[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 197 (Wednesday, October 11, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60449-60450]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-25765]


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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 1010-0006).

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we 
are inviting comments on an information collection request (ICR), 
titled ``30 CFR Part 256, Leasing of Sulphur or Oil and Gas in the 
Outer Continental Shelf.'' 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 December 11, 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 regulations requiring the collection of information at no 
cost.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: 30 CFR Part 256, Leasing of Sulphur or Oil and Gas in the 
Outer Continental Shelf.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-0006.
    Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act, as amended, 
43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq., requires the Secretary of the Interior to 
preserve, protect, and develop offshore oil and gas resources; to make 
such resources available to meet the Nation's energy needs as rapidly 
as possible; to balance orderly energy resource development with 
protection of the human, marine, and coastal environments; to ensure 
the public a fair and equitable return on the resources of the OCS; and 
to preserve and maintain free enterprise competition. The Energy Policy 
and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA) prohibits certain lease bidding 
arrangements (42 U.S.C. 6213 (c)).
    The Independent Offices Appropriations Act of 1952 (IOAA), 31 
U.S.C. 9701, authorizes Federal agencies to recover the full cost of 
services that provide special benefits. Under the Department of the 
Interior's (DOI) policy implementing the IOAA, MMS is required to 
charge the full cost for services that provide special benefits or 
privileges to an identifiable non-Federal recipient above and beyond 
those that

[[Page 60450]]

accrue to the public at large. Instruments of transfer of a lease or 
interest are subject to cost recovery, and MMS regulations specify 
filing fees for these transfer applications.
    The MMS uses the information required by 30 CFR part 256 to 
determine if applicants are qualified to hold leases in the OCS. 
Specifically, MMS uses the information to:
    <bullet> Verify the qualifications of a bidder on an OCS lease 
sale. Once the required information is filed with MMS, a qualification 
number is assigned to the bidder so that duplicate information is not 
required on subsequent filings.
    <bullet> Develop the semiannual List of Restricted Joint Bidders. 
This identifies parties ineligible to bid jointly with each other on 
OCS lease sales, under limitations established by the EPCA.
    <bullet> Ensure the qualification of assignees. Once a lease is 
awarded, the transfer of a lessee's interest to another qualified party 
must be approved by an MMS regional director.
    <bullet> Obtain information and nominations on oil and gas leasing, 
exploration, and development and production. Early planning and 
consultation ensure that all interests and concerns are communicated to 
us for future decisions in the leasing process.
    <bullet> Document that a leasehold or geographical subdivision has 
been surrendered by the record title holder.
    <bullet> Verify that lessees have adequate bonding coverage. 
Respondents must submit their bonds certification forms: Form MMS-2028, 
Outer Continental Shelf Mineral Lessee's and Operator's Bond and Act of 
Suretyship,'' and Form MMS-2028A, ``Outer Continental Shelf Mineral 
Lessee's and Operator's Supplemental Plugging & Abandonment Bond and 
Act of Suretyship.'' The MMS uses these documents to hold the surety 
libel for the obligations and liability of the principal/lessee or 
operator.
    Responses are required to obtain or retain a benefit. No questions 
of a ``sensitive'' nature are asked. The individual responses to Calls 
for Information are the only information collected involving the 
protection of confidentiality. The MMS will protect specific individual 
replies from disclosure as proprietary information according to section 
26 of the OCS Lands Act and 30 CFR 256.10(d).
    Frequency: The frequency of reporting is ``on occasion.''
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 130 
Federal OCS oil and gas or sulphur lessees, as well as the affected 
states and local governments.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: The 
currently approved'' hour burden for this information collection is a 
total of 17,856 hours. The major components of this burden and burden 
per response are:
    <bullet> Submit qualification of bidders for joint bids and 
statements/reports of production (4.5 hours).
    <bullet> Submit bids (1 hour).
    <bullet> Submit joint lease agreements (4 hours).
    <bullet> Execute forms MMS-2028 and MMS-2028A (\1/4\ hour).
    <bullet> Demonstrate ability to carry out financial obligations, 
request approval for other forms of security, or request reduction in 
supplemental bond requirements (4 hours).
    <bullet> Provide plan to fund lease-specific abandonment account 
and related information (4 hours).
    <bullet> Provide third-party guarantee, indemnity agreement, 
related notices, and annual report (8 hours).
    <bullet> File application for assignment or transfer for approval 
(5 hours).
    <bullet> File required documents for record purposes (\1/2\ hour)
    <bullet> Request relinquishment of lease (5 hours).
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' 
Burden: The currently approved ``non-hour cost'' burden for this 
information collection is a total of $470,875. This cost burden is for 
filing fees associated with submitting requests for approval of 
instruments of transfer ($185 per application) or to file non-required 
documents for record purposes ($25 per filing).
    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. Other than the filing 
fees, 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, 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 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. 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: September 28, 2000.
E.P. Danenberger,
Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 00-25765 Filed 10-10-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-W