copies or notes of such 
documents, must be plainly marked on each page with the following text: 
``Commercially Sensitive Information [or CEII]--Subject to Protective 
Order No. _____.'' Any electronic files must include the same text in 
the file name. The requirements of this paragraph do not preclude any 
additional marking required by law.
    (iii) Responses to Data Requests that contain Commercially 
Sensitive Information or CEII must not be submitted via the Secure 
website. The protective order must prescribe a secure manner for 
providing such a response to any Litigant that files a signed non-
disclosure certificate(s).
    (iv) Any Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits, Cross-examination 
Exhibits, briefs, or other documents that include Commercially 
Sensitive Information or CEII must not be filed via the Secure website. 
The protective order must prescribe a secure manner for making such a 
filing directly with the Hearing Officer such as via encrypted email or 
on physical media (CD, USB stick, etc.) and for simultaneously serving 
the document on all Litigants that have filed signed non-disclosure 
certificates. Any Litigant that makes a filing with Commercially 
Sensitive Information or CEII must simultaneously file a redacted or 
public version of the document via the Secure website.
    (v) The protective order must authorize Bonneville to file or 
otherwise submit any Commercially Sensitive Information or CEII from a 
proceeding under these rules with the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission or any other administrative or judicial body in accordance 
with any applicable requirements of that body.
    (vi) The protective order must authorize Bonneville to retain any 
Commercially Sensitive Information or CEII from a proceeding under 
these rules until the decision in the proceeding is no longer subject 
to judicial review.
    (vii) The protective order must include provisions that govern the 
return or destruction of Commercially Sensitive Information and CEII.
    (viii) A protective order may include a ``Highly Confidential'' 
designation for Commercially Sensitive Information or CEII that is of 
such a sensitive nature that the producing Litigant is able to justify 
a heightened level of protection. The Hearing Officer shall determine 
the appropriate level or means of protection for such information, 
including the possible withholding of such information altogether.
    (3) Notwithstanding the requirement in paragraph (d)(2)(iv) of this 
section that a protective order must provide a secure manner of filing 
documents that include Commercially Sensitive Information or CEII, 
Litigants are discouraged from making filings with such information 
because of the administrative burden that would result from the 
inclusion of such information in the Record. A Litigant should not file 
a document with such information unless it believes in good faith that 
its ability to present its argument would be significantly hindered by 
the absence of the information from the Record. Instead, Litigants are 
encouraged to summarize, describe, or aggregate Commercially Sensitive 
Information or CEII in filings in a manner that does not result in the 
inclusion of the information itself or otherwise effectively disclose 
the information.
    (4) The rules governing CEII in this Section 1010.12(b) do not 
preclude the application of any federal regulations regarding CEII that 
apply to Bonneville and are adopted after the effective date of these 
rules.
    (e) Disputes regarding responses to Data Requests. Litigants are 
strongly encouraged to informally resolve disputes regarding Data 
Requests and responses.
    (1) Duty to Confer. Before filing a motion to compel a response to 
a Data Request, the Requesting Litigant must confer with the Responding 
Litigant to

[[Page 19270]]

attempt to informally resolve any dispute. Each Litigant must confer in 
good faith to attempt to informally resolve the dispute.
    (2) Motion to Compel. If a dispute is not resolved informally, the 
Requesting Litigant may file a motion to compel no more than four 
Business Days after the earlier of the date a response to the Data 
Request is provided or the due date for the response. A motion to 
compel must demonstrate that the Data Request(s) at issue are within 
the scope described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, and the 
Requesting Litigant must certify in the motion that it attempted to 
informally resolve the dispute in accordance with paragraph (e)(1) of 
this section.
    (3) Answer to motion to compel. Any answer to a motion to compel 
must be filed in accordance with Section 1010.11(d).
    (4) Resolution of dispute by the Hearing Officer. The Hearing 
Officer may hold a telephone conference to discuss and attempt to 
resolve a dispute regarding a response to a Data Request. In ruling on 
any motion to compel, the Hearing Officer shall consider, among other 
things, the factors listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, whether 
the Responding Litigant filed testimony related to the Data Request(s) 
before it received the Data Request(s), and the potential impact of the 
decision on completing the proceeding according to the procedural 
schedule.
    (f) Sanctions. The Hearing Officer may remedy any refusal to comply 
with an order compelling a response to a Data Request or a violation of 
a protective order by:
    (1) Striking the Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits to which the Data 
Request relates;
    (2) Limiting Data Requests or cross-examination by the Litigant 
refusing to comply with the order; or
    (3) Recommending to the Administrator that an appropriate adverse 
inference be drawn against the Litigant refusing to comply with the 
order.
    (g) Moving responses to Data Requests into Evidence. A response to 
a Data Request must be admitted into Evidence to be considered part of 
the Record. A Litigant that intends to introduce a response to a Data 
Request into Evidence must either: (1) Attach the full text of each 
such response as an exhibit in the Litigant's Prefiled Testimony and 
Exhibits; or (2) submit a motion to that effect, by the deadline(s) 
established by the Hearing Officer.

Section 1010.13 Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits

    (a) General rule.
    (1) All Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits must identify the 
witness(es) sponsoring the testimony and exhibits. Each Litigant that 
submits Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits must separately file a 
qualification statement for each witness sponsoring the testimony and 
exhibits. The qualification statement must describe the witness's 
education and professional experience as it relates to the subject 
matter of the Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits.
    (2) Except as otherwise allowed by the Hearing Officer, all 
prefiled testimony must be in written form and conform to the format of 
pleadings in Section 1010.11(c). Each section of prefiled testimony 
must include a heading setting forth its subject matter. Prefiled 
testimony must include line numbers in the left-hand margin of each 
page.
    (3) If prefiled testimony is based on the witness's understanding 
of the law, the witness shall so state in the testimony and, in order 
to provide context for the testimony, describe the witness's 
understanding of the law as it applies to the witness's position. In 
all other cases, legal arguments and opinions must not be included in 
Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits.
    (4) A witness qualified as an expert may testify in the form of an 
opinion. Any conclusions by the witness should, if applicable, be 
supported by data and explanation.
    (5) Litigants shall be provided an adequate opportunity to offer 
refutation or rebuttal of any material submitted by any other Party or 
by Bonneville. Any rebuttal to Bonneville's direct case must be 
included in a Party's direct testimony, along with any affirmative case 
that Party wishes to present. Any subsequent rebuttal testimony must be 
limited to rebuttal of the Parties' direct cases. New affirmative 
material may be submitted in rebuttal testimony only if in reply to 
another Party's direct case. No other new affirmative material may be 
introduced in rebuttal testimony. Rebuttal testimony must refer to the 
specific material being addressed (pages, lines, topic).
    (6) For documents or materials of excessive length that a Litigant 
wants to include in its Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits, the Litigant 
should create and include an excerpt of the document or materials that 
excludes irrelevant or redundant material.
    (b) Items by reference. Any materials that are incorporated by 
reference or referred to via electronic link in Prefiled Testimony and 
Exhibits will not be considered part of the testimony and exhibits for 
purposes of introducing the materials into Evidence. Only materials 
included as an exhibit to Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits will be 
considered part of the testimony and exhibits for purposes of 
introducing the materials into Evidence.
    (c) Moving Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits into Evidence. Prefiled 
Testimony and Exhibits must be admitted into Evidence to be considered 
part of the Record. If a Litigant's witness(es) sponsoring Prefiled 
Testimony and Exhibits are cross-examined, the Litigant shall move the 
witnesses' Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits into Evidence at the 
conclusion of the cross-examination. If there is no cross-examination 
of a Litigant's witness(es), a Litigant that intends to introduce the 
witness(es)'s Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits into Evidence shall, by 
any deadline established by the Hearing Officer, file a declaration of 
the witness(es) made in accordance with 28 U.S.C. 1746 that lists the 
Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits and certifies that the material is the 
same material previously filed in the proceeding and is true and 
correct to the best of their knowledge and belief. Upon filing of the 
declaration, the witnesses' Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits will be 
admitted into Evidence.
    (d) Motions to strike. Motions to strike Prefiled Testimony and 
Exhibits must be filed by the deadlines established in the procedural 
schedule. An answer to a motion to strike must be filed in accordance 
with Section 1010.11(d). If the Hearing Officer grants a motion to 
strike, the Litigant sponsoring the stricken material shall file 
conformed copies with strikethrough deletions of such material within 
five Business Days of the Hearing Officer's order. Conformed copies 
must be filed with the same document number as the original exhibit, 
but with the designation ``-CC'' at the end (e.g., BP-20-E-BPA-16-CC). 
Material struck by the Hearing Officer shall not be admitted into 
Evidence but will be considered part of the Record for purposes of 
reference regarding whether the motion should have been granted.

Section 1010.14 Cross-Examination

    (a) Except as otherwise provided by the Hearing Officer, witnesses 
generally shall be cross-examined as a panel for Prefiled Testimony and 
Exhibits that they co-sponsor, provided that each panel member (1) has 
submitted a qualification statement, and (2) is under oath.
    (b) At the time specified in the procedural schedule, a Litigant 
intending to cross-examine a witness shall file a cross-examination 
statement. The statement shall:

[[Page 19271]]

    (1) Identify the witnesses the Litigant intends to cross-examine 
and the Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits sponsored by the witnesses that 
will be the subject of the cross-examination;
    (2) Briefly describe the subject matter and portions of the 
Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits for cross-examination;
    (3) Specify the amount of time requested for cross-examination of 
each witness; and
    (4) Provide any other information required in an order issued by 
the Hearing Officer.
    (c) A Litigant waives cross-examination for any witnesses not 
listed in its cross-examination statement, except that any Litigant may 
ask follow-up questions of witnesses appearing at the request of 
another Litigant.
    (d) After the Litigants file cross-examination statements, the 
Hearing Officer shall issue a schedule setting forth the order of 
witnesses to be cross-examined.
    (e) Cross-examination is limited to issues relevant to the Prefiled 
Testimony and Exhibits that (1) are identified in the Litigant's cross-
examination statement, or (2) arise in the course of the cross-
examination.
    (f) Witnesses are not required to perform calculations on the stand 
or answer questions about calculations that they did not perform. 
Witnesses appearing as a panel shall determine in good faith which 
witness will respond to a cross-examination question.
    (g) A Litigant may only cross-examine witnesses whose position is 
adverse to the Litigant seeking to cross-examine. Notwithstanding the 
preceding sentence, a Litigant whose position is not adverse to the 
witnesses subject to cross-examination may, immediately following any 
redirect testimony by those witnesses, seek leave from the Hearing 
Officer to ask limited follow-up questions of the witnesses. Any such 
follow-up questions allowed by the Hearing Officer must be limited to 
the scope of the cross-examination of the witnesses.
    (h) Only a Litigant's Counsel may conduct cross-examination. Only 
Counsel for the witnesses being cross-examined may object to questions 
asked during cross-examination, except that Counsel for any Litigant 
may object to friendly cross-examination.
    (i) To avoid duplicative cross-examination, the Hearing Officer may 
impose reasonable limitations if the Litigants conducting cross-
examination have substantially similar positions.
    (j) The Hearing Officer may impose reasonable time limitations on 
the cross-examination of any witness.
    (k) Cross-examination Exhibits.
    (1) A Litigant must file each Cross-examination Exhibit to be 
presented to a witness for any purpose two Business Days before the 
witness is scheduled to appear. For example, for a witness appearing on 
a Monday, the due date for documents is the preceding Thursday at 4:30 
p.m.
    (2) A Litigant must provide physical copies of each Cross-
examination Exhibit to the Hearing Officer, the Hearing Clerk, each 
panel witness, witness's Counsel, and the court reporter at the 
beginning of cross-examination on the day the witness is scheduled to 
appear.
    (3) A Cross-examination Exhibit must be limited to material the 
Litigant intends to introduce into Evidence.
    (4) If a document is introduced into Evidence during cross-
examination, and only part of the document is admitted into Evidence, 
the document must be conformed by the Litigant to include only that 
part of the document admitted into Evidence. The conformed document 
must be filed through the Secure website.
    (l) All other matters relating to conduct of cross-examination are 
left to the Hearing Officer's discretion.

Section 1010.15 Stipulations

    The Hearing Officer may admit into Evidence stipulations on any 
issue of fact.

Section 1010.16 Official Notice

    The Administrator or the Hearing Officer may take official notice 
of any matter that may be judicially noticed by federal courts or any 
matter about which Bonneville is an expert. A Litigant requesting 
official notice shall provide a precise citation for the material for 
which official notice is requested and file the material on the Secure 
Website at the time the request is granted or as soon as practicable 
thereafter. The Hearing Officer may afford any Litigant making a timely 
request an opportunity to show the contrary of an officially noticed 
fact.

