[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 102 (Thursday, May 25, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33826-33827]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-13166]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of extension of a currently approved information 
collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0091).

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SUMMARY: To comply with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (PRA), we are inviting comments on an information collection 
request (ICR), titled ``30 CFR Part 254, Oil-Spill Response 
Requirements for Facilities Located Seaward of the Coast Line.'' We are 
preparing an ICR, which we will submit to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and approval.

DATES: Submit written comments by July 24, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand carry comments to the Department of the 
Interior; Minerals Management Service; Attention: Rules Processing 
Team; Mail Stop 4024; 381 Elden Street; Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817. 
Our practice is to make comments, including names and home addresses of 
respondents, available for public review during regular business hours. 
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 may be circumstances in which we would withhold from the 
record a respondent's identity, as allowable by the 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: Alexis London, Rules Processing Team, 
telephone (703) 787-1600. You may also contact Alexis London to obtain 
a copy of the collection of information at no cost.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: 30 CFR Part 254, Oil-Spill Response Requirements for 
Facilities Located Seaward of the Coast Line.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-0091.
    Abstract: The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended by 
the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), requires that a spill-response 
plan be submitted for offshore facilities prior to February 18, 1993. 
The OPA specifies that after that date, an offshore facility may not 
handle, store, or transport oil unless a plan has been submitted. 
Regulations at 30 CFR part 254 establish requirements for spill-
response plans for oil-handling facilities seaward of the coast line, 
including associated pipelines.
    We use the information collected under 30 CFR part 254 to determine 
compliance with OPA by owners/operators. Specifically, MMS needs the 
information to:
    <bullet> determine effectiveness of the spill-response capability 
of owners/operators;
    <bullet> review plans prepared under the regulations of a State and 
submitted to MMS to satisfy the requirements of this rule to ensure 
that they meet minimum requirements of OPA;
    <bullet> verify that personnel involved in oil-spill response are 
properly trained and familiar with the requirements of the spill 
response plans and to witness spill-response exercises;
    <bullet> assess the sufficiency and availability of contractor 
equipment and materials;
    <bullet> verify that sufficient quantities of equipment are 
available and in working order;
    <bullet> oversee spill-response efforts and maintain official 
records of pollution events; and
    <bullet> assess the efforts of owners/operators to prevent oil 
spills or prevent substantial threats of such discharges.
    Responses are mandatory. No proprietary, confidential, or sensitive 
information is collected.
    Frequency: The frequency varies by regulatory requirement, but is 
mostly annual or on occasion.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 193 
owners or operators of facilities located in both State and Federal 
waters seaward of the coast line.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: The 
currently approved burden for this information collection is 47,439 
hours. The major components of this burden are for:
    <bullet> Spill response plans for OCS or State water facilities 
(100 hours).
    <bullet> Revised spill response plans (16.5 hours).
    <bullet> Modified OCS spill response plan for facilities in State 
waters (45 hours).
    <bullet> Response plan for facilities in State waters using State 
requirements (93 hours).
    <bullet> Conduct of annual training; retain records for 2 years (40 
hours).
    <bullet> Conduct of triennial response plan exercise; retain 
records for 3 years (110 hours).
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' 
Burden: We have identified no non-hour cost burdens for this 
collection.
    Comments: The PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) 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. 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 also requires agencies to estimate the total annual 
reporting ``non-hour cost'' burden to respondents or recordkeepers 
resulting from the collection of information. We have not identified 
any non-hour cost burdens and need to know if you have other costs 
associated with the collection of this information for either total 
capital and startup cost components or annual operation, maintenance, 
and purchase of service components. Your estimates should consider the 
costs to generate, maintain, and disclose or provide the information. 
You should describe the methods you use to estimate major cost factors, 
including system and technology acquisition, expected useful life of 
capital equipment, discount rate(s), and the period over which you 
incur costs. Capital and startup costs include, among other items, 
computers and software you purchase to prepare for collecting 
information; monitoring, sampling, drilling, and testing equipment; and 
record storage facilities. Generally, your estimates should not include 
equipment or services purchased: (i) before October 1, 1995; (ii) to 
comply with requirements not

[[Page 33827]]

associated with the information collection; (iii) for reasons other 
than to provide information or keep records for the Government; or (iv) 
as part of customary and usual business or private practices.
    We will summarize written responses to this notice and address them 
in our submission for OMB approval. As a result of your comments, we 
will make any necessary adjustments to the burden in our submission to 
OMB. In calculating the burden, we assumed that respondents perform 
certain requirements in the normal course of their activities. We 
consider these to be usual and customary and took that into account in 
estimating the burden.

    Dated: May 17, 2000.
John V. Mirabella,
Acting Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 00-13166 Filed 5-24-00; 8:45 am]
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