80148 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 239 / Friday, December 11, 2020 / Notices 

SUMMARY: Office of Natural Resources 

Revenue (ONRR) regulations provide 

two types of accounting and auditing 

relief for Federal onshore or Outer 

Continental Shelf lease production from 

marginal properties. Each year, ONRR 

provides a list of qualifying marginal 

Federal oil and gas properties to States 

that receive a portion of Federal 

royalties from those properties. Each 

State then decides whether to 

participate in relief, and if so, whether 

to allow one or both relief options. For 

calendar year 2020, ONRR provides this 

notice of the affected States’ decision 

regarding whether relief should be 

allowed and, if so, which type of relief 

will be allowed. 

DATES: Effective January 1, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Robert Sudar, Market and Spatial 

Analytics, Coordination, Enforcement, 

Valuations, and Appeals Division, 

ONRR, at (303) 231–3511; or email to 

Robert.Sudar@onrr.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

regulations, codified under 30 CFR part 

1204, subpart C, implement certain 

provisions of section 7 of the Federal 

Oil and Gas Royalty Simplification and 

Fairness Act of 1996 (30 U.S.C. 1726), 

which allows States to relieve the 

lessees of marginal properties from 

certain reporting, accounting, and 

auditing requirements. Each State makes 

an annual determination as to whether 

to allow relief, and if so, what types. 

Two relief options are authorized: (1) 

Notification-based royalty report and 

payment relief which, if selected, allows 

lessees or designees to forgo filing 

monthly reports and making monthly 

royalty payments and, instead, to file 

one annual royalty report and make one 

annual royalty payment, and (2) other 

requested appropriate accounting and 

auditing relief, as proposed by lessees or 

designees and approved by ONRR, after 

consultation with the affected State(s). 

The regulations require ONRR to 

publish, no later than 30 days before the 

beginning of the calendar year, a list of 

the States and their decisions regarding 

marginal property relief. 

To qualify for the first relief option 

(notification-based relief) for calendar 

year 2021, properties must produce less 

than 1,000 barrels-of-oil-equivalent 

(BOE) per year for the base period (July 

1, 2019 through June 30, 2020). Annual 

reporting relief will begin January 1, 

2021, with the annual report and royalty 

payment due February 28, 2022, or 

March 31, 2022, if you have an 

estimated payment on file. To qualify 

for the second relief option (other 

requested relief), the combined 

equivalent production of the marginal 

properties during the base period must 

equal an average daily well production 

of less than 15 BOE per well per day, 

as calculated under 30 CFR 1204.4(c). 

The following table lists the States 

with qualifying marginal properties and 

each State’s decision as to the relief 

options it will allow in calendar year 

2021. An ‘‘N/A’’ means that the State 

did not provide ONRR its decision and, 

accordingly, no relief will be allowed to 

lessees in that State. 

State Notification-based relief 

(less than 1,000 BOE per year) 

Request-based relief 

(less than 15 BOE per well per day) 

Alabama ............................................................. No ..................................................................... No. 

Arkansas ............................................................. N/A ................................................................... Yes. 

California ............................................................ No ..................................................................... No. 

Colorado ............................................................. No ..................................................................... No. 

Kansas ................................................................ No ..................................................................... No. 

Louisiana ............................................................ Yes ................................................................... Yes. 

Michigan ............................................................. Yes ................................................................... Yes. 

Mississippi .......................................................... No ..................................................................... No. 

Montana .............................................................. No ..................................................................... No. 

Nebraska ............................................................ N/A ................................................................... No. 

Nevada ............................................................... N/A ................................................................... Yes. 

New Mexico ........................................................ No ..................................................................... Yes. 

North Dakota ...................................................... N/A ................................................................... Yes. 

Oklahoma ........................................................... No ..................................................................... No. 

South Dakota ...................................................... Yes ................................................................... Yes. 

Utah .................................................................... No ..................................................................... No. 