Section 1010.17 Briefs

    (a) General rule. Briefs must be filed at times specified in the 
procedural schedule. All evidentiary arguments in briefs must be based 
on cited material admitted into Evidence. Material not admitted into 
Evidence must not be attached to or relied upon in any brief, except to 
address disputes regarding the admissibility of specific material into 
Evidence. Incorporation by reference is not permitted. The Hearing 
Officer may impose page limitations on any brief. All briefs must 
comply with the format requirements in Section 1010.11(c) and the 
template provided in Attachment A, as may be amended.
    (b) Initial brief. At the conclusion of the evidentiary portion of 
a proceeding, each Party may file an initial brief. The purpose of an 
initial brief is to identify separately each legal, factual, and policy 
issue to be resolved by the Administrator and present all arguments in 
support of a Party's position on each of these issues. The initial 
brief should also rebut contentions made by adverse witnesses in their 
Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits. The initial brief must contain a final 
revised exhibit list reflecting the status of all of the Party's 
Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits, Cross-examination Exhibits, and any 
other exhibits, including those admitted, withdrawn, conformed, and 
rejected.
    (c) Brief on exceptions. After issuance of Bonneville's Draft 
Record of Decision, each Party may file a brief on exceptions. The 
purposes of the brief on exceptions are to (1) raise any alleged legal, 
policy, or evidentiary errors in the Draft Record of Decision; or (2) 
provide additional support for draft decisions contained in the Draft 
Record of Decision. All arguments raised by a Party in its initial 
brief will be deemed to have been raised in the Party's brief on 
exceptions, regardless of whether such arguments are included in the 
brief on exceptions.
    (d) Additional briefing rule for proceedings pursuant to Section 
1010.1(a)(2). In a proceeding pursuant to Section 1010.1(a)(2), 
Bonneville is considered a Party for purposes of filing briefs in 
accordance with this Section 1010.17, except that Section 1010.17(f) 
does not apply to Bonneville. In addition, in such a proceeding, the 
Hearing Officer or the Administrator may provide Litigants with 
additional briefing opportunities not otherwise set forth in these 
rules. Such additional briefing opportunities may include briefs on 
exceptions in addition to those set forth in Section 1010.17(c), above.
    (e) Optional brief and memorandum of law. The Hearing Officer may 
allow the filing of a brief and memorandum of law not expressly 
provided for by this section.
    (f) Waiver of issues or arguments. A Party whose briefs do not 
raise and fully develop the Party's position on any issue shall be 
deemed to take no position on such issue. Arguments or alleged errors 
not raised in initial briefs in accordance with Section 1010.17(b), 
briefs on exceptions in accordance with Section 1010.17(c), or briefs 
permitted by Section 1010.17(d) are deemed to be waived.

[[Page 19272]]

Section 1010.18 Oral Argument

    (a) An opportunity for each Litigant to present oral argument will 
be provided in proceedings conducted under these rules.
    (b) At the time specified in the procedural schedule, each Litigant 
that intends to present oral argument shall file a notice of intent to 
present oral argument. The notice must identify the speaker(s), a brief 
description of the subject matter to be addressed, and the amount of 
time requested.
    (c) After Litigants file notices of intent to present oral 
argument, the Hearing Officer shall issue an order setting forth the 
schedule of oral argument.

Section 1010.19 Telephone Conferences

    Telephone conferences may be permitted in appropriate 
circumstances, provided that: (1) There is a proposed agenda for the 
conference concerning the points to be considered and the relief, if 
any, to be requested during the conference; and (2) Litigants are 
provided notice and given an opportunity to be represented on the line. 
If the Hearing Officer schedules a telephone conference, the Hearing 
Officer may require that a court reporter be present on the line.

Section 1010.20 Hearing Officer's Recommended Decision

    In a proceeding pursuant to Section 1010.1(a)(2), the Hearing 
Officer shall, unless he or she becomes unavailable, issue the Hearing 
Officer's Recommended Decision stating the Hearing Officer's findings 
and conclusions, and the reasons or basis thereof, on all material 
issues of fact, law, or discretion.

Section 1010.21 Final Record of Decision

    (a) The Administrator will make a decision adopting final proposed 
rates for submission to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for 
confirmation and approval based on the Record.
    (b) In a proceeding pursuant to Section 1010.1(a)(2), the 
Administrator will make a determination in a Final Record of Decision 
on any terms and conditions of transmission service, or revisions 
thereto, at issue in the proceeding.
    (c) Any Final Record of Decision will be uploaded to the Secure 
Website and made available to Participants through Bonneville's 
external website.

Section 1010.22 Expedited Proceedings

    (a) General rule. The Administrator will determine, in his or her 
discretion, whether to conduct an expedited proceeding. The Final 
Record of Decision in a proceeding conducted under this section will be 
issued on an expedited basis in 90-120 days from the date of the 
Federal Register Notice. The Hearing Officer may establish procedures 
or special rules as set forth in Section 1010.3(c) necessary for the 
expedited schedule.
    (b) Extensions. The Hearing Officer may extend the schedule in 
response to a written motion by a Litigant showing good cause for the 
extension.

Attachment A--Brief Template

I. CATEGORY [all issues pertaining to a particular category, for 
example: POWER RATES, TRANSMISSION RATES, TRANSMISSION TERMS AND 
CONDITIONS, JOINT ISSUES, PROCEDURAL ISSUES]

A. General Topic Area [for example: Secondary Sales]

    Issue 1: The specific issue to be addressed [for example: 
Whether Bonneville's forecast of energy prices should be revised 
upward].

Summary of Party's Position

    A brief statement summarizing the party's position.
    [For example: Bonneville staff's forecast of energy prices for 
secondary sales is too conservative. The record demonstrates that 
the trend in market prices is upward. The Administrator should 
revise the forecast for the price of secondary energy upward 
consistent with Party X's proposal.]

Party's Position and Argument

    Statements of argument, including citations to the record.

Requested Action or Decision

    A brief description of the requested action or decision the 
party wants the Administrator to make.
    [For example: The projection of energy prices for Bonneville's 
secondary sales should be revised consistent with Party's X's 
proposal.]
    Issue 2: The specific issue to be addressed [for example: 
[Whether Bonneville's surplus power sales forecast is reasonable.]

Summary of Party's Position

    [For example: Bonneville's surplus power sales forecast is 
flawed because it does not account for extraregional power sales.]

Party's Position and Argument

    Statements of argument, including citations to the record.

Requested Action or Decision

    [For example: Bonneville's surplus power sales forecast should 
be increased to reflect extraregional power sales.]


                                          Post-Hearing List of Exhibits
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Filing code                         Title                  Date filed                Status
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
XX-XX-E-XX-01......................  Direct Testimony..........  mm/dd/yyyy...........  Admitted.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
XX-XX-E-XX-02......................  Rebuttal Testimony........  mm/dd/yyyy...........  Rejected.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



[[Page 19273]]

    Issued this 23rd day of April 2018.
Elliot E. Mainzer,
Administrator and Chief Executive Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-09085 Filed 5-1-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P



                                               19262                         Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 2, 2018 / Notices

                                               opportunity to comment on proposed,                     survey administrations. NHES 2019 will                     of Procedure
                                               revised, and continuing collections of                  use mail and web data collection modes                Part III Proposed Revised Rules of
                                               information. This helps the Department                  and will field two surveys: The Early                      Procedure
                                               assess the impact of its information                    Childhood Program Participation survey
                                               collection requirements and minimize                                                                          Part I—Introduction and Background
                                                                                                       (ECPP) and the Parent and Family
                                               the public’s reporting burden. It also                  Involvement in Education survey (PFI).                   The Northwest Power Act provides
                                               helps the public understand the                           Dated: April 27, 2018.
                                                                                                                                                             that Bonneville must establish and
                                               Department’s information collection                                                                           periodically review and revise its rates
                                                                                                       Tomakie Washington,
                                               requirements and provide the requested                                                                        so that they recover, in accordance with
                                                                                                       Acting Director, Information Collection               sound business principles, the costs
                                               data in the desired format. ED is
                                                                                                       Clearance Division, Office of the Chief Privacy
                                               soliciting comments on the proposed                                                                           associated with the acquisition,
                                                                                                       Officer, Office of Management.
                                               information collection request (ICR) that                                                                     conservation, and transmission of
                                                                                                       [FR Doc. 2018–09328 Filed 5–1–18; 8:45 am]
                                               is described below. The Department of                                                                         electric power, including amortization
                                                                                                       BILLING CODE 4000–01–P                                of the Federal investment in the Federal
                                               Education is especially interested in
                                               public comment addressing the                                                                                 Columbia River Power System over a
                                               following issues: (1) Is this collection                                                                      reasonable number of years, and
                                               necessary to the proper functions of the                DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY                                  Bonneville’s other costs and expenses.
                                               Department; (2) will this information be                                                                      16 U.S.C. 839e(a)(1). Section 7(i) of the
                                               processed and used in a timely manner;                  Bonneville Power Administration                       Northwest Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 839e(i),
                                               (3) is the estimate of burden accurate;                 [BPA File No.: RP–18]                                 requires that Bonneville’s rates be
                                               (4) how might the Department enhance                                                                          established according to certain
                                               the quality, utility, and clarity of the                Proposed Revised Rules of Procedure                   procedures, including notice of the
                                               information to be collected; and (5) how                and Opportunity for Public Review and                 proposed rates; one or more hearings
                                               might the Department minimize the                       Comment                                               conducted as expeditiously as
                                               burden of this collection on the                                                                              practicable by a hearing officer;
                                                                                                       AGENCY:  Bonneville Power                             opportunity for both oral presentation
                                               respondents, including through the use
                                                                                                       Administration (BPA or Bonneville),                   and written submission of views, data,
                                               of information technology. Please note
                                                                                                       Department of Energy (DOE).                           questions, and arguments related to the
                                               that written comments received in
                                               response to this notice will be                         ACTION: Notice of proposed revised rules              proposed rates; and a decision by the
                                               considered public records.                              of procedure.                                         Administrator based on the record.
                                                  Title of Collection: National                                                                                 In addition, section 212(i)(2)(A) of the
                                                                                                       SUMMARY:   Bonneville is proposing to                 Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C.
                                               Household Education Survey 2019
                                                                                                       revise the rules of procedure that govern             824k(i)(2)(A), provides in part that the
                                               (NHES:2019).
                                                  OMB Control Number: 1850–0768.                       its hearings conducted pursuant to                    Administrator may conduct a section
                                                  Type of Review: A revision of an                     section 7(i) of the Pacific Northwest                 7(i) hearing to determine the terms and
                                               existing information collection.                        Electric Power Planning and                           conditions for transmission service on
                                                  Respondents/Affected Public:                         Conservation Act (Northwest Power                     the Federal Columbia River
                                               Individuals or Households.                              Act), 16 U.S.C. 839e(i).                              Transmission System under certain
                                                  Total Estimated Number of Annual                     DATES: Anyone wishing to comment on                   circumstances. Such a hearing must
                                               Responses: 123,177.                                     the proposed revised rules of procedure               adhere to the procedural requirements
                                                  Total Estimated Number of Annual                     must file such comments no later than                 of paragraphs (1) through (3) of section
                                               Burden Hours: 12,964.                                   5:00 p.m. PDT on June 4, 2018.                        7(i) of the Northwest Power Act, except
                                                  Abstract: The National Household                     ADDRESSES: Comments should be                         that the hearing officer makes a
                                               Education Survey (NHES) is a data                       submitted through Bonneville’s website                recommended decision to the
                                               collection program of the National                      at www.bpa.gov/comment. Comments                      Administrator before the
                                               Center for Education Statistics (NCES)                  may also be submitted to BPA Public                   Administrator’s final decision.
                                               designed to provide descriptive data on                 Involvement, Bonneville Power                            Bonneville last revised its procedures
                                               the education activities of the U.S.                    Administration, P.O. Box 14428,                       to govern hearings under section 7(i) of
                                               population, with an emphasis on topics                  Portland, Oregon 97293. Bonneville                    the Northwest Power Act in 1986. See
                                               that are appropriate for household                      requests that all comments contain the                ‘‘Procedures Governing Bonneville
                                               surveys rather than institutional                       designation RP–18 in the subject line.                Power Administration Rate Hearings,’’
                                               surveys. Such topics have covered a                                                                           51 Federal Register 7611 (1986). Since
                                                                                                       FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
                                               wide range of issues, including early                                                                         the establishment of those procedures,
                                               childhood care and education,                           Heidi Helwig, DKE–7, BPA                              there have been significant
                                               children’s readiness for school, parents’               Communications, Bonneville Power                      advancements in the technology
                                               perceptions of school safety and                        Administration, P.O. Box 3621,                        available to conduct the hearings. The
                                               discipline, before- and after-school                    Portland, Oregon 97208; by phone toll                 proposed revised rules of procedure
                                               activities of school-age children,                      free at 1–800–622–4520; or by email to                incorporate changes to reflect the
                                               participation in adult and career                       hyhelwig@bpa.gov.                                     manner in which Bonneville has
                                               education, parents’ involvement in their                   Responsible Official: Mary K. Jensen,              applied these advancements. In
                                               children’s education, school choice,                    Executive Vice President, General                     addition, through conducting numerous
                                               homeschooling, and civic involvement.                   Counsel, is the official responsible for              hearings over the past few decades,
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                                               This request is to conduct the                          the development of Bonneville’s rules of              Bonneville has gained insight regarding
                                               NHES:2019 full scale data collection,                   procedure.                                            the strengths and weaknesses of the
                                               from December 2018 through September                    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:                            current procedures. The proposed
                                               2019, in conjunction with an In-Person                  Table of Contents                                     revisions incorporate changes to make
                                               Study of Nonresponding Households,                                                                            the hearings more efficient and
                                               designed to provide insight about                       Part I Introduction and Background                    procedures that were regularly adopted
                                               nonresponse that can help plan future                   Part II Summary of Proposed Revised Rules             by order of the hearing officer in


