[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 235 (Wednesday, December 8, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68699-68700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-31727]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submitted for Office of 
Management and Budget Review, Comment Request

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Information Collection.

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SUMMARY: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we are soliciting 
comments on an information collection titled Request to Exceed 
Regulatory Allowance Limitation, Form MMS-4393, OMB Control Number 
1010-0095, which expires on April 30, 2000.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before February 7, 
2000.

ADDRESSES: The mailing address for written comments regarding this 
information collection is David S. Guzy, Chief, Rules and Publications 
Staff, Minerals Management Service, Royalty Management Program, P.O. 
Box 25165, MS 3021, Denver, Colorado 80225. Courier address is Building 
85, Room A-613, Denver Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225. Email 
address is RMP.[email protected].

Public Comment Procedure

    If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any one of 
several methods. You may mail comments to David S. Guzy, Chief, Rules 
and Publications Staff, Minerals Management Service, Royalty Management 
Program, P.O. Box 25165, MS 3021, Denver, Colorado 80225-0165. Courier 
or overnight delivery address is Building 85, Room A-613, Denver 
Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225. You may also comment via the 
Internet to RMP.[email protected]. Please submit Internet comments as an 
ASCII file avoiding the use of special characters and any form of 
encryption. Please also include Attn: Request to Exceed Regulatory 
Allowance Limitation, Form MMS-4393, OMB Control Number 1010-0095, and 
your name and return address in your Internet message. If you do not 
receive a confirmation from the system that we have received your 
Internet message, contact David S. Guzy directly at (303) 231-3432.
    We will post public comments after the comment period closes on the 
Internet at http://www.rmp.mms.gov. You may arrange to view paper 
copies of the comments by contacting David S. Guzy, Chief, Rules and 
Publications Staff, telephone (303) 231-3432, FAX (303) 231-3385. Our 
practice is to make comments, including names and addresses of 
respondents, available for public review on the Internet and during 
regular business hours at our offices in Lakewood, Colorado. 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 also may be circumstances in which we would withhold from the 
rulemaking record a respondent's identity, as allowable by 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: Dennis C. Jones, Rules and 
Publications Staff, phone (303) 231-3046, FAX (303) 231-3385, email 
Dennis.C.J[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork 
Reduction 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.
    The Department of the Interior (DOI) is the department within the 
Federal Government responsible for matters relevant to mineral resource 
development on Federal and Indian Lands and the Outer Continental Shelf 
(OCS). The Secretary of the Interior

[[Page 68700]]

(Secretary) is responsible for managing the production of minerals from 
Federal and Indian Lands and the OCS; for collecting royalties from 
lessees who produce minerals; and for distributing the funds collected 
in accordance with applicable laws. MMS performs the royalty management 
functions for the Secretary.
    The MMS Royalty Management Program (RMP) is proposing to continue 
the use of Form MMS-4393, Request to Exceed Regulatory Allowance 
Limitation, to be used by royalty payors on Federal or Indian mineral 
leases. The payors will use the form when requesting MMS approval to 
exceed established transportation or processing allowance limits.
    To request permission to exceed an allowance limit, royalty payors 
must write a letter to MMS providing the reasons why a higher allowance 
limit is necessary. Although the request to exceed an allowance limit 
is voluntary on the part of the payors and results in a benefit to 
them, many times payors have not provided all of the data needed by MMS 
to approve or deny a request. The followup necessary to obtain required 
information creates an additional burden for both the payor and the 
Government. RMP developed Form MMS-4393 to be included with the payor's 
request for approval to exceed the allowance limit. The form ensures 
that MMS receives the lease data required to make a decision on the 
request by including the Accounting Identification Number identifying 
the lease, the product code identifying the product being transported 
or processed, and the selling arrangement used to identify the 
marketing outlet for the product. These are the necessary data that 
have been missing from many of the requests in the past. We estimate 
the annual burden to complete this information collection is 30 
minutes.

    Dated: December 2, 1999.
Lucy Querques Denett,
Associate Director for Royalty Management.
[FR Doc. 99-31727 Filed 12-7-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P