[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 96 (Monday, May 19, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27268-27269]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-13036]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[WO-2-4710-02-24 1A]


Reinstatement of Expired Information Collection, OMB Number 1004-
0132

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) announces its intention to request 
reinstatement of expired approval to collect certain information from 
all entities interested in the development of geothermal steam 
resources on lands managed by BLM. The information to be collected 
concerns data submitted by geothermal lessees and operators issued for 
agency approval of specific or additional operations on a well and to 
report the completion or progress of the additional work.

DATES: BLM must receive comments on the proposed information collection 
by July 18, 1997 to assure their consideration.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any 
one of several methods. You may mail comments to Bureau of Land 
Management, Administrative Record, Room 401 LS, 1849 C Street, NW, 
Washington, D.C. 20240. You may also comment via the internet to 
WOC[email protected]. Please submit comments as an ASCII file avoiding 
the use of special characters and any form of encryption. Please also 
include ``attn: 1004-0132'' and your name and return address in your 
internet message. If you do not receive a confirmation from the system 
that we have received your internet message, contact us directly at 
(202) 452-5030.
    Finally, you may hand-deliver comments to BLM at 1620 L Street, 
N.W., Room 401, Washington, D.C. Comments, including names and street 
addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at this 
address during regular business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.), Monday 
through Friday, except holidays. Individual respondents may request 
confidentiality, which BLM will consider on a case-by-case basis. If 
you wish to request that BLM consider withholding your name or street 
address from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of 
Information Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of 
your comment. All submissions from organizations or businesses, and 
from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials 
of organizations or businesses, will be made available for public 
inspection in their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Fontecchio, BLM Regulatory 
Affairs Office, at (202) 452-5012.


[[Page 27269]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with 5 CFR 1320.12(a), BLM is 
required to provide notice in the Federal Register concerning a 
collection of information contained in BLM forms numbered 3260-2, 3260-
3, 3260-4, and 3260-5, under the regulations at 43 CFR part 3200. This 
is done so that we may solicit comments on (a) whether the proposed 
information collection 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 information collection, 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 collecting 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 receive and analyze any 
comments sent in response to this notice and include them with its 
request for approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
under 44 U.S.C. Sec. 3501, et seq.
    Following is a description of each of the forms which would be 
covered by this information collection reinstatement, including how BLM 
uses each form and an estimate of the consequences if BLM did not 
collect this information:
    * Form 3260-2, Geothermal Drilling Permit: This is a permit to 
drill, redrill, deepen or plug-back a well on Federal lands. This form, 
when approved, gives permission to begin these operations. The 
information provided gives an estimate of the well's feasibility and 
aids in determining whether the application should be approved or not.
    * Form 3260-3, Geothermal Sundry Notice: BLM uses this form to 
obtain information on planned well work, road site and facilities 
construction and other miscellaneous activities related to other 
previously approved operations. Without this information there could be 
no adequate evaluation of the feasibility and environmental impacts of 
the proposed activity.
    * Form 3260-4, Geothermal Well Completion Report: BLM uses this 
form to obtain information on a complete and accurate log and history, 
in chronological order, of all operations conducted on the well. The 
purpose of the form is to facilitate future operations, protect water 
supplies and federal geothermal resources and to allow accurate 
appraisal of down-hole conditions.
    * Form 3260-5, Monthly Report of Geothermal Operations: This form 
is needed to obtain information for monthly production for royalty 
reporting and production verification from geothermal wells. BLM uses 
this report to monitor the technical parameters of drilling, production 
and injection activities for each well.
    Based on BLM's experience administering the activities above, the 
public reporting burden for the information collected is estimated as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Hours per                         
   Form No.     Form description      response            Frequency     
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3260-2........  Geothermal        10 hours........  Nonrecurring.       
                 Drilling Permit.                                       
3260-3........  Geothermal        1 hour..........  On occasion.        
                 Sundry Notice.                                         
3260-4........  Geo. Well         2-6 hours.......  On occasion.        
                 Completion                                             
                 Report.                                                
3260-5........  Monthly Report    1 hour..........  Monthly.            
                 of Geo.                                                
                 Operations.                                            
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The respondents are lessees and operators of Federal geothermal 
leases and Indian geothermal contracts subject to BLM oversight. The 
number of responses per year is estimated to total 760. The estimated 
total burden on new respondents is 1700 hours. BLM is specifically 
requesting your comments on its estimate of the amount of time that it 
takes to prepare a response.
    BLM will summarize all responses to this notice and include them in 
the request for OMB approval. All comments will become a matter of 
public record, subject to the exceptions in the ADDRESSES section 
above.

    Dated: May 13, 1997.
Carole J. Smith,
Information Collection Officer.
[FR Doc. 97-13036 Filed 5-16-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-P