[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 89 (Wednesday, May 8, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30961-30962]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-11478]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

[OMB Control Number 1010-0107]


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 1010-0107).

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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 ``30 CFR part 218, Subpart B--Oil and Gas, 
General'' (formerly titled ``Designation of Royalty Payment 
Responsibility''). We are also soliciting comments from the public on 
this ICR.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before June 7, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for the Department of 
the Interior (OMB Control Number 1010-0107), 725 17th Street, NW, 
Washington, DC 20503. Also, submit copies of your written comments to 
Carol Shelby, Regulatory Specialist, Minerals Management Service, MS 
320B2, P.O. Box 25165, Denver, Colorado 80225. If you use an overnight 
courier service, MMS's courier address is Building 85, Room A-614, 
Denver Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol Shelby, Regulatory Specialist, 
phone (303) 231-3151 or FAX (303) 231-3385.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: 30 CFR Part 218, Subpart B--Oil and Gas, General.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-0107.
    Bureau Form Numbers: Forms MMS-4425 and MMS-4280.
    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 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 for the Secretary.
    The Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act of 
1996 (RSFA), Public Law 104-185, as corrected by Public Law 104-200, 
established that owners of operating rights or lease record title 
(referred to as ``lessees'') are responsible for making royalty and 
related payments on Federal oil and gas leases. It is common, however, 
for a payor rather than a lessee to make these payments. When a payor 
makes payments on behalf of a lessee, RSFA requires that the lessee 
designate the payor as its designee and notify MMS of this arrangement 
in writing. These RSFA requirements are codified in 30 CFR 218.52. MMS 
designed Form MMS-4425, Designation Form, to contain all the 
information necessary for lessees to comply with these RSFA 
requirements. We are proposing a minor revision to Form MMS-4425 to 
remove the field for revenue source code. This revision is necessary to 
make Form MMS-4425 compatible with other forms, such as the Form MMS-
2014, Report of Sales and Royalty Remittance, that were revised as a 
result of a major reengineering of MMS's financial and compliance 
processes and the procurement of a new computer system.
    Regulations at 30 CFR 218.53 provide requirements that payors must 
follow to recoup overpayments on Indian mineral leases. These 
regulations are necessary for MMS to carry out its Indian trust 
responsibilities. Generally, a payor may recoup an overpayment on Form 
MMS-2014 against the current month's royalties or other revenues owed 
on the same Tribal lease. However, 30 CFR 2l8.53(b) allows payors with 
written permission from the Tribe to recoup overpayments in the same 
month against a different lease for which the Tribe is the lessor. The 
payor must furnish a copy of the Tribe's written permission to MMS.
    The Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (FOGRMA) at 
30 U.S.C. 1723, authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to pay a 
reward to certain individuals who provide information to the Government 
leading to the recovery of royalty or other payments owed to the United 
States from oil and gas leases on Federal lands or the Outer 
Continental Shelf. Criteria and procedures covering claims for, and 
payment of, rewards are provided at 30 CFR 218.57. In order to claim a 
reward, individuals must voluntarily, and of their own initiative, 
submit Form MMS-4280, Application for Reward for Original Information, 
to MMS.
    Submission of the information in this collection is necessary to 
comply with FOGRMA and RSFA requirements and to carry out MMS's Indian 
trust responsibilities. 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: 1,607 oil and gas 
reporters.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 1,207 
hours. See the following chart for a breakdown of the burden estimate 
by CFR section and paragraph.

[[Page 30962]]



 
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                                                                              Burden       Annual       Annual
              30 CFR section                    Reporting requirement       hours per    number of      burden
                                                                             response    responses      hours
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218.52(a), (c), and (d)...................  If you are a lessee under 30           .75        1,600        1,200
                                             U.S.C. 1701(7), and you want
                                             to designate a person to
                                             make all or part of the
                                             payments due under a lease
                                             on your behalf * * * you
                                             must notify MMS * * * in
                                             writing of such designation
                                             * * *. If you want to
                                             terminate a designation * *
                                             * you must provide [notice]
                                             to MMS in writing * * *. MMS
                                             may require you to provide
                                             notice when there is a
                                             change in your record title
                                             or operating rights
                                             ownership.
218.53(b).................................  With written permission                  1            6            6
                                             authorized by tribal statute
                                             or resolution, a payor may
                                             recoup an overpayment
                                             against royalties or other
                                             revenues owed * * * under
                                             other leases * * * A copy of
                                             the tribe's written
                                             permission must be furnished
                                             to MMS * * *.
218.57(a) and (b).........................  If a person has any                      1            1            1
                                             information he or she
                                             believes would be valuable
                                             to MMS, that person * * *
                                             should submit the
                                             information in writing, in
                                             the form of a letter * * *
                                             The informant should provide
                                             all data * * * To file a
                                             claim for reward, the
                                             informant must: (i) Notify
                                             the Director, MMS * * * that
                                             he/she is claiming a reward.
                                             (ii) Request an Application
                                             for Reward for Original
                                             Information'' (Form MMS-
                                             4280) * * * File a claim for
                                             reward by completing Form
                                             MMS-4280, sign it * * * and
                                             mail or deliver it in person
                                             to the Director * * * The
                                             person should attach proof
                                             to the claim that he or she
                                             is the person who gave the
                                             information * * *.
                                                                          --------------------------------------
Total.....................................  .............................  ...........        1,607        1,207
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-hour'' Burden: 
We have identified no ``non-hour cost'' burden.
    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 January 16, 
2002, we published a Federal Register notice (67 FR 2235) with the 
required 60-day comment period announcing that we would submit this ICR 
to OMB for approval. We did not receive any comments on the notice. We 
will provide a copy of the ICR to you without charge upon request.
    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 but may respond after 30 days. Therefore, to 
ensure maximum consideration, OMB should receive your comments by June 
7, 2002. 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.
    Public Comment Policy: We will make copies of these comments, 
including names and home addresses of respondents, 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 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 comments. 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, 
telephone (202) 208-7744

    Dated: April 12, 2002.
Lucy Querques Denett,
Associate Director for Minerals Revenue Management.
[FR Doc. 02-11478 Filed 5-7-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P