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                                                                             Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 2, 2018 / Notices                                              19263

                                               previous hearings. Finally, the proposed                proposed new or revised terms and                     such filings will constitute service on all
                                               revisions explicitly provide that the                   conditions of transmission service for                parties.
                                               rules apply to any proceeding under                     section 212 proceedings.
                                                                                                                                                             Section 1010.11    Pleadings
                                               section 212(i)(2)(A) of the Federal Power                  • A provision has been added to
                                               Act (‘‘section 212 proceedings’’).                      require the Federal Register notice to                   • Provisions were added to specify
                                                  In order to encourage public                         include procedures for requesting access              the types of pleadings, establish format
                                               involvement and assist Bonneville in                    to the secure website for purposes of                 and content requirements, and clarify
                                               the development of the proposed                         filing petitions to intervene.                        rights and procedures for filing
                                               revised procedures, Bonneville met with                    • A provision has been added to                    responsive pleadings.
                                               customers and other interested parties                  require the Federal Register notice to                   • Procedures have been added to
                                               on February 13, 2018, in Portland,                      state that the scope of a proceeding may              govern interlocutory appeal of an order
                                               Oregon, to discuss how the current rules                include new issues that arise as a result             of the hearing officer to the
                                               might be revised. Bonneville also                       of circumstances or events occurring                  Administrator.
                                               solicited written comments over a two-                  outside of the proceeding.                            Section 1010.12 Clarification Sessions
                                               week period ending February 28, 2018.                                                                         and Data Requests
                                                                                                       Section 1010.5 Ex Parte
                                               After reviewing the comments,
                                               Bonneville incorporated a number of
                                                                                                       Communications                                           • The scope of permissible data
                                               revisions to its proposed rules.                          • Proposed revisions more clearly                   requests has been revised. Data requests
                                                  Although rules of agency procedure                   prohibit ex parte communications with                 must seek information that is relevant to
                                               are exempt from notice and comment                      the hearing officer.                                  an issue in the proceeding and
                                               rulemaking requirements under the                         • A provision has been added to                     proportional to the needs of the case
                                               Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C.                  clarify that communications between                   according to a variety of factors listed in
                                               553(b)(3)(A), Bonneville is nevertheless                the hearing officer and the hearing clerk             the rule.
                                               publishing notice of the proposed                       (or other staff providing administrative                 • Provisions have been added to
                                               revisions to its procedural rules in the                support to the hearing officer) are not ex            require litigants to be reasonable in the
                                               Federal Register to promote                             parte.                                                number and breadth of data requests.
                                               transparency and public participation.                    • The procedures for addressing ex                     • Provisions have been added to
                                               Bonneville will accept written                          parte communications have been                        govern the treatment of information that
                                               comments on the proposed revisions                      revised to provide that written ex parte              is privileged, commercially sensitive, or
                                               until the deadline stated above. After                  communications and written summaries                  pertains to critical electric
                                               considering the written comments,                       of oral ex parte communications will be               infrastructure.
                                               Bonneville will publish the final rules                 posted on Bonneville’s website rather                    • Provisions have been added to
                                               in Federal Register later this year.                    than being made available in                          govern the process for filing and
                                                                                                       Bonneville’s Public Involvement Office.               responding to motions to compel. In
                                               Part II—Summary of Proposed Revised                                                                           deciding a motion to compel, the
                                               Rules of Procedure                                      Section 1010.6       Intervention                     hearing officer will consider a variety of
                                                 The statements below provide general                    • The procedures for intervention                   factors, including the potential impact
                                               summaries of some of the proposed                       were modified to provide prospective                  of the decision on completing the
                                               revisions in each section of the rules.                 intervenors access to the secure website              proceeding according to the procedural
                                                                                                       before filing a petition to intervene.                schedule.
                                               Section 1010.1       General Provisions                 Once access has been granted, a petition              Section 1010.13    Prefiled Testimony
                                                  • The proposed revisions specify that                to intervene can be filed through the                 and Exhibits
                                               the rules apply to wholesale power and                  secure website.
                                               transmission rate case proceedings and                                                                           • The proposed revisions establish
                                                                                                       Section 1010.7       Joint Parties                    format and content requirements for
                                               section 212 proceedings.
                                                  • A provision has been added to                        • A provision has been added to                     prefiled testimony and exhibits and
                                               clarify that the rules do not establish                 encourage parties with similar interests              specify that litigants will have the
                                               substantive standards for the                           to establish joint parties and describes              opportunity to rebut the direct
                                               Administrator’s final decisions.                        how to form joint parties.                            testimony of other litigants.
                                                                                                                                                                • The proposed revisions clarify that
                                               Section 1010.2       Definitions                        Section 1010.8       Participants                     materials incorporated into prefiled
                                                 • Various definitions were added or                     • A provision has been added to                     testimony by reference or by providing
                                               revised in this section.                                describe the manner in which members                  a link to a website will not be
                                                                                                       of the general public, who are not                    considered part of the record even if the
                                               Section 1010.3       Hearing Officer                    parties, can submit comments.                         prefiled testimony is accepted into the
                                                 • A provision has been added to                                                                             record. Any materials that a litigant
                                               clarify that parties should contact the                 Section 1010.9       Prehearing Conference            wants included in the record should be
                                               hearing clerk with procedural questions                   • A provision has been added to                     submitted as an exhibit and
                                               rather than Bonneville counsel or rates                 recognize that the hearing officer will               subsequently moved in to evidence.
                                               staff.                                                  hold a prehearing conference to adopt a                  • The proposed revisions specify that
                                                 • A provision has been added to                       procedural schedule and any special                   prefiled testimony and exhibits are not
                                               recognize that the hearing officer can                  rules of practice that are consistent with            part of the record until they have been
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                                               establish special rules of practice that                the proposed rules.                                   admitted into evidence by the hearing
                                               are consistent with the proposed rules.                                                                       officer and provide procedures for
                                                                                                       Section 1010.10        Filing and Service of
                                                                                                                                                             moving those materials into the record.
                                               Section 1010.4       Initiation of Proceeding           Documents
                                                 • A provision has been added to                         • Provisions have been added to                     Section 1010.14    Cross-Examination
                                               require the Federal Register notice                     require that litigants file all documents               • The proposed revisions specify the
                                               initiating the proceeding to include the                through the secure website and that                   procedures for filing cross-examination


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                                               19264                         Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 2, 2018 / Notices

                                               statements and provide that witnesses                   recommended decision in section 212                     (c) Moving Prefiled Testimony and
                                               generally will be cross-examined as a                   proceedings.                                               Exhibits into Evidence
                                               panel.                                                                                                          (d) Motions to strike
                                                  • The proposed revisions clarify that                Section 1010.21 Final Record of                       Section 1010.14 Cross-Examination
                                               witnesses are not required to perform                   Decision                                              Section 1010.15 Stipulations
                                                                                                                                                             Section 1010.16 Official Notice
                                               calculations on the stand or answer                       • A provision has been added to note
                                                                                                                                                             Section 1010.17 Briefs
                                               questions about calculations that they                  that the Administrator will issue a Final               (a) General rule
                                               did not perform.                                        Record of Decision in all ratemaking                    (b) Initial brief
                                                  • Friendly cross-examination is                      and section 212 proceedings.                            (c) Brief on exceptions
                                               prohibited, except that counsel for a                                                                           (d) Additional briefing rule for proceedings
                                               litigant with a position that is not                    Section 1010.22 Expedited
                                                                                                                                                                  pursuant to Section 1010.1(a)(2)
                                               adverse to the witnesses may seek leave                 Proceedings                                             (e) Optional brief and memorandum of law
                                               from the hearing officer to ask limited                   • Expedited proceedings are defined                   (f) Waiver of issues or arguments
                                               follow-up questions of a witness after                  as extending 90–120 days from the date                Section 1010.18 Oral Argument
                                               any redirect testimony. Any follow-up                   the Federal Register Notice is                        Section 1010.19 Telephone Conferences
                                                                                                       published.                                            Section 1010.20 Hearing Officer’s
                                               questions are limited to the scope of the
                                                                                                                                                                  Recommended Decision
                                               cross-examination.                                                                                            Section 1010.21 Final Record of Decision
                                                  • The proposed revisions broadly                     Part III—Proposed Revised Rules of
                                                                                                       Procedure                                             Section 1010.22 Expedited Proceedings
                                               define cross-examination exhibits and                                                                           (a) General rule
                                               require litigants to file all cross-                    Bonneville Power Administration                         (b) Extensions
                                               examination exhibits for a witness two                  United States Department of Energy                    Attachment A—Brief Template
                                               business days before the witness is                     Rules of Procedure
                                               scheduled to appear.                                    Section 1010.1 General Provisions                     Section 1010.1     General Provisions
                                                  • Litigants must provide physical                      (a) General rule of applicability                      (a) General rule of applicability. These
                                               copies of cross-examination exhibits at                   (b) Exceptions to general rule of
                                                                                                            applicability
                                                                                                                                                             rules apply to all proceedings
                                               the beginning of cross-examination.                       (c) Effective date                                  conducted under the procedural
                                               Section 1010.15 Stipulations                              (d) Scope of rules                                  requirements contained in Section 7(i)
                                                                                                         (e) Waiver                                          of the Pacific Northwest Electric Power
                                                  • A provision has been added to                        (f) Computation of time                             Planning and Conservation Act
                                               provide that the hearing officer may                    Section 1010.2 Definitions                            (Northwest Power Act), 16 U.S.C.
                                               admit into evidence stipulations on any                 Section 1010.3 Hearing Officer                        839e(i), for the purpose of:
                                               issue of fact.                                          Section 1010.4 Initiation of Proceeding                  (1) Revising or establishing rates
                                                                                                       Section 1010.5 Ex Parte Communications                under Section 7 of the Northwest Power
                                               Section 1010.16 Official Notice                           (a) General rule
                                                                                                                                                             Act;
                                                 • A provision has been added to                         (b) Exceptions
                                                                                                                                                                (2) revising or establishing terms and
                                               recognize that the hearing officer or the                 (c) Application
                                                                                                         (d) Notice of meetings                              conditions of general applicability for
                                               Administrator may take official notice of                                                                     transmission service on the Federal
                                               certain matters, and provides guidelines                  (e) Written communications
                                                                                                         (f) Oral communications                             Columbia River Transmission System
                                               for litigants requesting official notice.                 (g) Notice and opportunity for rebuttal             pursuant to Section 212(i)(2)(A) of the
                                               Section 1010.17 Briefs                                  Section 1010.6 Intervention                           Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C.
                                                                                                         (a) Filing                                          824k(i)(2)(A); or
                                                 • The proposed revisions include a                      (b) Contents
                                               standard outline and format for briefs in                                                                        (3) addressing other matters the
                                                                                                         (c) Time                                            Administrator determines are
                                               order to help Bonneville identify                         (d) Opposition
                                               parties’ specific issues and                                                                                  appropriate for such rules.
                                                                                                       Section 1010.7 Joint Parties
                                                                                                       Section 1010.8 Participants
                                                                                                                                                                (b) Exceptions to general rule of
                                               recommendations and prepare the
                                                                                                       Section 1010.9 Prehearing Conference                  applicability. These rules do not apply
                                               records of decision in a more orderly
                                                                                                       Section 1010.10 Filing and Service                    to:
                                               manner.
                                                 • The briefing provisions specify that                Section 1010.11 Pleadings                                (1) Proceedings regarding
                                               Bonneville may file briefs in section 212                 (a) Types of pleadings                              implementation of rates or formulae
                                               proceedings and that the Administrator
                                                                                                         (b) Content                                         previously adopted by the
                                                                                                         (c) Format                                          Administrator and approved, on either
                                               may allow additional briefing                             (d) Answers to pleadings
                                               opportunities in such proceedings.                                                                            an interim or final basis, by the Federal
                                                                                                         (e) Replies to answers                              Energy Regulatory Commission;
                                               Section 1010.18 Oral Argument                             (f) Interlocutory appeal
                                                                                                                                                                (2) Proceedings required by statute or
                                                                                                       Section 1010.12 Clarification Sessions and
                                                 • Provisions have been added to                            Data Requests                                    by contract, in which the Administrator
                                               permit oral argument and establish                        (a) Clarification sessions                          does not propose either (a) a new rate,
                                               procedures for providing notice of                        (b) Data Requests and responses                     formula rate, discount, credit, surcharge
                                               intent to present oral argument.                          (c) Information that is attorney-client             or other rate change, or (b) any new
                                                                                                            privileged or attorney work product              terms and conditions of transmission
                                               Section 1010.19 Telephone                                 (d) Commercially Sensitive Information              service or revisions thereto; or
                                               Conferences                                                  and CEII                                            (3) Contract negotiations unless
                                                 • A provision has been added to                         (e) Disputes regarding responses to Data            otherwise provided by paragraph (a) of
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                                                                                                            Requests                                         this section.
                                               provide guidelines for telephone                          (f) Sanctions
                                               conferences.                                                                                                     (c) Effective date. These rules will
                                                                                                         (g) Moving responses to Data Requests into
                                                                                                            Evidence                                         become effective 30 days after
                                               Section 1010.20 Hearing Officer’s                                                                             publication of the final rules in the
                                               Recommended Decision                                    Section 1010.13 Prefiled Testimony and
                                                                                                            Exhibits                                         Federal Register.
                                                 • A provision has been added to                         (a) General rule                                       (d) Scope of rules. These rules are
                                               address the hearing officer’s                             (b) Items by reference                              intended to establish procedures and