Wyoming ............................................................. Yes ................................................................... No 

A Federal oil and gas property located 

in a State where ONRR does not share 

a portion of Federal royalties with the 

State is eligible for relief if the property 

qualifies as marginal under 30 U.S.C. 

1726(c). For information on how to 

obtain relief, please refer to 30 CFR 

1204.205, viewable at https://

www.ecfr.gov/. 

Unless the information ONRR 

receives is proprietary data, all 

correspondence, records, or information 

that ONRR receives in response to this 

notice may be subject to disclosure 

under the Freedom of Information Act 

(FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552 et seq.). If 

applicable, please highlight any 

proprietary portions, including any 

supporting documentation, or mark the 

page(s) containing proprietary data. We 

protect proprietary information under 

the Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. 1905), 

FOIA Exemption 4 (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)), 

and the Department of the Interior’s 

FOIA regulations (43 CFR part 2). 

Authority: Federal Oil and Gas Royalty 

Management Act of 1982, 30 U.S.C. 1701 et 

seq., as amended by Federal Oil and Gas 

Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act of 

1996 (RSFA, Pub. L. 104–185—Aug. 13, 

1996, as corrected by Pub. L. 104–200—Sept. 

22, 1996). 

Kimbra G. Davis, 

Director for the Office of Natural Resources 

Revenue. 

[States’ Decisions on Participating in 

Accounting and Auditing Relief for 

Federal Oil and Gas Marginal 

Properties] 

[FR Doc. 2020–27267 Filed 12–10–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4335–30–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Reclamation 

[RR83550000, 212R5065C6, 

RX.59389832.1009676] 

Change in Discount Rate for Water 

Resources Planning 

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of change in discount 

rate. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 239 / Friday, December 11, 2020 / Notices 80149 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation is 

announcing the interest rate to be used 

by Federal agencies in the formulation 

and evaluation of plans for water and 

related land resources is 2.50 percent for 

fiscal year 2021. The prior year’s rate, as 

announced in the Federal Register on 

December 17, 2019, was 2.75 percent for 

fiscal year 2020. 

DATES: This discount rate is to be used 

for the period October 1, 2020, through 

and including September 30, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Fernando Castro-Alvarez, Bureau of 

Reclamation, Reclamation Law 

Administration Division, P.O. Box 

25007, Denver, Colorado 80225; 

telephone 303–445–2821. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Water 

Resources Planning Act of 1965 and the 

Water Resources Development Act of 

1974 require an annual determination of 

a discount rate for Federal water 

resources planning. The discount rate 

for Federal water resources planning for 

fiscal year 2021 is 2.50 percent. 

Discounting is to be used to convert 

future monetary values to present 

values. 

This rate has been computed in 

accordance with Section 80(a), Public 

Law 93–251 (88 Stat. 34), and 18 CFR 

704.39, which: (1) Specify that the rate 

will be based upon the average yield 

during The preceding fiscal year on 

interest-bearing marketable securities of 

the United States which, at the time the 

computation is made, have terms of 15 

years or more remaining to maturity 

(average yield is rounded to nearest oneeighth percent); and (2) provide that the 

rate will not be raised or lowered more 

than one-quarter of 1 percent for any 

year. The U.S. Department of the 

Treasury calculated the specified 

average to be 1.5730 percent. In 

accordance with the Water Resource 

Council Rules and Regulations, the 

maximum adjustment allowed for the 

current fiscal year rate is one-quarter of 

one percentage point from the previous 

fiscal year rate, which was 2.75 percent. 

Therefore, the fiscal year 2021 rate is 

2.50 percent. 

The rate of 2.50 percent will be used 

by all Federal agencies in the 

formulation and evaluation of water and 

related land resources plans for the 

purpose of discounting future benefits 

and computing costs or otherwise 

converting benefits and costs to a 

common-time basis. 

