[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 62 (Thursday, April 1, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15781-15782]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-7967]


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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 extension of a currently approved 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 extend the currently approved 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 May 3, 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 (OMB Control Number 1010-0118), 725 17th 
Street, NW, Washington, DC 20503. Send a copy of your comments to the 
Minerals Management Service, Attention: Anne Ewell, Mail Stop 4024, 381 
Elden Street, Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions concerning the 
electronic spreadsheets, please contact Larry Barker, Division of 
Verification, telephone (303) 231-3157, FAX (303)

[[Page 15782]]

231-3189, e-mail address: Lawrence.B[email protected]. For questions 
concerning this collection of information, please contact Anne Ewell, 
Royalty-in-Kind Study Team, telephone (703) 787-1584. You may also 
obtain copies of this collection of information by contacting MMS's 
Information Collection Clearance Officer at (202) 208-7744.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Royalty-in-Kind (RIK) Pilot Program Spreadsheets: Federal 
Oil and Gas Purchase System and Joint Effort--Royalty Oil and Gas 
Purchase System.
    Abstract: The Secretary of the Interior, under the Mineral Leasing 
Act (30 U.S.C. 192) and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 
U.S.C. 1353), is responsible for the management of royalties on 
minerals produced from leased Federal lands. MMS carries out these 
responsibilities for the Secretary. The Report of Sales and Royalty 
Remittance, Form MMS-2014, is the only document used by MMS's automated 
Auditing and Financial System (AFS) to input royalty-related financial 
data from lessees, payors, and purchasers. MMS has undertaken several 
pilot programs to study the feasibility of taking the Government's 
royalty in the form of production, that is, as RIK. MMS has made 
available at no cost two versions of an electronic spreadsheet for RIK 
purchasers to use to simply create an electronic Form MMS-2014 to 
accompany their payments for Federal RIK, since they will not need to 
use the full range of reporting instructions and methods on the form.
    MMS will use the information to conduct its automated accounting, 
verification, and distribution activities and to support disbursement 
of royalty revenues to the Treasury and States that have an interest in 
Federal revenues. MMS will protect proprietary information submitted on 
Form MMS-2014 under applicable Department regulations at 43 CFR part 2. 
No items of a sensitive nature are collected. The requirement to 
respond is mandatory.
    Burden Statement: The reporting burden is estimated to average 2 
minutes per response (line of data) including the time for reviewing 
the instructions, gathering and maintaining the data, entering the data 
on the spreadsheets, and reviewing the output--a completed Form MMS-
2014.
    This collection of RIK purchaser information represents a 
significant net reduction in burden compared to the collection of 
information on in-value transactions. While a few new companies may 
report, the overall number of respondents is greatly reduced. This is 
because only one purchaser need report one or two lines of data on 
aggregated volumes from a multi-lease property, rather than multiple 
lessee/producers each reporting at the detailed revenue source level 
that in-value royalty payments would require for the same properties. 
The electronic spreadsheets automatically allocate data needed by MMS 
to revenue source levels on Form MMS-2014, reducing complexity of 
reporting. This is made possible because MMS enters necessary reference 
data (e.g., ownership percentages) into the spreadsheets before 
providing them to purchasers. Further, the spreadsheet for joint 
Federal and State production will also automatically create a report 
acceptable to the State of Wyoming for production from properties 
offered jointly by MMS and the State.
    On November 27, 1998, MMS published a 60-day Federal Register 
Notice (63 FR 65610) soliciting comments on using the optional 
electronic spreadsheets (both Federal only and joint Federal and State 
versions) to create a Form MMS-2014 when reporting purchases of the 
Government's royalty oil. Although the spreadsheets were in use before 
and during the comment period, no comments were received. However, 
during contact with purchasers in the Wyoming Pilot I, Phase 1, MMS 
found that the purchasers were pleased with the new process. Purchasers 
preferred MMS's electronic spreadsheets to any other method. 
Additionally, those reporting on properties combining Federal and State 
production located in the State of Wyoming were particularly pleased 
that, once sufficient data to prepare a report to MMS had been entered 
for those agreements, the electronic spreadsheets automatically 
calculated and produced reports acceptable to the State.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 4 in year 1; 5 in year 2; and 10 
in year 3.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 49 hours in year 1; 
330 in year 2; and 330 in year 3.
    Frequency of Collection: Monthly.
    Comments: 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 22, 1999.
Lucy Querques Denett,
Associate Director for Royalty Management.
[FR Doc. 99-7967 Filed 3-31-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P