[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 172 (Friday, September 5, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47042-47044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-23634]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.


[[Page 47043]]


ACTION: Notice of a new information collection.

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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 request approval of the new collection of 
information discussed below. 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 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

DATES: Submit written comments by November 4, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to the Rules Processing Team, 
Minerals Management Service, Mail Stop 4020, 381 Elden Street, Herndon, 
Virginia 20170-4817.

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 proposed collection of information at no cost.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Title: NTL--Performance Measures for OCS Operators and MMS Form 
XXX.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-NEW.
    Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), at 43 
U.S.C. 1331 et seq., requires the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) 
to preserve, protect, and develop oil and gas resources on the Outer 
Continental Shelf (OCS); make such resources available to meet the 
Nation's energy needs as rapidly as possible; balance orderly energy 
resource 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.
    In a collaborative effort with representatives of 17 oil and gas 
companies, representatives of five trade associations (American 
Petroleum Institute, Offshore Operators Committee, International 
Petroleum Association of America, International Association of Drilling 
Contractors, and National Ocean Industries Association), and the Coast 
Guard, MMS developed a set of performance measures intended to (1) 
determine if OCS safety and environmental performance is improving over 
time through the implementation of the Safety and Environmental 
Management Program (SEMP) on the OCS, (2) provide an industry average 
and range for various quantitative measures against which companies can 
compare themselves, (3) give MMS assurance that an operator's safety 
and environmental performance is improving, and (4) provide comparison 
data on which companies with good performance can base requests to MMS 
for specific regulatory relief.
    Like the implementation of SEMP, participation in the performance 
measures effort is voluntary. However, the quality of the information 
that can be garnered from analysis of the data depends on the 
widespread support of this effort. The MMS currently collects a great 
deal of information under regulation. It does not have, but intends to 
collect on a voluntary basis, information that will be described in a 
new Notice to Lessees on Performance Measures for OCS Operators. The 
information proposed for collection will consist of:
    (a) Separated by Production Operations, Drilling Operations, and 
Construction Operations:
     Number of company employee recordable accidents,
     Number of contract employee recordable accidents,
     Total number of recordable accidents,
     Number of company employee lost time accidents,
     Number of contract employee lost time accidents,
     Total number of lost time accidents,
     Company employee hours worked,
     Contract employee hours worked,
     Total hours worked,
     Total recordable incidence rate (by formula provided),
     Total lost time incidence rate (by formula provided).
    (b) By totals
     Number of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National 
Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) reported exceedances,
     EPA NPDES discharge incidence rate,
     Oil spills <1 bbl by number and volume.
    Data will be collected for calendar years 1996 and 1997 in the 
first quarter of calendar 1997. Requests for information for subsequent 
years will be made at the end of each year. It is expected that some 
companies will not have complete information for the first submission. 
They will be requested to provide as complete information as possible 
and to make adjustments as necessary to improve reporting in subsequent 
collections.
    The MMS will use the information collected to work with industry 
representatives to identify ``pacesetter'' companies and request them 
to make presentations at periodic workshops. Knowing how the offshore 
operators as a group are doing and where their own company ranks will 
provide company management with information to focus their continuous 
improvement efforts. This should lead to more cost-effective prevention 
actions. This information will also provide offshore operators and 
organizations with a credible data source to demonstrate how well the 
industry and individual companies are doing to those outside the 
industry. The MMS can better focus its regulatory and research programs 
on areas where the performance measures indicate that operators are 
having difficulty meeting MMS expectations. The MMS should be more 
effective in leveraging its resources by redirecting research efforts, 
promoting appropriate regulatory initiatives, and shifting inspection 
program emphasis. The performance measures will also give MMS a 
verifiable gauge against which to judge the reasonableness of company 
requests for specific regulatory relief. They will provide a starting 
point for the dialog.
    If respondents submit confidential or proprietary information, MMS 
will protect such information in accordance with the Freedom of 
Information Act; 30 CFR 250.18, Data and information to be made 
available to the public; and 30 CFR Part 252, OCS Oil and Gas 
Information Program. No items of a sensitive nature are collected. The 
requirement to respond is voluntary.
    Frequency: Annual.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 130 Federal OCS 
oil and gas or sulphur lessees.
    Estimated Average Hour Burden: 16-32 burden hours per response. 
This number is expected to decrease as respondents become more familiar 
with the performance measures.
    Estimated Average Cost Burden: The MMS has identified no cost 
burdens on respondents for providing this information.
    Comments: The MMS will summarize written responses to this notice 
and address them in its submission for OMB approval. All comments will 
become a matter of public record. We will also consult with a 
representative sample of respondents. As a result of these efforts, we 
will make any necessary adjustments for our submission to OMB. In 
calculating the burden, MMS may have assumed that respondents maintain 
much of the information collected in the normal course of their 
activities, and we considered that to be usual and customary business 
practice.
    (1) The MMS specifically solicits comments on the following 
questions:

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    (a) Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the 
proper performance of MMS's 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 
those who are to respond, 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 cost burden to respondents as a direct result of this collection 
of information. The MMS needs your comments on this item. Your response 
should split the cost estimate into two components:
    (a) Total capital and startup cost component; and
    (b) Annual operation, maintenance, and purchase of services 
component. 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. Do not include in your estimates 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: August 27, 1997.
E.P. Danenberger,
Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 97-23634 Filed 9-4-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P