Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 129 / Wednesday, July 5, 2000 / Notices 41487

Dated: June 22, 2000.

Rex Wells,

Assistant Field Manager, Las Vegas, NV.

[FR Doc. 00–16826 Filed 7–3–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–HC–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Submitted for Office of

Management and Budget (OMB)

Review, Comment Request

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service

(MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of an extension of a

currently approved information

collection (OMB Control Number 1010–

0088).

SUMMARY: To comply with the

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), we are submitting

to OMB for review and approval an

information collection request (ICR)

titled, Delegation of Authority to States.

We are also soliciting comments from

the public 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 August 4, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments

directly to the Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention:

Desk Officer for the Department of the

Interior (OMB Control Number 1010–

0088), 725 17th Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20503. Also, submit

copies of your written comments to

David S. Guzy, Chief, Rules and

Publications Staff, Minerals

Management Service, Royalty

Management Program, P.O. Box 25165,

MS 3021, Denver, Colorado 80225. If

you use an overnight courier service,

our courier address is Building 85,

Room A–613, Denver Federal Center,

Denver, Colorado 80225.

Public Comment Procedure

You may mail your comments and

copies of your comments to the offices

listed in the ADDRESSES section, or you

may email us at

RMP.comments@mms.gov. Please

include the title of the information

collection and the OMB Control Number

in the ‘‘Attention’’ line of your

comment; also, include your name and

return address. Submit electronic

comments as an ASCII file avoiding the

use of special characters and any form

of encryption. If you do not receive a

confirmation that we have received your

email, contact David S. Guzy at (303)

231–3432. We will post all comments

for public review on our web site at

http://www.rmp.mms.gov. Also, to view

paper copies of these comments, please

contact David S. Guzy at (303) 231–

3432, FAX (303) 231–3385. Our practice

is to make these paper comments,

including names and addresses of

respondents, available for public review

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

comments. 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, telephone (303) 231–3046, FAX

(303) 231–3385, email

Dennis.C.Jones@mms.gov. A copy of the

ICR is available to you without charge

upon request.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Delegation of Authority to

States.

OMB Control Number: OMB 1010–

0088.

Bureau Form Number: N/A.

Abstract: The Department of the

Interior (DOI) is responsible for matters

relevant to mineral resource

development on Federal and Indian

Lands and the Outer Continental Shelf

(OCS). The Secretary of the Interior

(Secretary) is responsible for managing

the production of minerals from Federal

and Indian Lands and the OCS; for

collecting royalties from lessees who

produce minerals; and for distributing

the funds collected in accordance with

applicable laws. The Secretary also has

an Indian trust responsibility to manage

Indian lands and seek advice and

information from Indian beneficiaries.

We perform the royalty management

functions and assist the Secretary in

carrying out DOI’s Indian trust

responsibility.

The Royalty Simplification and

Fairness Act (RSFA) amendments to

section 205 of the Federal Oil and Gas

Royalty Management Act of 1982

provide that we may delegate other

Federal royalty management functions

to requesting States, including:

a. Conducting audits, and

investigations;

b. Receiving and processing

production and royalty reports;

c. Correcting erroneous report data;

d. Performing automated verification;

and

e. Issuing demands, subpoenas

(except for solid mineral and geothermal

leases), orders to perform restructured

accounting, and related tolling

agreements and notices to lessees or

their designees.

In accordance with RSFA, and to

properly administer the delegation of

the functions to the requesting States,

MMS must collect pertinent information

from industry and States. Therefore, a

State will have to submit an application

requesting to perform these delegable

functions.

No proprietary data, confidential

information, or items of a sensitive

nature will be collected. Responses are

voluntary.

Frequency: Monthly, quarterly, and

annually.

Estimated Number and Description of

Respondents: 4,010 States and royalty

payors.

Estimated Annual Reporting and

Recordkeeping ‘‘Hour’’ Burden: 210,400

hours. Please refer to chart.

Reporting/recordkeeping requirements Frequency Number of respondents X

Burden

per

reqmnt

=

Annual

burden

hours

Application, vouchers, work plans, recordkeeping.Monthly Quarterly Annually .... 4 States .................................. 2,000 8,000

Delegated audit functions ............................... Monthly Quarterly Annually .... 6 States .................................. 400 2,400

41488 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 129 / Wednesday, July 5, 2000 / Notices

Reporting/recordkeeping requirements Frequency Number of respondents X

Burden

per

reqmnt

=

Annual

burden

hours

Coordination of information reported among/

between MMS and a given State or States.

