[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 28 (Thursday, February 11, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6910-6911]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-3397]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collections; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of extension of four currently approved information 
collections.

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SUMMARY: As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and 
respondent burden, we invite the public and other Federal agencies to 
comment on our proposal to extend four currently approved information 
collection forms 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 April 12, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand-carry comments to the Department of the 
Interior; Minerals Management Service; attention: Rules Processing 
Team; Mail Stop 4024; 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 information collection forms at no cost.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Titles (OMB Control Numbers):

Form MMS-124, Sundry Notices and Reports on Wells (1010-0045)
Form MMS-125, Well Summary Report (1010-0046)
Form MMS-126, Well Potential Test Report and Request for Maximum 
Production Rate (MPR) (1010-0039)
Form MMS-128, Semiannual Well Test Report (1010-0017)

    Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 
1331 et seq., as amended, requires the Secretary of the Interior to 
preserve, protect, and develop oil and gas resources in the OCS; make 
such resources available to meet the Nation's energy needs as rapidly 
as possible; balance orderly energy resources development with 
protection of the human, marine, and coastal environment; ensure the 
public a fair and equitable return on the resources offshore; preserve 
and maintain free enterprise competition, and ensure that the extent of 
oil and natural gas resources of the OCS is assessed at the earliest 
practicable time. To carry out these responsibilities, we issue rules 
governing oil and gas and sulphur operations in the OCS. The 
regulations requiring the information collection forms that are the 
subject of this notice are 30 CFR Part 250, Subpart D, Drilling 
Operations; Subpart E, Well-Completion Operations; Subpart F, Well-
Workover Operations; Subpart G, Abandonment of Wells; Subpart K, 
Production Rates; and Subpart P, Sulphur Operations.
    Failure to collect this information would prevent the Director from 
carrying out the mandate of the OCS Lands Act. The following explains 
how we use the information collected and the consequences if we did not 
collect the information.
    a. Form MMS-124. MMS District Supervisors use the information to 
evaluate the adequacy of the equipment, materials, and/or procedures 
that the lessee plans to use for drilling, production, well-completion, 
well-workover, and well-abandonment operations. If we did not collect 
this information, we could not review lessee

[[Page 6911]]

plans to require changes to drilling procedures or equipment to ensure 
that levels of safety and environmental protection are maintained. Nor 
could we review information concerning requests for approval or 
subsequent reporting of well-completion or well-workover operations to 
ensure that procedures and equipment are appropriate for the 
anticipated conditions.
    b. Form MMS-125. District Supervisors use the information to ensure 
that they have accurate data on the wells under their jurisdiction and 
to ensure compliance with approved plans. It is also used to evaluate 
remedial action in well-equipment failure or well-control loss 
situations.
    c. Form MMS-126. MMS Regional Supervisors use the information to 
determine the MPR for an oil or gas well. The form contains information 
concerning the conditions and results of a well potential test. This 
requirement carries out the conservation provisions of the OCS Lands 
Act. Failure to collect this information could result in waste of 
energy resources in the OCS by production at imprudent rates, 
jeopardizing the ultimate full recovery of hydrocarbons.
    d. Form MMS-128. Regional Supervisors use this information to 
evaluate the results of well tests to find out if reservoirs are being 
depleted in a way that will lead to the greatest ultimate recovery of 
hydrocarbons. We designed the form to present current well data on a 
semiannual basis to allow the updating of permissible producing rates 
and to provide the basis for estimates of currently remaining 
recoverable gas reserves.
    We will protect proprietary information submitted according to the 
Freedom of Information Act; 30 CFR 250.118, ``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. Responses are mandatory.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 130 
Federal OCS oil and gas or sulphur lessees.
    Frequency: Forms MMS-124, MMS-125, and MMS-126, are on occasion; 
Form MMS-128 is semiannual.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: We 
previously estimated the following burdens for these forms:

Form MMS-124: 9,950 responses @ 1 hr per response = 9,950 hours
Form MMS-125: 2,118 responses @ 1 hr per response = 2,118 hours
Form MMS-126: 4,043 responses @ 1\1/4\ hr per response = 5,656 hours
Form MMS-128: 1,716 responses @ 2 hrs per response = 3,432 hours

    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Cost'' Burden: We 
have identified no information collection cost burdens for these 
collections of information.
    Comments: We will summarize written responses to this notice and 
address them in our submission for OMB approval. All comments will 
become a matter of public record. Based on your comments and our 
consultations with a representative sample of respondents, we will 
adjust the burden estimates as necessary in our submissions to OMB. In 
calculating the burden, we assume that respondents perform many of the 
requirements and maintain records in the normal course of their 
activities. We consider these usual and customary and take that into 
account in estimating the burden.
    (1) We specifically solicit your comments on the following 
questions:
    (a) Is the proposed collection of information necessary for us to 
properly perform our 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 
respondents, 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 reporting and recordkeeping ``cost'' burden to respondents or 
recordkeepers resulting from the collection of information. We need to 
know if you have costs associated with the collection of this 
information for either total capital and startup cost components or 
annual operation, maintenance, and purchase of service components. 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. Generally, your 
estimates should not include 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. February 3, 1999.
E.P. Danenberger,
Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 99-3397 Filed 2-10-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P