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                                                                             Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 2, 2018 / Notices                                             19265

                                               processes for all proceedings described                 would negatively affect national                         (s) ‘‘Party’’ means any Person whose
                                               in paragraph (a) of this section. These                 security, economic security, public                   intervention is effective under Section
                                               rules do not establish substantive                      health or safety, or any combination of               1010.6. A Party may be represented by
                                               standards for the Administrator’s final                 such matters; or (2) specific engineering,            its Counsel or other qualified
                                               decisions on issues in such proceedings.                vulnerability, or detailed design                     representative, provided that such
                                                  (e) Waiver. To the extent permitted by               information about proposed or existing                representative conforms to the ethical
                                               law, the Administrator may waive any                    critical infrastructure that (i) relates              standards prescribed in Section
                                               section of these rules or prescribe any                 details about the production, generation,             1010.2(e).
                                               alternative procedures the                              transportation, transmission, or                         (t) ‘‘Person’’ means an individual;
                                               Administrator determines to be                          distribution of energy; (ii) could be                 partnership; corporation; limited
                                               appropriate.                                            useful to a person in planning an attack              liability company; association; an
                                                  (f) Computation of time. Except as                   on critical infrastructure; (iii) is exempt           organized group of persons;
                                               otherwise required by law, any period of                from mandatory disclosure under the                   municipality, including a city, county,
                                               time specified in these rules or by order               Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C.                  or any other political subdivision of a
                                               of the Hearing Officer is computed to                   552; and (iv) does not simply give the                state; state, including any agency,
                                               exclude the day of the event from which                 general location of the critical                      department, or instrumentality of a
                                               the time period begins to run and any                   infrastructure.                                       state; a province, including any agency,
                                               day that is not a Business Day. The last                   (g) ‘‘Cross-examination Exhibit’’                  department, or instrumentality of a
                                               day of any time period is included in                   means any document or other material                  province; the United States or other
                                               the time period, unless it is not a                     to be presented to a witness for any                  nation, or any officer, or agent of any of
                                               Business Day. If the last day of any time               purpose on cross-examination.                         the foregoing acting in the course of his
                                               period is not a Business Day, the period                   (h) ‘‘Data Request(s)’’ means a written            or her employment or agency.
                                               does not end until the close of business                request for information in any form,                     (u) ‘‘Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits’’
                                               on the next Business Day.                               including documents, or an admission                  means any testimony, exhibits, studies,
                                                                                                       submitted in accordance with Section                  documentation, or other materials in a
                                               Section 1010.2 Definitions                                                                                    Litigant’s direct or rebuttal case
                                                                                                       1010.12(b).
                                                 Capitalized terms not otherwise                          (i) ‘‘Draft Record of Decision’’ means             submitted in accordance with the
                                               defined in these rules have the meaning                 the document that sets forth the                      procedural schedule. Prefiled
                                               specified below.                                        Administrator’s proposed decision on                  Testimony and Exhibits do not include
                                                 (a) ‘‘Administrator’’ means the BPA                                                                         pleadings, briefs, or Cross-examination
                                                                                                       each issue in the pending proceeding.
                                               Administrator or the acting                                                                                   Exhibits.
                                                                                                          (j) ‘‘Ex Parte Communication’’ means
                                               Administrator.                                                                                                   (v) ‘‘Rate’’ means the monetary
                                                 (b) ‘‘Bonneville’’ or ‘‘BPA’’ means the               an oral or written communication (1)
                                                                                                                                                             charge, discount, credit, surcharge,
                                               Bonneville Power Administration.                        relevant to the merits of any issue in the
                                                                                                                                                             pricing formula, or pricing algorithm for
                                                 (c) ‘‘Business Day’’ means any day                    pending proceeding; (2) that is not on
                                                                                                                                                             any electric power or transmission
                                               that is not a Saturday, Sunday, day on                  the Record; and (3) with respect to
                                                                                                                                                             service provided by Bonneville,
                                               which Bonneville closes and does not                    which reasonable prior notice to Parties
                                                                                                                                                             including charges for capacity and
                                               reopen prior to its official close of                   has not been given.
                                                                                                                                                             energy. The term excludes, but such
                                               business, or legal public holiday as                       (k) ‘‘Evidence’’ means any material
                                                                                                                                                             exclusions are not limited to,
                                               designated in 5 U.S.C. 6103.                            admitted into the Record by the Hearing
                                                                                                                                                             transmission line losses, leasing fees or
                                                 (d) ‘‘Commercially Sensitive                          Officer.
                                                                                                                                                             charges from Bonneville for operation
                                               Information’’ means information in the                     (l) ‘‘Federal Register Notice’’ means              and maintenance of customer-owned
                                               possession of a Litigant (including its                 the notice identified under Section                   facilities. A rate may be set forth in a
                                               officers, employees, agents, or experts)                1010.4.                                               contract; however, other portions of a
                                               that is not otherwise publicly available                   (m) ‘‘Final Record of Decision’’ means             contract do not thereby become part of
                                               and has economic value or could cause                   the document that sets forth the                      the rate for purposes of these rules.
                                               economic harm if disclosed, including                   Administrator’s final decision on each                   (w) ‘‘Record’’ means (1) Evidence; (2)
                                               but not limited to information that is                  issue in the pending proceeding.                      transcripts, notices, briefs, pleadings,
                                               copyrighted, licensed, proprietary,                        (n) ‘‘Hearing Clerk’’ means the                    and orders from the proceeding; (3)
                                               subject to a confidentiality obligation, or             individual(s) assisting the Hearing                   comments submitted by Participants; (4)
                                               contains trade secrets or similar                       Officer as designated in the Federal                  the Hearing Officer’s Recommended
                                               information that could provide a risk of                Register Notice.                                      Decision, if applicable; (5) the Draft
                                               competitive disadvantage or other                          (o) ‘‘Hearing Officer’’ means the                  Record of Decision, if any; and (6) such
                                               business injury.                                        official designated by the Administrator              other materials and information as may
                                                 (e) ‘‘Counsel’’ means any member in                   to conduct a proceeding under these                   have been submitted to, or developed
                                               good standing of the bar of the highest                 rules.                                                by, the Administrator.
                                               court of any state, commonwealth,                          (p) ‘‘Hearing Officer’s Recommended                   (x) ‘‘Secure website’’ means the
                                               possession, territory, or the District of               Decision’’ means the document that sets               website established and maintained by
                                               Columbia. Counsel appearing in a                        forth the Hearing Officer’s                           Bonneville for proceedings under these
                                               proceeding must conform to the                          recommendation to the Administrator                   rules.
                                               standards of ethical conduct required of                on each issue in a proceeding pursuant
                                               practitioners in the Federal courts of the              to Section 1010.1(a)(2).                              Section 1010.3 Hearing Officer
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                                               United States.                                             (q) ‘‘Litigant(s)’’ means Bonneville                 (a) The Hearing Officer is responsible
                                                 (f) ‘‘Critical Energy/Electric                        and all Parties to the pending                        for conducting the proceeding,
                                               Infrastructure Information’’ or ‘‘CEII’’                proceeding.                                           managing the development of the
                                               means information related to (1) a                         (r) ‘‘Participant’’ means any Person               Record, and resolving procedural
                                               system or asset of the bulk-power                       who is not a Party and who submits oral               matters. In addition, in a proceeding
                                               system, whether physical or virtual, the                or written comments pursuant to                       pursuant to Section 1010.1(a)(2), the
                                               incapacity or destruction of which                      Section 1010.8.                                       Hearing Officer is responsible for


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                                               19266                         Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 2, 2018 / Notices

                                               making a Recommended Decision to the                    the Hearing Officer in establishing the                  (5) Relating to communications in the
                                               Administrator as set forth in Section                   procedural schedule for the proceeding;               ordinary course of business, information
                                               1010.20.                                                   (7) State the date(s) on which the                 required to be exchanged pursuant to
                                                  (b) The Hearing Officer shall not                    Administrator expects to issue the Draft              contracts, or information that
                                               expand the scope of the proceeding                      Record of Decision, if any, and the Final             Bonneville provides in response to a
                                               beyond the scope established in the                     Record of Decision, which date(s) shall               Freedom of Information Act request;
                                               Federal Register Notice. If the Hearing                 be used by the Hearing Officer in                        (6) Relating to a request for
                                               Officer is uncertain whether a potential                establishing the procedural schedule for              supplemental information necessary for
                                               action would improperly allow                           the proceeding;                                       an understanding of factual materials
                                               information outside the scope to be                        (8) Define the scope of the proceeding             contained in documents filed in a
                                               entered into Evidence, the Hearing                      and specify:                                          proceeding under these rules and which
                                               Officer shall certify the question directly                (i) Issues that are not within the scope           is made after coordination with Counsel
                                               to the Administrator for a                              of the proceeding;                                    for Bonneville;
                                               determination.                                             (ii) That only Bonneville may                         (7) Relating to a topic that is only
                                                  (c) The Hearing Officer may, in his or               prescribe or revise the scope of the                  secondarily the object of a proceeding,
                                               her discretion, issue special rules of                  proceeding;                                           for which Bonneville is statutorily
                                               practice to implement these rules,                         (iii) That Bonneville may revise the               responsible under provisions other than
                                               provided that such special rules are                    scope of the proceeding to include new                Northwest Power Act Section 7, or
                                               consistent with these rules.                            issues that arise as a result of                      which is eventually decided other than
                                                  (d) Except as provided in Section                    circumstances or events occurring                     through a Section 7(i) proceeding; or
                                               1010.12(c), the Hearing Officer may                     outside the proceeding that are                          (8) Between the Hearing Officer and
                                               issue protective orders or make other                   substantially related to the rates or                 Hearing Clerk or other staff supporting
                                               arrangements for the review of                          terms and conditions under                            the Hearing Officer.
                                               information requested in a Data Request.                consideration in the proceeding; and                     (c) Application. The prohibitions
                                                  (e) The Hearing Officer may reject or                   (iv) That, if Bonneville revises the               contained in this Section 1010.5 apply
                                               exclude all or part of any document or                  scope of the proceeding to include new                from the day on which Bonneville
                                               materials not submitted in accordance                   issues, Bonneville will provide public                publishes the Federal Register Notice
                                               with these rules or order a Litigant to                 notice, a reasonable opportunity to                   and continue until the day the
                                               conform such document or materials to                   intervene, testimony or other                         Administrator issues the Final Record of
                                               the requirements of these rules.                        information regarding such issues, and                Decision in the proceeding.
                                                  (f) Litigants shall direct                           an opportunity for Parties to respond to                 (d) Notice of meetings. Bonneville
                                               communications regarding procedural                     Bonneville’s testimony or other                       will give reasonable notice to all Parties
                                               issues to the Hearing Clerk. The Hearing                information.                                          of any meeting that it intends to hold
                                               Clerk’s contact information will be                        (9) Provide other information that is              with any customer group or member of
                                               provided in the Federal Register Notice.                pertinent to the proceeding.                          the public when it reasonably appears
                                                                                                                                                             that matters relevant to any issue in the
                                               Section 1010.4 Initiation of Proceeding                 Section 1010.5 Ex Parte                               pending proceeding will be discussed.
                                                                                                       Communications                                           (e) Written communications. Any
                                                  (a) Any proceeding conducted under
                                               these rules will be initiated on the day                  (a) General Rule. No Party or                       written Ex Parte Communication
                                               a notice of Bonneville’s initial proposal               Participant in any proceeding under                   received by the Administrator, other
                                               is published in the Federal Register.                   these rules shall make Ex Parte                       Bonneville executives, any Bonneville
                                                  (b) The Federal Register Notice will:                Communications to the Administrator,                  staff member, the Hearing Officer, or the
                                                  (1) State, as applicable, the proposed               other Bonneville executives, any                      Hearing Clerk will be promptly
                                               rates and/or the proposed new or                        Bonneville staff member, the Hearing                  delivered to Counsel for Bonneville. The
                                               revised terms and conditions of                         Officer, or the Hearing Clerk. In                     document will be posted for public
                                               transmission service, a statement of the                addition, no Bonneville staff member                  review in a section of Bonneville’s
                                               justification and reasons supporting                    shall make Ex Parte Communications to                 website for ex parte materials. The Ex
                                               such proposals, and any additional                      the Hearing Officer or the Hearing Clerk.             Parte Communication will not become
                                               information required by law;                            The Administrator, other Bonneville                   part of the Record.
                                                  (2) State the procedures for requesting              executives, Bonneville staff members,                    (f) Oral communications. If the
                                               access to the Secure website for                        and the Hearing Officer shall not initiate            Administrator, other Bonneville
                                               purposes of filing petitions to intervene               or entertain Ex Parte Communications;                 executives, any Bonneville staff
                                               and the deadline for filing such                        however, communications among the                     member, the Hearing Officer, or the
                                               petitions;                                              Administrator, other Bonneville                       Hearing Clerk receives an oral offer of
                                                  (3) State the deadline and the                       executives, and Bonneville staff                      any Ex Parte Communication, they shall
                                               procedures for Participants to submit                   members are not Ex Parte                              decline to listen to such communication
                                               comments;                                               Communications.                                       and explain that such communication is
                                                  (4) If applicable, state that the                      (b) Exceptions. The following                       prohibited by this Section 1010.5. If
                                               proceeding is an expedited proceeding                   communications will not be considered                 unsuccessful in preventing such
                                               under Section 1010.22 and explain the                   Ex Parte Communications subject to                    communication, the recipient thereof
                                               reasons for the expedited proceeding;                   paragraph (a) of this section:                        shall advise the communicator that he
                                                  (5) State the date on which the                        (1) Relating to matters of procedure                or she will not consider the
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                                               Hearing Officer will conduct the                        only;                                                 communication. The recipient shall
                                               prehearing conference;                                    (2) If otherwise authorized by law or               promptly prepare a statement setting
                                                  (6) In a proceeding pursuant to                      other portions of these rules;                        forth the substance of the
                                               Section 1010.1(a)(2), state the date on                   (3) From or to the Federal Energy                   communication and the circumstances
                                               which the Hearing Officer will issue the                Regulatory Commission;                                thereof and deliver the statement to
                                               Hearing Officer’s Recommended                             (4) Which all Litigants agree may be                Counsel for Bonneville. The statement
                                               Decision, which date shall be used by                   made on an ex parte basis;                            will be posted for public review on the


