Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 166 / Tuesday, August 31, 2021 / Notices 48759 

1 IM 2009–027, ‘‘The Feasibility Use of Truck 

Mounted Meters for Oil Measurement Onshore’’ 

(Nov. 26, 2008). 

2 43 CFR 3174.5, 3174.6. 

3 43 CFR 3174.7, 3174.8. 

4 43 CFR 3174.9, 3174.10. 

Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

1733(a)), 43 CFR 8360.0–7 and 43 CFR 

8364.1, the BLM will enforce the 

following rules in the area described 

above: 

The entire area as listed in the legal 

description above is closed to all 

vehicles and personnel except law 

enforcement, emergency vehicles, event 

personnel, and ticketed festival 

participants. No vehicle stopping or 

parking in the closed area except for 

designated parking areas will be 

permitted. Festival participants are 

required to remain within designated 

spectator areas only. 

The following restrictions will be in 

effect for the duration of the closure. 

Unless otherwise authorized, the 

following activities within the closure 

area are prohibited: 

• Camping. 

• Possession and/or consuming any 

alcoholic beverage unless the person has 

reached the age of 21 years. 

• Discharging, or use of firearms or 

other weapons. 

• Possession and/or discharging of 

fireworks. 

• Allowing any pet or other animal in 

one’s care to be unrestrained at any 

time. Animals must be on a leash or 

other restraint no longer than 3 feet. 

• Operation of any vehicle including 

any off-highway vehicle and golf carts 

within the closure area, except along 

designated event routes to and from 

entrance/exit points and parking areas; 

or designated event vehicles and official 

vehicles. 

• Parking any vehicle in violation of 

posted restrictions, or in such a manner 

as to obstruct or impede normal or 

emergency traffic movement or the 

parking of other vehicles, create a safety 

hazard, or endanger any person, 

property, or feature. Vehicles so parked 

are subject to citation, removal, and 

impoundment at the owner’s expense. 

• Operating a vehicle through, 

around, or beyond a restrictive sign, 

recognizable barricade, fence, or traffic 

control barrier or device. 

Signs and maps directing the public 

to designated spectator areas will be 

provided by the event sponsor. 

Exceptions: Closure restrictions do 

not apply to BLM employees, 

contractors, or agents engaged in official 

duties, any Federal, State, or local 

officer, member of an organized rescue 

or firefighting force engaged in fire, 

emergency, or law enforcement 

activities, public utility employees 

engaged in emergency repairs, or 

vehicles owned by or contracted by the 

United States, the State of Nevada, or 

Clark County. The closure restrictions 

also do not apply to vehicles under 

permit for operation by event staff, 

contractors, and festival participants. 

Enforcement: Any person who 

violates this temporary closure may be 

tried before a United States Magistrate 

and fined in accordance with 18 U.S.C. 

3571, imprisoned no more than 12 

months under 43 U.S.C. 1733(a) and 43 

CFR 8360.0–7, or both. In accordance 

with 43 CFR 8365.1–7, State or local 

officials may also impose penalties for 

violations of Nevada law. 

(Authority: 43 CFR 8360.0–7 and 8364.1) 

Shonna Dooman, 

Field Manager—Las Vegas Field Office. 

[FR Doc. 2021–18663 Filed 8–30–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–HC–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLHQ310000.L13100000.PP0000.21X] 

Notice Regarding Use of TruckMounted Coriolis Meters 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of clarification. 

SUMMARY: This notice clarifies the 

Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) 

position on the use of truck-mounted 

Coriolis (TMC) meters under the BLM’s 

oil measurement regulations published 

on November 17, 2016. 

DATES: This interpretation takes effect 

on August 31, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amanda Eagle, Production Management 

Team Lead for Division of Fluid 

Minerals, Bureau of Land Management, 

Headquarters Office, 301 Dinosaur 

Drive, Santa Fe, NM 87508; phone 907– 

538–2300; email pmt@blm.gov. Persons 

who use a telecommunications device 

for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 

Relay Service (FRS) at 1–800–877–8339 

to contact Ms. Eagle. The FRS is 

available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 

to leave a message or question. You will 

receive a reply during normal business 

hours. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice clarifies the BLM’s position on 

the use of TMC meters under its oil 

measurement regulations found at 43 

CFR subpart 3174. Although the 

preamble to the final rule establishing 

the oil measurement regulations 

indicated that TMC meters were not 

authorized, such an interpretation is not 

necessarily consistent with the plain 

language of the regulations. 

Today, the BLM is resolving this 

inconsistency by adopting an 

interpretation of the oil measurement 

regulations that allows for the use of 

TMC meters if such use is conducted in 

accordance with the requirements for a 

Coriolis measurement system (CMS). 

