[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 23, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8985-8987]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-4176]


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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 revision of a currently approved information 
collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0050).

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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 revise 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 April 24, 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, VA 20170-4817. Our 
practice is to make comments, including names and home

[[Page 8986]]

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 
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 J, Pipelines and Pipeline Rights-of-Way 
(1010-0050).
    Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act, as amended, 
43 U.S.C. 1334(e), authorizes the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) 
to grant rights-of-way through the submerged lands of the OCS for 
pipelines ``* * * for the transportation of oil, natural gas, sulphur, 
or other minerals, or under such regulations and upon such conditions 
as may be prescribed by the Secretary, * * * including (as provided in 
section 1347(b) of this title) assuring maximum environmental 
protection by utilization of the best available and safest 
technologies, including the safest practices for pipeline burial. * * 
*'' This authority and responsibility are among those delegated to MMS. 
To carry out these responsibilities, MMS issues regulations governing 
oil and gas or sulphur operations in the OCS. In addition, MMS issues 
Notices to Lessees and Operators to supplement regulations to provide 
guidance and clarification.
    The Independent Offices Appropriations Act of 1952 (IOAA), 31 
U.S.C. 9701, authorizes Federal agencies to recover the full cost of 
services that provide special benefits. Under the Department of the 
Interior's (DOI) policy implementing the IOAA, MMS is required to 
charge the full cost for services that provide special benefits or 
privileges to an identifiable non-Federal recipient above and beyond 
those which accrue to the public at large. Pipeline rights-of-way and 
assignments are subject to cost recovery and MMS regulations specify 
filing fees for applications.
    OMB has approved the information collection requirements in current 
subpart J regulations under control numbers 1010-0050 and 1010-0108. 
The first is the primary collection for subpart J. The latter was 
approved in connection with a final rule amending Sec. 250.1000(c) to 
implement a provision of the new Memorandum of Understanding between 
DOI and the Department of Transportation (DOT). Our submission will 
consolidate these two subpart J collections under 1010-0050.
    The pipelines are designed by the lessees and transmission 
companies that install, maintain, and operate them. To ensure those 
activities are performed in a safe manner, MMS needs information 
concerning the proposed pipeline and safety equipment, inspections and 
tests, and natural and manmade hazards near the proposed pipeline 
route. The information collected under subpart J is used by MMS field 
offices to review pipeline designs prior to approving an application 
for a right-of-way or a pipeline permitted under a lease. The records 
concerning pipeline inspections and tests are monitored by MMS 
inspectors to ensure safety of operations and protection of the 
environment. Specifically, MMS uses the information to:
     Monitor schedules for pipeline construction, installation, 
and tests to enable MMS personnel to schedule their workload to permit 
the witnessing of these operations to ensure safety and environmental 
protection.
     Review applications for pipeline permits and rights-of-way 
and pipeline construction reports to ensure that the pipeline, as 
constructed, will provide for safe transportation of minerals through 
the submerged lands of the OCS.
     Review applications for pipeline rights-of-way to ensure 
compliance with applicable rules of the DOT and other legal and 
administrative requirements for the granting of a pipeline right-of-
way.
     Review proposed routes of a right-of-way to ensure that 
the right-of-way, if granted, would not conflict with any State 
requirements or unduly interfere with other OCS activities.
     Review pipeline repair procedures to ensure that the 
lessee takes appropriate safety and pollution-prevention measures.
     Review plans for taking pipeline safety equipment out of 
service to ensure alternate measures are used that will properly 
provide for the safety of the pipeline and associated facilities 
(platform, etc.).
     Review reports on findings of historical or potential 
archeological significance to ensure that such resources are protected.
     Review notification of relinquishment of a right-of-way 
grant to ensure that all legal obligations are met and that a pipeline 
will be abandoned properly.
     Determine the point at which DOI or DOT has regulatory 
responsibility for a pipeline and to be informed of the responsible 
operator if not the same as the right-of-way holder.
    This collection of information does not require respondents to 
submit proprietary information. If such were submitted, we will protect 
it under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and its 
implementing regulations (43 CFR 2) and 30 CFR 250.196. No items of a 
sensitive nature are collected. Responses are mandatory.
    Frequency: The frequency of reporting is on occasion or annual.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 290 
Federal OCS oil, gas, and sulphur lessees and holders of pipeline 
rights-of way.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: The 
currently approved burden for this collection is 67,538 hours for 1010-
0050 and 1,051 hours for 1010-0108, for a combined total of 68,589 
hours. This burden consists of various requirements, but the major 
burdens are:
     140 hours to apply for a pipeline installation or right-
of-way grant.
     40 hours to modify an approved lease-term pipelines or 
right of way grant.
     20 hours per year to inspect pipeline routes and maintain 
records.
     16 hours to submit pipeline construction report.
     10 hours to submit corrective action plan remedial action.
     8 hours to apply for assignment of a right-of-way grant.
     8 hours to notify and report on pipeline safety equipment 
problems.
    Estimated Annual Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: The 
currently approved burden for collection 1010-0050 is $251,000; there 
was no non-hour cost burden under 1010-0108. This cost burden is for 
the application fees required in Secs. 250.1010(a) and 250.1013(b).

Comments

    We will summarize written responses to this notice and address them 
in our submission for OMB approval. As a

[[Page 8987]]

result of your comments and consultations with a 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: February 15, 2000.
E. P. Danenberger,
Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 00-4176 Filed 2-22-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-U