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                                                                             Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 2, 2018 / Notices                                             19267

                                               ex parte website identified in paragraph                   (ii) Any disruption of the proceeding              that have intervened may submit
                                               (e) of this section.                                    might result from granting a late                     Participant comments as private
                                                  (g) Notice and opportunity for                       intervention;                                         individuals (that is, not speaking for
                                               rebuttal. Bonneville will notify Parties                   (iii) The petitioner’s interest is                 their organizations) but may not use the
                                               when any Ex Parte Communication has                     adequately represented by existing                    comment procedures to further promote
                                               been posted on the ex parte website                     Parties; and                                          specific issues raised by their intervenor
                                               identified in paragraph (e) of this                        (iv) Any prejudice to, or extra burdens            organizations.
                                               section. A motion seeking the                           on, existing Parties might result from
                                               opportunity to rebut any facts or                       permitting the intervention.                          Section 1010.9 Prehearing Conference
                                               contentions in an Ex Parte                                 (d) Opposition. Any opposition to a                  A prehearing conference will be held
                                               Communication must be filed within                      timely petition to intervene must be                  on the date specified in the Federal
                                               five Business Days of Bonneville’s                      filed within two Business Days after the              Register Notice. During the conference,
                                               notification that the communication has                 deadline for filing petitions to intervene.           the Hearing Officer shall establish (1) a
                                               been posted on the ex parte website.                    Any opposition to a late-filed petition to            procedural schedule, and (2) any special
                                               The Hearing Officer will grant such a                   intervene must be filed within two                    rules of practice in accordance with
                                               motion if he or she finds that providing                Business Days after service of the                    Section 1010.3(c).
                                               the opportunity to rebut the Ex Parte                   petition.
                                                                                                                                                             Section 1010.10 Filing and Service
                                               Communication is necessary to prevent
                                                                                                       Section 1010.7 Joint Parties                             (a) Unless otherwise specified, a
                                               substantial prejudice to a Litigant.
                                                                                                          (a) Parties with common interests or               Litigant shall make any filing provided
                                               Section 1010.6 Intervention                             positions in a pending proceeding are                 for by these rules with the Hearing
                                                  (a) Filing. A Person seeking to become               encouraged to form a Joint Party for                  Officer through the Secure website.
                                               a Party in a proceeding under these                     purposes of filing pleadings, Prefiled                Such filing will constitute service on all
                                               rules must request access to the Secure                 Testimony and Exhibits, and briefs and                Litigants. If the Secure website is
                                               website pursuant to the procedures set                  for conducting cross-examination. Such                unavailable for filing, a Litigant shall
                                               forth in the Federal Register Notice                    grouping will be without derogation to                serve the document to be filed on the
                                               initiating the proceeding. After being                  the right of any Party to represent a                 Hearing Officer, Hearing Clerk, and all
                                               granted access, such Person shall file a                separate point of view where its                      Litigants through email and thereafter
                                               petition to intervene through the Secure                position differs from that of the Joint               file the document on the Secure website
                                               website.                                                Party in which it is participating.                   as soon as practicable when the Secure
                                                  (b) Contents. A petition to intervene                   (b) To form a Joint Party, one member              website becomes available.
                                               must state the name, address, and email                 of the proposed Joint Party must email                   (b) In addition to Parties whose
                                               address of the Person and the Person’s                  a list of proposed Joint Party members                petitions to intervene are granted by the
                                               interests in the outcome of the                         to the Hearing Clerk and to Counsel for               Hearing Officer, the Administrator may
                                               proceeding. Petitioners may designate                   each proposed member and represent                    designate additional Persons upon
                                               no more than eight individuals on                       that all of the named members are in                  whom service will be made.
                                               whom service will be made. If the                       concurrence with the formation of the                    (c) Except as provided in paragraph
                                               petitioner requires additional                          Joint Party. The Hearing Clerk will form              (b) of this section, service will not be
                                               individuals to be added to the service                  the Joint Party, assign a Joint Party code,           made upon Participants.
                                               list, it may request such relief from the               and email notice to all Litigants, stating               (d) Submission of Data Requests and
                                               Hearing Officer. Entities that directly                 the Joint Party code and listing the Joint            responses to such requests is governed
                                               purchase power or transmission services                 Party members.                                        by Section 1010.12(b), except that
                                               under Bonneville’s rate schedules, or                                                                         paragraph (e) of this section governs the
                                                                                                       Section 1010.8 Participants                           timing of such requests and responses.
                                               trade organizations representing those
                                               entities, will be granted intervention,                    (a) Any Participant may submit                        (e) All filings provided for by these
                                               based on a petition filed in conformity                 written comments for the Record or                    rules must be made, and Data Requests
                                               with this Section 1010.6. Other                         present oral comments in legislative-                 and responses must be submitted, on
                                               petitioners must explain their interests                style hearings, if any, for the purpose of            Business Days no later than 4:30 p.m.,
                                               in sufficient detail to permit the Hearing              receiving such comments. The Federal                  Pacific Time, in accordance with the
                                               Officer to determine whether they have                  Register Notice will set forth the                    procedural schedule adopted by the
                                               a relevant interest in the proceeding.                  procedures and deadline for Participant               Hearing Officer. Filings made outside of
                                                  (c) Time.                                            comments. In the event new issues arise               these times are deemed to have been
                                                  (1) Petitions must be filed by the                   after such deadline due to unforeseen                 filed on the next Business Day and, if
                                               deadline specified in the Federal                       circumstances, the Hearing Officer may                such day is after an applicable deadline,
                                               Register Notice, unless Bonneville                      extend the deadline for Participant                   may be rejected by the Hearing Officer.
                                               provides a subsequent opportunity to                    comments. Participant comments will
                                                                                                                                                             Section 1010.11 Pleadings
                                               intervene pursuant to Section                           be made available on Bonneville’s
                                               1010.4(b)(8)(iv).                                       website.                                                 (a) Types of pleadings. Pleadings
                                                  (2) Late interventions are strongly                     (b) The Hearing Officer may allow                  include petitions to intervene, motions,
                                               disfavored. Granting an untimely                        reasonable questioning of a Participant               answers, and replies to answers.
                                               petition to intervene must not be a basis               by Counsel for any Litigant if the                    Pleadings do not include Prefiled
                                               for delaying or deferring any procedural                Participant presents oral comments at a               Testimony and Exhibits, Cross-
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                                               schedule. A late intervenor must accept                 legislative-style hearing.                            examination Exhibits, Data Requests
                                               the Record developed prior to its                          (c) Participants do not have the rights            and responses, or briefs.
                                               intervention. In acting on an untimely                  of Parties. The procedures in Sections                   (b) Content. Pleadings must include
                                               petition, the Hearing Officer shall                     1010.6, 1010.7, and 1010.9 through                    the docket number and title of the
                                               consider whether:                                       1010.19 are not available to Participants.            proceeding, the name of the Litigant
                                                  (i) The petitioner has a good reason                    (d) Parties may not submit Participant             filing the pleading, the specific relief
                                               for filing out of time;                                 comments. Employees of organizations                  sought, any relevant facts and law, and


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                                               19268                         Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 2, 2018 / Notices

