65818 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 16, 1997 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NV–930–1430–00; N–59678]

Notice of Realty Action: Change of Use

for Recreation and Public Purposes

Lease/Conveyance N–41279

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Recreation and Public Purpose

change of use.

SUMMARY: The following described

public land in Las Vegas, Clark County,

Nevada has been leased for public

purposes under the provisions of the

Recreation and Public Purposes Act, as

amended (43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.). Nevada

Children’s Center proposes to use the

land for a children’s after school day

treatment program facility.

Mount Diablo Meridian, Nevada

T. 21 S., R. 60 E.,

Sec. 16: NE1⁄4NE1⁄4SW1⁄4

Containing 10.00 acres, more or less.

The land is not required for any

federal purpose. The lease/conveyance

is consistent with current Bureau

planning for this area and would be in

the public interest. The lease/patent,

when issued, will be subject to the

provisions of the Recreation and Public

Purposes Act and applicable regulations

of the Secretary of the Interior, and will

contain the following reservations to the

United States:

1. A right-of-way thereon for ditches

or canals constructed by the authority of

the United States, Act of August 30,

1890 (43 U.S.C. 945).

2. All minerals shall be reserved to

the United States, together with the

right to prospect for, mine and remove

such deposits from the same under

applicable law and such regulations as

the Secretary of the Interior may

prescribe.

and will be subject to:

1. An easement for the North 40 feet,

the West 30 feet and the East 40 feet in

favor of Clark County for roads, public

utilities and flood control purposes.

Detailed information concerning this

action is available for review at the

office of the Bureau of Land

Management, Las Vegas District, 4765

W. Vegas Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Contact Cheryl Ruffridge by calling

(702) 647–5064. For a period of 45 days

from the date of publication of this

notice in the Federal Register,

interested parties may submit comments

regarding the lease/conveyance of the

lands to the District Manager, Las Vegas

District, 4765 W. Vegas Drive, Las

Vegas, Nevada 89108.

Application Comments

Interested parties may submit

comments regarding the specific use

proposed in the application and plan of

development, whether the BLM

followed proper administrative

procedures in reaching the decision, or

any other factor not directly related to

the suitability of the land for a

children’s after school day treatment

program facility. Any adverse comments

will be reviewed by the State Director.

In the absence of any adverse

comments, the change of use for the

land described in this Notice will

become effective 60 days from the date

of publication in the Federal Register.

Dated: December 1, 1997.

Mark R. Chatterton,

Assistant District Manager, Non-Renewable

Resources, Las Vegas, NV.

[FR Doc. 97–32716 Filed 12–15–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–HC–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Proposed Collection;

Comment Request

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service,

DOI.

ACTION: Notice of information collection

solicitation.

SUMMARY: Under the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995, the Minerals

Management Service (MMS) is soliciting

comments on an information collection,

Stripper Royalty Rate Reduction

Notification (OMB Control Number

1010–0090, Form MMS–4377), which

expires on May 31, 1998.

FORM: MMS–4377, Stripper Royalty Rate

Reduction Notification

DATES: Written comments should be

received on or before February 17, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments sent via the U.S.

Postal Service should be sent to

Minerals Management Service, Royalty

Management Program, Rules and

Publications Staff, P.O. Box 25165, MS

3021, Denver, Colorado 80225–0165;

courier address is Building 85, Room

A613, Denver Federal Center, Denver,

Colorado 80225; e-mail address is

DavidllGuzy@mms.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dennis C. Jones, Rules and Publications

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

231–3385, e-mail

DennisllCllJones@mms.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: To

encourage continued production,

provide an incentive for enhanced oil

recovery projects, discourage

abandonment of properties producing

less than 15 barrels of oil per well-day,

and reduce the operator’s expenses, the

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will

grant royalty rate reductions to

operators of low-producing, stripper oil

properties. BLM amended 43 CFR

3103.4–1 to establish the conditions

under which an operator or owner of a

stripper oil property can obtain a

reduction in the royalty rate for a

property producing less than 15 barrels

of oil per well-day. The amended

regulations provided instructions for

calculation of royalty rates based on the

property’s annual production rate.

Operators of stripper oil properties

use a formula developed by BLM

[royalty rate (%) = 0.5 + (0.8 x average

daily production)] and included under

43 CFR 3103.4–1(d)(3)(ii) to determine

the reduced royalty rate. Operators are

then required to notify MMS of the

reduced royalty rate. The reduced rate

will become effective for all oil

production from qualifying properties

the first day of the month after MMS

receives notification of the rate change.

Failure to inform MMS of the new

royalty rate would result in the

generation of exceptions by MMS

computer systems processing financial

and production data. The operator

would then be held liable for royalty at

the old rate and be subject to interest

charges as well.

MMS has developed Form MMS–

4377, Stripper Royalty Rate Reduction

Notification, to be used to notify MMS

of the reduced royalty rate. The form

requires identification of the operator,

name of the contact person, lease and

agreement numbers, calculated royalty

rate, current royalty rate and period

covered. Since implementation of the

final rule on September 10, 1992, MMS

has received over 7,000 of these

notifications. MMS uses the information

provided on the form to update the

database with accepted reduced royalty

rates.

There are approximately 4,500

stripper leases or agreements on Federal

lands and a total of 900 operators.

Royalty rate calculations were made for

the initial qualifying period, August 1,

1990, through July 31, 1991, and are

now submitted for each 12-month

period. We estimate that an operator

may require 30 minutes per property to

research production for one 12-month

period, determine average annual well

production, and calculate and report a

new royalty rate or an annual burden of

2,250 hours (1/2 hour x 4,500

properties). We estimate that an

operator may require 15 minutes

annually to perform the necessary