Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 98 /Thursday, May 21, 1998 / Notices 27999

into a contract to develop, produce, and

dispose of minerals from Federal or

Indian lands, that company or

individual agrees to pay the United

States or Indian tribe or allottee a share

(royalty) monthly of the full value

received for the minerals taken from

leased lands.

The Auditing and Financial System

(AFS) is the automated fiscal accounting

system used by the Royalty Management

Program (RMP) to account for revenues

collected from Federal and Indian

leases. The Report of Sales and Royalty

Remittance, Form MMS–2014, is the

only document used for reporting

royalties, certain rents, and other leaserelated transactions to MMS. AFS relies

on data reported by payors on Form

MMS–2014 for the majority of its

processing.

In addition to accounting for royalties

reported by payors, AFS, using Form

MMS–2014 information, performs

numerous other functions. These

functions include monthly distribution

of mineral revenues to State, Indian, and

U.S. Treasury accounts; providing

royalty accounting and statistical

information to States, Indians, and

others who have a need for such

information; and identifying under

reporting and nonreporting so MMS can

promptly collect revenues. Sales and

royalty information gathered through

AFS is compared with production data

collected by a second MMS system, the

Production Accounting and Auditing

System. This comparison of reported

production with reported sales provides

MMS with valuable cross-check

capabilities for verification of

production with reported sales.

Failure to collect the information

provided by Form MMS–2014 would

render it impossible to ensure that MMS

is collecting and disbursing the full

value of royalties received from

production of leased lands. Collection of

royalties directly impacts the amount of

funds made available to the United

States Treasury, to State governments,

and to Indian tribes and allottees.

Description of Respondents:

Companies or individuals (payors) that

contract to develop, produce, and

dispose of minerals from Federal or

Indian lands and agree to pay the

United States, Indian tribe or allottee

royalties on the full value received for

minerals taken from leased lands.

Frequency of Response: Monthly.

Estimated Reporting and

Recordkeeping Burden: 7 minutes per

manually completed report, 2 minutes

per electronically completed report, and

12 hours annually for recordkeeping.

Annual Responses: 3,300,000.

Annual Burden Hours: 189,000 hours.

Bureau Clearance Officer: Jo Ann

Lauterbach (202) 208–7744.

Dated: April 22, 1998.

Lucy Querques Denett,

Associate Director for Royalty Management.

[FR Doc. 98–13474 Filed 5–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Submitted for Office of

Management and Budget Review;

Comment Request

Title: Stripper Royalty Rate Reduction

Notification (Form MMS–4377).

OMB Control Number: 1010–0090.

Comments: This collection of

information has been submitted to the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) for approval of an extension of

a currently approved information

collection. In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Section 3506 (c)(2)(A), we are notifying

you, members of the public and affected

agencies, of this collection of

information, and are inviting your

comments. Is this information collection

necessary for us to properly do our job?

Have we accurately estimated the

public’s burden for responding to this

collection? Can we enhance the quality,

utility, and clarity of the information we

collect? Can we lessen the burden of

this information collection on the

respondents by using automated

collection techniques or other forms of

information technology?

Comments should be made directly to

the Attention: Desk Officer for the

Interior Department, Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Office of Management and Budget (OMB

Control Number 1010–0090),

Washington, DC 20503; telephone (202)

395–7340. Copies of these comments

should also be sent to us. The U.S.

Postal Service address is Minerals

Management Service, Royalty

Management Program, Rules and

Publications Staff, P.O.Box 25165, MS–

3021, Denver, Colorado 80225–0165; the

courier address is Building 85, Room A–

613, Denver Federal Center, Denver,

Colorado 80225; and the e-Mail address

is RMP.comments@mms.gov. OMB has

up to 60 days to approve or disapprove

the information collection but may

respond after 30 days; therefore, public

comments should be submitted to OMB

within 30 days in order to assure their

maximum consideration.

Copies of the proposed information

collection and related explanatory

material may be obtained by contacting

Dennis C. Jones, Rules and Publications

Staff, telephone (303) 231–3046, FAX

(303) 231–3385, e-Mail

Dennis.C.Jones@mms.gov.

DATES: Written comments should be

received on or before June 22, 1998.

SUMMARY: 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 stripper

oil properties. BLM amended 43 CFR

3103.4–2 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 are then required to notify

the Minerals Management Service

(MMS) of the reduced royalty rate using

Form MMS–4377, Stripper Royalty Rate

Reduction Notification. The form

requires identification of the operator,

name of the contact person, lease and

agreement numbers, calculated royalty

rate, current royalty rate, qualifying

period, and effective date of royalty rate

reduction. MMS uses the information

provided on the form to update the

database with accepted reduced royalty

rates. The reduced royalty 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.

Description of Respondents:

Operators of low producing oil wells.

Frequency of Response: Annually.

Annual Recordkeeping Burden: 200

hours.

Annual Responses: 800.

Annual Burden Hours: 600 hours.

Bureau Clearance Officer: Jo Ann

Lauterbach (202) 208–7744.

Dated: April 23, 1998.

Lucy Querques Denett,

Associate Director for Royalty Management.

[FR Doc. 98–13475 Filed 5–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Jamaica Bay Unit of Gateway National

Recreation Area, Brooklyn, NY;

Concession Contract

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.