9354 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 26 / Wednesday, February 7, 2001 / Notices

Davis, California—Phone 530–752–

8111. The Ballast Water and Shipping

Committee meeting will be held at the

U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, Room

2415, 2100 Second Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20593.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fred

Kern, Green Crab Control Committee

Chairperson, at 410–226–5193 or by

email at Fred.Kern@noaa.gov; LT Mary

Pat McKeown, U.S. Coast Guard, Ballast

Water and Shipping Committee

Chairperson, at 202–267–0500 or by

email at mmckeown@comdt.uscg.mil; or

Sharon Gross, Executive Secretary,

Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force at

703–358–2308 or by e-mail at

sharonlgross@fws.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant

to section 10(a)(2) of the Federal

Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.

I), this notice announces meetings of the

Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force

Green Crab control Committee and

Ballast Water and Shipping Committee.

The Task Force was established by the

Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance

Prevention and Control Act of 1990 (16

U.S.C. 4701–4741). Topics to be

addressed at the Green Crab Control

Committee meeting include: review and

development of Green Crab

Management Plan components to

address four critical areas including

prevention, detection and forecasting,

control/eradication, and information

access and management; and

development of priorities for action. The

Ballast Water and Shipping Committee

will meet to develop and prioritized list

of ballast water related research needs.

Minutes of the meetings will be

maintained by the Executive Secretary,

Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force,

suite 810, 4401 North Fairfax Drive,

Arlington, Virginia 22203–1622, and the

Chair of the Ballast Water and Shipping

Committee at the Environmental

Standards Division, Office of Operations

and Environmental Standards, U.S.

Coast Guard (G–MSO–4), 2100 Second

Street, SW., Room 1309, Washington,

DC 20593–0001 and the Chair of the

Green Crab Control Committee at the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration, Cooperative Oxford

Laboratory, 904 South Morris Street,

Oxford, Maryland 21654. Minutes for

the meetings will be available at these

locations for public inspection during

regular business hours, Monday through

Friday.

Dated: January 25, 2001.

Cathleen I. Short,

Co-Chair, Aquatic Nuisance Species Task

Force, Assistant Director—Fisheries and

Habitat Conservation.

[FR Doc. 01–3199 Filed 2–6–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Submitted for Office of

Management and Budget (OMB)

Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service

(MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of extension of a

currently approved information

collection (OMB Control Number 1010–

0006).

SUMMARY: To comply with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

(PRA), we are submitting to OMB for

review and approval an information

collection request (ICR) titled ‘‘30 CFR

Part 256, Leasing of Sulphur or Oil and

Gas in the Outer Continental Shelf.’’ We

are also soliciting comments from the

public on this ICR.

DATES: Submit written comments by

March 9, 2001.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments

directly to the Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention:

Desk Officer for the Department of the

Interior (1010–0006), 725 17th Street,

NW., Washington, DC 20503. Mail or

hand carry a copy of your 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 at no

cost a copy of our submission to OMB,

which includes the regulations that

require this information to be collected.

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

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.

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. MMS protects specific

individual replies from disclosure as

proprietary information according to

section 26 of the OCS Lands Act and 30

CFR 256.10(d).

MMS uses the information to

determine if applicants are qualified to

hold leases in the OCS and specifically

to:

• 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.

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 26 / Wednesday, February 7, 2001 / Notices 9355

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Document that a leasehold or

geographical subdivision has been

surrendered by the record title holder.

• Verify that lessee’s 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.’’ We use

these documents to hold the surety libel

for the obligations and liability of the

principal/lessee or operator.

With respect to the forms MMS–2028

and MMS–2028A, the currently

approved forms are not written in

‘‘plain language.’’ In keeping with the

current policy, MMS is revising these

forms in plain language and the revised

forms are undergoing legal and

management review. The revised forms

will not contain any new data elements

requesting information from

respondents. In the interim, as part of

our ICR on 30 CFR part 256, we are

asking OMB to renew the current

version of the forms, but intend to

supersede them with the plain language

forms upon legal and management

approval of the revised wording.

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

estimated ‘‘hour’’ burden for this

information collection is a total of

16,329 hours. The following chart

provides a breakdown of the

requirements and burden hours.

BURDEN BREAKDOWN

Citation 30 CFR part

256 Reporting requirement Annual number

Burden

hour(s) per

response

Annual

burden

hours

Annual hour burden cost

Subparts A, C, E, H,

L, M.

None ........................................................ Not applicable. 0 0

Subparts G, H, I, J:

256.37, 256.53,

256.68, 256.70,

256.71, 256.72,

256.73.

Request approval for various operations

or submit plans or applications.

Burden included with other approved collections in 30 CFR

part 250.

0 0

Subpart B: 256.16,

256.17, 250.20.

Subpart D: All

sections.

Submit response to request/call for information, comments, and interest in

areas for mineral leasing, including information from States/local governments.

5 responses ........... 4 20 @ $50 = $1,000

Subpart F: 256.31 ... States or local governments submit recommendations on size, timing or location of proposed lease sale.10 responses ......... 4 40 @ $50 = $2,000

Subpart G:

256.35,

256.46(d), (e).

