[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 46 (Thursday, March 8, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13953-13955]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-5694]


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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 extension of a currently approved information 
collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0106).

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we 
are inviting comments on a collection of information that we will 
submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and 
approval. The information collection request (ICR) is titled ``30 CFR 
Part 253, Oil Spill Financial Responsibility.''

DATES: Submit written comments by May 7, 2001.

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, Virginia 20170-4817. 
If you wish to e-mail comments, the e-mail address is: 
[email protected]. Reference ``Information Collection 1010-0106'' 
in your e-mail subject line. Include your name and return address in 
your e-mail message and mark your message for return receipt.
    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 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 
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 at no cost of the regulations that require the subject 
collection of information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: 30 CFR Part 253, Oil Spill Financial Responsibility.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-0106.
    Abstract: Title I of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) (33 U.S.C. 
2701 et seq.), as amended by the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1996 
(Pub.L. 104-324), provides at section 1016 that oil spill financial 
responsibility (OSFR) for offshore facilities be established and 
maintained according to methods determined acceptable to the President. 
Section 1016 of OPA supersedes the offshore facility OSFR provisions of 
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978. These 
authorities and responsibilities are among those delegated to MMS under 
which we issue regulations governing oil and gas and sulphur operations 
in the OCS. This information collection request addresses the 
regulations at 30 CFR Part 253, Oil Spill Financial Responsibility for 
Offshore Facilities, and the associated supplementary notices to 
lessees and operators intended to provide clarification, description, 
or explanation of these regulations.
    The MMS will use the information collected under 30 CFR part 253 to 
verify compliance with section 1016 of OPA. The information is 
necessary to confirm that applicants can pay for cleanup and damages 
from oil-spill discharges from covered offshore facilities (COFs). 
Routinely, the information will be used: (a) to establish eligibility 
of applicants for an OSFR Certification; and (b) as a reference source 
for clean-up and damage claims associated with oil-spill discharges 
from COFs; the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of owners, 
operators, and guarantors; designated U.S. agents for service of 
process; and persons to contact. To collect most of the information, 
MMS developed standard forms. The forms and their purposes are:
    Form MMS-1016, Designated Applicant Information: The designated 
applicant uses this form to provide identifying information (company 
legal name, address, contact name and title, telephone numbers) and to 
summarize the OSFR evidence. This form is required for each new OSFR 
Certification application.
    Form MMS-1017, Designation of Applicant: When there is more than 
one

[[Page 13954]]

