[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 182 (Tuesday, September 19, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56593-56594]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-24014]


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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 new information collection survey.

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we 
are submitting to OMB for review and approval an information collection 
request (ICR) to conduct a new survey on ``Labor Migration and the 
Deepwater Oil Industry.'' We are also soliciting comments from the 
public on this ICR.

DATES: Submit written comments by October 19, 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 (1010-0091), 725 17th Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20503. Mail or hand carry a copy of your comments to the 
Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Attention: 
Rules Processing Team, Mail Stop 4024, 381 Elden Street; Herndon, 
Virginia 20170-4817.
    Our practice is to make comments, including names and home 
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 
the 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

[[Page 56594]]

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. For details on the proposed survey or to 
obtain a copy of the survey questions, you may contact Harry Luton, in 
the MMS Gulf of Mexico Regional Office, telephone (504) 736-2784.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Survey--Labor Migration and the Deepwater Oil Industry.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-NEW.
    Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 
1331 et seq., requires the Secretary of the Interior to preserve, 
protect, and develop oil and gas resources in the OCS; make such 
resources available to meet the Nation's energy needs as rapidly as 
possible; balance orderly energy resources development with protection 
of the human, marine, and coastal environment; ensure the public a fair 
and equitable return on the resources offshore; and preserve and 
maintain free enterprise competition.
    The OCS Lands Act (at 43 U.S.C. 1346, Environmental Studies) 
instructs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct studies to establish 
environmental information as he deems necessary and to monitor the 
human, marine, and coastal environments. The purpose of the studies is 
to provide time-series and data trend information which can be used to 
identify any significant changes in the quality and productivity of 
such environments, to establish trends in the areas studied and 
monitored, and to design experiments to identify the causes of such 
changes. This authority and responsibility are among those delegated to 
MMS.
    MMS proposes to conduct a survey to examine the consequences of 
international labor on four port communities in southern Louisiana. The 
information collected will aid MMS in understanding the impact of 
foreign labor on the well-being of communities in southern Louisiana. 
The scientific information is needed to understand the concerns, fears, 
and desires of communities with respect to OCS activities, and it is 
necessary for successful operation of the OCS oil and gas program in 
the region.
    Questions in the survey will address the respondent's historical 
ties to the oil and gas industry; current views about his/her 
community, impact of the presence of foreign-born immigrants in the 
four communities, and background and household information.
    Responses are voluntary. No proprietary items or questions of a 
sensitive nature will be collected.
    Frequency: This will be a one-time data collection activity.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 200 
randomly selected households in each of the four communities (800 
respondents).
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 
Approximately 25 minutes per survey for the primary data collection 
effort. Follow-up discussions, when held, will average approximately 20 
minutes. The total annual burden is estimated at 340 hours (333 hours 
for primary survey + 7 hours for follow-up conversations).
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' 
Burden: We have identified no non-hour cost burdens to the respondents.
    Comments: The PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) 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.
    To comply with the public consultation process, on June 22, 2000, 
we published a Federal Register notice (65 FR 38852) with the required 
60-day comment period announcing that we would submit this ICR to OMB 
for approval. We have received no comments in response to that initial 
notice. If you wish to comment in response to this notice, send your 
comments directly to the offices listed under the ADDRESSES section of 
this notice. The 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 
October 19, 2000.
    MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach, 
(202) 208-7744.

    Dated: August 29, 2000.
E. P. Danenberger,
Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 00-24014 Filed 9-18-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-U