[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 48 (Monday, March 12, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14418-14419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-5953]


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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 a revision of a currently approved information 
collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0042).

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, we 
are submitting to OMB for review and approval an information collection 
request (ICR) titled ``Sale of Federal Royalty Oil, 30 CFR Part 208'' 
which includes Form MMS-4070, Application for the Purchase of Royalty 
Oil.'' We are revising this ICR to include a change of title to more 
closely reflect the information that we are collecting and to add 
reporting requirements that were not included in the previous OMB-
approved submission. The original title for this ICR was ``Application 
for the Purchase of Royalty Oil.'' We are also soliciting comments from 
the public on this ICR.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before April 11, 2001.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments to the Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for the Department 
of the Interior (OMB Control Number 1010-0042), 725 17th Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20503. Also, please submit copies of your written 
comments to Dennis C. Jones, Regulations and FOIA Team, Minerals 
Management Service, Minerals Revenue Management, P.O. Box 25165, MS 
320B2, 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: Please submit your comments to the 
offices 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 
comments; 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 Mr. Jones at (303) 231-3046, FAX 
(303) 231-3385. We will post all comments at http://www.rmp.mms.gov for 
public review.
    Also, contact Mr. Jones 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, Regulations and FOIA 
Team, phone (303) 231-3046, FAX (303) 231-3385, email 
[email protected]. You may also contact Dennis Jones to obtain at 
no cost a copy of our submission to OMB which includes Form MMS-4070.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Sale of Federal Royalty Oil, 30 CFR Part 208 (originally 
titled--Application for the Purchase of Royalty Oil).
    OMB Control Number: 1010-0042.
    Bureau Form Number: Form MMS-4070.
    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 Mineral Lands Leasing Act of 1920 and the OCS Lands Act of 1953 
authorize the Secretary to sell royalty oil accruing to the United 
States from oil and gas leases issued pursuant to those acts. ``Royalty 
oil'' is crude oil produced from leased Federal lands, both onshore and 
offshore, in instances in which the Government exercises the option to 
accept a lessee's royalty payment in oil rather than in money. Title to 
the oil is transferred to the Government and then sold to an eligible 
refiner. When the Secretary determines that small refiners do not have 
access to adequate supplies of oil, the Secretary may dispose of any 
oil taken as royalty by conducting a sale of such oil, or by allocating 
it to eligible refiners.
    When the Secretary decides to offer royalty oil taken in kind for 
sale to eligible refiners, we publish a Notice of Availability of 
Royalty Oil in the Federal Register and other printed media, when 
appropriate. The Application for the Purchase of Royalty Oil, Form MMS-
4070, is submitted by refiners interested in purchasing royalty oil in 
accordance with instructions in the Notice and with instructions issued 
by MMS for completion of the form. The information collected is used by 
MMS to determine if the applicant meets eligibility requirements to 
contract to purchase royalty oil. Information collected also provides a 
basis for the allocation of available royalty oil among qualified 
refiners. Applicants are required to submit a letter of intent from a 
qualified financial institution stating that the applicant will be 
granted surety coverage for the royalty oil. The letter of intent must 
accompany Form MMS-4070.
    We are revising the ICR to add reporting requirements that were not 
covered in the last OMB-approved submission. These requirements are (1) 
Eligible refiners, who purchase royalty oil, must also submit to MMS 
two copies of any written third-party agreements, or two copies of a 
full written explanation of any oral third-

[[Page 14419]]

party agreements, relating to the method and costs of delivery of 
royalty oil, or crude oil exchanged for the royalty oil, from the point 
of delivery under the contract to the purchaser's refinery; (2) the 
purchaser must submit copies of agreements pertaining to quality 
differentials which may occur between leases and delivery points; and 
(3) eligible refiners, who purchase royalty oil, cannot transfer, 
assign, or sell the rights of interest in a royalty oil contract 
without written approval of the Director, MMS.
    Eligible purchasers shall also furnish an ``MMS-specified surety 
instrument'' in an amount equal to the estimated value of royalty oil 
that could be taken by the purchaser in a 99-day period, plus related 
administrative charges. If a letter of credit is furnished as the 
surety instrument, the purchaser must notify MMS of its intent not to 
renew at least 30 days prior to the anniversary date. (Note: These 
requirements have been approved by OMB under another ICR and assigned 
OMB Control Number 1010-0135.)
    Submission of these information collection requirements is required 
for eligible refiners to participate in the RIK Small Refiner Sale 
Program. Proprietary information is protected, and there are no 
questions of a sensitive nature included in this information 
collection.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 8 refiners.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 19 
hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-hour Cost'' 
Burden: N/A.
    Comments: The PRA 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. 
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, we published a 
Federal Register Notice on August 1, 2000 (65 FR 46943), with the 
required 60-day comment period announcing that we would submit this ICR 
to OMB for approval. No comments were received.
    If you wish to comment in response to this notice, please 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 by may respond after 30 days. Therefore, to 
ensure maximum consideration, OMB should receive public comments by 
April 11, 2001.
    MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach, 
telephone (202) 208-7744.

    Dated: February 27, 2001.
Lucy Querques Denett,
Associate Director for Minerals Revenue Management.
[FR Doc. 01-5953 Filed 3-9-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-W