31600 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 97 / Thursday, May 18, 2000 / Notices

usefulness, and clarity of the

information to be collected; and (d)

minimize the burden on the

respondents, including the use of

automated collection techniques or

other forms of information technology.

Send your comments directly to the

offices listed under the ADDRESSES

section of this Notice. OMB has up to

60 days to approve or disapprove the

information collection but may respond

after 30 days. Therefore, to ensure

maximum consideration, OMB should

receive public comments by June 19,

2000.

MMS Information Collection

Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach,

telephone (202) 208–7744.

Dated: March 27, 2000.

Lucy Querques Denett,

Associate Director for Royalty Management.

[FR Doc. 00–12485 Filed 5–17–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Submitted for Office of

Management and Budget Review;

Comment Request

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service

(MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Information Collection

Request (OMB Control Number 1010–

NEW).

SUMMARY: Under the Paperwork

Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C.

3501 et seq.), we are notifying you that

an information collection request (ICR)

has been forwarded to the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) for

review and approval. We are also

soliciting your comments on this ICR

which describes the information

collection, its expected costs and

burden, and how the data will be

collected.

DATES: Submit written comments on or

before June 19, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments

directly to the Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention:

Desk Officer for the Interior Department

(OMB Control Number 1010–NEW), 725

17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20503;

telephone (202) 395–7340. You should

also send copies of these comments to

us. Our mailing address for written

comments regarding this information

collection is David S. Guzy, Chief, Rules

and Publications Staff, Minerals

Management Service, Royalty

Management Program, P.O. Box 25165,

MS 3021, Denver, Colorado 80225.

Courier or overnight delivery address is

Building 85, Room A–613, Denver

Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225.

Public Comment Procedure

If you wish to comment, you may

submit your comments by any one of

several methods. You may mail

comments to the offices listed in the

ADDRESSES section. You may also

comment via the Internet to

RMP.comments@mms.gov. Please

submit Internet comments as an ASCII

file avoiding the use of special

characters and any form of encryption.

Include Attn: OMB Control Number

1010–NEW, and your name and return

address in your Internet message. If you

do not receive a confirmation from the

system that we have received your

Internet message, contact David S. Guzy

directly at (303) 231–3432.

We will post public comments after

the comment period closes on the

Internet at http://www.rmp.mms.gov.

You may arrange to view paper copies

of the comments by contacting David S.

Guzy, Chief, Rules and Publications

Staff, telephone (303) 231–3432, FAX

(303) 231–3385. Our practice is to make

comments, including names and

addresses of respondents, available for

public review on the Internet and

during regular business hours at our

offices in Lakewood, Colorado.

Individual respondents may request that

we withhold their home address from

the rulemaking record, which we will

honor to the extent allowable by law.

There also may be circumstances in

which we would withhold from the

rulemaking record a respondent’s

identity, as allowable by law. If you

wish us to withhold your name and/or

address, you must state this

prominently at the beginning of your

comment. However, we will not

consider anonymous comments. We

will make all submissions from

organizations or businesses, and from

individuals identifying themselves as

representatives or officials of

organizations or businesses, available

for public inspection in their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dennis C. Jones, Rules and Publications

Staff, phone (303) 231–3046, FAX (303)

231–3385, email

Dennis.C.Jones@mms.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Production Accounting and

Auditing System Reports.

OMB Control Number: 1010–NEW.

Bureau Form Numbers: Forms MMS–

4054, MMS–4055, MMS–4056, and

MMS–4058.

Abstract: The Secretary of the Interior

is responsible for the collection of

royalties from lessees who produce

minerals from leased Federal and Indian

lands. The Secretary is authorized to

manage lands, to collect royalties due,

and to distribute royalty funds. MMS is

responsible for the royalty management

functions assigned to the Secretary and

is developing a financial accounting

system which includes royalty and

production reporting as a part of an

overall effort to improve management of

the nation’s resources. This new system

will be effective October 1, 2001, and

will replace both the Accounting and

Financial System and the Production

Accounting and Auditing System. MMS’

proposal was published in the Federal

Register on February 23, 1999 (64 FR

8844). We received 15 comments related

to production reporting. We responded

to these comments in the ICR that we

submitted to OMB.

In April 1996, MMS undertook a

compliance reengineering initiative. The

principal reengineering objective was to

define and implement a new

compliance strategy ensuring that

Federal and Indian mineral lease

revenues were accurately and timely

paid in the most cost-effective manner

possible.

The Royalty Policy Committee (RPC),

which includes representatives from

industry, States, Indian Tribal and

allottee groups, and MMS, issued

recommendations in June 1996 to

streamline both royalty and production

reporting. An action plan was

developed to implement many of the

recommendations. However, in August

1996, the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty

Simplification and Fairness Act (RSFA)

of 1996, was enacted into law. RSFA

significantly changed many of the

Royalty Management Program’s (RMP)

historical operating assumptions as well

as some fundamental Federal oil and gas

mineral revenue financial activities.

Although near-term changes in

processes and systems were made to

implement the law, long-term strategies,

business processes, and aging systems

needed to be addressed for RMP to be

cost-effective and responsive to

customer needs. The decision was made

April 1, 1997, to expand reengineering

to all RMP core business processes. This

is the most comprehensive review of

RMP’s business processes and

organization since its creation in 1982.

As part of our reengineering effort, we

analyzed current information collection

requirements for existing Forms MMS–

3160, MMS–4051, MMS–4054, MMS–

4055, MMS–4056, and MMS–4058

(OMB control Number 1010–0040) to

confirm the presence of data needed to

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 97 / Thursday, May 18, 2000 / Notices 31601

support future RMP processes. As a

result, RMP deleted Forms MMS–3160

and MMS–4051 and streamlined and

modified required data elements on

Forms MMS–4054 through MMS–4058.

