Pipeline Safety Advisory Committees Teleconference – 12-17-13

The Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a meeting notice in today’ Federal Register (78 FR 70623-70624) for a teleconference of a joint meeting of the Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee (GPAC) and the Liquid Pipeline Advisory Committee (LPAC) (Shared Web Site) on December 17^th, 2013.

The joint meeting will consider a proposed rule to incorporate by reference two new standards and 21 updated editions of currently referenced standards in 49 CFR Parts 192, 193, and 195. This is apparently the “Periodic Updates of Regulatory References to Technical Standards and Miscellaneous Amendments” NPRM that according to the Spring 2013 Regulatory Agenda is supposed to be published in December. Obviously, that date won’t be met as this meeting is part of the regulatory review process at PHMSA before that NPRM would be published. I suspect that the earliest this will go to the Office of Management and Budget for their final review will be sometime in January.

One of the topics that should come up in this discussion will be how these updates will be made while complying with the congressional mandate {§24 of the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 (PL 112-90)} to reduce reliance on such incorporation by reference documents. That requirement prohibited PHMSA from using such documents unless they were available without charge to the regulated community. There are on-going discussions in PHMSA about this issue and Congress modified the requirements earlier this year (PL 113-30).

The public is invited to follow the teleconference (there is no mention in the notice of allowing public comments during the discussion) either via telephone or in person (in Washington, DC). The teleconference number will be made available on the PHMSA web site at some future date (though the PHMSA web site is circuitous at best). There is a link to the meeting page where you are supposed to be able to register for the in-person option, but as of 05:30 CST this morning there is no sign-up information on that site.

Public comments are being solicited but there is some confusion about where to send the comments. There are two different docket numbers referenced in the notice for use on the Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.Regulations.gov).  The first docket number PHMSA-2009-020 is the generic docket number for the meetings of these two advisory committees. Since it contains a copy of today’s FR notice it is probably the proper place to post comments. The second docket number reference (PHMSA-2013-2003) is almost certainly a bad misprint as there have not been 2002 PHMSA docket entries this year.

FirstNet Short Notice Teleconference – 9-5-13

The NTIA published a public meeting notice in Tuesday’s Federal Register (78 FR 54241-54242, available on line Saturday) for a short notice teleconference for the FirstNET Board on September 5^th, 2013. The FirstNet Bylaws allow for a two-day notice for a special meeting and allow the Board to close portions of that meeting by a majority vote.

The notice does not provide a description of the purpose of the meeting, but does note that a copy of the agenda will be posted on the FirstNet web site before the meeting (none currently posted).

The public will be allowed to listen in to the open session deliberations, but only a limited number of lines will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

FirstNet Short Notice Teleconference – 6-27-13

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published a meeting notice in today’s Federal Register (78 FR 38014) concerning a public teleconference that the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Board will be conducting on June 27^th, 2013 at 1:00 pm EDT.

The notice indicates that the agenda for the meeting will be published on the FirstNet website, but there is nothing there as of 6:30 am EDT.

There is nothing in the notice that indicates why this very short notice for a public meeting has been issued. The only thing of current note on the FirstNet web site is the on-going negotiations with Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) for spectrum lease agreements.

Personnel wishing to listen to the teleconference may dial in on a limited, first-come, first-serve basis (1 (888) 469-3306 and use passcode “FirstNet”).

NTIA Announces FirstNet Board Teleconference – 5-8-13

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced in Monday’s Federal Register (78 FR 26323; available on-line today) a teleconference of the Board of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) on May 8^th, 2013. The public is invited to listen to the teleconference, but the notice does include standard verbiage about taking their conversation off-line if it goes into discussions of personnel or confidential financial matters.

There is no agenda included in the notice, but mention is made of the fact that the agenda will be available on the FirstNet web page prior to the meeting.

HSAC Teleconference 9-15-09

The Department of Homeland Security announced in today’s Federal Register that the Homeland Security Advisory Council will be conducting a teleconference on September 15th. The Council will receive the report of the Homeland Security Advisory System Task Force and review their recommendations. The teleconference is open to the public. People wishing to participate in the teleconference need to register with the HSAC by close of business on September 10th. Registration may be done by email (HSAC@dhs.gov) or telephone (202-447-3135). Registrants must provide “full legal name, e-mail address and phone number”.

HSIN Teleconference 01-13-09

DHS published a notice in today’s Federal Register that the Homeland Security Information Network Advisory Committee would be conducting a teleconference at 2:00 pm EST on January 13th, 2009. The purpose of the call is “to discuss implementation efforts associated with the Next Generation of the Homeland Security Information Network” (74 FR 722). The actual discussion of these issues will be limited to invitees, but the public is welcome to listen to the discussions. The phone number is: 1-800-882-3610; the PIN is: 1782344. There are only a limited number of lines available and they will be given out on a first come first serve basis on the day of the teleconference.