[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 52 (Thursday, March 18, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13443-13444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-6615]


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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 revision and renewal of currently approved 
information collection (1010-0044).

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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 request Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) approval of the revised information collection Form MMS-123, 
Application for Permit to Drill (APD). 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 OMB control number.

DATE: Submit written comments by May 17, 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

[[Page 13444]]

of the information collection form at no cost.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title (OMB Control Numbers): Form MMS-123, Application for Permit 
to Drill (1010-0044).
    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; and 
preserve and maintain free enterprise competition.
    To carry out these responsibilities, we issued rules governing oil 
and gas and sulphur operations in the OCS under 30 CFR 250. Sections 
250.414, 250.513, and 250.1617 require the lessees to submit form MMS-
123 and supplemental information to the District Supervisors for 
approval based upon the adequacy of the equipment, materials, and/or 
procedures that the lessee plans to use to safely perform drilling, 
well-completion, well-workover, and well-abandonment operations.
    In reviewing our regulations at 30 CFR 250, subpart D, ``Drilling 
Operations'', it became apparent that much of the supplemental 
information respondents submit with form MMS-123 lends itself to a 
uniform, consistent format. We have revised the form MMS-123 
accordingly and will submit it to OMB for approval as a revision and 
extension of a currently approved information collection. To reiterate, 
the information to be submitted on revised form MMS-123 is not new 
information, but the same information required in current regulations, 
but submitted in a consistent format.
    We use the information on form MMS-123 to determine the conditions 
of a drilling site to avoid hazards inherent in drilling operations. 
Specifically, the appropriate MMS District Office uses the information 
to evaluate the adequacy of a lessee's drilling and well completion 
plans and equipment to determine if the proposed operations will be 
conducted in an operationally safe manner that provides adequate 
protection for the environment. The District Office also reviews the 
information to ensure conformance with specific provisions of the 
lease. The information on form MMS-123 provides our District Offices 
and drilling engineers with a technical summary of the information 
submitted with the APD. This technical summary includes the casing, 
cement, drilling fluid, and blowout preventer testing programs for each 
well. This greatly aids in the efficient review and approval of APDs. 
We also believe the successful use of the revised form will help pave 
the way for future electronic submissions of APDs.
    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.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 130 
Federal OCS oil and gas or sulphur lessees.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: We 
estimate the average burden per application form is 4 hours and that 
approximately 1,000 applications are submitted annually. This is an 
increase to the previous burden estimate for form MMS-123 because it 
takes into consideration the burden for a complete application for 
permit to drill. The burden now includes the supporting supplemental 
information that respondents submit, as well as the burden for the 
revised form.
    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 estimate as necessary in our submission 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: March 10, 1999.
John V. Mirabella,
Acting Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 99-6615 Filed 3-17-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P