Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 204 / Monday, October 22, 2012 / Notices 64535 

• Welcome, introductions and agenda 

review; 

• Trust Commission Operations; 

• Review and Discussion of 

Commission Draft Documents to-date; 

• Public Comments; 

• Overview of December 6–7, 2012 

meeting and related youth outreach 

session; 

• Review action items from today’s 

discussion; and 

• Adjourn. 

Written comments may be sent to the 

Designated Federal Official listed in the 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section above. To review all related 

material on the Commission’s work, 

please refer to http://www.doi.gov/ 

cobell/commission/index.cfm. All 

meetings are open to the public. 

Dated: October 16, 2012. 

David J. Hayes, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2012–25916 Filed 10–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–W7–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Safety and Environmental 

Enforcement (BSEE) 

[Docket ID BSEE–2012–0009; OMB Number 

1014–0005] 

Information Collection Activities: Relief 

or Reduction in Royalty Rates; 

Submitted for Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) Review; Comment 

Request 

ACTION: 30-day Notice. 

SUMMARY: To comply with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(PRA), we are notifying the public that 

we have submitted to OMB an 

information collection request (ICR) to 

renew approval of the paperwork 

requirements in the regulations under 

30 CFR part 203, Relief or Reduction in 

Royalty Rates. This notice also provides 

the public a second opportunity to 

comment on the paperwork burden of 

these regulatory requirements. 

DATES: You must submit comments by 

November 21, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments by either 

fax (202) 395–5806 or email (OIRA_

DOCKET@omb.eop.gov) directly to the 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer 

for the Department of the Interior (1014– 

0005). Please provide a copy of your 

comments to BSEE by any of the means 

below. 

• Electronically: Go to http://www.

regulations.gov. In the entry titled, 

‘‘Enter Keyword or ID,’’ enter BSEE– 

2012–0009, then click search. Follow 

the instructions to submit public 

comments and view all related 

materials. We will post all comments. 

• Email: nicole.mason@bsee.gov, fax 

(703) 787–1546, or mail or hand-carry 

comments to: Department of the 

Interior; Bureau of Safety and 

Environmental Enforcement; 

Regulations and Standards Branch; 

Attention: Nicole Mason; 381 Elden 

Street, HE3313; Herndon, Virginia 

20170–4817. Please reference 1014– 

0005 in your comment and include your 

name and return address. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nicole Mason, Regulation and 

Standards Branch, (703) 787–1605, to 

request additional information about 

this ICR. To see a copy of the entire ICR 

submitted to OMB, go to http://www.

reginfo.gov (select Information 

Collection Review, Currently Under 

Review). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: 30 CFR 203, Relief or Reduction 

in Royalty Rates. 

OMB Control Number: 1014–0005. 

Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf 

(OCS) Lands Act, as amended by Public 

Law 104–58, Deep Water Royalty Relief 

Act (DWRRA), gives the Secretary of the 

Interior (Secretary) the authority to 

reduce or eliminate royalty or any net 

profit share specified in OCS oil and gas 

leases to promote increased production. 

The DWRRA also authorized the 

Secretary to suspend royalties when 

necessary to promote development or 

recovery of marginal resources on 

producing or non-producing leases in 

the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) west of 87 

degrees, 30 minutes West longitude. 

Section 302 of the DWRRA provides 

that new production from a lease in 

existence on November 28, 1995, in a 

water depth of at least 200 meters, and 

in the GOM west of 87 degrees, 30 

minutes West longitude qualifies for 

royalty suspension in certain situations. 

To grant a royalty suspension, the 

Secretary must determine that the new 

production or development would not 

be economic in the absence of royalty 

relief. The Secretary must then 

determine the volume of production on 

which no royalty would be due in order 

to make the new production from the 

lease economically viable. This 

determination is done on a case-by-case 

basis. Production from leases in the 

same water depth and area issued after 

November 28, 2000, also can qualify for 

royalty suspension in addition to any 

that may be included in their lease 

terms. 

In addition, the Independent Offices 

Appropriations Act (31 U.S.C. 9701), the 

Omnibus Appropriations Bill (Pub. L. 

104–134, 110 Stat. 1321, April 26, 

1996), and OMB Circular A–25, 

authorize Federal agencies to recover 

the full cost of services that confer 

special benefits. Under the Department 

of the Interior’s (DOI) implementing 

policy, BSEE is required to charge fees 

for services that provide special benefits 

or privileges to an identifiable nonFederal recipient above and beyond 

those which accrue to the public at 

large. 

