[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 151 (Monday, August 6, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41034-41036]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-19611]


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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 1010-0058).

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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 I, Platforms and 
Structures.'' We are also soliciting comments from the public on this 
ICR.

DATES: Submit written comments by September 5, 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 (1010-0058), 725 17th Street, N.W., 
Washington, D.C. 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-
0058'' 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 I, Platforms and Structures.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-0058.
    Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 
1331 et seq., gives the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) the 
responsibility to preserve, protect, and develop oil and gas resources 
in the OCS in a manner that is consistent with the need to make such 
resources available to meet the Nation's energy needs as rapidly as 
possible; balance orderly energy resource development with protection 
of human, marine, and coastal environments; ensure the public a fair 
and equitable return on offshore resources in the OCS; and preserve and 
maintain free enterprise competition. Specifically, the OCS Lands Act 
(43 U.S.C. 1356) requires the issuance of ``* * * regulations which 
require that any vessel, rig, platform, or other vehicle or structure--
* * * (2) which is used for activities pursuant to this subchapter, 
comply, * * * with such minimum standards of design, construction, 
alteration, and repair as the Secretary * * * establishes; * * *.'' The 
OCS Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1332(6)) also states, ``operations in the 
[O]uter Continental Shelf should be conducted in a safe manner * * * to 
prevent or minimize the likelihood of * * * physical obstruction to 
other users of the water or subsoil and seabed, or other occurrences 
which may cause damage to the environment or to property, or endanger 
life or health.'' 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 I, Platforms and Structures, and the associated supplementary 
notices to

[[Page 41035]]

lessees and operators intended to provide clarification, description, 
or explanation of these regulations.
    The MMS OCS Regions use the information submitted under subpart I 
to determine the structural integrity of all offshore structures and 
ensure that such integrity will be maintained throughout the useful 
life of these structures. We use the information to ascertain, on a 
case-by-case basis, that the platforms and structures are structurally 
sound and safe for their intended use to ensure safety of personnel and 
pollution prevention. The information is also necessary to assure that 
abandonment and site clearance are properly performed. More 
specifically, we use the information to:
     Review information concerning damage to a platform to 
assess the adequacy of proposed repairs.
     Review plans for platform construction (construction is 
divided into three phases--design, fabrication, and installation) to 
ensure the structural integrity of the platform.
     Review verification plans and reports for unique platforms 
to ensure that all nonstandard situations are given proper 
consideration during the design, fabrication, and installation phases 
of platform construction.
     Review platform design, fabrication, and installation 
records to ensure that the platform is constructed according to 
approved plans.
     Review inspection reports to ensure that platform 
integrity is maintained for the life of the platform.
     Ensure that any object (wellheads, platforms, etc.) 
installed on the OCS is properly removed and the site cleared so as not 
to conflict with or harm other users of the OCS.
    Responses are mandatory. No questions of a ``sensitive'' nature are 
asked. MMS will protect proprietary information according to the 
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and its implementing 
regulations (43 CFR 2), 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 generally ``on 
occasion'' or annual.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 130 
Federal OCS oil and gas or sulphur lessees.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: The 
following chart details the components of the hour burden for the 
information collection requirements in subpart I--an estimated total of 
30,824 burden hours. In estimating the burdens, 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 or
Citation 30 CFR 250 Subpart I      recordkeeping        Hour burden per
                                    requirement           requirement
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         Reporting Requirements
------------------------------------------------------------------------
900(b), (g); 901; 902;         Submit application     24 hours.
 909(b)(4)(iii).                and plans for new
                                platform or major
                                modifications and
                                notice to MMS.
900(e).......................  Request approval for   16 hours.
                                major repairs of
                                damage to platform
                                and notice to MMS.
900(f).......................  Request approval for   24 hours.
                                reuse or conversion
                                of use of existing
                                fixed or mobile
                                platforms.
901(e).......................  Notify MMS before      10 minutes.
                                transporting
                                platform to
                                installation site.
903(a), (b)..................  Submit nominations     16 hours.
                                for Certified
                                Verification Agent
                                (CVA).
903(a)(1), (2), (3)..........  Submit interim and     200 hours.
                                final CVA reports..
912(a).......................  Request inspection     16 hours.
                                interval that
                                exceeds 5 years.
912(b).......................  Submit annual report   45 hours.
                                of platforms
                                inspected and
                                summary of testing
                                results..
913(a), (b), Related NTLs....  Submit plan for        8 hours.
                                platform and
                                structure removal
                                and site clearance
                                and exception
                                requests.
913(c), Related NTLs.........  Submit results of      12 hours.
                                location clearance
                                survey.
900-914......................  General departure and  8 hours.
                                alternative
                                compliance requests
                                not specifically
                                covered elsewhere in
                                subpart I
                                regulations.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Recordkeeping Requirements
------------------------------------------------------------------------
909, 911, 912, 914...........  Maintain records on    50 hours.
                                as-built structural
                                drawings, design
                                assumptions and
                                analyses, summary of
                                nondestructive
                                examination records,
                                inspection results,
                                etc., for the
                                functional life of
                                the platform.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 13959) 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.

[[Page 41036]]

    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 
September 5, 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 23, 2001.
John V. Mirabella,
Acting Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 01-19611 Filed 8-3-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P