[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8781-8782]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-4398]


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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 an extension of a currently approved information 
collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0113).

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, we 
are notifying the public that we have submitted to OMB an information 
collection request (ICR) to renew approval of the paperwork 
requirements in the regulations under 30 CFR Part 206, Subpart B, 
Indian Oil. This notice also provides the public a second opportunity 
to comment on the paperwork burden of these regulatory requirements. 
The ICR is titled: ``30 CFR Part 206, Subpart B, Indian Oil (Form MMS-
4416, Indian Crude Oil Valuation Report).''

DATES: Submit written comments on or before March 27, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Sharron L. Gebhardt, Regulatory 
Specialist, Minerals Management Service, Minerals Revenue Management, 
PO 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 we have received your email, contact Ms. Gebhardt at (303) 
231-3211.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sharron L. Gebhardt, telephone (303) 
231-3211, FAX (303) 231-3385 or email [email protected]. You may 
also contact Sharron Gebhardt to obtain a copy at no cost of the 
regulations that require the subject collection of information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: 30 CFR part 206, subpart B, Indian Oil (Form MMS-4416, 
Indian Crude Oil Valuation Report).
    OMB Control Number: 1010-0113.
    Bureau Form Number: Form MMS-4416.
    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 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.
    Section 101(a) of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 
1982 (FOGRMA), as amended, requires the Secretary to ``establish a 
comprehensive inspection, collection, and fiscal and production 
accounting and auditing system to provide the capability to accurately 
determine oil and gas royalties, interest, fines, penalties, fees, 
deposits, and other payments owed, and collect and account for such 
amounts in a timely manner.'' To accomplish these tasks more 
effectively, MMS published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on 
February 12, 1998 (63 FR 7089) and a supplementary proposed rule on 
January 5, 2000 (65 FR 403). The proposed rules add more certainty to 
the valuation of oil produced from Indian lands and eliminate any 
direct reliance on posted prices by, among other provisions, requiring 
Indian lessees and purchasers to submit certain contract information to 
MMS.
    MMS has announced in the Federal Register on February 12, 2003 (68 
FR 7086), the dates, places, and times for workshops on issues related 
to the existing rules adopted in March 2000 governing the valuation for 
royalty purposes of crude oil produced from Federal leases. The 
workshops will address, among other things, issues related to 
calculation of transportation allowances (including the rate of return 
allowed for calculating actual costs under non-arm's-length 
transportation arrangements), timing and application of published index 
prices, and calculation of location and quality differentials under 
certain circumstances.
    Because of the substantive overlap between these issues and issues 
involved in the proposed rule on Indian oil valuation, and to give 
persons interested in Indian lease issues an opportunity to participate 
in the workshops, MMS is reopening the comment period for 60 days on 
the proposed rule on Indian oil valuation so it can include in the 
record any relevant comments received. MMS can then consider those 
comments as they might apply to the Indian oil valuation rule.
    Not collecting this information would limit the Secretary's ability 
to discharge his/her duties and may also result in loss of royalty 
payments to the Indian lessor due to royalties not being collected on 
prices received under higher priced long-term sales contracts. 
Proprietary information submitted is protected, and there are no 
questions of a sensitive nature included in this ICR.
    We have also changed the title of this ICR from ``Indian Crude Oil 
Valuation Report (Form MMS-4416)'' to ``30 CFR part 206, subpart B, 
Indian Oil (Form MMS-4416, Indian Crude Oil Valuation Report)'' to 
clarify the regulatory language we are covering under 30 CFR part 206.
    Frequency: Annually; as Agreements/Contracts Change.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 337 (225 oil 
royalty payors/112 nonpayor--purchasers).
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 2,363 
hours.

[[Page 8782]]

    The following chart details the individual components and estimated 
hour burdens. In calculating the burdens, we assumed that respondents 
perform certain requirements in the normal course of their activities. 
Therefore, we consider these to be usual and customary and took that 
into account in estimating the burden.

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                                                                              Burden       Annual       Annual
         Proposed 30 CFR section               Reporting requirement        hours per    number of      burden
                                                                             response    responses      hours
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Sec.   206.81...........................  You must submit information on         .1667    2,025 \1\          338
                                           Form MMS-4416 related to all
                                           of your crude oil production
                                           from Indian leases. You must
                                           initially submit Form MMS-4416
                                           no later than [insert the date
                                           2 months after the effective
                                           date of this rule] and then by
                                           October 31 [insert the year
                                           this regulation takes effect],
                                           and by October 31 of each
                                           succeeding year.
                                          In addition to the annual                 .5    4,050 \2\        2,025
                                           requirement to file this form,
                                           you must file a new form each
                                           time you execute a new
                                           exchange or sales contract
                                           involving the production of
                                           oil from an Indian lease.
                                           However, if the contract
                                           merely extends the time period
                                           a contract is in effect
                                           without changing any other
                                           terms of the contract, this
                                           requirement to file does not
                                           apply.
-----------------------------------------
      Total.............................  ...............................  ...........        6,075       2,363
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 1,350 payor-purchaser agreements or contracts plus 675 non-payor-purchaser agreements or contracts.
\2\ 225 payor-purchasers x 6 agreements or contracts per payor x \1/2\ hour per submission x 2 submissions per
  year plus 675 agreements or contracts submitted by non-payor-purchasers x \1/2\ hour per submission x 2
  submissions per year.

    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-hour Cost'' 
Burden: We have identified no ``non-hour'' cost burdens.
    Public Disclosure Statement: The PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) 
provides 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.
    Comments: 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 automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
    To comply with the public consultation process, we published a 
Federal Register Notice on October 9, 2002 (67 FR 62985), announcing 
that we would submit this ICR to OMB for approval. The notice provided 
the required 60-day comment period. We received no comments in response 
to the notice.
    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 March 27, 2003.
    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/FRNotices/FRInfColl.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 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: February 14, 2003.
Lucy Querques Denett,
Associate Director for Minerals Revenue Management.
[FR Doc. 03-4398 Filed 2-24-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P