On March 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a proposed rule that would enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures for investors. If passed, such rule could increase our costs to operate and maintain our facilities by, for example, requiring that we measure and report our emissions, install new emission controls at our facilities, acquire allowances to authorize our emissions, pay taxes related to our emissions and administer and manage an emissions program, among other possible measures. We may be unable to include some or all of these increased costs in the fees we charge to our customers and any such recovery may depend on events beyond our control, including the provisions of any final legislation or implementing regulations.
In August 2022, the United States enacted the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which allocated $369 billion to climate change and environmental initiatives, including transportation electrification, fees on and greater regulation of methane emissions, and support for green energy manufacturing programs. Certain of these initiatives are subject to ongoing litigation, and the impacts of each of these laws and orders, and the terms of any legislation or regulation to implement the U.S. commitment under the Paris Agreement, remain unclear at this time. Changes to U.S. climate change strategy under the current Biden administration and future administrations remain subject to the ultimate passage of legislation and action of federal and state regulatory agencies; therefore, the impact to our industry and our current and future operations due to climate change and greenhouse gas regulation is unknown at this time.
Climatic events in the areas in which we operate, whether from climate change or otherwise, can cause disruptions, and in some cases, delays in, or suspension of, our services. These events, including but not limited to storms, drought, wildfire, extreme temperatures or flooding, may become more intense or more frequent as a result of climate change and could impact our operations, including damages to our facilities. As a result of losses sustained at our facilities, in the energy industry, or in the geographies where our facilities are located, we may experience increased insurance costs, or difficulty obtaining adequate insurance coverage. Extreme weather events could cause damage to our facilities that may exceed our insurance coverage and our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Tariff Regulation. The Razorback pipeline, which runs between Mount Vernon, Missouri and Rogers, Arkansas and the Diamondback pipeline, which runs between Brownsville, Texas and the U.S./Mexico border, transport petroleum products subject to regulation by the FERC under the Interstate Commerce Act and the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and rules and orders promulgated under those statutes. We expect to recommission the Diamondback Pipeline and resume operations on both the 8” pipeline, providing gasoline service thereon, and the previously idle 6” pipeline, providing diesel service thereon, in the second half of 2023, and have previously filed revised tariffs with the FERC to support such activities. FERC regulation requires that the rates of pipelines providing interstate service, such as the Razorback and Diamondback pipelines, be filed at FERC and posted publicly, and that these rates be “just and reasonable” and nondiscriminatory. Rates are currently regulated by the FERC primarily through an index methodology, whereby a pipeline is allowed to change its rates based on the change from year to year in the Producer Price Index for Finished Goods (PPI-FG). In January 2022, in response to rising inflation and a rehearing proceeding, the FERC set the new index at PPI-FG minus 0.21% for the five-year period extending through June 2026, and ordered pipelines to recalculate their rate ceiling levels effective March 1, 2022. The FERC had previously set the index at PPI-FG plus 0.78% for the five-year period beginning July 1, 2021. In the alternative, interstate pipeline companies may elect to support rate filings by using a cost-of-service methodology, competitive market showings, or actual agreements (that is, negotiated rates agreements) between shippers and the oil pipeline company.
Negotiated Rates. The current rates charged by the Razorback pipeline and, upon recommencement of service, the Diamondback pipeline, are negotiated rates that were established via agreement with non-affiliated shippers and are not index rates or cost-of-service rates. Therefore, while we continue to monitor FERC’s policy changes with respect to index rates and cost-of-service rates, we do not expect such changes to have an adverse impact on the rates charged by the Razorback and Diamondback pipelines and do not discuss such changes here.
The FERC generally has not investigated interstate oil pipeline rates on its own initiative when those rates have not been the subject of a protest or a complaint by a shipper. A shipper or other party having a substantial economic interest in our rates could, however, challenge our rates. In response to such challenges, the FERC could investigate our rates and require us to modify the amounts charged. In the absence of a challenge to our rates, given our ability to utilize either filed rates as annually indexed or to utilize rates tied to cost of service methodology, competitive market showing, or actual agreements between shippers and us, we do not believe that FERC’s regulations governing oil pipeline