[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 13, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10377-10378]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-5938]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[WO-320-1990-2-24 1A]


Extension of Currently Approved Information Collection, OMB 
Approval Number 1004-0114

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is announcing its intention to request 
extension of approval to collect certain information from the owners of 
unpatented mining claims, mill sites, and tunnel sites to allow the BLM 
to record such claims and sites, determine the land status at the time 
of location, collect annual maintenance and location fees, process 
annual waivers from such fees, process annual affidavits of labor or 
notices of intent to hold a mining claim or site, process requests for 
deferments from assessment work, process transfers of interest, and 
generally adjudicate such claims and sites for compliance with the 1872 
Mining Law, as amended and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976 (FLPMA), as amended.

DATES: Comments on the proposed information collection must be received 
by May 13, 1996 to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Regulatory Management Team (420), 
Bureau of Land Management, 1849 C Street NW., Room 401LS, Washington, 
D.C. 20240.
    Comments may be sent via Internet to: !WO[email protected]. Please 
include ``ATTN: 1004-0114'' and your name and return address in your 
Internet message.
    Comments may be hand-delivered to the Bureau of Land Management 
Administrative Record, Room 401, 1620 L Street NW., Washington, DC.
    Comments will be available for public review at the L Street 
address during regular business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.), Monday 
through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roger A. Haskins, (202) 452-0355.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with 5 CFR 1320.8(d), BLM is 
required to provide 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning a 
proposed collection of information to solicit comments on (a) whether 
the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on those who are to respond, including 
through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or 
other technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology. BLM will analyze any comments sent in response to this 
notice and include them with its request for extension of approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

Recording claims

    Under sections 314 (a) and (b) of FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 1744), owners of 
unpatented mining claims, mill sites, and tunnel sites located on 
Federal lands must notify BLM of the location of the claim or site 
within 90 days after it has been filed under State law. Under the 
implementing regulations at 43 CFR 3833.1-2, the claim owner must 
provide the name or number of the claim, the name and address of the 
claim owner(s), the type of claim, the date of location, and a 
description of the claim or mineral survey.

Maintenance fee waiver

    Under sections 10101-10106 of the Act of August 10, 1993 (Pub. L. 
103-66, 107 Stat. 405), owners of unpatented mining claims, mill sites, 
and tunnel sites must pay an annual maintenance fee of $100 per claim 
or site, unless the fee is waived. The fee is in lieu of the 
requirement to perform and record annual assessment work. Under BLM's 
implementing regulations at 43 CFR 3833.1-7, owners of no more than ten 
mining claims can annually apply for and obtain from BLM a maintenance 
fee waiver by submitting the following information: the mining claim 
and names and BLM serial numbers, a declaration of owning no more than 
ten claims and sites, a declaration having complied with the assessment 
work requirements, the names and addresses of all owners of the claims 
and sites, and the owners' signatures. BLM uses Form 3830-2 to simplify 
the collection of the required information. Any interested member of 
the public may request and obtain, without charge, a copy of Form 3830-
2 by contacting the person identified under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

Annual assessment work

    Under section 314(a) of FLPMA and Pub. L. 103-66, owners of 
unpatented mining claims, mill sites, and tunnel sites who qualify for 
a waiver of the maintenance fee must annually file either evidence of 
annual assessment work for each claim and site or a notice of intention 
to hold for each claim and site. Under BLM's implementing regulations 
at 43 CFR 3833.2-4, evidence of annual assessment work must be in the 
form of either (a) a copy of the evidence of work performed and filed 
under applicable State law, BLM serial number for each claim and site, 
and any changes in the owner's mailing address or (b) a copy of any 
geological, geochemical, and geophysical surveys filed according to 
State law, along with the BLM serial number of the claim or site, and 
any mailing address changes. Under 43 CFR 3851.2, the surveys must 
contain the location of the work performed in relation to the claim 
boundaries; the nature, extent, and cost of the work performed; the 
basic findings of the survey(s); and the name, address, and 
professional background of the person(s) performing the work.

