[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 130 (Friday, July 6, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35666-35667]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-16970]


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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 extension of a currently approved information 
collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0043).

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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), titled ``30 CFR 250, Subpart F, Oil and Gas Well-
Workover Operations.'' We are also soliciting comments from the public 
on this ICR.

DATE: Submit written comments by August 6, 2001.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments directly to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for 
the Department of the Interior (1010-0043), 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. If you wish to e-mail comments, the e-mail address 
is: [email protected]. Reference ``Information Collection 1010-
0043'' 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 
at no cost a copy of our submission to OMB, which includes the 
regulations that require this information to be collected.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: 30 CFR 250, Subpart F, Oil and Gas Well-Workover Operations.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-0043.
    Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
1331 et seq.), as amended, requires the Secretary of the Interior 
(Secretary) to preserve, protect, and develop sulphur resources on 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 environments; ensure the 
public a fair and equitable return on the resources offshore; and 
preserve and maintain free enterprise competition. Section 5(a) of the 
OCS Lands Act requires the Secretary to prescribe rules and regulations 
``to provide for the prevention of waste, and conservation of the 
natural resources of the Outer Continental Shelf, and the protection of 
correlative rights therein'' and to include provisions ``for the prompt 
and efficient exploration and development of a lease area.'' These 
authorities and responsibilities are among those delegated to MMS under 
which we issue regulations to ensure that operations in the OCS will 
meet statutory requirements; provide for safety and protection of the 
environment; and result in diligent exploration, development, and 
production of OCS leases. This information collection request addresses 
the regulations at 30 CFR 250, subpart F, Oil and Gas Well-Workover 
Operations and the associated supplementary notices to lessees and 
operators intended to provide clarification, description, or 
explanation of these regulations.
    MMS District Supervisors use the information collected to analyze 
and evaluate planned well-workover operations to ensure that operations 
result in personnel safety and protection of the environment. They use 
this evaluation in making decisions to approve, disapprove, or to 
require modification to the proposed well-workover operations. For 
example, MMS uses the information to:
     Review log entries of crew meetings to verify that safety 
procedures have been properly reviewed.
    Review well-workover procedures relating to hydrogen sulfide 
(H2S) to ensure the safety of the crew in the event of 
encountering H2S.
     Review well-workover diagrams and procedures to ensure the 
safety of well-workover operations.
     Verify that the crown block safety device is operating and 
can be expected to function and avoid accidents.
     Verify that the proposed operation of the annular 
preventer is technically correct and will provide adequate protection 
for personnel, property, and natural resources.
     Verify the reasons for postponing blowout preventer (BOP) 
tests, verify the state of readiness of the equipment and to ascertain 
that the equipment meets safety standards and requirements, ensure that 
BOP tests have been conducted in the manner and frequency to promote 
personnel safety and protect natural resources. Specific

[[Page 35667]]

testing information must be recorded to verify that the proper test 
procedures were followed.
     Assure that the well-workover operations are conducted on 
well casing that is structurally competent.
    Responses are mandatory. No questions of a sensitive nature are 
asked. MMS will protect proprietary information according to 30 CFR 
250.196 (Data and information to be made available to the public) and 
30 CFR part 252 (OCS Oil and Gas Information Program).
    Frequency: The frequency varies by section, but is primarily 
monthly or ``on occasion.''
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 130 
Federal OCS oil and gas or sulphur lessees and operators.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: The 
following chart details the components of the estimated hour burden for 
the information collection requirements in subpart F--19,205 total 
burden hours. In estimating 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.

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                                            Reporting or Recordkeeping
      Citation 30 CFR 250 Subpart F                Requirement                   Requirement Hour Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             Reporting Requirements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
602......................................  Request exceptions prior to  1 hour
                                            moving well-workover
                                            equipment.
605; 613; 615(a).........................  Request approval to begin    Burden included in 1010-0045 and 1010-
                                            subsea well-workover         0046
                                            operations; submit forms
                                            MMS-124 and/or MMS- 125.
614......................................  Post number of stands of     .25 hour
                                            drill pipe or workover
                                            string and drill collars
                                            that may be pulled prior
                                            to filling the hole and
                                            equivalent well-control
                                            fluid volume.
616(a)...................................  Request exception to rated   2 hours
                                            working pressure of the
                                            BOP equipment; request
                                            exception to annular-type
                                            BOP testing.
617(b)...................................  Pressure test, caliper, or   6 hours
                                            otherwise evaluate tubing
                                            & wellhead equipment
                                            casing; submit results
                                            (every 30 days during
                                            prolonged operations).
617(c)...................................  Notify MMS if sustained      .25 hour
                                            casing pressure is
                                            observed on a well.
600 thru 618.............................  General departure and        2 hours
                                            alternative compliance
                                            requests not specifically
                                            covered elsewhere in
                                            subpart F regulations.
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                                           Recordkeeping Requirements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
606......................................  Instruct crew members in     1 hour
                                            safety requirements of
                                            operations to be
                                            performed; document
                                            meeting (weekly for 2
                                            crews x 2 weeks per
                                            workover = 4).
611......................................  Perform operational check    1 hour
                                            of traveling-block safety
                                            device; document results
                                            (weekly x 2 weeks per
                                            workover = 2).
616(a), (b), (d), (e)....................  Perform BOP pressure tests,  8 hours
                                            actuations & inspections;
                                            record results; retain
                                            records 2 years following
                                            completion of workover
                                            activities (when
                                            installed; at a minimum
                                            every 7 days x 2 weeks per
                                            workover = 2).
616(b)(2)................................  Test blind or blind-shear    1 hour
                                            rams; document results
                                            (every 30 days during
                                            operations). (Note: this
                                            is part of BOP test when
                                            BOP test is conducted.).
616(b)(2)................................  Record reason for            .5 hour
                                            postponing BOP system
                                            tests.
616(c)...................................  Perform crew drills; record  1 hour
                                            results (weekly for 2
                                            crews x 2 weeks per
                                            workover = 4).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' 
Burden: We have identified no ``non-hour cost'' burdens.
    Comments: Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et 
seq.) 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 March 8, 2001, 
we published a Federal Register notice (66 FR 13951) announcing that we 
would submit this ICR to OMB for approval. The notice provided the 
required 60-day comment period. In addition, Sec. 250.199 displays the 
OMB control numbers for the information collection requirements imposed 
by the 30 CFR part 250 regulations and forms; specifies that the public 
may comment at anytime on these collections of information; and 
provides the address to which they should send comments. We have 
received no comments in response to these efforts. We also consulted 
with several respondents and the foregoing chart reflects adjustments 
for some of the requirement hour burdens as a result of those 
consultations.
    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 
August 6, 2001. 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.
    MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach, 
(202) 208-7744.

    Dated: May 17, 2001.
E.P. Danenberger,
Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 01-16970 Filed 7-5-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P