[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 243 (Thursday, December 18, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75583-75584]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-29657]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[Docket No. ONRR-2014-0002; DS63610000 DR2PS0000.CH7000 145D0102R2]


Office of Natural Resources Revenue; Agency Information 
Collection Activities: Proposed Collection-United States Extractive 
Industries Transparency Initiative (USEITI) Revenue Information 
Collection, Comment Request

AGENCY: Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of a new information collection.

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we 
are inviting comments on an information request that we will submit to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This 
Information Collection Request (ICR) covers the voluntary paperwork 
requirements for participation in the United States' implementation of 
the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). It 
encompasses upcoming requests that certain companies voluntarily 
provide information on the amount of revenue which they have paid to 
the Federal government for extracting Federally-owned natural 
resources.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before February 17, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this ICR to ONRR by using one of 
the following three methods (please use ONRR 2014-0002 as an identifier 
in your comment):
    1. Electronically, go to http://www.regulations.gov. In the entry 
titled ``Enter Keyword or ID,'' enter ONRR-2014-0002 and then click 
``Search.'' Follow the instructions to submit public comments. ONRR 
will post all comments.
    2. Mail comments to Mr. Luis Aguilar, Regulatory Specialist, ONRR, 
P.O. Box 25165, MS 61030A, Denver, Colorado 80225-0165.
    3. Hand-carry or mail comments, using an overnight courier service, 
to ONRR. Our courier address is Building 85, Room A-614, Denver Federal 
Center, West 6th Ave. and Kipling St., Denver, Colorado 80225.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on technical issues, 
contact Mr. Jon Swedin, Program Analyst, at (303) 231-3028, or email 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#43092c2d22372b222d6d103426272a2d032c2d31316d242c35"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="38725756594c505956166b4f5d5c51567857564a4a165f574e">[email protected]</span></a>. For other questions, contact Mr. Luis 
Aguilar, telephone (303) 231-3418, or email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a5e9d0ccd68be4c2d0ccc9c4d7e5cacbd7d78bc2cad3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3c7049554f127d5b4955505d4e7c53524e4e125b534a">[email protected]</span></a>. You 
may also contact Mr. Aguilar to obtain copies, at no cost, of (1) the 
ICR, (2) any associated form, and (3) the regulations that require us 
to collect the information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: United States Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative 
(USEITI) Revenue Information Collection.
    OMB Control Number: 1012--0NEW.
    Bureau Form Number: United States Extractive Industries 
Transparency Initiative (USEITI) Company Payment Reporting Template.
    Abstract: The Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior is 
responsible for mineral resource development on Federal and Indian 
lands and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Under various laws, the 
Secretary's responsibility is to manage mineral resources production on 
Federal and Indian lands and the OCS, collect the royalties and other 
mineral revenues due, and distribute the funds collected under those 
laws. ONRR performs the royalty management functions and assists the 
Secretary in carrying out the Department's responsibility. We have 
posted those laws pertaining to mineral leases on Federal and Indian 
lands and the OCS at http://www.onrr.gov/Laws_R_D/PubLaws/default.htm.
    In September 2011, President Obama announced the U.S. commitment to 
domestic implementation of EITI, a key element of the President's Open 
Government Partnership commitments. President Obama appointed the 
Secretary of the Interior as the senior U.S. official to lead USEITI 
implementation. EITI is a voluntary global effort designed to 
strengthen transparency, accountability, and public trust for the 
revenues paid and received for a country's oil, gas, and mineral 
resources. The Administration renewed its commitment to implement EITI 
in the December 2013 U.S. Open Government National Action Plan. By 
signing onto the global EITI standard, the U.S. Government will help 
ensure that American taxpayers are receiving every dollar due for the 
extraction of these valuable public resources. The EITI Standard 
contains the set of requirements that countries need to meet in order 
to be recognized first as an EITI Candidate and, ultimately, an EITI-
Compliant Country. In March 2014, the U.S. became the first G7 country 
to achieve Candidate Country status. When fully implemented, EITI will 
ensure more transparency in how the country's natural resources are 
governed and also will provide full disclosure of government revenues 
from its extractive sector.
    The following laws and executive initiative are applicable to 
USEITI, including the Secretary's and ONRR's management of mineral 
resource production, revenue, and information disclosure obligations:

<bullet> U.S. Open Government National Action Plan
<bullet> Freedom of Information Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. 552)
<bullet> Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331-
56b), including provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 
15801 et seq.)
<bullet> Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 as amended 
by the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act of 
1996 (30 U.S.C. 1701-1759).
<bullet> Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001-28)
<bullet> Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181-287)
<bullet> Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351-60)

General Information

    International EITI requirements direct participating governments to 
publish annual reports to help citizens

[[Page 75584]]

understand how governments manage their extractive sectors. The U.S. 
Open Government National Action Plan commits the U.S. to publish the 
first United States EITI report in 2015 and to achieve EITI compliance 
in 2016. An Independent Administrator produces the annual reports, 
which include parallel public disclosures by both the government and 
companies, of the payments that companies have made to the government 
on their oil, gas, and mining development. In order to produce the 
USEITI annual reports, the Independent Administrator will collect 
revenue information from extractive companies who meet payment 
thresholds. The requested information will include the amounts of 
royalties, rentals, and other payments related to mineral development 
that companies have made to the Federal Government. The Independent 
Administrator will not collect items of a sensitive nature such as 
proprietary data, Personally Identifiable Information, etc. EITI is a 
voluntary initiative, and companies are not required to provide the 
requested information.

OMB Approval

    We will request OMB approval to collect this information. If the 
Secretary does not collect this information, the United States will not 
become an EITI Compliant Country, limiting the Secretary's ability to 
provide more transparency in how the country's natural resources are 
governed, including better transparency on our country's revenue 
collection process.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 76 extractive 
companies who meet annual revenue payment thresholds.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden for 
the 76 extractive companies who meet annual revenue payment thresholds: 
5,776 hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-hour'' Cost 
Burden: We have not identified a ``non-hour'' cost burden associated 
with the collection of information.
    We have not included in our estimates certain requirements 
performed in the normal course of business, considered as usual and 
customary.
    Public Disclosure Statement: 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.
    Comments: Before submitting an ICR to OMB, PRA Section 
3506(c)(2)(A) requires each agency to ``* * * provide 60-day notice in 
the Federal Register * * * 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 
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. If you have costs to 
generate, maintain, and disclose this information, you should comment 
and provide your total capital and startup cost components or annual 
operation, maintenance, and purchase of service components. You should 
describe the methods that you use to estimate (1) major cost factors, 
including system and technology acquisition, (2) expected useful life 
of capital equipment, (3) discount rate(s), and (4) the period over 
which you incur costs. Capital and startup costs include, among other 
items, computers and software that you purchase to prepare for 
collecting information and monitoring, sampling, 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 Federal 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 ICR submission for OMB approval, including appropriate 
adjustments to the estimated burden. We will provide a copy of the ICR 
to you, without charge, upon request. We also will post the ICR at 
http://www.onrr.gov/Laws_R_D/FRNotices/FRInfColl.htm.
    Public Comment Policy: ONRR will post all comments, including names 
and addresses of respondents at http://www.regulations.gov. Before 
including Personally Identifiable Information (PII), such as your 
address, phone number, email address, or other personal information in 
your comment(s), you should be aware that your entire comment 
(including PII) may be made available to the public at any time. While 
you may ask us, in your comment, to withhold PII from public view, we 
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

    Dated: December 11, 2014.
Kristen Sarri,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Policy, Management and Budget.
[FR Doc. 2014-29657 Filed 12-17-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4335-30-P


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