[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 218 (Thursday, November 9, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67398-67399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-28821]



[[Page 67398]]

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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 a new information collection titled Production and 
Royalty Reporting for Geothermal Resources (OMB Control Number 1010-
NEW).

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3501 et seq.), we are soliciting comments on an information collection 
titled Production and Royalty Reporting for Geothermal Resources. We 
will submit an information collection request (ICR) regarding the 
collection of data supporting geothermal royalty payments to the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval after this 
comment period closes. This information collection does not involve a 
standard report form or specific format. Rather, this information 
collection requires information that companies already use, and in the 
format that they use it, to calculate their royalty payments for 
geothermal resources.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before January 8, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Connie Bartram, Acting Chief, 
Regulations and FOIA Team, Minerals Management Service, Minerals 
Revenue Management, P.O. Box 25165, MS 302B2, 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: Submit your comments to the office listed 
in the ADDRESSES section, or email your comments to us at 
[email protected]. 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 Ms. Bartram at (303) 231-3410, FAX (303) 231-3385. 
We will post all comments at http://www.rmp.mms.gov for public review.
    Also, contact Ms. Bartram to review paper copies of the comments. 
The comments, including names and addresses of respondents, are 
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 public record, which we will 
honor to the extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances 
in which we would withhold from the public record a respondent's 
identity, as allowable by law. If you request that we withhold your 
name and/or address, 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 FOIA Team, 
phone (303) 231-3046, FAX (303) 231-3385, email [email protected]. 
A copy of the ICR will be available to you without charge upon request.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Production and Royalty Reporting for Geothermal Resources.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-NEW.
    Bureau Form Number: N/A.
    Abstract: The Secretary of the Department of the Interior 
(Secretary) is responsible under the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970, as 
amended (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), for the proper collection and 
disbursement of royalties due on Federal geothermal resources. We 
perform these royalty management functions on behalf of the Secretary 
by delegated authority. We are also designing new compliance and asset 
management processes to ensure that royalties are accurately and timely 
paid in the most cost effective manner possible. The goal of these 
processes is to reduce compliance verification from 6 years, our 
current audit cycle, to not more than 3 years. To achieve this goal, we 
find it necessary to collect supplemental production and valuation 
information.
    When a company or individual enters into a geothermal lease with 
the United States Government, that company or individual agrees to pay 
a share (royalty) of the value of production to the United States. It 
is expressly understood that the Secretary may establish the values and 
minimum values of geothermal resources to compute royalties in 
accordance with applicable regulations. Royalty rates are specified in 
the lease document. Although specific lease language may vary, holders 
of Federal geothermal leases also agree to comply with reporting 
requirements prescribed by the Secretary's delegated official.
    We currently collect only minimal information supporting geothermal 
royalty payments, usually on an as-needed, case-by-case basis at the 
time of audit. In fact, the only geothermal information that we 
routinely collect (from royalty reporters) at this time is the data 
reported on the Report of Sales and Royalty Remittance, Form MMS-2014. 
While this report in its revised form (see 65 FR 31598, May 18, 2000) 
will remain our principal document for the reporting and payment of 
geothermal royalties, it does not contain sufficient data to gauge the 
accuracy of the royalty payment. This is particularly true for those 
geothermal resources valued by the netback procedure and other indirect 
methods, which require multiple computational steps to derive the 
resource's value reported on the Form MMS-2014. Accordingly, we propose 
to collect supplemental information that supports the royalty payment. 
This information collection does not involve a standard report form or 
specific format. Rather, this information collection requires 
information that companies already use, and in the format that they use 
it, to calculate their royalty payment and value for geothermal 
resources.
    Submission of this information will be mandatory. Proprietary 
information will be protected. There are no questions of a sensitive 
nature included in this information collection.
    Frequency: Monthly.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 20 geothermal 
lessees and operators.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 240 
hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-hour Cost'' 
Burden: N/A.
    Comments: The Paperwork Reduction Act at 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A) 
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

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automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    The Paperwork Reduction Act also requires agencies to estimate the 
total annual reporting ``non-hour cost'' burden to respondents or 
recordkeepers resulting from the collection of information. We have not 
identified non-hour cost burdens and need to know if there are other 
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.
    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.
    The Paperwork Reduction Act provides that an agency shall 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.

    Dated: November 3, 2000.
Cathy J. Hamilton,
Acting Associate Director for Minerals Revenue Management.
[FR Doc. 00-28821 Filed 11-8-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P