These revised forms will not be used

until RMP implements it’s new financial

accounting system, currently scheduled

for implementation in October 2001.

MMS proposes to use these four

revised forms for gathering oil and gas

production data from industry as

follows:

a. Form MMS–4054, Oil and Gas

Operations Report (OGOR),

b. Form MMS–4055, Gas Analysis

Report (GAR),

c. Form MMS–4056, Gas Plant

Operations Report (GPOR), and

d. Form MMS–4058, Production

Allocation Schedule Report (PASR).

The data from these forms are

matched with sales and royalty data

reported to MMS. The production

reports provide MMS with ongoing

information on lease, agreement

(property) and facility production, sales

volumes, and inventories. The reports

summarize all operations on a property

or facility during a reporting period.

They identify production by API well

number and sales by product. Data

collected are used as a method of cross

checking reported production with

reported sales.

Industry will not begin using the

revised forms until October 2001 when

we implement our new financial

accounting system. However, we are

requesting approval of these revised

forms immediately, so that industry can

begin work on the necessary systems

development and reprogramming

adjustments and changes that may be

required as they prepare for the new

reporting requirements that will be

effective October 2001. Please note that

the existing forms (Forms MMS–4054,

MMS–4055, MMS–4056, and MMS–

4058) will continue to be used until the

change over to the revised forms in the

fall of 2001.

Failure to collect all of this

information will prevent MMS from

ensuring that all royalties owed on lease

production are paid. Additionally, the

data are shared electronically with the

MMS’s Offshore Minerals Management

program, Bureau of Land Management,

Bureau of Indian Affairs, and tribal and

State governments so they can perform

their lease management responsibilities.

Respondents/Affected Entities:

Operators of Federal or Indian leases.

Frequency of Response: Monthly.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

2,450 operators.

Estimated Total Annual Reporting

and Recordkeeping ‘‘Hour’’ Burden:

89,717 hours.

Estimated Annual Reporting and

Recordkeeping ‘‘Non-Hour Cost’’

Burden: $1.5 million.

Comments: Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of

the PRA requires each agency ‘‘* * * to

provide notice * * * and otherwise

consult with members of the public and

affected agencies concerning each

proposed collection of information.

. . .’’ Agencies must specifically solicit

comments to: (a) Evaluate whether the

proposed collection of information is

necessary for the agency to perform its

duties, including whether the

information is useful; (b) evaluate the

accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the

burden of the proposed collection of

information; (c) enhance the quality,

usefulness, and clarity of the

information to be collected; and (d)

minimize the burden on the

respondents, including the use of

automated collection techniques or

other forms of information technology.

The PRA provides that an agency may

not conduct or sponsor, and a person is

not required to respond to, a collection

of information unless it displays a

currently valid OMB Control Number.

As required in 5 CFR 1320.8(d), MMS

published a 60-day Federal Register

Notice on February 23, 1999 (64 FR

8835), soliciting comments from the

public on these revised forms.

Send your comments directly to the

offices listed under the ADDRESSES

section of this notice. OMB has up to 60

days to approve or disapprove the

information collection but may respond

after 30 days. Therefore, to ensure

maximum consideration, OMB should

receive public comments by June 19,

2000.

MMS Information Collection

Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach,

telephone (202) 208–7744.

Dated: May 11, 2000.

Lucy Querques Denett,

Associate Director for Royalty Management.

[FR Doc. 00–12486 Filed 4–17–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

Central Valley Project Improvement

Act, Criteria for Evaluating Water

Management Plans

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: To meet the requirements of

the Central Valley Project Improvement

Act (CVPIA) of 1992 and the

Reclamation Reform Act of 1982, the

Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation)

developed and published the Criteria for

Evaluating Water Conservation Plans,

dated April 30, 1993. In September 1996

Reclamation revised the document and

renamed it to Criteria for Evaluating

Water Management Plans (Criteria). The

Criteria have been revised again in 1999.

The City of Roseville and El Dorado

Irrigation District have developed Water

Management Plans (Plan) which

Reclamation has evaluated and

preliminarily determined to meet the

requirements of the Criteria.

The 1999 Criteria were developed

based on information provided during

public scoping and review sessions held

throughout Reclamation’s Mid-Pacific

(MP) Region. Reclamation uses these

Criteria to evaluate the adequacy of all

Plans developed by Central Valley

Project contractors. The Criteria were

developed and the Plans have been

evaluated for the purpose of promoting

the most efficient water use reasonably

achievable by all MP Region contractors.

Reclamation made a commitment

(stated within the Criteria) to publish a

notice of its draft determination of the

adequacy of each contractor’s Plan in

the Federal Register to allow the public

a minimum of 30 days to comment on

its preliminary determinations.

DATES: All public comments must be

received by June 19, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Our practice is to make

comments, including names and home

addresses of respondents, available for

public review. Individual respondents

may request that we withhold their

home address from public disclosure,

which we will honor to the extent

allowable by law. There also may be

circumstances in which we would

withhold a respondent’s identity from

public disclosure, as allowable by law.

If you wish us to withhold your name

and/or address, you must state this

prominently at the beginning of your

comment. We will make all submissions

from organizations or businesses, and

from individuals identifying themselves

as representatives or officials of

organizations or businesses, available

for public disclosure in their entirety.

Please mail comments to Lucille

Billingsley, Bureau of Reclamation,

2800 Cottage Way, MP–410,

Sacramento, California 95825.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To

be placed on a mailing list for any

subsequent information, please contact

Lucille Billingsley at the address above,