This clarification of the BLM’s oil 

measurement regulations will maintain 

the efficacy of the regulations in 

ensuring measurement accuracy and a 

fair return to the American public. 

Background: Measurement of oil by 

TMC meters involves connecting a 

flexible hose from a truck to the sales 

valve on an oil storage tank. The seal on 

the sales valve is then broken, allowing 

oil to flow from the tank to the truck. 

As the oil enters the truck, it is 

measured by a Coriolis meter. When the 

oil transfer is complete, the sales valve 

at the tank is sealed and the hose is 

walked-back to the truck, which forces 

the last of the oil through the meter. 

Oil measurement from Federal and 

Indian mineral leases was governed by 

BLM’s Onshore Order No. 4 (54 FR 8086 

(Feb. 24, 1989)) from 1989 to January 

2017. TMC meters were not an 

authorized method of measurement 

under Onshore Order No. 4. However, at 

least one BLM Field Office (North 

Dakota) issued variances to allow for the 

use of TMC meters beginning in July 

2004. A November 2008 BLM 

Instruction Memorandum (IM) 

explained that, although ‘‘the use of 

truck mounted meters for measuring oil 

from tanks in lieu of tank gauging is a 

Best Management Practice (BMP) for oil 

measurement,’’ TMC meters ‘‘must be 

proven to be at least as accurate as the 

standards set in (Onshore Order 4)’’ 

before an exception from Onshore Order 

No. 4 can be issued.1

Prompted by external and internal 

oversight reviews finding many of the 

BLM’s production measurement and 

accountability policies to be outdated 

and inconsistently applied, the BLM 

promulgated new site security, oil 

measurement, and gas measurement 

regulations in November 2016. The new 

oil measurement regulations were 

codified as subpart 3174 of a new part 

3170 in Title 43 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (81 FR 81462 (Nov. 17, 

2016)). 

Under subpart 3174, three methods of 

oil measurement are authorized: 

Measurement by tank gauging,2

measurement by a lease automatic 

custody transfer (LACT) system,3 and 

measurement by a CMS.4 Section 3174.4 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
48760 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 166 / Tuesday, August 31, 2021 / Notices 

5 43 CFR 3174.1(a). ‘‘Tertiary device’’ means, ‘‘for 

a CMS, the flow computer and associated memory, 

calculation, and display functions.’’ Id. 

6Subpart 3174 allows for a ‘‘method of oil 

measurement other than tank gauging, LACT 

system, or CMS’’ to be used where it has been 

approved the by the BLM. 43 CFR 3174.13. 

sets forth specific measurement 

performance requirements with respect 

to uncertainty, bias, and verifiability 

that apply to all measurement methods 

under subpart 3174. Additional 

requirements specific to measurement 

by a CMS are detailed in §§ 3174.9 and 

3174.10. 

Subpart 3174 defines a ‘‘Coriolis 

measurement system (CMS)’’ as ‘‘a 

metering system using a Coriolis meter 

in conjunction with a tertiary device, 

pressure transducer, and temperature 

transducer in order to derive and report 

gross standard oil volume. A CMS 

system provides real-time, on-line 

measurement of oil.’’ 5

Section 3174.9 sets forth a number of 

‘‘general requirements’’ for a CMS: The 

CMS must meet the performance 

requirements of § 3174.4; the specific 

make, model, and size of the Coriolis 

meter and associated software must 

have been reviewed and approved by 

the BLM’s Production Measurement 

Team (PMT); the CMS must be 

‘‘proven’’ in accordance with § 3174.11; 

measurement tickets must be completed 

under § 3174.12(b); the CMS must be 

composed of specific components 

meeting specified requirements; API oil 

gravity must be reported using a 

specified method; and, net standard 

volume must be calculated in 

accordance with certain API guidelines. 

Section 3174.10 contains CMS operating 

requirements pertaining to minimum 

electronic pulse levels, meter 

specifications, totalizers, meter zero 

value verification, required on-site 

information, audit trails, and data 

protection. 

The subpart 3174 regulations do not 

specifically address the use of TMC 

meters. However, the preamble to the 

final rule did address TMC meters as 

follows: 

One commenter said the final rule should 

allow operators to use truck-mounted CMS 

and submitted summarized data to support 

their view. The summarized data indicates 

significant differences between manualgauged volumes and truck-mounted Coriolismetered volumes. A summary of these 

volume differences indicated that the truckmounted Coriolis meter measured as much as 

22.44 bbl less that [sic] the manual gauge 

measured. Missing from the data is the 

volume of the entire load. The BLM needs 

this information to understand how 

significant these variations are. The data also 

indicates significant differences in measured 

oil temperature (as much as 23 °F) and 

gravity (as much as 5 degrees) when 

compared to manual methods. The 

commenter did not explain these differences 

or explain or justify the data submitted. The 

BLM decided not to include the use of truckmounted Coriolis metering in the final rule. 

