16 Texas Administrative Code §3.66 (Rule 3.66)

Yes, the webinar slides have been posted on the CID Weatherization webpage at https://www.rrc.texas.gov/media/pjeih30i/rule-3-66-presentation-cid-training.pdf.

Please sign up on the RRC’s Rules Page at https://www.rrc.texas.gov/general-counsel/rules/current-rules/. Click the link for “RRC Rules Email Service” on the right side of the page.

Rule 3.66, the Weatherization rule, went into effect September 19, 2022. The rule states that facilities subject to its requirements must comply by December 1, 2022.

Rule 3.65, the designation of critical infrastructure rule, first went into effect in December 2021. Amendments to that rule were proposed and then adopted on November 1, 2022. The amendments go into effect November 21, 2022.

The Committee started by mapping the locations of all the gas-fired electric generation facilities. Those electric generation facilities worked with the Public Utility Commission and provided information for which pipeline operators served their facilities. The RRC contacted the pipeline operators identified by the electric generation facilities and the pipeline operators provided shapefiles consisting of point and line data to show the RRC the location of their pipelines and delivery points serving electric generation facilities. Those pipelines were then included on the map. Using the pipeline operator submitted shapefiles, the RRC was able to identify gas processing plants, pipeline compressor stations, and underground storage facilities connected to the pipelines that serve electric generation, and the Committee placed those assets on the map. The RRC contacted the gas processing plants on the map to request the name of producing operators that send their gas to those processing plants. The processing plants provided operator names and the RRC contacted those operators to verify the specific leases that send gas to the processing plants identified on the map. For the leases sending gas to the processing plants on the map, the RRC also asked which saltwater disposal facilities the leases use to dispose of produced water. The leases and saltwater disposal facilities provided by those operators were then placed on the map.

For gas supply chain facilities (as defined in Rule 3.66), a facility is required to comply with the rule if it is included on the electricity supply chain map and is designated critical in the Commission’s designation of critical infrastructure rule (Rule 3.65). For gas pipeline facilities (as defined in Rule 3.66), a facility is required to comply with Rule 3.66 if it is included on the electricity supply chain map and it directly serves a natural gas electric generation facility operating solely to provide power to the electric grid for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) power region or for the ERCOT power region and an adjacent power region.

A weather emergency is defined in Rule 3.66 as weather conditions such as freezing temperatures, freezing precipitation, or extreme heat in the facility's county or counties that result in an energy emergency as defined by Rule 3.65. A weather emergency does not include weather conditions that cannot be reasonably mitigated such as tornadoes, floods, or hurricanes. Rule 3.65 defines an energy emergency as when ERCOT issues an Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) 1, 2, or 3. Therefore, a weather emergency is when the weather conditions described above result in ERCOT issuing an EEA 1, 2, or 3.

Yes, the RRC will notify operators in several ways including email and notices on its website. Companies may also subscribe to ERCOT’s notification system to receive notification of EEAs. Signing up for this service will ensure you receive notice directly from ERCOT when an EEA 1, 2 or 3 is issued. Sign up to receive ERCOT alerts at http://lists.ercot.com. 

Yes. The RRC will issue the notice at the beginning and end of a weather emergency.

No. EEAs are not issued by area or region. Thus, the RRC’s notification of a weather emergency will not be limited to an area or region.

The attestation must be submitted to RRC by December 1, 2022. Go to the RRC website at https://www.rrc.texas.gov/critical-infrastructure/weatherization/, and under Useful Links select Attestation Upload (WE PREP). The RRC Sign In page will appear, and you can sign in with your User Name and Password to file the attestation. If you need to a step-by-step guide to assist you in uploading the attestation, select How to upload Attestations in the Useful Links section of the webpage. A presentation will appear that shows slide-by-slide how to upload an attestation form.