                                               an electronic signature (typed as ‘‘/s/                    (1) The Hearing Officer may schedule               Data Request, agree to perform such
                                               Name’’) of the Litigant’s representative.               one or more informal clarification                    study or analysis.
                                               Pleadings must follow the document                      sessions for the purpose of allowing                     (iii) A Litigant shall not be required to
                                               numbering system established by the                     Litigants to question witnesses about the             produce publicly available information.
                                               Hearing Officer and display the                         contents of their Prefiled Testimony and                 (iv) A Litigant shall not be required to
                                               document number in the footer of the                    Exhibits and the derivation of their                  produce information that is unduly
                                               pleading.                                               recommendations and conclusions. The                  burdensome to provide or produce the
                                                  (c) Format. Pleadings must be filed as               Hearing Officer will not attend the                   same information multiple times in
                                               text-recognized PDFs converted directly                 clarification sessions. Clarification                 response to cumulative or duplicative
                                               from a word processing software and                     sessions will not be used to conduct                  Data Requests.
                                               conform to the following format: (1)                    cross-examination, and discussions in                    (v) A Litigant shall not be required to
                                               Page size must be 81⁄2 by 11 inches; in                 clarification sessions will not be                    produce any information that is
                                               portrait orientation; (2) margins must be               transcribed or become part of the                     protected from disclosure by the
                                               at least 1 inch on all sides; (3) text must             Record. Litigants may participate in                  attorney-client privilege or attorney
                                               be double-spaced, with the exception of                 clarification sessions by phone or other              work product doctrine.
                                               headings, block quotes, and footnotes;                  technology made available by                             (vi) Bonneville shall not be required
                                               and (4) font size must be comparable to                 Bonneville.                                           to produce documents that, in the
                                               12 points Times New Roman (10 points                       (2) If a Litigant does not make any                opinion of Counsel for Bonneville, may
                                               Times New Roman for footnotes) or                       witness available for a clarification                 be exempt from production under the
                                               larger. Parties are encouraged to                       session, the witness’s Prefiled                       Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C.
                                               conform legal citations to the most                     Testimony and Exhibits may be subject                 552, or the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C.
                                               current edition of The Bluebook: A                      to a motion to strike.                                1905.
                                               Uniform System of Citation, published                      (b) Data Requests and responses. All                  (2) Submitting Data Requests. All Data
                                               by The Harvard Law Review                               Data Requests and responses to Data                   Requests must be submitted through the
                                               Association.                                            Requests must be submitted according                  Secure website.
                                                  (d) Answers to pleadings. Unless                     to the rules in this Section 1010.12(b)                  (i) A Data Request must identify the
                                               otherwise determined by the Hearing                     and Section 1010.10(e). For purposes of               Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits (page
                                               Officer, answers to pleadings must be                   this Section 1010.12(b), ‘‘Requesting                 and line numbers) or other material
                                               filed within four Business Days of                      Litigant’’ means the Litigant that                    addressed in the request.
                                               service of the pleading.                                submitted the Data Request at issue, and                 (ii) A Litigant shall not submit a Data
                                                  (e) Replies to answers. Unless                       ‘‘Responding Litigant’’ means the                     Request seeking the response to another
                                               otherwise determined by the Hearing                     Litigant that received the Data Request.              Data Request.
                                               Officer, replies to answers are not                        (1) Scope in general. Except as                       (iii) During the period established in
                                               allowed.                                                otherwise provided in this Section                    the procedural schedule for submitting
                                                  (f) Interlocutory appeal. Interlocutory              1010.12(b), a Data Request may seek                   Data Requests immediately following
                                               appeal to the Administrator of an order                 information or an admission relevant to               the filing of Bonneville’s Initial
                                               issued by the Hearing Officer is                        any issue in the proceeding; provided,                Proposal, Parties may submit Data
                                               discouraged. Such an appeal will only                   however, such requests must be                        Requests only to Bonneville.
                                               be permitted upon a motion filed within                 proportional to the needs of the                         (iv) A multi-part Data Request must
                                               five Business Days of the order being                   proceeding considering the importance                 include a reasonably limited number of
                                               appealed and an order by the Hearing                    of the issues at stake, the amount in                 subparts, and all subparts must address
                                               Officer certifying the ruling to the                    controversy, the Litigants’ relative                  only one section or other discrete
                                               Administrator. The Hearing Officer shall                access to relevant information, the                   portion of a Litigant’s Prefiled
                                               certify the ruling to the Administrator                 Litigants’ resources, the extent of the               Testimony and Exhibits. Each subpart of
                                               upon finding that:                                      Responding Litigant’s testimony on the                a multi-part Data Request will be
                                                  (1) The order terminates a Party’s                   subject and participation in the                      considered a separate Data Request for
                                               participation in the proceeding and the                 proceeding, the importance of the                     purposes of this Section 1010.12(b).
                                               Party’s inability to participate thereafter             information sought to develop Evidence                   (3) Responding to Data Requests. All
                                               could cause it substantial and                          on the issue, and whether the burden or               Responses to Data Requests, except
                                               irreparable harm;                                       expense of responding to the request                  responses containing Commercially
                                                  (2) Review is necessary to prevent                   outweighs the likely benefit if the                   Sensitive Information or CEII, must be
                                               substantial prejudice to a Litigant; or                 response were admitted into Evidence.                 submitted through the Secure website.
                                                  (3) Review could save the                               (i) Each Litigant shall be reasonable in              (i) Except as otherwise provided by
                                               Administrator, Bonneville, and the                      the number and breadth of its Data                    the Hearing Officer, a Litigant must
                                               Parties substantial effort or expense, or               Requests in consideration of the factors              provide a response to each Data Request
                                               some other factor is present that                       listed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section.           no later than five Business Days after
                                               outweighs the costs in time and delay of                A Litigant that believes it has received              the day that the Data Request is
                                               exercising review.                                      one or more unreasonable Data                         submitted through the Secure website.
                                                  The Administrator may accept or                      Request(s) from another Litigant may                  The Hearing Officer may specify
                                               reject the Hearing Officer’s certification              object to the request(s) on that basis.               exceptions to this rule and establish
                                               of a ruling at his or her discretion. An                Any dispute over such an objection will               alternative deadlines, for example, for
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                                               answer to a motion for interlocutory                    be resolved in accordance with the                    periods spanning holidays.
                                               appeal must be filed in accordance with                 procedures in paragraph (e) of this                      (ii) An objection to a data request will
                                               paragraph (d) of this section.                          section.                                              be considered a response for purposes of
                                                                                                          (ii) A Litigant shall not be required to           this Section 1010.12(b). In any response
                                               Section 1010.12 Clarification Sessions                  perform any new study or analysis, but                that includes one or more objections,
                                               and Data Requests                                       a Litigant may, in its sole discretion and            the Litigant must state the grounds for
                                                  (a) Clarification sessions.                          without waiving any objection to any                  the objection(s) and why any


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                                                                             Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 2, 2018 / Notices                                            19269

                                               information or admission is being                       Litigant shall file a proposed protective                (v) The protective order must
                                               withheld.                                               order, and the Hearing Officer shall                  authorize Bonneville to file or otherwise
                                                  (iii) As soon as a Responding Litigant               enter an order adopting a protective                  submit any Commercially Sensitive
                                               estimates that it will not be able to                   order to govern the exchange and use of               Information or CEII from a proceeding
                                               respond to one or more Data Requests                    Commercially Sensitive Information or                 under these rules with the Federal
                                               by the due dates because of the volume                  CEII. Such protective order may be, but               Energy Regulatory Commission or any
                                               of or other burden caused by the                        is not required to be, based upon the                 other administrative or judicial body in
                                               request(s), the Responding Litigant shall               proposed protective orders filed by the               accordance with any applicable
                                               contact the Requesting Litigant and                     Litigants and must be consistent with                 requirements of that body.
                                               confer about a possible delay in the due                the requirements in paragraph (d)(2) of                  (vi) The protective order must
                                               date. If the Litigants have not resolved                this section. Once the Hearing Officer                authorize Bonneville to retain any
                                               the matter by the due date, the                         has adopted a protective order, and the               Commercially Sensitive Information or
                                               Responding Litigant shall file an                       Requesting Litigant has filed its signed              CEII from a proceeding under these
                                               objection on the due date and                           non-disclosure certificate(s), the                    rules until the decision in the
                                               supplement the objection with a                         Responding Litigant must provide the                  proceeding is no longer subject to
                                               response in good faith as soon as                       Commercially Sensitive Information or                 judicial review.
                                               possible thereafter. Any dispute over                   CEII to the Requesting Litigant within                   (vii) The protective order must
                                               such an objection will be resolved in                   three Business Days.                                  include provisions that govern the
                                               accordance with the procedures in                          (2) Any protective order proposed by               return or destruction of Commercially
                                               paragraph (e) of this section.                          a Litigant or adopted by the Hearing                  Sensitive Information and CEII.
                                                  (c) Information that is attorney-client              Officer must be consistent with the                      (viii) A protective order may include
                                               privileged or attorney work product. If                 following requirements but is not                     a ‘‘Highly Confidential’’ designation for
                                               a Responding Litigant withholds                         limited to these requirements:                        Commercially Sensitive Information or
                                               information from a response to a Data                      (i) Prior to receiving any                         CEII that is of such a sensitive nature
                                               Request on the basis of attorney-client                 Commercially Sensitive Information or                 that the producing Litigant is able to
                                               privilege or the attorney work product                  CEII, a Litigant that wants access to such            justify a heightened level of protection.
                                               doctrine, it must object and so state in                information must file on the Secure                   The Hearing Officer shall determine the
                                               its response. Upon written request by                   website signed non-disclosure                         appropriate level or means of protection
                                               Counsel for the Requesting Litigant, the                certificate(s) for any individual that the            for such information, including the
                                               Responding Litigant must submit a                       Litigant intends to have access to such               possible withholding of such
                                               supplemental response to the Data                       information.                                          information altogether.
                                               Request that includes a declaration                        (ii) Any documents or other materials                 (3) Notwithstanding the requirement
                                               made by Counsel for such Litigant in                    that include Commercially Sensitive                   in paragraph (d)(2)(iv) of this section
                                               accordance with 28 U.S.C. 1746 stating                  Information or CEII, including any                    that a protective order must provide a
                                               that the information withheld is                        copies or notes of such documents, must               secure manner of filing documents that
                                               protected from disclosure by attorney-                  be plainly marked on each page with the               include Commercially Sensitive
                                               client privilege or the attorney work                   following text: ‘‘Commercially Sensitive              Information or CEII, Litigants are
                                               product doctrine, and identifying,                      Information [or CEII]—Subject to                      discouraged from making filings with
                                               without revealing information that itself               Protective Order No. _____.’’ Any                     such information because of the
                                               is privileged or protected, the                         electronic files must include the same                administrative burden that would result
                                               information withheld. The Hearing                       text in the file name. The requirements               from the inclusion of such information
                                               Officer may not order in camera review                  of this paragraph do not preclude any                 in the Record. A Litigant should not file
                                               or release of information that a Litigant               additional marking required by law.                   a document with such information
                                               has withheld from a response to a Data                     (iii) Responses to Data Requests that              unless it believes in good faith that its
                                               Request on the basis of attorney-client                 contain Commercially Sensitive                        ability to present its argument would be
                                               privilege or the attorney work product                  Information or CEII must not be                       significantly hindered by the absence of
                                               doctrine.                                               submitted via the Secure website. The                 the information from the Record.
                                                  (d) Commercially Sensitive                           protective order must prescribe a secure              Instead, Litigants are encouraged to
                                               Information and CEII.                                   manner for providing such a response to               summarize, describe, or aggregate
                                                  (1) When a Responding Litigant has                   any Litigant that files a signed non-                 Commercially Sensitive Information or
                                               determined that responding to a Data                    disclosure certificate(s).                            CEII in filings in a manner that does not
                                               Request will require it to produce                         (iv) Any Prefiled Testimony and                    result in the inclusion of the
                                               Commercially Sensitive Information or                   Exhibits, Cross-examination Exhibits,                 information itself or otherwise
                                               CEII that is otherwise discoverable, the                briefs, or other documents that include               effectively disclose the information.
                                               Litigant shall notify and confer with the               Commercially Sensitive Information or                    (4) The rules governing CEII in this
                                               Requesting Litigant to attempt to agree                 CEII must not be filed via the Secure                 Section 1010.12(b) do not preclude the
                                               to the terms of a proposed protective                   website. The protective order must                    application of any federal regulations
                                               order, including a non-disclosure                       prescribe a secure manner for making                  regarding CEII that apply to Bonneville
                                               certificate, to govern exchange and use                 such a filing directly with the Hearing               and are adopted after the effective date
                                               of the Commercially Sensitive                           Officer such as via encrypted email or                of these rules.
                                               Information or CEII. If the conferring                  on physical media (CD, USB stick, etc.)                  (e) Disputes regarding responses to
                                               Litigants agree to the terms of a                       and for simultaneously serving the                    Data Requests. Litigants are strongly
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                                               proposed protective order, they must                    document on all Litigants that have filed             encouraged to informally resolve
                                               file the proposed order with the Hearing                signed non-disclosure certificates. Any               disputes regarding Data Requests and
                                               Officer along with a motion seeking                     Litigant that makes a filing with                     responses.
                                               adoption of the order. If the conferring                Commercially Sensitive Information or                    (1) Duty to Confer. Before filing a
                                               Litigants are unable to agree to the terms              CEII must simultaneously file a redacted              motion to compel a response to a Data
                                               of a protective order within three                      or public version of the document via                 Request, the Requesting Litigant must
                                               Business Days of starting to confer, each               the Secure website.                                   confer with the Responding Litigant to


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                                               19270                         Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 2, 2018 / Notices