Signed: 

Christopher J. Beardsley, 

Director, Policy and Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27294 Filed 12–10–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4332–90–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Safety and Environmental 

Enforcement 

[EEEE500000 21XE1700DX 

EX1SF0000.EAQ000] 

Leaders in Advancing Safety and 

Environmental Stewardship 

AGENCY: Bureau of Safety and 

Environmental Enforcement, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Safety and 

Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) 

developed objective, qualitative and 

quantifiable criteria to create a ‘‘Leaders 

in Advancing Safety and Environmental 

Stewardship’’ Recognition Program to 

recognize operators who demonstrate 

exemplary operating performance or 

sustained safety and environmental 

stewardship improvements on their 

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and 

gas facilities, including support vessels, 

and leadership within the industry 

regarding operational safety and 

environmental performance. BSEE’s 

process for identifying ‘‘Leaders in 

Advancing Safety and Environmental 

Stewardship’’ is consistent with BSEE’s 

inspection programs, regulations, and 

Notice to Operators and Lessees (NTL) 

No. 2008–N02, Outer Continental Shelf 

(OCS) Inspection Program. The 

‘‘Leaders in Advancing Safety and 

Environmental Stewardship’’ 

Recognition Program will recognize 

OCS operators demonstrating high 

levels of operational safety, sustained 

safety improvement, or industry 

leadership on operational safety issues. 

The primary objective of the 

Recognition Program is to drive OCS 

operators to significantly improve safety 

and environmental prioritization, 

culture, and performance on OCS 

facilities and to encourage them to 

become leaders in industry regarding 

operational safety and environmental 

issues. Another objective is to create a 

platform through which BSEE can 

educate the public regarding the fact 

that OCS operators can conduct 

complex and high-risk operations on 

OCS oil and gas facilities in a way that 

is safe for personnel, the public, and the 

environment. 

DATES: This notice will become effective 

on December 11, 2020. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jason Mathews, Bureau of Safety and 

Environmental Enforcement, Chief, 

Safety Improvement Branch, (504) 731– 

1496, or by email: jason.mathews@

bsee.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Each year, BSEE Gulf of Mexico and 

Pacific Regions conduct Annual 

Performance Reviews (APRs) of OCS 

operators. The APRs consist of a review 

of the following: 

• The operator’s compliance history, 

as reflected in findings from the BSEE 

Inspection Program; 

• The operator’s safety record as it 

relates to incidents; 

• Any action that BSEE has 

forwarded to the BSEE Safety 

Enforcement Division (SED) for review 

for potential assessment of a civil 

penalty; and, 

• The results of the most recent 

internal and regulatory audits of the 

operator’s Safety and Environmental 

Management System (SEMS) program. 

BSEE will use the information 

gathered during the APRs to provide 

factual bases for determining eligibility 

for operator recognition. 

For an OCS operator to qualify for 

consideration as a Leader in Advancing 

Safety and Environmental Stewardship, 

the operator must have either: 

1. An Injury/Illness Combined Rate 

(total recordables) less than the OCS 

average for the prior reporting year, or 

2. Demonstrate two or more 

consecutive years of improvement of its 

Injury/Illness Combined Rate. 

In addition, the OCS operator’s 

operations for the reporting must not 

have included any of the following: 

• Fatality; 

• Incident with ≥ 3 injuries; 

• Major pollution incidents; 

• Major Fire/Explosion; 

• ≥ 3 Incidents of Noncompliance 

(INCs) forwarded for civil penalty cases 

or $1 million in cumulative proposed 

fines; 

• Loss of Well Control; (not to 

include shallow water flow) 

• ≥ 3 Facilities on Increased 

Oversight List; 

• Order to perform an additional 

Directed SEMS Audit; or, 

• A sustained environmental 

compliance record <90 percent with 

assigned environmental mitigation 

measures and similar regulatory 

requirements; or, 

• Placement on a Performance 

Improvement Plan. 

If an OCS operator is disqualified by 

any of the factors above, BSEE may 

reconsider the operator for potential 

recognition if the issue(s) is satisfied 

prior to March 31st of the following 

year. 

For OCS operators that meet the 

requirements above, BSEE will also look 

at how those operators are providing 

leadership within the industry regarding 

operational safety. BSEE will consider 

whether the OCS operator is offering 


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