[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 158 (Wednesday, August 15, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42875-42876]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-20530]


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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 revision of a currently approved information 
collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0095).

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 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 ``Request 
to Exceed Regulatory Allowance Limitation.''

DATES: Submit written comments on or before October 15, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Carol P. Shelby, Regulatory 
Specialist, 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-
614, Denver Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225. You may also 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. Shelby at 
(303) 231-3151.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol P. Shelby, telephone (303) 231-
3151, FAX (303) 231-3385, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Request to Exceed Regulatory Allowance Limitation.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-0095.
    Bureau Form Number: MMS-4393.
    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, collecting 
royalties from lessees who produce minerals, and distributing the funds 
collected in accordance with applicable laws. The Secretary also has an 
Indian trust responsibility to manage Indian lands and seek advice and 
information from Indian beneficiaries. MMS performs the royalty 
management functions and assists the Secretary in carrying out DOI's 
Indian trust responsibility.
    When paying royalties on Federal or Indian leases, payors are 
``allowed'' to deduct reasonable costs for transportation and/or 
processing to get the product in a marketable condition. By current 
regulation, these allowances are limited to specified percentages of 
the royalty due. However, in some cases, it is reasonable to deduct 
allowances that exceed the established limits.
    Form MMS-4393, Request to Exceed Regulatory Allowance Limitation, 
is used by royalty payors to request MMS approval to exceed established 
transportation or processing allowance limits. To request permission to 
exceed an allowance limit, royalty payors must write a letter to MMS 
providing the reasons why a higher allowance limit is necessary. 
Although the request to exceed an allowance limit is voluntary on the 
part of the payors and results in a benefit to them, many times payors 
did not provide all of the data needed by MMS to approve or deny a 
request. The follow-up necessary to obtain the required information 
created an additional burden for both the payor and MMS.
    MMS developed Form MMS-4393 to be included with the payor's request 
letter to ensure that we receive the data necessary to make a decision 
on the request. The form requires the payor to provide an Accounting 
Identification (AID) number for the leased property, the product code 
identifying the product being transported or processed, and the selling 
arrangement used to identify the marketing outlet for the product. We 
estimate the annual burden to complete this information collection is 
30 minutes per request.
    Request for Revision. MMS will be requesting OMB approval of a 
revised Form MMS-4393 to take effect when our new computer system is 
operational. This revision is necessary to make Form MMS-4393 
compatible with other recently revised forms such as the Form MMS-2014, 
Report of Sales and Royalty Remittance (1010-0140). These revisions are 
the result of a major reengineering of MMS's financial and compliance 
processes and the procurement of a new computer system. For example, 
during the reengineering process MMS decided to eliminate the reporting 
of an accounting identification (AID) number and selling arrangement 
number on all existing forms. In their place, MMS is requiring a 
combination of lease and agreement numbers and sales type codes. Since 
the existing Form MMS-4393 contains columns for AID number and selling 
arrangement number, these columns must be removed and new columns for 
lease numbers, agreement numbers, and sales type codes must be added. 
The revised form requires similar types of information to be provided 
by the lessee so we do not anticipate any changes in burden hours.
    Submission of the information in this collection is necessary when 
requesting to exceed regulatory allowance limits on Federal and Indian 
properties. Proprietary information that is submitted 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: 75.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 37.
    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

[[Page 42876]]

automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    The PRA 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 for this information collection. 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, sampling, testing equipment; 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.
    We will summarize written responses to this notice and address them 
in our ICR submission for OMB approval, including appropriate 
adjustments to the estimated burden. We will provide a copy of the ICR 
to you without charge upon request and the ICR will also be posted on 
our web site at http://www.mrm.mms.gov/Laws__R__D/FRNotices/
FRInfColl.htm.
    Public Comment Policy. We will post all comments in response to 
this notice on our web site at http://www.mrm.mms.gov/Laws__R__D/
InfoColl/InfoColCom.htm. We will also make copies of the comments 
available for public review, including names and addresses of 
respondents, 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 rulemaking 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.
    MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach, 
(202) 208-7744.

    Dated: July 5, 2001.
Cathy J. Hamilton,
Acting Associate Director for Minerals Revenue Management.
[FR Doc. 01-20530 Filed 8-14-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P