[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 130 (Monday, July 8, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45144-45145]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-16925]


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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 information collection (1010-0017).

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we 
are notifying the public that we have submitted to OMB an information 
collection request (ICR) to renew approval of form MMS-128, Semiannual 
Well Test Report. This notice also provides the public a second 
opportunity to comment on the paperwork burden of this reporting 
requirement.

DATES: Submit written comments by August 7, 2002.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments directly to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for 
the Department of the Interior (1010-0017), 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 to MMS, the e-mail 
address is: [email protected]. Reference Information Collection 
1010-0017 in your e-mail subject line. Include your name and return 
address in your e-mail message and mark your message for return 
receipt.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexis London, Rules Processing Team, 
at (703) 787-1600. You may also contact Alexis London to obtain a copy 
of the form at no cost.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Form MMS-128, Semiannual Well Test Report.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-0017.
    Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act (Act), as 
amended (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq. and 43 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), authorizes 
the Secretary of the Interior to prescribe rules and regulations to 
administer leasing of the

[[Page 45145]]

OCS. Such rules and regulations will apply to all operations conducted 
under a lease. Operations on the OCS must preserve, protect and develop 
oil and natural gas resources in a manner which is consistent with the 
need to make such resources available to meet the Nation's energy needs 
as rapidly as possible; to balance orderly energy resource development 
with protection of human, marine, and coastal environments; to ensure 
the public a fair and equitable return on the resources of the OCS; and 
to preserve and maintain free enterprise competition.
    This notice pertains to a form used to collect information required 
under 30 CFR 250, subpart K, on production rates. Section 250.1102(b) 
requires respondents to submit form MMS-128. 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), 30 CFR part 252 (OCS 
Oil and Gas Information Program), and the Freedom of Information Act (5 
U.S.C. 552) and its implementing regulations (43 CFR 2). Regional 
Supervisors use information submitted on form MMS-128 to evaluate the 
results of well tests to find out if reservoirs are being depleted in a 
way that will lead to the greatest ultimate recovery of hydrocarbons. 
We designed the form to present current well data on a semiannual basis 
to allow the updating of permissible producing rates and to provide the 
basis for estimates of currently remaining recoverable gas reserves. We 
are proposing no changes to the data elements on form MMS-128. However, 
we are reducing the number of copies respondents must submit to only an 
original and ``one'' copy.
    Frequency: Semiannual.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 130 
Federal OCS oil and gas lessees.
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: The burden 
for submitting semiannual well test reports does not include the time 
to test the well or the pre-stabilization period. Respondents generally 
conduct tests even more frequently than required by our regulations. We 
only consider the burden to be the time to submit the information to 
MMS. We estimate respondents submit the results of approximately 13,000 
well tests each year in the GOMR and about 600 in the POCSR, with an 
estimated annual hour burden of 1,336 hours. Based on $50 per hour, the 
hour burden cost to respondents is $66,800. The burden varies only 
slightly for electronic versus paper form submission, and is calculated 
as follows:
    In the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region:
    25% of 13,000 well tests via electronic submission = 3,250 reports 
x 5 minutes/60 = 271 hours.
    75% of 13,000 via paper form/average 5 wells/form = 1,950 forms x 
30 minutes/60 = 975 hours.
    In the Pacific OCS Region:
    100% of 600 well tests via paper form/average 20 wells/form = 30 
forms x 3 hours = 90 hours.
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: We 
have identified no ``non-hour cost'' burdens associated with the 
subject form.
    Public Disclosure Statement: The PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) 
provides that an agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of 
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. 
Until OMB approves a collection of information, you are not obligated 
to respond.
    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 April 1, 2002, 
we published a Federal Register notice (67 FR 15408) announcing that we 
would submit this ICR to OMB for approval. The notice provided the 
required 60-day comment period. In addition, 30 CFR 250.199 and the PRA 
statement on the form explain that the MMS will accept comments at any 
time on the information collection burden of our regulations and 
associated forms. We display the OMB control number and provide the 
address for sending comments to MMS. We have received no comments in 
response to these efforts.
    If you wish to comment in response to this notice, you may send 
your comments 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 public comments by August 7, 2002.
    Public Comment Policy: 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.
    MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach, 
(202) 208-7744.

    Dated: June 5, 2002.
E.P. Danenberger,
Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 02-16925 Filed 7-5-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P