responsible party for a COF, they must select a designated applicant. 
Each responsible party, as defined in the regulations, must use this 
form to notify MMS of the designated applicant. This form is also used 
to designate the U.S. agent for service of process for the responsible 
party(ies) should claims from an oil-spill discharge exceed the amount 
evidenced by the designated applicant; identifies and provides 
pertinent information about the responsible party(ies); and lists the 
covered offshore facilities for which the designated applicant is 
responsible for OSFR certification. The form identifies each COF by 
State or OCS region; lease, permit, right of use and easement, or 
pipeline number; aliquot section; area name; and block number. This 
form must be submitted with each new OSFRC application in which there 
is at least one responsible party who is not the designated applicant 
for a COF.
    Form MMS-1018, Self-insurance or Indemnity Information: This form 
is used if the designated applicant is self-insuring or using an 
indemnity as OSFR evidence. As appropriate, either the designated 
applicant or the designated applicant's indemnitor completes the form 
to indicate the amount of OSFR coverage and effective and expiration 
dates. The form also provides pertinent information about the self-
insurer or indemnitor and is used to designate a U.S. agent for service 
of process for claims up to the evidenced amount. This form must be 
submitted each time new evidence of OSFR is submitted using either 
self-insurance or an indemnity.
    Form MMS-1019, Insurance Certificate: The designated applicant 
(representing himself as a direct purchaser of insurance) or his 
insurance agent or broker and the named insurers complete this form to 
provide OSFR evidence using insurance. The number of forms to be 
submitted will depend upon the amount of OSFR required and the number 
of layers of insurance to evidence the total amount of OSFR required. 
One form is required for each layer of insurance. The form provides 
pertinent information about the insurer(s) and designates a U.S. agent 
for service of process. This form must be submitted at the beginning of 
the term of the insurance coverage for the designated applicant's COFs.
    Form MMS-1020, Surety Bond: Each bonding company that issues a 
surety bond for the designated applicant must complete this form 
indicating the amount of surety and effective dates. The form provides 
pertinent information about the bonding company and designates a U.S. 
agent for service of process for the amount evidenced by the surety 
bond. This form must be submitted at the beginning of the term of the 
surety bond for the named designated applicant.
    Form MMS-1021, Covered Offshore Facilities: The designated 
applicant submits this form to identify the COFs to which the OSFR 
evidence applies. The form identifies each COF by State or OCS region; 
lease, permit, right of use and easement, or pipeline number; aliquot 
section; area name; block number; and potential worst case oil-spill 
discharge. This form is required to be submitted with each new OSFR 
Certification application which includes COFs.
    Form MMS-1022, Covered Offshore Facility Changes: During the term 
of the issued OSFR Certification, the designated applicant submits 
changes to the current COF listings on this form, including changes to 
the worst case oil-spill discharge for a COF. This form must be 
submitted when identified changes occur during the term of an OSFR 
Certification.
    Responses are mandatory. No questions of a ``sensitive'' nature are 
asked. Respondents are not required to submit confidential or 
proprietary information. All public requests for information about an 
applicant's OSFR Certification will be processed according to the 
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) procedures.
    Frequency: The frequency of submission will vary, but most will 
respond at least once per year.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Some respondents 
are approximately 600 holders of leases, permits, and rights of use and 
easement in the OCS and in State coastal waters who will appoint 
approximately 200 designated applicants. Other respondents will be the 
designated applicants' insurance agents and brokers, bonding companies, 
and indemnitors. There are no recordkeeping requirements associated 
with this collection.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: The 
currently approved ``hour'' burden for this information collection is a 
total of 22,181 hours. The following chart details the individual 
components of this burden and estimated burden per response or record. 
In calculating the burden, we assumed that respondents perform certain 
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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Reporting          Hour burden per
    Citation  30 CFR 253           requirement            response
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Subpart B: 11(a)(1).........  Form MMS-1016.......  1
Subpart D: 40; 41...........  Designated Applicant
                               Information.
Subpart B: 11(a)(1).........  Form MMS-1017.......  9
Subpart D: 40; 41...........  Designation of
                               Applicant.
Subpart C: 21; 22; 23; 24;    Form MMS-1018.......  1
 26; 27; 30.                  Self-insurance or
Subpart D: 40; 41...........   Indemnity
                               Information.
Subpart C: 29...............  Form MMS-1019.......  120
Subpart D: 40; 41...........  Insurance
                               Certificate.
Subpart C: 31...............  Form MMS-1020.......  24
Subpart D: 40; 41...........  Surety Bond.........
Subpart D: 40; 41...........  Form MMS-1021.......  3
                              Covered Offshore
                               Facilities.
Subpart D: 40; 41; 42.......  Form MMS-1022.......  1
                              Covered Offshore
                               Facilities Changes.
Subpart B: 12...............  Request for           2
                               determination of
                               OSFR applicability..
Subpart B: 15(e)............  Notice of change in   1
                               ability to comply.
Subpart B: 15(f)............    Claims: MMS will not be involved in the
Subpart F...................    claims process; assessment of the burden
                                is the responsibility of the U.S. Coast
                               Guard as part of its rulemaking on claims
                                 against the Oil Spill Liability Trust
                                   Fund (30 CFR parts 135, 136, 137).

[[Page 13955]]

 
Subpart C: 32...............  Proposal for          No proposals
                               alternative method    anticipated, but
                               to evidence OSFR.     regs provide the
                                                     opportunity.
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    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' 
Burden: We have identified no ``non-hour cost'' burdens.
    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. Before submitting an ICR to OMB, PRA section 
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 automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology. We will 
summarize written responses to this notice and address them in our 
submission for OMB approval, including any appropriate adjustments to 
the estimated burden.
    Agencies must estimate both the ``hour'' and ``non-hour cost'' 
burdens to respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection 
of information. We have not identified any non-hour cost burdens for 
the information collection aspects of 30 CFR part 253. Therefore, if 
you have costs to generate, maintain, and disclose this information, 
you should comment and provide your total capital and startup cost 
components or annual operation, maintenance, and purchase of service 
components. 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, 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 26, 2001.
E.P. Danenberger,
Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 01-5694 Filed 3-7-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-U