[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 5, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41487-41488]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-16817]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


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

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of an extension of a currently approved information 
collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0088).

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 
3501 et seq.), we are submitting to OMB for review and approval an 
information collection request (ICR) titled, Delegation of Authority to 
States. We are also soliciting comments from the public 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 August 4, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments directly to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for 
the Department of the Interior (OMB Control Number 1010-0088), 725 17th 
Street, NW, Washington, DC 20503. Also, submit copies of your written 
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. If you use an overnight courier 
service, our courier address is Building 85, Room A-613, Denver Federal 
Center, Denver, Colorado 80225.

Public Comment Procedure

    You may mail your comments and copies of your comments to the 
offices listed in the ADDRESSES section, or you may email us at 
[email protected]. Please include the title of the information 
collection and the OMB Control Number in the ``Attention'' line of your 
comment; also, include your name and return address. Submit electronic 
comments as an ASCII file avoiding the use of special characters and 
any form of encryption. If you do not receive a confirmation that we 
have received your email, contact David S. Guzy at (303) 231-3432. We 
will post all comments for public review on our web site at http://www.rmp.mms.gov. Also, to view paper copies of these comments, please 
contact David S. Guzy at (303) 231-3432, FAX (303) 231-3385. Our 
practice is to make these paper comments, including names and addresses 
of respondents, available for public review 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 comments. 
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, telephone (303) 231-3046, FAX (303) 231-3385, email 
[email protected]. A copy of the ICR is available to you without 
charge upon request.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Delegation of Authority to States.
    OMB Control Number: OMB 1010-0088.
    Bureau Form Number: N/A.
    Abstract: The Department of the Interior (DOI) is responsible for 
matters relevant to mineral resource development on Federal and Indian 
Lands and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The Secretary of the 
Interior (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. The Secretary also 
has an Indian trust responsibility to manage Indian lands and seek 
advice and information from Indian beneficiaries. We perform the 
royalty management functions and assist the Secretary in carrying out 
DOI's Indian trust responsibility.
    The Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act (RSFA) amendments to 
section 205 of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 
provide that we may delegate other Federal royalty management functions 
to requesting States, including:
    a. Conducting audits, and investigations;
    b. Receiving and processing production and royalty reports;
    c. Correcting erroneous report data;
    d. Performing automated verification; and
    e. Issuing demands, subpoenas (except for solid mineral and 
geothermal leases), orders to perform restructured accounting, and 
related tolling agreements and notices to lessees or their designees.
    In accordance with RSFA, and to properly administer the delegation 
of the functions to the requesting States, MMS must collect pertinent 
information from industry and States. Therefore, a State will have to 
submit an application requesting to perform these delegable functions.
    No proprietary data, confidential information, or items of a 
sensitive nature will be collected. Responses are voluntary.
    Frequency: Monthly, quarterly, and annually.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 4,010 States and 
royalty payors.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 
210,400 hours. Please refer to chart.

 
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                                                                                          Burden         Annual
      Reporting/recordkeeping              Frequency         Number of respondents   X     per      =    burden
           requirements                                                                   reqmnt         hours
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Application, vouchers, work plans,  Monthly Quarterly       4 States..............          2,000          8,000
 recordkeeping.                      Annually.
Delegated audit functions.........  Monthly Quarterly       6 States..............            400          2,400
                                     Annually.

[[Page 41488]]

 
Coordination of information         Monthly Quarterly       4,000 payors and                   50        200,000
 reported among/between MMS and a    Annually.               reporters.
 given State or States.
                                                           ------------------------    -----------    ----------
Total.............................  ......................  4,010.................           52.5        210,400
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    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping: ``Non-Hour Cost'' 
Burden: $80,000.
    Comments: 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. 
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.
    We published a Federal Register Notice on December 3, 1999 (64 FR 
67930), with the required 60-day comment period soliciting comments on 
renewing OMB's approval to continue to collect this information. No 
comments were received. If you now wish to comment on this ICR, please 
send your comments directly to the offices listed under the ADDRESSES 
section of this Notice. OMB has up to 60 days after reviewing an ICR to 
approve or disapprove the information collection. However, OMB may act 
sooner than that once the 30-day public comment period has ended. 
Therefore, to ensure maximum consideration, you should submit your 
comments on or before August 4, 2000.
    MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach, 
telephone (202) 208-7744

    Dated: June 20, 2000.
Joan Killgore,
Acting Associate Director for Royalty Management.
[FR Doc. 00-16817 Filed 7-3-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P