[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 244 (Monday, December 21, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70419-70420]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-33680]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for Office 
of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of revised collection of information (1010-0112)

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SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Act), the 
Department of the Interior has submitted the revised collection of 
information discussed below to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for approval. The Act provides

[[Page 70420]]

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.

DATES: Submit written comments by January 20, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments and suggestions directly to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for 
the Department of the Interior (1010-0112), 725 17th Street, N.W., 
Washington, D.C. 20503. Send a copy of your comments to the Minerals 
Management Service, Attention: Rules Processing Team, Mail Stop 4024, 
381 Elden Street, Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexis London, Engineering and 
Operations Division, Minerals Management Service, telephone (703) 787-
1600. You may obtain copies of the supporting statement and collection 
of information by contacting MMS's Information Collection Clearance 
Officer at (202) 208-7744.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title and Form Number: Form MMS-131, Performance Measures Data 
Form.
    Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), as 
amended, 43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq., requires the Secretary of the Interior 
(Secretary) 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.
    We use the information collected on Form MMS-131 to evaluate the 
effectiveness of industry's continued improvement of safety and 
environmental management in the OCS. We can better focus regulatory and 
research programs on areas where the performance measures indicate that 
operators are having difficulty meeting MMS expectations. We can be 
more effective in leveraging resources by redirecting research efforts, 
promoting appropriate regulatory initiatives, and shifting inspection 
program emphasis. The performance measures will also give us a 
verifiable gauge to use in judging the reasonableness of company 
requests for any specific regulatory relief. This information also 
provides offshore operators and organizations with a credible data 
source to demonstrate to those outside the industry how well the 
industry and individual companies are doing. Knowing how the offshore 
operators as a group are doing and where their own company ranks 
provides company management with information to focus their continuous 
improvement efforts. This should lead to more cost-effective prevention 
actions and, therefore, better cost containment. The collection of this 
information involves no proprietary information. No items of a 
sensitive nature are collected. Responses are voluntary.
    Based upon our experience this first year, and the comments and 
suggestions from respondents, we revised Form MMS-131 to remove certain 
data elements that require OCS operators to perform calculations that 
we can easily do. The only substantive revision to the form is to 
clarify that respondents report all permit noncompliances under a 
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued by the 
Environmental Protection Agency. This data element was previously and 
erroneously restricted to permit exceedences. Exceedences is a 
subcategory of noncompliances, but information for both categories is 
obtained from the same source--the operator's monthly Discharge 
Monitoring Report.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 100 
Federal OCS oil and gas or sulphur lessees.
    Frequency: The frequency of reporting is annual. There are no 
recordkeeping requirements.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour Burden: 960 total 
burden hours, averaging approximately 12 hours per response.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: None.
    Comments: Section 3506 (c)(2)(A) of the Act 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.
    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 January 20, 1999.
    MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach, 
(202) 208-7744.

    Dated: October 21, 1998.
E. P. Danenberger,
Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 98-33680 Filed 12-18-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P