Regulations at 30 CFR part 203 

implement these statutes and policy and 

require respondents to pay a fee to 

request royalty relief. Section 30 CFR 

203.3 states that, ‘‘We will specify the 

necessary fees for each of the types of 

royalty-relief applications and possible 

BSEE audits in a Notice to Lessees. We 

will periodically update the fees to 

reflect changes in costs as well as 

provide other information necessary to 

administer royalty relief.’’ 

The BSEE uses the information to 

make decisions on the economic 

viability of leases requesting a 

suspension or elimination of royalty or 

net profit share. These decisions have 

enormous monetary impacts to both the 

lessee and the Federal Government. 

Royalty relief can lead to increased 

production of natural gas and oil, 

creating profits for lessees and royalty 

and tax revenues for the government 

that they might not otherwise receive. 

We could not make an informed 

decision without the collection of 

information required by 30 CFR part 

203. 

We will protect information from 

respondents considered proprietary 

under the Freedom of Information Act 

(5 U.S.C. 552) and its implementing 

regulations (43 CFR part 2) and under 

regulations at 30 CFR 203.63, Does my 

application have to include all leases in 

the field, and 30 CFR 250.197, Data and 

information to be made available to the 

public or for limited inspection. No 

items of a sensitive nature are collected. 

Responses are mandatory or are 

required to obtain or retain a benefit. 

Frequency: On occasion. 

Description of Respondents: Potential 

respondents comprise Federal oil, gas, 

or sulphur lessees and/or operators. 

Estimated Reporting and 

Recordkeeping Hour Burden: The 

estimated annual hour burden for this 

information collection is a total of 2,329 

hours. The following chart details the 

individual components and estimated 

hour burdens. In calculating the 

burdens, we assumed that respondents 

perform certain requirements in the 

normal course of their activities. We 

consider these to be usual and 


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customary and took that into account in 

estimating the burden. 


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* CPA certification expense burden 

also imposed on applicant. 

** These applications currently do 

not have a set fee since they are done 

on a case-by-case basis. 

Note: Applications include numerous 

items such as: transmittal letters, letters of 

request, modifications to applications, 

reapplications, etc. 

Estimated Reporting and 

Recordkeeping Non-Hour Cost Burden: 

We have identified two non-hour costs 

associated with this information 

collection. The estimated non-hour cost 

burden is $117,441. This estimate is 

based on: 

Under § 203.3, we charge lessees 

(respondents) applying for royalty relief 

an amount that covers the cost of 

processing their applications and 

auditing financial data when necessary 

to determine the proposed 

development’s economic situation. The 

total annual estimated cost burden for 

these fees is $72,441. 

Cost of a report prepared by 

independent certified public 

accountant. Under § 203.81, a report 

prepared by an independent certified 

public accountant must accompany the 

application and post-production report 

(expansion project, short form, and 

preview assessment applications are 

excluded). The OCS Lands Act 

applications will require this report 

only once; the DWRRA applications will 

require this report at two stages—with 

the application and post-production 

development report for successful 

applicants. The BSEE estimates 

approximately one submission each 

year at an average cost of $45,000 per 

report. 

Public Disclosure Statement: The PRA 

(44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.,) provides that 

an agency may not conduct or sponsor 

a collection of information unless it 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number. Until OMB approves a 

collection of information, you are not 

obligated to respond. 

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

the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.,) 

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 

collection is necessary or useful; (b) 

evaluate the accuracy 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 

technology. 

To comply with the public 

consultation process, on May 22, 2012, 

we published a Federal Register notice 

(77 FR 30310) announcing that we 

would submit this ICR to OMB for 

approval. The notice provided the 

required 60-day comment period. In 

addition, § 203.82 provides the OMB 

control number for the information 

collection requirements imposed by the 

30 CFR part 203 regulations. The 

regulation also informs the public that 

they may comment at any time on the 

collections of information and provides 

the address to which they should send 

comments. We have received one 

comment in response to these efforts; 

however, the comment did not pertain 

to the paperwork burden associated 

with this IC. The comment was a 

personal opinion of the bureau location 

of where this program resides. 

Public Availability of Comments: 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you can ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Acting BSSE Information Collection 

Clearance Officer: Cheryl Blundon (703) 

787–1607. 

Dated: October 9, 2012. 

Robert W. Middleton, 

Deputy Chief, Office of Offshore Regulatory 

Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2012–25971 Filed 10–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–VH–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R1–R–2012–N132: 1265–0000–10137 

S3] 

Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, 

Washington and Yamhill Counties, OR, 

Draft Comprehensive Conservation 

Plan and Environmental Assessment 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 


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