October 10, 2000


NOTICE OF OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT
(October 23, 2000)



RE: Gas Companies Operations Rulemaking
  Docket No. UG-990294
  Chapter 480-90 WAC


TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS:

The Commission Staff gas rule team has completed a third draft of the Gas 
Companies Operation Rules in Docket UG-990294.  You may access a clean version 
or a legislative format version, which compares the second and third draft, in 
electronic form on the Commission’s web site at <www.wutc.wa.gov>, or you may 
call the Commission Records Center at 360-664-1234 to receive a hard copy of 
these draft rules.

To prepare this draft, the Commission Staff gas rule team has considered all 
oral and written comments received to date.  This draft incorporates 
suggestions accordingly.  Each draft rule is followed by a short explanation of 
the changes from the current rule, first and second drafts, and/or about the 
process leading to the particular draft language.  

The Commission Staff gas rule team realizes that some interested persons may 
wish to suggest changes to certain of these draft rules or may wish to comment 
on particular rules.  We remain open to suggestions and encourage you to 
provide constructive comment on any major concerns.  Any comments received will 
be taken into account before Commission Staff presents the rules before the 
Commission later this year as part of a CR-102 Notice of Proposed Rules.  

WRITTEN COMMENTS.  Please provide any comments you wish to make on the draft 
rules by October 23, 2000.  Please, also provide a list prioritizing the five 
top issues that remain a major concern for your organization. If you wish to 
propose specific changes to any rules, it will  be most helpful if you send the 
Commission a version in legislative format (proposed deletions lined through 
and proposed additions underlined) along with your editorial comments.  
However, comments in any format will be welcome.

The Commission Staff will review all comments and include them in a document to 
be presented before the Commission, together with the draft rules, later this 
year in connection with a CR-102 Notice of Proposed Rules.  Please send your 
comments (with the docket number identified) to the Commission’s Records 
Center, 1300 S. Evergreen Park Drive Southwest, Post Office Box 47250, Olympia, 
Washington 98504-7250 or <records@wutc.wa.gov>.  If you have questions, please 
address them to Jim Russell <jrussell@wutc.wa.gov>.

Electronic copies.  The Commission also requests, but does not require, that 
comments be provided in electronic format to facilitate quotations from the 
comments, to enhance public access, and to reduce the need for additional paper 
copies.  Please help us by sending an electronic copy with your paper filing on 
a 3-1/2 inch, IBM-formatted, high density disk, in .pdf Adobe Acrobat format, 
reflecting the pagination of your original.  Please also send us the text in 
your choice of .doc (Word 97 or later) or .wpd (Wordperfect 6.0 or later).  
Please include all of the following information on the label of the diskette:

 * The docket number of this proceeding (UG-990294)
 * The commenting party's name
 * The title and date of the comment or comments; and
 * The type of software used

Please use the three-letter extension noted above for all electronic files.  
You may also send your comments by electronic mail to the Commission's Records 
Center at <records@wutc.wa.gov>; if you choose this means of submitting 
comments, please include all of the information requested above for the 
diskette label.  The Commission will post on the Commission's web site all 
comments that are provided in electronic format.  The web site is located at 
<http://www.wutc.wa.gov>.

The Commission will post and regularly update its web site to include 
information that pertains to this rulemaking.  Information will be provided to 
you individually if you request it.  If you wish to receive further information 
on this rulemaking you may either: (1) submit a written request, (2) call the 
Commission’s record center at (360) 664-1234, or (3) E-mail the Commission at 
<records@wutc.wa.gov.>  When contacting the Commission, please refer to Docket 
UG-990294.

 NOTICE

If you do not wish to comment at this time, but would like to receive future 
information about this rulemaking, please notify the Commission Secretary by 
mail, e-mail, or telephone, as indicated above.  Please request to be included 
on the Docket UG-990294 mailing list.

Sincerely,



CAROLE J. WASHBURN,
Secretary