LAC 43:XI.513. Transportation of Intrastate Natural Gas and the Construction, Extension, Acquisition and Operation of Facilities or Extensions Thereof for the Purpose of Acquisition of Gas Supplies within a Gas Supply Acquisition Service Area or Transportation of Gas Supplies for Others within a Gas Supply Transportation Service Area Pursuant to the Provisions of §555(F) of the Act (Formerly §133)

A. This regulation shall apply to the requirements placed by Section 555(F) of the Act upon an intrastate natural gas transporter relative to the transportation of intrastate natural gas and the construction, extension, acquisition and operation of facilities, or extensions thereof, for the purpose of acquisition of gas supplies within a gas supply acquisition service area or transportation of gas supplies for others within a gas supply transportation service area. B. Each transporter owning or operating an intrastate pipeline, the construction and operation (or acquisition) of which has been approved by order of the commissioner under Section 555.C of the Act, shall have the right to apply to the commissioner for the establishment of a gas supply acquisition service area or gas supply transportation service area. Within such gas supply acquisition service area or gas supply transportation service area a transporter may at its option enlarge or extend its facilities by construction, acquisition, or interconnection, for the purpose of acquiring or transporting for others additional supplies of natural gas or may abandon certain facilities within such area. All applications by the transporter filed with the commissioner requesting the establishment of a gas supply acquisition service area or gas supply transportation service area shall be in writing, verified under oath by an individual having authority, shall be in the form approved by the commissioner, shall be noticed upon interested parties by publication in the official journal of the state of Louisiana and the official journal of each parish within which the gas supply acquisition service area or gas supply transportation service area will be located, and shall contain the information required by §505. All information required to be included within the application which has been presented to the commissioner through prior hearing evidence and all records and documents in the possession of the commissioner filed pursuant to the Natural Resources and Energy Act of 1973 may be incorporated in the application by reference. Each application shall include a map depicting the location of the transporter's existing intrastate pipeline to which facilities constructed, acquired, interconnected or abandoned pursuant to this regulation shall connect. C. All orders of the commissioner establishing gas supply acquisition service areas or gas supply transportation service areas shall be subject to the following limitations and restrictions. 1. Location. A gas supply acquisition service area or gas supply transportation service area shall be a defined geographic area in which some or all of the applicant's existing pipeline facilities are located. 2. Size. Facilities constructed or acquired pursuant to this regulation shall not exceed 42 inches nominal diameter pipe. 3. Duration. An order of the commissioner establishing a gas supply acquisition service area or gas supply transportation service area shall remain in effect until terminated or modified by subsequent order of the commissioner. 4. Facilities Not Subject to Jurisdiction of Commissioner. An order of the commissioner shall not establish gas supply acquisition service areas or gas supply transportation service areas in conjunction with facilities which are not subject to the jurisdiction of the commissioner under the Act. 5. Notice and Prohibition of Proposed Enlargement or Extension. Prior to abandoning, enlarging or extending its facilities within a gas supply acquisition service area or gas supply transportation service area, a transporter shall give the commissioner 20 days’ notice, on a form approved by the commissioner, of the location, size, nature and purpose of the proposed abandonment, enlargement, or extension, or interconnection. The notice shall be contemporaneously mailed to those persons who are identified in the ad valorem tax records of the parish as the owners of the land traversed by the proposed facility and to those who will be connected or disconnected. Included in the notice to the interested parties shall be a statement that objections to the application shall be made to the commissioner within 20 days of the postmark date of the mailing of the notice. The commissioner may, within such 20-day period, beginning on the date of receipt of the written notice in the Office of Conservation, deny the application and require the transporter to apply for an order to construct and operate the proposed facilities pursuant to §555.C of the Act. Upon request by the transporter, the commissioner may notify the transporter orally at the end of the 20-day period. D. The commissioner upon proper showing, shall issue his order in accordance with the application submitted. E. A transporter who has been issued an order establishing a gas supply acquisition service area or gas supply transportation service area may make application for an extension or the establishment of additional gas supply acquisition service area or gas supply transportation service area in connection with an application made pursuant to Section 555(C) of the Act. F. All hearings under §555(F) of the Act shall be in accordance with the rules of procedure of the commissioner, except that notification of interested parties shall be in accordance with this regulation. G. Nothing contained in this regulation shall be construed as a limitation upon the power of the commissioner to order overlapping gas supply acquisition service areas or gas supply transportation service areas for service of an area already being served by another transporter. H. Any action taken by a transporter within a gas supply acquisition service area or gas supply transportation service area shall be subject to all other rules and regulations pursuant to R.S. 30:501 et seq., and the Louisiana Constitution of 1974.