[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 34 (Friday, February 18, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8442-8443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-3888]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

RIN 1010-AC24


Establishing Oil Value for Royalty Due on Indian Leases

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 
3501 et seq.), we are notifying you that a second information 
collection request (ICR) associated with a supplementary proposed 
rulemaking was forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for review and approval. We are now soliciting your comments on this 
second ICR, its expected costs and burdens, and how the data will be 
collected.
    We published the supplementary proposed rulemaking, Establishing 
Oil Value for Royalty Due on Indian Leases, in the Federal Register on 
January 5, 2000 (65 FR 403). The first ICR, associated with this same 
rulemaking, was submitted to OMB on December 27, 1999, and is titled 
Indian Crude Oil Valuation Report, Form MMS-4416, OMB Control Number 
1010-0113.
    The 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: Written comments should be received on or before March 20, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You must submit comments directly to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for 
the Interior Department (OMB Control Number 1010-NEW), 725 17th Street, 
NW, Washington, DC 20503. You should also send copies of these comments 
to us.
    Our 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, CO 80225. Courier or overnight delivery address 
is Building 85, Room A-613, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225. 
Email address is [email protected].
    Public Comment Procedure: Your comments and copies of your comments 
may be submitted to the addresses listed above. Please submit Internet 
comments as an ASCII file avoiding the use of special characters and 
any form of encryption. Please also include Attn: Supplementary 
Proposed Rulemaking--Establishing Oil Value for Royalty Due on Indian 
Leases, OMB Control Number 1010-NEW, 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, please 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 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Supplementary Proposed Rulemaking--

[[Page 8443]]

Establishing Oil Value for Royalty Due on Indian Leases.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-NEW.
    Abstract: The Secretary of the Interior is responsible for 
collecting royalties from leases producing minerals from leased Federal 
and Indian lands. The Secretary is required by various laws to manage 
the production of mineral resources on Indian lands and Federal onshore 
and offshore leases, to collect the royalties due, and to distribute 
the funds in accordance with those laws; we perform these royalty 
management functions for the Secretary.
    Two additional information collection requirements have been 
identified in the supplementary proposed rule published on January 5, 
2000 (65 FR 403) as follows:
     Section 206.52 explains how Indian lessees must determine 
the value of oil produced from Indian leases. For royalty purposes, the 
value of oil produced from leases subject to 30 CFR part 206 Subpart 
B--Indian Oil is the value calculated under this section with 
applicable adjustments determined under this subpart. The lessee must 
report the higher of either their gross proceeds from an arm's-length 
transaction, or an applicable adjusted spot price. The lessee may be 
required to revise its initial report and remit additional 
consideration if the MMS-calculated major portion price is above the 
initially reported value.
     Section 206.61(c)(3) states that if an MMS-calculated 
differential under paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of this section does not apply 
to an Indian lessee's oil, either due to location or quality 
differences, the Indian lessee must file a written request for MMS to 
calculate an Indian lessee-specific differential. This request must 
demonstrate why the published differential does not adequately address 
an Indian lessee's specific circumstances.

Another information collection requirement was also identified in the 
proposed rule published on February 12, 1998 (63 FR 7089) as follows:
     Section 206.54 allows lessees to ask MMS for valuation 
guidance. The lessee may develop and propose a value method to MMS. The 
lessee would submit all available data related to their proposal and 
any additional information MMS deems necessary. MMS would promptly 
review the proposal and provide the requested guidance.

    We will review and carefully consider any comments received 
specific to these additional information collection requirements, 
including any comments received from a public meeting which was held on 
February 8, 2000, in Denver, Colorado. We will summarize and address 
all comments in the final rule.
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Companies that pay royalties on oil 
produced from tribal and allotted Indian leases.
    Frequency of Response: Annually and monthly.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 225.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden: 6,680 hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Non-Hour Cost Burden: 
We have identified no cost burdens for this collection over those 
included in the hour burden.
    Comments: 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.
    Send your comments directly to the offices listed under the 
ADDRESSES section of this notice. OMB has up to 60 days to approve or 
disapprove the information collection but may respond after 30 days. 
Therefore, to ensure maximum consideration, OMB should receive public 
comments by March 20, 2000.
    MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach 
(202) 208-7744.

    Dated: February 14, 2000.
Walt Rosenbusch,
Director for Mineral, Management Service.
[FR Doc. 00-3888 Filed 2-17-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P