                                               attempt to informally resolve any                          (1) All Prefiled Testimony and                     Testimony and Exhibits will be
                                               dispute. Each Litigant must confer in                   Exhibits must identify the witness(es)                considered part of the testimony and
                                               good faith to attempt to informally                     sponsoring the testimony and exhibits.                exhibits for purposes of introducing the
                                               resolve the dispute.                                    Each Litigant that submits Prefiled                   materials into Evidence.
                                                  (2) Motion to Compel. If a dispute is                Testimony and Exhibits must separately                   (c) Moving Prefiled Testimony and
                                               not resolved informally, the Requesting                 file a qualification statement for each               Exhibits into Evidence. Prefiled
                                               Litigant may file a motion to compel no                 witness sponsoring the testimony and                  Testimony and Exhibits must be
                                               more than four Business Days after the                  exhibits. The qualification statement                 admitted into Evidence to be considered
                                               earlier of the date a response to the Data              must describe the witness’s education                 part of the Record. If a Litigant’s
                                               Request is provided or the due date for                 and professional experience as it relates             witness(es) sponsoring Prefiled
                                               the response. A motion to compel must                   to the subject matter of the Prefiled                 Testimony and Exhibits are cross-
                                               demonstrate that the Data Request(s) at                 Testimony and Exhibits.                               examined, the Litigant shall move the
                                               issue are within the scope described in                    (2) Except as otherwise allowed by the             witnesses’ Prefiled Testimony and
                                               paragraph (b)(1) of this section, and the               Hearing Officer, all prefiled testimony               Exhibits into Evidence at the conclusion
                                               Requesting Litigant must certify in the                 must be in written form and conform to                of the cross-examination. If there is no
                                               motion that it attempted to informally                  the format of pleadings in Section                    cross-examination of a Litigant’s
                                               resolve the dispute in accordance with                  1010.11(c). Each section of prefiled                  witness(es), a Litigant that intends to
                                               paragraph (e)(1) of this section.                       testimony must include a heading                      introduce the witness(es)’s Prefiled
                                                  (3) Answer to motion to compel. Any                  setting forth its subject matter. Prefiled            Testimony and Exhibits into Evidence
                                               answer to a motion to compel must be                    testimony must include line numbers in                shall, by any deadline established by the
                                               filed in accordance with Section                        the left-hand margin of each page.                    Hearing Officer, file a declaration of the
                                               1010.11(d).                                                (3) If prefiled testimony is based on              witness(es) made in accordance with 28
                                                  (4) Resolution of dispute by the                     the witness’s understanding of the law,               U.S.C. 1746 that lists the Prefiled
                                               Hearing Officer. The Hearing Officer                    the witness shall so state in the                     Testimony and Exhibits and certifies
                                               may hold a telephone conference to                      testimony and, in order to provide
                                                                                                                                                             that the material is the same material
                                               discuss and attempt to resolve a dispute                context for the testimony, describe the
                                                                                                                                                             previously filed in the proceeding and
                                               regarding a response to a Data Request.                 witness’s understanding of the law as it
                                                                                                                                                             is true and correct to the best of their
                                               In ruling on any motion to compel, the                  applies to the witness’s position. In all
                                                                                                                                                             knowledge and belief. Upon filing of the
                                               Hearing Officer shall consider, among                   other cases, legal arguments and
                                                                                                                                                             declaration, the witnesses’ Prefiled
                                               other things, the factors listed in                     opinions must not be included in
                                                                                                                                                             Testimony and Exhibits will be
                                               paragraph (b)(1) of this section, whether               Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits.
                                                                                                          (4) A witness qualified as an expert               admitted into Evidence.
                                               the Responding Litigant filed testimony                                                                          (d) Motions to strike. Motions to strike
                                               related to the Data Request(s) before it                may testify in the form of an opinion.
                                                                                                       Any conclusions by the witness should,                Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits must
                                               received the Data Request(s), and the                                                                         be filed by the deadlines established in
                                               potential impact of the decision on                     if applicable, be supported by data and
                                                                                                       explanation.                                          the procedural schedule. An answer to
                                               completing the proceeding according to                                                                        a motion to strike must be filed in
                                               the procedural schedule.                                   (5) Litigants shall be provided an
                                                                                                       adequate opportunity to offer refutation              accordance with Section 1010.11(d). If
                                                  (f) Sanctions. The Hearing Officer
                                                                                                       or rebuttal of any material submitted by              the Hearing Officer grants a motion to
                                               may remedy any refusal to comply with
                                                                                                       any other Party or by Bonneville. Any                 strike, the Litigant sponsoring the
                                               an order compelling a response to a Data
                                                                                                       rebuttal to Bonneville’s direct case must             stricken material shall file conformed
                                               Request or a violation of a protective
                                                                                                       be included in a Party’s direct                       copies with strikethrough deletions of
                                               order by:
                                                                                                       testimony, along with any affirmative                 such material within five Business Days
                                                  (1) Striking the Prefiled Testimony
                                                                                                       case that Party wishes to present. Any                of the Hearing Officer’s order.
                                               and Exhibits to which the Data Request
                                                                                                       subsequent rebuttal testimony must be                 Conformed copies must be filed with
                                               relates;
                                                  (2) Limiting Data Requests or cross-                 limited to rebuttal of the Parties’ direct            the same document number as the
                                               examination by the Litigant refusing to                 cases. New affirmative material may be                original exhibit, but with the
                                               comply with the order; or                               submitted in rebuttal testimony only if               designation ‘‘–CC’’ at the end (e.g., BP–
                                                  (3) Recommending to the                              in reply to another Party’s direct case.              20–E–BPA–16–CC). Material struck by
                                               Administrator that an appropriate                       No other new affirmative material may                 the Hearing Officer shall not be
                                               adverse inference be drawn against the                  be introduced in rebuttal testimony.                  admitted into Evidence but will be
                                               Litigant refusing to comply with the                    Rebuttal testimony must refer to the                  considered part of the Record for
                                               order.                                                  specific material being addressed                     purposes of reference regarding whether
                                                  (g) Moving responses to Data Requests                (pages, lines, topic).                                the motion should have been granted.
                                               into Evidence. A response to a Data                        (6) For documents or materials of                  Section 1010.14    Cross-Examination
                                               Request must be admitted into Evidence                  excessive length that a Litigant wants to
                                               to be considered part of the Record. A                  include in its Prefiled Testimony and                   (a) Except as otherwise provided by
                                               Litigant that intends to introduce a                    Exhibits, the Litigant should create and              the Hearing Officer, witnesses generally
                                               response to a Data Request into                         include an excerpt of the document or                 shall be cross-examined as a panel for
                                               Evidence must either: (1) Attach the full               materials that excludes irrelevant or                 Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits that
                                               text of each such response as an exhibit                redundant material.                                   they co-sponsor, provided that each
                                               in the Litigant’s Prefiled Testimony and                   (b) Items by reference. Any materials              panel member (1) has submitted a
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                                               Exhibits; or (2) submit a motion to that                that are incorporated by reference or                 qualification statement, and (2) is under
                                               effect, by the deadline(s) established by               referred to via electronic link in Prefiled           oath.
                                               the Hearing Officer.                                    Testimony and Exhibits will not be                      (b) At the time specified in the
                                                                                                       considered part of the testimony and                  procedural schedule, a Litigant
                                               Section 1010.13 Prefiled Testimony                      exhibits for purposes of introducing the              intending to cross-examine a witness
                                               and Exhibits                                            materials into Evidence. Only materials               shall file a cross-examination statement.
                                                 (a) General rule.                                     included as an exhibit to Prefiled                    The statement shall:


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                                                                             Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 2, 2018 / Notices                                              19271

                                                  (1) Identify the witnesses the Litigant                (1) A Litigant must file each Cross-                the template provided in Attachment A,
                                               intends to cross-examine and the                        examination Exhibit to be presented to                as may be amended.
                                               Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits                         a witness for any purpose two Business                   (b) Initial brief. At the conclusion of
                                               sponsored by the witnesses that will be                 Days before the witness is scheduled to               the evidentiary portion of a proceeding,
                                               the subject of the cross-examination;                   appear. For example, for a witness                    each Party may file an initial brief. The
                                                  (2) Briefly describe the subject matter              appearing on a Monday, the due date for               purpose of an initial brief is to identify
                                               and portions of the Prefiled Testimony                  documents is the preceding Thursday at                separately each legal, factual, and policy
                                               and Exhibits for cross-examination;                     4:30 p.m.                                             issue to be resolved by the
                                                  (3) Specify the amount of time                         (2) A Litigant must provide physical                Administrator and present all arguments
                                               requested for cross-examination of each                 copies of each Cross-examination                      in support of a Party’s position on each
                                               witness; and                                            Exhibit to the Hearing Officer, the                   of these issues. The initial brief should
                                                  (4) Provide any other information                    Hearing Clerk, each panel witness,                    also rebut contentions made by adverse
                                               required in an order issued by the                      witness’s Counsel, and the court                      witnesses in their Prefiled Testimony
                                               Hearing Officer.                                        reporter at the beginning of cross-                   and Exhibits. The initial brief must
                                                  (c) A Litigant waives cross-                         examination on the day the witness is                 contain a final revised exhibit list
                                               examination for any witnesses not listed                scheduled to appear.                                  reflecting the status of all of the Party’s
                                               in its cross-examination statement,                       (3) A Cross-examination Exhibit must                Prefiled Testimony and Exhibits, Cross-
                                               except that any Litigant may ask follow-                be limited to material the Litigant                   examination Exhibits, and any other
                                               up questions of witnesses appearing at                  intends to introduce into Evidence.                   exhibits, including those admitted,
                                               the request of another Litigant.                          (4) If a document is introduced into
                                                  (d) After the Litigants file cross-                                                                        withdrawn, conformed, and rejected.
                                                                                                       Evidence during cross-examination, and
                                               examination statements, the Hearing                     only part of the document is admitted                    (c) Brief on exceptions. After issuance
                                               Officer shall issue a schedule setting                  into Evidence, the document must be                   of Bonneville’s Draft Record of Decision,
                                               forth the order of witnesses to be cross-               conformed by the Litigant to include                  each Party may file a brief on
                                               examined.                                               only that part of the document admitted               exceptions. The purposes of the brief on
                                                  (e) Cross-examination is limited to                  into Evidence. The conformed                          exceptions are to (1) raise any alleged
                                               issues relevant to the Prefiled                         document must be filed through the                    legal, policy, or evidentiary errors in the
                                               Testimony and Exhibits that (1) are                     Secure website.                                       Draft Record of Decision; or (2) provide
                                               identified in the Litigant’s cross-                       (l) All other matters relating to                   additional support for draft decisions
                                               examination statement, or (2) arise in                  conduct of cross-examination are left to              contained in the Draft Record of
                                               the course of the cross-examination.                    the Hearing Officer’s discretion.                     Decision. All arguments raised by a
                                                  (f) Witnesses are not required to                                                                          Party in its initial brief will be deemed
                                               perform calculations on the stand or                    Section 1010.15 Stipulations                          to have been raised in the Party’s brief
                                               answer questions about calculations that                  The Hearing Officer may admit into                  on exceptions, regardless of whether
                                               they did not perform. Witnesses                         Evidence stipulations on any issue of                 such arguments are included in the brief
                                               appearing as a panel shall determine in                 fact.                                                 on exceptions.
                                               good faith which witness will respond                                                                            (d) Additional briefing rule for
                                                                                                       Section 1010.16 Official Notice
                                               to a cross-examination question.                                                                              proceedings pursuant to Section
                                                  (g) A Litigant may only cross-examine                   The Administrator or the Hearing                   1010.1(a)(2). In a proceeding pursuant to
                                               witnesses whose position is adverse to                  Officer may take official notice of any               Section 1010.1(a)(2), Bonneville is
                                               the Litigant seeking to cross-examine.                  matter that may be judicially noticed by              considered a Party for purposes of filing
                                               Notwithstanding the preceding                           federal courts or any matter about which              briefs in accordance with this Section
                                               sentence, a Litigant whose position is                  Bonneville is an expert. A Litigant                   1010.17, except that Section 1010.17(f)
                                               not adverse to the witnesses subject to                 requesting official notice shall provide a            does not apply to Bonneville. In
                                               cross-examination may, immediately                      precise citation for the material for                 addition, in such a proceeding, the
                                               following any redirect testimony by                     which official notice is requested and                Hearing Officer or the Administrator
                                               those witnesses, seek leave from the                    file the material on the Secure Website               may provide Litigants with additional
                                               Hearing Officer to ask limited follow-up                at the time the request is granted or as              briefing opportunities not otherwise set
                                               questions of the witnesses. Any such                    soon as practicable thereafter. The                   forth in these rules. Such additional
                                               follow-up questions allowed by the                      Hearing Officer may afford any Litigant               briefing opportunities may include
                                               Hearing Officer must be limited to the                  making a timely request an opportunity                briefs on exceptions in addition to those
                                               scope of the cross-examination of the                   to show the contrary of an officially                 set forth in Section 1010.17(c), above.
                                               witnesses.                                              noticed fact.
                                                  (h) Only a Litigant’s Counsel may                                                                             (e) Optional brief and memorandum
                                                                                                       Section 1010.17 Briefs                                of law. The Hearing Officer may allow
                                               conduct cross-examination. Only
                                               Counsel for the witnesses being cross-                     (a) General rule. Briefs must be filed             the filing of a brief and memorandum of
                                               examined may object to questions asked                  at times specified in the procedural                  law not expressly provided for by this
                                               during cross-examination, except that                   schedule. All evidentiary arguments in                section.
                                               Counsel for any Litigant may object to                  briefs must be based on cited material                   (f) Waiver of issues or arguments. A
                                               friendly cross-examination.                             admitted into Evidence. Material not                  Party whose briefs do not raise and fully
                                                  (i) To avoid duplicative cross-                      admitted into Evidence must not be                    develop the Party’s position on any
                                               examination, the Hearing Officer may                    attached to or relied upon in any brief,              issue shall be deemed to take no
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                                               impose reasonable limitations if the                    except to address disputes regarding the              position on such issue. Arguments or
                                               Litigants conducting cross-examination                  admissibility of specific material into               alleged errors not raised in initial briefs
                                               have substantially similar positions.                   Evidence. Incorporation by reference is               in accordance with Section 1010.17(b),
                                                  (j) The Hearing Officer may impose                   not permitted. The Hearing Officer may                briefs on exceptions in accordance with
                                               reasonable time limitations on the cross-               impose page limitations on any brief.                 Section 1010.17(c), or briefs permitted
                                               examination of any witness.                             All briefs must comply with the format                by Section 1010.17(d) are deemed to be
                                                  (k) Cross-examination Exhibits.                      requirements in Section 1010.11(c) and                waived.


