[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 97 (Thursday, May 18, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31600-31601]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-12486]


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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 Request (OMB Control Number 
1010-NEW).

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SUMMARY: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3501 et seq.), we are notifying you that an information collection 
request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review and approval. We are also soliciting your comments on 
this ICR which describes the information collection, its expected costs 
and burden, and how the data will be collected.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before June 19, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You may 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; telephone (202) 395-7340. 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, Colorado 80225. 
Courier or overnight delivery address is Building 85, Room A-613, 
Denver Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225.

Public Comment Procedure

    If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any one of 
several methods. You may mail comments to the offices listed in the 
ADDRESSES section. You may also comment via the Internet to 
[email protected]. Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII file 
avoiding the use of special characters and any form of encryption. 
Include Attn: 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, 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: Production Accounting and Auditing System Reports.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-NEW.
    Bureau Form Numbers: Forms MMS-4054, MMS-4055, MMS-4056, and MMS-
4058.
    Abstract: The Secretary of the Interior is responsible for the 
collection of royalties from lessees who produce minerals from leased 
Federal and Indian lands. The Secretary is authorized to manage lands, 
to collect royalties due, and to distribute royalty funds. MMS is 
responsible for the royalty management functions assigned to the 
Secretary and is developing a financial accounting system which 
includes royalty and production reporting as a part of an overall 
effort to improve management of the nation's resources. This new system 
will be effective October 1, 2001, and will replace both the Accounting 
and Financial System and the Production Accounting and Auditing System. 
MMS' proposal was published in the Federal Register on February 23, 
1999 (64 FR 8844). We received 15 comments related to production 
reporting. We responded to these comments in the ICR that we submitted 
to OMB.
    In April 1996, MMS undertook a compliance reengineering initiative. 
The principal reengineering objective was to define and implement a new 
compliance strategy ensuring that Federal and Indian mineral lease 
revenues were accurately and timely paid in the most cost-effective 
manner possible.
    The Royalty Policy Committee (RPC), which includes representatives 
from industry, States, Indian Tribal and allottee groups, and MMS, 
issued recommendations in June 1996 to streamline both royalty and 
production reporting. An action plan was developed to implement many of 
the recommendations. However, in August 1996, the Federal Oil and Gas 
Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act (RSFA) of 1996, was enacted 
into law. RSFA significantly changed many of the Royalty Management 
Program's (RMP) historical operating assumptions as well as some 
fundamental Federal oil and gas mineral revenue financial activities. 
Although near-term changes in processes and systems were made to 
implement the law, long-term strategies, business processes, and aging 
systems needed to be addressed for RMP to be cost-effective and 
responsive to customer needs. The decision was made April 1, 1997, to 
expand reengineering to all RMP core business processes. This is the 
most comprehensive review of RMP's business processes and organization 
since its creation in 1982.
    As part of our reengineering effort, we analyzed current 
information collection requirements for existing Forms MMS-3160, MMS-
4051, MMS-4054, MMS-4055, MMS-4056, and MMS-4058 (OMB control Number 
1010-0040) to confirm the presence of data needed to

[[Page 31601]]

support future RMP processes. As a result, RMP deleted Forms MMS-3160 
and MMS-4051 and streamlined and modified required data elements on 
Forms MMS-4054 through MMS-4058. These revised forms will not be used 
until RMP implements it's new financial accounting system, currently 
scheduled for implementation in October 2001.
    MMS proposes to use these four revised forms for gathering oil and 
gas production data from industry as follows:
    a. Form MMS-4054, Oil and Gas Operations Report (OGOR),
    b. Form MMS-4055, Gas Analysis Report (GAR),
    c. Form MMS-4056, Gas Plant Operations Report (GPOR), and
    d. Form MMS-4058, Production Allocation Schedule Report (PASR).
    The data from these forms are matched with sales and royalty data 
reported to MMS. The production reports provide MMS with ongoing 
information on lease, agreement (property) and facility production, 
sales volumes, and inventories. The reports summarize all operations on 
a property or facility during a reporting period. They identify 
production by API well number and sales by product. Data collected are 
used as a method of cross checking reported production with reported 
sales.
    Industry will not begin using the revised forms until October 2001 
when we implement our new financial accounting system. However, we are 
requesting approval of these revised forms immediately, so that 
industry can begin work on the necessary systems development and 
reprogramming adjustments and changes that may be required as they 
prepare for the new reporting requirements that will be effective 
October 2001. Please note that the existing forms (Forms MMS-4054, MMS-
4055, MMS-4056, and MMS-4058) will continue to be used until the change 
over to the revised forms in the fall of 2001.
    Failure to collect all of this information will prevent MMS from 
ensuring that all royalties owed on lease production are paid. 
Additionally, the data are shared electronically with the MMS's 
Offshore Minerals Management program, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau 
of Indian Affairs, and tribal and State governments so they can perform 
their lease management responsibilities.
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Operators of Federal or Indian 
leases.
    Frequency of Response: Monthly.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,450 operators.
    Estimated Total Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 
89,717 hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' 
Burden: $1.5 million.
    Comments: Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA 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 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. As required in 
5 CFR 1320.8(d), MMS published a 60-day Federal Register Notice on 
February 23, 1999 (64 FR 8835), soliciting comments from the public on 
these revised forms.
    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 June 19, 2000.
    MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach, 
telephone (202) 208-7744.

    Dated: May 11, 2000.
Lucy Querques Denett,
Associate Director for Royalty Management.
[FR Doc. 00-12486 Filed 4-17-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P