Monthly Quarterly Annually .... 4,000 payors and reporters .... 50 200,000

Total ................................................................ ................................................ 4,010 ...................................... 52.5 210,400

Estimated Annual Reporting and

Recordkeeping: ‘‘Non-Hour Cost’’

Burden: $80,000.

Comments: 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. 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.

We published a Federal Register

Notice on December 3, 1999 (64 FR

67930), with the required 60-day

comment period soliciting comments on

renewing OMB’s approval to continue to

collect this information. No comments

were received. If you now wish to

comment on this ICR, please send your

comments directly to the offices listed

under the ADDRESSES section of this

Notice. OMB has up to 60 days after

reviewing an ICR to approve or

disapprove the information collection.

However, OMB may act sooner than that

once the 30-day public comment period

has ended. Therefore, to ensure

maximum consideration, you should

submit your comments on or before

August 4, 2000.

MMS Information Collection

Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach,

telephone (202) 208–7744

Dated: June 20, 2000.

Joan Killgore,

Acting Associate Director for Royalty

Management.

[FR Doc. 00–16817 Filed 7–3–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation

and Enforcement

Notice of Proposed Information

Collection

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining

Reclamation and Enforcement.

ACTION: Notice of request for comments.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation

and Enforcement (OSM) is announcing

its intention to request approval for the

collection of information for the

Abandoned Mine Land Contractor

Information form.

DATES: Comments on the proposed

information collection must be received

by September 5, 2000, to be assured of

consideration.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to

John A. Trelease, Office of Surface

Mining Reclamation and Enforcement,

1951 Constitution Ave, NW., Room

210—SIB, Washington, DC 20240.

Comments may also be submitted

electronically to jtreleas@osmre.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To

request a copy of the information

collection request, explanatory

information and related forms, contact

John A. Trelease, at (202) 208–2783.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office

of Management and Budget (OMB)

regulations at 5 CFR 1320, which

implement provisions of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–13),

require that interested members of the

public and affected agencies have an

opportunity to comment on information

collection and recordkeeping activities

(see 5 CFR 1320.8(d)). This notice

identifies information collections that

OSM will be submitting to OMB for

review and approval. This collection is

found in the Applicant/Violator System

(AVS) handbook and is prepared by

AML contractors to ensure compliance

with 30 CFR 874.16.

OSM will request a 3-year term of

approval for each information collection

activity.

Comments are invited on: (1) The

need for the collection of information

for the performance of the functions of

the agency; (2) the accuracy of the

agency’s burden estimates; (3) ways to

enhance the quality, utility and clarity

of the information collection; and (4)

ways to minimize the information

collection burden on respondents, such

as use of automated means of collection

of the information. A summary of the

public comments will accompany

OSM’s submission of the information

collection request to OMB.

This notice provides the public with

60 days in which to comment on the

following information collection

activity:

Title: AML Contractor Information

Form.

OMB Control Number: 1029–xxxx.

Summary: 30 CFR 874.16 requires

that every successful bidder for an AML

contract must be eligible under 30 CFR

773.15(b)(1) at the time of contract

award to receive a permit or conditional

permit to conduct surface coal mining

operations. Further, the regulation

requires the eligibility to be confirmed

by OSM’s automated Applicant/Violator

System (AVS) and the contractor must

be eligible under the regulations

implementing Section 510(c) of the

Surface Mining Act to receive permits to

conduct mining operations. This form

provides a tool for OSM and the States/

Indian tribes to help them prevent

persons with outstanding violations

from conducting further mining or AML

reclamation activities in the State.

Bureau Form Number: None.

Frequency of Collection: Once per

contract.

Description of Respondents: AML

contract applicants and State and tribal

regulatory authorities.

Total Annual Responses: 519.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 465.

Dated: June 29, 2000.

Richard G. Bryson,

Chief, Division of Regulatory Support.

[FR Doc. 00–16854 Filed 7–3–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–05–M