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                                               19272                         Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 2, 2018 / Notices

                                               Section 1010.18        Oral Argument                        Section 1010.21               Final Record of                        Attachment A—Brief Template
                                                                                                           Decision                                                             I. CATEGORY [all issues pertaining to a
                                                  (a) An opportunity for each Litigant to
                                                                                                                                                                                particular category, for example: POWER
                                               present oral argument will be provided                        (a) The Administrator will make a                                  RATES, TRANSMISSION RATES,
                                               in proceedings conducted under these                        decision adopting final proposed rates                               TRANSMISSION TERMS AND
                                               rules.                                                      for submission to the Federal Energy                                 CONDITIONS, JOINT ISSUES,
                                                  (b) At the time specified in the                         Regulatory Commission for                                            PROCEDURAL ISSUES]
                                               procedural schedule, each Litigant that                     confirmation and approval based on the                               A. General Topic Area [for example:
                                               intends to present oral argument shall                      Record.                                                              Secondary Sales]
                                               file a notice of intent to present oral                       (b) In a proceeding pursuant to                                       Issue 1: The specific issue to be addressed
                                               argument. The notice must identify the                      Section 1010.1(a)(2), the Administrator                              [for example: Whether Bonneville’s forecast
                                               speaker(s), a brief description of the                      will make a determination in a Final                                 of energy prices should be revised upward].
                                               subject matter to be addressed, and the                     Record of Decision on any terms and                                  Summary of Party’s Position
                                               amount of time requested.                                   conditions of transmission service, or                                  A brief statement summarizing the party’s
                                                  (c) After Litigants file notices of intent               revisions thereto, at issue in the                                   position.
                                               to present oral argument, the Hearing                       proceeding.                                                             [For example: Bonneville staff’s forecast of
                                               Officer shall issue an order setting forth                                                                                       energy prices for secondary sales is too
                                                                                                             (c) Any Final Record of Decision will                              conservative. The record demonstrates that
                                               the schedule of oral argument.                              be uploaded to the Secure Website and                                the trend in market prices is upward. The
                                               Section 1010.19        Telephone                            made available to Participants through                               Administrator should revise the forecast for
                                               Conferences                                                 Bonneville’s external website.                                       the price of secondary energy upward
                                                                                                                                                                                consistent with Party X’s proposal.]
                                                  Telephone conferences may be                             Section 1010.22               Expedited                              Party’s Position and Argument
                                               permitted in appropriate circumstances,                     Proceedings
                                                                                                                                                                                   Statements of argument, including
                                               provided that: (1) There is a proposed                                                                                           citations to the record.
                                                                                                             (a) General rule. The Administrator
                                               agenda for the conference concerning                                                                                             Requested Action or Decision
                                                                                                           will determine, in his or her discretion,
                                               the points to be considered and the
                                                                                                           whether to conduct an expedited                                         A brief description of the requested action
                                               relief, if any, to be requested during the
                                                                                                           proceeding. The Final Record of                                      or decision the party wants the Administrator
                                               conference; and (2) Litigants are                                                                                                to make.
                                               provided notice and given an                                Decision in a proceeding conducted
                                                                                                           under this section will be issued on an                                 [For example: The projection of energy
                                               opportunity to be represented on the                                                                                             prices for Bonneville’s secondary sales
                                               line. If the Hearing Officer schedules a                    expedited basis in 90–120 days from the                              should be revised consistent with Party’s X’s
                                               telephone conference, the Hearing                           date of the Federal Register Notice. The                             proposal.]
                                               Officer may require that a court reporter                   Hearing Officer may establish                                           Issue 2: The specific issue to be addressed
                                               be present on the line.                                     procedures or special rules as set forth                             [for example: [Whether Bonneville’s surplus
                                                                                                           in Section 1010.3(c) necessary for the                               power sales forecast is reasonable.]
                                               Section 1010.20 Hearing Officer’s                           expedited schedule.                                                  Summary of Party’s Position
                                               Recommended Decision                                                                                                                [For example: Bonneville’s surplus power
                                                                                                             (b) Extensions. The Hearing Officer
                                                  In a proceeding pursuant to Section                      may extend the schedule in response to                               sales forecast is flawed because it does not
                                                                                                                                                                                account for extraregional power sales.]
                                               1010.1(a)(2), the Hearing Officer shall,                    a written motion by a Litigant showing
                                               unless he or she becomes unavailable,                       good cause for the extension.                                        Party’s Position and Argument
                                               issue the Hearing Officer’s                                                                                                         Statements of argument, including
                                               Recommended Decision stating the                                                                                                 citations to the record.
                                               Hearing Officer’s findings and                                                                                                   Requested Action or Decision
                                               conclusions, and the reasons or basis                                                                                               [For example: Bonneville’s surplus power
                                               thereof, on all material issues of fact,                                                                                         sales forecast should be increased to reflect
                                               law, or discretion.                                                                                                              extraregional power sales.]

                                                                                                                POST-HEARING LIST OF EXHIBITS
                                                          Filing code                                                        Title                                                          Date filed                        Status

                                               XX–XX–E–XX–01 ....................    Direct Testimony ......................................................................   mm/dd/yyyy .............................   Admitted.

                                               XX–XX–E–XX–02 ....................    Rebuttal Testimony ..................................................................     mm/dd/yyyy .............................   Rejected.
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                                                                             Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 2, 2018 / Notices                                                   19273

                                                 Issued this 23rd day of April 2018.                      Docket Numbers: ER18–1442–000.                     clicking on the links or querying the
                                               Elliot E. Mainzer,                                         Applicants: Citizens Sycamore-                     docket number.
                                               Administrator and Chief Executive Officer.              Penasquitos Transmission LLC.                            Any person desiring to intervene or
                                               [FR Doc. 2018–09085 Filed 5–1–18; 8:45 am]                 Description: Baseline eTariff Filing:              protest in any of the above proceedings
                                               BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
                                                                                                       Initial Transmission Owner Tariff Filing              must file in accordance with Rules 211
                                                                                                       to be effective 12/31/9998.                           and 214 of the Commission’s
                                                                                                          Filed Date: 4/25/18.                               Regulations (18 CFR 385.211 and
                                               DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY                                       Accession Number: 20180425–5211.                   385.214) on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern
                                                                                                          Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 5/16/18.                   time on the specified comment date.
                                               Federal Energy Regulatory                                  Docket Numbers: ER18–1443–000.                     Protests may be considered, but
                                               Commission                                                 Applicants: Midcontinent                           intervention is necessary to become a
                                                                                                       Independent System Operator, Inc.,                    party to the proceeding.
                                               Combined Notice of Filings #1                           Michigan Electric Transmission                           eFiling is encouraged. More detailed
                                                  Take notice that the Commission                      Company, LLC.                                         information relating to filing
                                               received the following electric corporate                  Description: § 205(d) Rate Filing:                 requirements, interventions, protests,
                                               filings:                                                2018–04–25_SA 1756 METC-Consumers                     service, and qualifying facilities filings
                                                                                                       Energy 11th Rev GIA (G479B) to be                     can be found at: http://www.ferc.gov/
                                                  Docket Numbers: EC18–89–000.                                                                               docs-filing/efiling/filing-req.pdf. For
                                                  Applicants: CSOLAR IV South, LLC,                    effective 5/1/2018.
                                                                                                          Filed Date: 4/25/18.                               other information, call (866) 208–3676
                                               CSOLAR IV WEST, LLC, CD Global                                                                                (toll free). For TTY, call (202) 502–8659.
                                               Solar II CSolar Holdings, LLC.                             Accession Number: 20180425–5220.
                                                  Description: Joint Application for                      Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 5/16/18.                     Dated: April 26, 2018.
                                               Approval Under Section 203 of the                          Docket Numbers: ER18–1444–000.                     Kimberly D. Bose,
                                               Federal Power Act and Request for                          Applicants: PJM Interconnection,                   Secretary.
                                               Expedited Approval of CSOLAR IV                         L.L.C.                                                [FR Doc. 2018–09249 Filed 5–1–18; 8:45 am]
                                               South, LLC, et al.                                         Description: § 205(d) Rate Filing:                 BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
                                                  Filed Date: 4/26/18.                                 Amendment to WMPA SA No. 4648;
                                                  Accession Number: 20180426–5174.                     Queue No. AB2–057 (Consent to Assign)
                                                  Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 5/17/18.                     to be effective 3/2/2017.                             DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
                                                  Take notice that the Commission                         Filed Date: 4/26/18.
                                               received the following electric rate                       Accession Number: 20180426–5074.                   Federal Energy Regulatory
                                               filings:                                                   Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 5/17/18.                   Commission
                                                  Docket Numbers: ER12–1266–009.                          Docket Numbers: ER18–1445–000.                     [Docket No. IC18–4–000]
                                                  Applicants: Midcontinent                                Applicants: Idaho Power Company.
                                               Independent System Operator, Inc.                          Description: Compliance filing: LGIA,              Commission Information Collection
                                                  Description: Clean-up filing regarding               LGIP, SGIA, and SGIP Modifications to                 Activities (FERC–582); Comment
                                               Order 745 to be effective 6/12/2012.                    be effective 6/25/2018.                               Request; Extension
                                                  Filed Date: 4/26/18.                                    Filed Date: 4/26/18.
                                                                                                          Accession Number: 20180426–5102.                   AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory
                                                  Accession Number: 20180426–5073.                                                                           Commission, Department of Energy.
                                                  Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 5/17/18.                        Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 5/17/18.
                                                                                                                                                             ACTION: Notice of information collection
                                                  Docket Numbers: ER18–926–001.                           Docket Numbers: ER18–1446–000.
                                                                                                          Applicants: Avista Corporation.                    and request for comments.
                                                  Applicants: Southern California
                                               Edison Company.                                            Description: Tariff Cancellation:                  SUMMARY:   In compliance with the
                                                  Description: Tariff Amendment:                       Avista Corp NITSA cancel to re-file to                Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
                                               Amended GIA Stanton Energy                              be effective 4/27/2018.                               Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
                                               Reliability Center Project SA No. 999 to                   Filed Date: 4/26/18.                               (Commission or FERC) is soliciting
                                               be effective 2/8/2018.                                     Accession Number: 20180426–5149.                   public comment on the currently
                                                  Filed Date: 4/26/18.                                    Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 5/17/18.                   approved information collection, FERC–
                                                  Accession Number: 20180426–5002.                        Docket Numbers: ER18–1447–000.                     582 (Electric Fees, Annual Charges,
                                                  Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 5/17/18.                        Applicants: Avista Corporation.                    Waivers, and Exemptions) and
                                                  Docket Numbers: ER18–1294–001.                          Description: § 205(d) Rate Filing:                 submitting the information collection to
                                                  Applicants: Woomera Energy, LLC.                     Avista Corp NITSA Re-filing to be                     the Office of Management and Budget
                                                  Description: Compliance filing:                      effective 4/27/2018.                                  (OMB) for review. Any interested
                                               Woomera Market Based Rate Tariff to be                     Filed Date: 4/26/18.                               person may file comments directly with
                                               effective 12/31/9998.                                      Accession Number: 20180426–5160.                   OMB and should address a copy of
                                                  Filed Date: 4/26/18.                                    Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 5/17/18.                   those comments to the Commission as
                                                  Accession Number: 20180426–5120.                        Docket Numbers: ER18–1448–000.                     explained below. The Commission
                                                  Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 5/17/18.                        Applicants: PJM Interconnection,                   published a 60-day Notice in the
                                                  Docket Numbers: ER18–1441–000.                       L.L.C.                                                Federal Register in Docket No. IC18–4–
                                                  Applicants: Southern California                         Description: Compliance filing: Notice             000 requesting public comments. FERC
                                               Edison Company.                                         of Cancellation of ISA, Service                       received no comments in response to
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES




                                                  Description: § 205(d) Rate Filing: GIA               Agreement No. 2381, NQ30 re:                          the Notice and is indicating that in its
                                               and Distribution Service Agmt                           Deactivation to be effective N/A.                     submittal to the OMB.
                                               SCEBESS–017 Project to be effective 4/                     Filed Date: 4/26/18.                               DATES: Comments on the collection of
                                               26/2018.                                                   Accession Number: 20180426–5192.                   information are due June 1, 2018.
                                                  Filed Date: 4/25/18.                                    Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 5/17/18.                   ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB,
                                                  Accession Number: 20180425–5204.                        The filings are accessible in the                  identified by OMB Control No. 1902–
                                                  Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 5/16/18.                     Commission’s eLibrary system by                       0132, should be sent via email to the


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Document Created: 2018-05-02 00:49:58
Document Modified: 2018-05-02 00:49:58
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionNotices
ActionNotice of proposed revised rules of procedure.
DatesAnyone wishing to comment on the proposed revised rules of procedure must file such comments no later than 5:00 p.m. PDT on June 4, 2018.
ContactHeidi Helwig, DKE-7, BPA Communications, Bonneville Power Administration, P.O. Box 3621, Portland, Oregon 97208; by phone toll free at 1-800-622-4520; or by email to [email protected]
FR Citation83 FR 19262 

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