Operators may seek approval to use the 

truck-mounted option through the PMT 

approval process, which is outlined in 

§ 3174.13. The rule was not changed based 

on this comment. 

81 FR 81485. 

Thus, in the preamble, the BLM 

expressed an intent not to authorize the 

use of TMC meters as a CMS, and 

implicitly categorized TMC meters as a 

‘‘method of oil measurement other than 

tank gauging, LACT system, or CMS’’ 

that requires prior BLM approval.6

Discussion 

The BLM is revising the position it 

took regarding TMC meters, as 

described in the final rule preamble 

language described earlier, because it 

believes that the text of subpart 3174 

supports an interpretation that allows 

for the use of TMC meters. Because 

TMC meters involve the use of ‘‘a 

Coriolis meter in conjunction with a 

tertiary device, pressure transducer, and 

temperature transducer in order to 

derive and report gross standard volume 

of oil,’’ and ‘‘provides real-time, on-line 

measurement of oil,’’ they meet the 

definition of a CMS in § 3174.1. And, 

TMC meters can comply with subpart 

3174’s requirements for a CMS. In 

particular, TMC meters are capable of 

meeting the specific performance 

requirements for uncertainty, bias, and 

verifiability set forth in § 3174.4 (as 

required by § 3174.9(a)). The BLM also 

believes that TMC meters are capable of 

complying with § 3179.9, which 

prescribes ‘‘general requirements and 

components’’ for a CMS, and § 3179.10, 

which sets forth the ‘‘operating 

requirements’’ for a CMS. Therefore, 

after considering TMC meters in light of 

the plain text of subpart 3174, the BLM 

has concluded that TMC meters are a 

type of a CMS and thus are an 

acceptable method of oil measurement 

as long as the TMC meters meet the 

requirements of subpart 3174. 

The BLM acknowledges that the 

preamble to the 3174 regulations stated 

that the BLM was not including TMC 

meters in the final rule and that 

operators could seek BLM approval of 

TMC meters through the PMT approval 

process. The BLM no longer agrees with 

that interpretation of subpart 3174. In 

the first instance, while the preamble to 

a rule may be used to inform the proper 

interpretation of ambiguous regulation 

text, it cannot override the regulation’s 

plain meaning. See Wyoming Outdoor 

Council v. U.S. Forest Service, 165 F.3d 

43, 53 (D.C. Cir. 1999) (noting that 

‘‘language in the preamble of a 

regulation is not controlling over the 

language of the regulation itself’’); BHP 

Minerals International, Inc. et al, 139 

IBLA 269, 310 (1997) (‘‘Where there is 

a conflict between ‘intent’ as expressed 

in a preamble and as ultimately 

explicated in the actual language of the 

regulation, it is the language of the 

regulation which is determinative.’’). As 

explained earlier, the plain text of 

subpart 3174 indicates that TMC meters 

are a type of a CMS, and the text of the 

regulation should control. In addition, 

the BLM has reconsidered the rationale 

underlying the interpretation espoused 

in the preamble. The view of TMC 

meters expressed in that preamble 

passage appears to be inconsistent with 

the view expressed by the BLM in the 

2008 IM stating that ‘‘the use of truck 

mounted meters for measuring oil from 

tanks in lieu of tank gauging is a Best 

Management Practice (BMP) for oil 

measurement.’’ With respect to the 

measurement data analyzed, the 

preamble passage does not address the 

possibility that the difference in results 

might be attributable to TMC meters’ 

measuring capacity being more accurate 

than manual tank gauging. It would 

seem incongruous to conclude that 

measurement by a truck-mounted 

Coriolis meter would be unacceptably 

inaccurate where the BLM would accept 

measurement by the same Coriolis meter 

in a stationary CMS. For the foregoing 

reasons, the BLM is now clarifying that 

it interprets subpart 3174 as allowing for 

the use of TMC meters, as long as such 

use is conducted in accordance with the 

subpart 3174 requirements for a CMS. 

(Authority: 30 U.S.C. 189; 30 U.S.C. 1751(a), 

43 CFR 3170.1) 

Rebecca Good, 

Acting Chief, Division of Fluid Minerals. 

[FR Doc. 2021–18750 Filed 8–30–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–84–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[21X.LLAZ921000.L14400000.BJ0000.

LXSSA2250000.241A] 

Notice of Filing of Plats of Survey; 

Arizona 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of official filing. 

SUMMARY: The plats of survey of the 

following described lands are scheduled 

to be officially filed 30 days after the 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES