20484 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 74 / Monday, April 17, 2000 / Notices

by minors, on BLM-administered public

lands and recreation areas, in a manner

consistent with Montana Code

Annotated (MCA) 45–5–624, MCA 16–

6–304, and MCA 16–6–305; ND Century

Codes 5–01–01, 5–01–08, and 5–01–09;

and SD Code 35–1–1, 35–9–1, 35–9–1.1,

and 35–9–2. An intoxicating substance

is defined in MCA 45–2–101 (31)(a).

This supplementary rule is issued

under the authority of 43 CFR 8365.1–

6.

Penalties

As prescribed under the Federal Land

Policy and Management Act, 43 USC,

Section 1733(a), and the Taylor Grazing

Act, the violation is punishable by fines

and/or imprisonment under 43 CFR

8360.0–7, with fines up to $1000 and/

or 12 months in jail, or $500 as

authorized under the Taylor Grazing Act

(43 USC 315a).

DATES: To comply with the

Administrative Procedures Act, if no

significant opposition is received, this

rule will go into effect May 17, 2000,

and will remain in effect until rescinded

or modified by the authorized officer.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Land

Management, Montana State Office,

5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, Montana

59101, (406) 896–5010.

Dated: March 23, 2000.

Larry E. Hamilton,

State Director.

[FR Doc. 00–9424 Filed 4–14–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–DN–P

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–

0053).

SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort

to reduce paperwork and respondent

burden, MMS invites the public and

other Federal agencies to comment on a

proposal to extend the currently

approved collection of information

discussed below on oil and gas drilling

operations. We intend to submit this

collection of information to the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) for

approval. The Paperwork Reduction Act

of 1995 (PRA) 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.

DATES: Submit written comments by

June 16, 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 collection of information at no

cost.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: 30 CFR 250, Subpart D, Oil and

Gas Drilling Operations.

OMB Control Number: 1010–0053.

Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf

(OCS) Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.,

requires the Secretary of the Interior to

preserve, protect, and develop oil and

gas resources in the OCS; make such

resources available to meet the Nation’s

energy needs as rapidly as possible;

balance orderly energy resources

development with protection of the

human, marine, and coastal

environment; ensure the public a fair

and equitable return on the resources

offshore; and preserve and maintain free

enterprise competition. Section 1332(6)

of the OCS Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1332)

requires that ‘‘operations in the [O]uter

Continental Shelf should be conducted

in a safe manner by well-trained

personnel using technology,

precautions, and techniques sufficient

to prevent or minimize the likelihood of

blowouts, loss of well control, fires,

spillages, physical obstruction to other

users of the waters or subsoil and

seabed, or other occurrences which may

cause damage to the environment or to

property, or endanger life or health.’’

This authority and responsibility are

among those delegated to MMS. To

carry out these responsibilities, MMS

issues regulations governing oil and gas

and sulphur operations in the OCS. This

collection of information addresses 30

CFR 250, subpart D, Oil and Gas Drilling

Operations.

The MMS uses the information to

ascertain the condition of a drilling site

to prevent hazards inherent in drilling

operations. Among other things, MMS

specifically uses the information to

ensure: (a) The drilling unit is fit for the

intended purpose; (b) the lessee will not

encounter geologic conditions that

present a hazard to operations; (c)

equipment is maintained in a state of

readiness and meets safety standards;

(d) each drilling crew is properly

trained and able to promptly perform

well-control activities at any time

during well operations; (e) compliance

with safety standards; and (f) the

proposed field drilling rules will

provide for safe and proper field or

reservoir development, resource

evaluation, conservation, protection of

correlative rights, safety, and

environmental protection. We also

review well records to ascertain whether

drilling operations have encountered

hydrocarbons or H2S and to ensure that

H2S detection equipment, personnel

protective equipment, and training of

the crew are adequate for safe

operations in zones known to contain

H2S and zones where the presence of

H2S is unknown.

Responses are mandatory. Proprietary

information respondents submit is

protected according to the Freedom of

Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and its

implementing regulations (43 CFR 2)

and 30 CFR 250.196. No items of a

sensitive nature are collected.

Frequency: The frequency of reporting

varies by section, but is mostly on

occasion.

Estimated Number and Description of

Respondents: Approximately 130

Federal OCS oil, gas, and sulphur

lessees.

Estimated Annual Reporting and

Recordkeeping ‘‘Hour’’ Burden: The

currently approved burden for this

information collection is 107,698 hours

(3,389 reporting and 103,859

recordkeeping hours). This averages

approximately 830 hours per

respondent.

Estimated Annual Reporting and

Recordkeeping ‘‘Non-Hour Cost’’

Burden: We have identified no non-hour

cost burdens.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 74 / Monday, April 17, 2000 / Notices 20485

Comments: 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 to OMB. In calculating the

burden, we assumed that respondents

perform many of the 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.

(1) We specifically solicit your

comments on the following questions:

(a) Is the proposed collection of

information necessary for us to properly

perform our functions, and will it be

useful?

(b) Are the estimates of the burden

hours of the proposed collection

reasonable?

(c) Do you have any suggestions that

would enhance the quality, clarity, or

usefulness of the information to be

collected?

(d) Is there a way to minimize the

information collection burden on

respondents, including through the use

of appropriate automated electronic,

mechanical, or other forms of

information technology?

(2) In addition, the PRA requires

agencies to estimate the total annual

reporting ‘‘non-hour cost’’ burden to

respondents or recordkeepers resulting

from the collection of information. We

need to know if you have 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,

sampling, drilling, and testing

equipment; 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.

MMS Information Collection

Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach,

(202) 208–7744).

Dated: March 31, 2000.

E.P. Danenberger,

Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.

[FR Doc. 00–9425 Filed 4–14–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P

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–

0067).

SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort

to reduce paperwork and respondent

burden, MMS invites the public and

other Federal agencies to comment on a

proposal to extend the currently

approved collection of information

discussed below on oil and gas wellcontrol operations. We intend to submit

this collection of information to the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) for approval. The Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) 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.

DATES: Submit written comments by

June 16, 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 collection of information at no

cost.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: 30 CFR 250, Subpart E, Oil and

Gas Well-Completion Operations

OMB Control Number: 1010–0067.

Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf

(OCS) Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.,

requires the Secretary of the Interior to

preserve, protect, and develop oil and

gas resources in the OCS; make such

resources available to meet the Nation’s

energy needs as rapidly as possible;

balance orderly energy resources

development with protection of the

human, marine, and coastal

environment; ensure the public a fair

and equitable return on resources

offshore; and preserve and maintain free

enterprise competition. Section 1332(6)

of the OCS Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1332)

requires that ‘‘operations in the [O]uter

Continental Shelf should be conducted

in a safe manner by well-trained

personnel using technology,

precautions, and techniques sufficient

to prevent or minimize the likelihood of

blowouts, loss of well control, fires,

spillages, physical obstruction to other

users of the waters or subsoil and

seabed, or other occurrences which may

cause damage to the environment or to

property, or endanger life or health.’’

This authority and responsibility are

among those delegated to MMS. To

carry out these responsibilities, MMS

issues regulations governing oil and gas

and sulphur operations in the OCS. This

collection of information addresses 30

CFR part 250, subpart E, Oil and Gas

Well-Completion Operations.

The MMS district supervisors analyze

and evaluate the information and data

collected under subpart E to ensure that

planned well-completion operations

will protect personnel safety and natural

resources. They use the analysis and

evaluation results in the decision to

approve, disapprove, or require

modification to the proposed wellcompletion operations. Specifically,

MMS uses the information to ensure: (a)

compliance with personnel safety

training requirements; (b) crown block

safety device is operating and can be

expected to function to avoid accidents;

(c) proposed operation of the annular

preventer is technically correct and

provides adequate protection for

personnel, property, and natural

resources; (d) well-completion