Notice of intent to hold

    Under BLM's implementing regulations at 3833.2-5, the notice of 
intention to hold one or more mining claims must be in the form of 
either (a) a copy of the document filed under applicable State law 
containing the BLM serial number(s) of the claim(s) and any change in 
the mailing address of the owner(s) of the claim(s), (b) a reference to 
the BLM decision deferring annual assessment work, or (c) a reference 
to a pending petition for deferment of annual assessment work. Under 43 
CFR Subpart 3852, a claimant may request deferment of assessment work 
by filing with BLM a petition containing the names of the claims, dates 
of location, and the date of the beginning of the requested one-year 
deferment period. A notice of intention to hold one or more mill or 
tunnel sites must contain the BLM serial number assigned to each site 
and any change in the mailing address of the site owner(s).

Transfer of interest

    Under 43 CFR 3833.3, whenever the owner of an unpatented mining 
claim, mill site or tunnel site sells, assigns, or otherwise conveys 
any interest in a

[[Page 10378]]
claim or site, the person receiving the claim or site must file the 
following information with BLM: the BLM serial number of the claim, the 
name and address of the person receiving an interest in the claim, and 
a copy of the document transferring the interest under applicable State 
law. The same information must be submitted to BLM if someone inherits 
an interest in a claim or site.

Notice of intent to locate

    In 1993, Congress amended section 9 of the Stock Raising Homestead 
Act (39 Stat. 864, 43 U.S.C. 291 et seq.) to require anyone desiring to 
explore for or locate a mining claim on a stock raising homestead to 
file with BLM a notice of intent if the mineral activities related to 
the exploration cause no more than a minimal disturbance of surface 
resources and do not involve the use of heavy equipment, explosives, 
road construction, drill pads or hazardous materials (Pub. L. 103-23, 
107 Stat. 60). Under BLM's implementing regulations at 43 CFR 3833.0-
3(g) and .1-2(c) and (d), the notice of intent must contain the name 
and mailing address of the person filing the notice and a legal 
description of the lands to which the notice applies. Those desiring to 
explore for or locate a mining claim must also provide the surface 
owner with a brief description of the proposed mineral activities; a 
map and legal description of the lands to be subject to mineral 
exploration; the name, address, and phone number of the person managing 
the activities; and the date(s) on which the activities will take 
place.
    BLM will use all of the information collections described above to 
determine the number and location of unpatented mining claims, mill 
sites, and tunnel sites located on Federal lands to assist in the 
surface management of these lands and any minerals found there; to 
remove any cloud on the title to those lands due to abandoned mining 
claims; to provide information as to the location of active claims; and 
to keep informed about transfers of interest and ownership. If BLM did 
not collect this information, the rights of surface and mineral owners 
would not be protected, the Government's ability to locate and control 
surface disturbance would be compromised, and opportunities for mineral 
exploration and development would be unnecessarily circumscribed.
    Based on BLM's experience administering FLPMA and the general 
mining laws, BLM estimates the public reporting burden for this 
information collection to average eight minutes per response. The 
respondents are owners of unpatented mining claims, mill sites, and 
tunnel sites located on the public domain and individuals or 
organizations who seek to explore for or locate a mining claim on lands 
subject to the Stock Raising Homestead Act, as amended. The frequency 
of response is once, upon recording, and annually thereafter, and in 
the case of lands subject to the Stock Raising Homestead Act, one per 
entry. The number of responses per year is estimated to be about 
336,200. The estimated total annual burden on new respondents 
collectively is about 44,827 hours.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for Office of Management and Budget approval. All comments will 
also become a matter of public record.

    Dated: March 6, 1996.
Annetta L. Cheek,
Chief, Regulatory Management Team.
[FR Doc. 96-5938 Filed 3-12-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-P