[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 222 (Thursday, November 18, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63053-63054]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-30078]


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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.

ACTION: Notice of extension of a currently approved information 
collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0041).

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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. We intend to submit this collection of 
information to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. 
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.

DATES: Submit written comments by January 18, 2000.

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. 
Our practice is to make comments, including names and home addresses of 
respondents, available for public review during regular business hours. 
Individual respondents may request that we withhold their home address 
from the rulemaking record, which we will honor to the extent allowable 
by law. There may be circumstances in which we would withhold from the 
record a respondent's identity, as allowable by the law. If you wish us 
to withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently 
at the beginning of your comment. However, we will not consider 
anonymous comments. We will make all submissions from organizations or 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available 
for public inspection in their entirety.

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 collection of information at no cost.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: 30 CFR 250, Subpart K, Production Rates (1010-0041).
    Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 
1331 et seq., gives the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) the 
responsibility to preserve, protect, and develop oil and gas resources 
in the OCS, consistent with the need to 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 environments; ensure the public a fair and 
equitable return on the

[[Page 63054]]

resources of the OCS; and preserve and maintain free enterprise 
competition.
    Regulations at 30 CFR 250, subpart K, implement these statutory 
requirements. We use the information collected to determine if produced 
gas can be economically put to beneficial use, to analyze the risks of 
transporting the liquid hydrocarbons against the value of the resource, 
and to account for volumes of flared gas and burned liquid 
hydrocarbons. The MMS uses the information in its efforts to conserve 
natural resources, prevent waste, and protect correlative rights 
including the Government's royalty interest. Specifically, MMS uses the 
information to review records of burning liquid hydrocarbons and 
venting and flaring actions to ensure that they are not excessive; to 
determine maximum production and maximum efficient rates; to compare 
the volume of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) flared and the sulphur 
dioxide (SO2) emitted to the specified amounts in approved 
contingency plans; to monitor monthly atmospheric emissions of 
SO2 for air quality; to review applications for downhole 
commingling to ensure that action does not result in undervalued 
royalties; and to ensure that operations are effective and result in 
optimum ultimate recovery.
    We will protect information from respondents considered proprietary 
under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and its 
implementing regulations (43 CFR part 2) and under regulations at 30 
CFR 250.118. No items of a sensitive nature are collected. Responses 
are mandatory.
    Frequency: The frequency is on occasion or monthly.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 130 
Federal OCS oil and gas lessees.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: The 
currently approved annual reporting and recordkeeping burden for this 
collection is 13,650 hours, which averages 105 hours per respondent.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' 
Burden: We have identified no cost burdens for this collection.

Comments

    We will summarize written responses to this notice and address them 
in our submission for OMB approval. As a result of your comments and 
our consultations with a representative sample of respondents, we will 
make any necessary adjustments to the burden in our submission to OMB. 
In calculating the burden, we assumed that respondents perform many of 
the requirements in the normal course of their activities. We consider 
these to be usual and customary and took 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 ``non-hour 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: November 8, 1999.
Elmer P. Danenberger,
Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 99-30078 Filed 11-17-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P