Establish a Company File for pre-qualification purposes; submit updated information.100 responses ....... 2 200 @ $100 = $20,000

256.41, 256.43,

256.46(g).

Submit qualification of bidders for joint

bids and statement or report of production.

200 responses ....... 41⁄2 900 @ $50 = $45,000

256.45, 256.46 Submit bids and required information ..... 2,000 bids .............. 5 10,000 @ $100 = $1,000,000

256.47(c) .......... File agreement to accept joint lease on

tie bids.

2 agreements ......... 31⁄2 7 @ $50 = $350

256.47(e)(1),

(e)(3).

Request for reconsideration of bid rejection.Exempt as defined in 5 CFR

1320.3(h)(9).

0 0

256.47(f),

256.50.

Execute lease (includes submission of

evidence of authorized agent and request for dating of leases).

630 leases ............. 1 630 @ $100 = $63,000

Subpart I:

256.54 .............. OCS Lessee’s and Operator’s Bond and

Act of Suretyship (form MMS–2028).

205 forms ............... 1⁄4 *51 @ $100 = $5,100

256.54 .............. OCS Lessee’s and Operator’s Supplemental Plugging & Abandonment

Bond and Act of Suretyship (form

MMS–2028A).

130 forms ............... 1⁄4 *33 @ $100 = $3,300

256.52(f)(2),

(g)(2).

Submit authority for Regional Director to

sell Treasury or alternate type of securities.

5 submissions ........ 2 10 @ $100 = $1,000

9356 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 26 / Wednesday, February 7, 2001 / Notices

BURDEN BREAKDOWN—Continued

Citation 30 CFR part

256 Reporting requirement Annual number

Burden

hour(s) per

response

Annual

burden

hours

Annual hour burden cost

256.53(c), (d),

(f);

256.54(d)(3).

Demonstrate ability to carry out present

and future financial obligations, request approval of another form of security, or request reduction in amount

of supplemental bond required.

162 submissions .... 21⁄2 405 @ $100 = $40,500

256.55(b) ......... Notify MMS of action filed alleging lessee, surety, or guarantor are insolvent

or bankrupt.

2 notices ................ 1⁄2 1 @ $100 = $100

256.56 .............. Provide plan to fund lease-specific

abandonment account and related information; request approval to withdraw funds.

4 submissions ........ 11 44 @ $50 = $2,200

256.57 .............. Provide third-party guarantee, indemnity

agreement, related notices, and annual update.

12 submissions ...... 161⁄2 198 @ $50 = $9,900

256.57(d)(3),

256.58.

Notice of and request approval to terminate period of liability, cancel bond, or

other security.

280 requests .......... 1⁄2 140 @ $50 = $7,000

256.59(c)(2) ..... Provide information to demonstrate

lease will be brought into compliance.

3 responses ........... 14 42 @ $50 = $2,100

Subpart J:

256.62, 256.64,

256.65,

256.67.

File application for assignment or transfer for approval.1,845 applications .. 1 1,845 @ $50 = $92,250

256.64(a)(7) ..... File required instruments creating or

transferring working interests, etc., for

record purposes.

2,915 filings ........... 1⁄2 *1,458 @ $50 = $72,900

256.64(a)(8) ..... Submit non-required documents for

record purposes which respondents

want MMS to file with the lease document.

Accepted on behalf of lessees as

a service, but MMS does not require nor need the filings.

0 0

Subpart K: 256.76 ... File written request for relinquishment ... 305 relinquishments 1 305 @ $50 = $15,250

Total Reporting 8,815 Responses .................................... 16,329 .................... $1,382,950

* Rounded.

Estimated Annual Reporting and

Recordkeeping ‘‘Non-Hour Cost’’

Burden: The estimated ‘‘non-hour cost’’

burden for this information collection is

a total of $414,450. 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) according to

§ 256.64(a)(8).

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.

To comply with the public

consultation process, on October 11,

2000, we published a Federal Register

notice (65 FR 60449) with the required

60-day comment period announcing

that we would submit this ICR to OMB

for approval. In addition, § 256.0 and

the PRA statement on the MMS forms

display the OMB control number,

specify that the public may comment at

anytime on the collection of information

required in the 30 CFR part 256

regulations and forms, and provide the

address to which they should send

comments. We have received no

comments in response to those efforts.

We also consulted with several

respondents and adjusted some of the

information collection burdens as a

result of those consultations.

If you wish to comment in response

to this notice, send your comments

directly to the offices listed under the

ADDRESSES section of this notice. The

OMB has up to 60 days to approve or

disapprove the information collection

but may respond after 30 days.

Therefore, to ensure maximum

consideration, OMB should receive

public comments by March 9, 2001.

MMS Information Collection

Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach,

(202) 208–7744.

Dated: January 23, 2001.

E.P. Danenberger,

Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.

[FR Doc. 01–3201 Filed 2–6–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation

and Enforcement

Notice of Proposed Information

Collection

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining

Reclamation and Enforcement.