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incentives administered by FERC under NGPA section 107(c)(5), 92
Stat. 3366, 15 U.S.C. sec. 3317 (1988), a well owner would be
required to obtain a determination, under the NGPA section 503
procedures with respect to each individual well, that it produced
"tight formation gas". The question is whether that same
requirement ensues for the tax credit from the section 29
reference to a determination under NGPA section 503.
Petitioner argues that the statutory ambiguity permits its
use of the legislative history and other pertinent material to
interpret the intent of the statute. Although we agree that in
this instance we must look beyond the statutory language, it is
difficult to reach the conclusion proposed by petitioner,
considering the statutory language and case precedent concerning
NGPA section 503. For example, could Congress, by incorporating
the reference to NGPA section 503 in section 29, have intended
that one procedural standard would be applied to determine
whether a well is a tight formation well for price incentives and
that a different approach and procedural standard would apply for
income tax credits where both programs are to be governed
procedurally pursuant to NGPA section 503? This must be the case
for petitioner to prevail.
A statutory term should be given its common and ordinary
meaning, unless persuasive evidence or context indicates
otherwise. Commissioner v. Soliman, 506 U.S. at 174;
Commissioner v. Brown, 380 U.S. 563, 570-571 (1965). The word
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