[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 93 (Wednesday, May 14, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25904-25905]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-11965]


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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 extension of a currently approved information 
collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0154).

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 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) concerns the 
paperwork requirements under the Endangered Species Act Biological 
Opinions, issued by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA Fisheries) and 
is titled: ``Notices to Lessees and Operators Numbers 2002-G07, 2003-
G06, and 2003-G07.''

DATE: Submit written comments by July 14, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand carry 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 address is: [email protected]. 
Reference ``Information Collection 1010-0154'' in your e-mail subject 
line and mark your message for return receipt. Include your name and 
return address in your message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Arlene Bajusz, Rules Processing Team 
(703) 787-1600. You may also contact Arlene Bajusz to obtain a copy, at 
no cost, of the Notices to Lessees that require the subject collection 
of information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Notices to Lessees and Operators Numbers 2002-G07, 2003-G06, 
and 2003-G07.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-0154.
    Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands 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 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 that 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.
    The Department of the Interior, MMS, as a Federal agency, has a 
continuing affirmative duty to comply with the Endangered Species Act 
(ESA). This includes a substantive duty to carry out any agency action 
in a manner that is not likely to jeopardize protected species as well 
as a procedural duty to consult with the FWS and NOAA Fisheries before 
engaging in a discretionary action that may affect a protected species.
    The MMS follows these procedural requirements by conducting formal 
consultations with FWS and NOAA Fisheries prior to lease sales. 
Consultations on OCS lease sales 181, 184, and the 5-year multisale 
(2002-2007) program in the Central and Western Planning Areas of the 
Gulf of Mexico resulted in no-jeopardy biological opinions from the FWS 
and NOAA Fisheries. In their biological opinions, NOAA Fisheries 
determined that some activities associated with the proposed action 
(lease sale and related exploration, development, and production 
activities) may adversely affect (harm) sperm whales and sea turtles in 
the action area and that certain reasonable and prudent measures are 
necessary to minimize the potential for incidental take of these 
animals. To be exempt from the prohibitions of Section 9 of the ESA 
(which prohibits taking listed species), MMS must implement and enforce 
nondiscretionary terms and conditions. The ESA also requires monitoring 
and reporting. Monitoring programs resulting from ESA interagency 
consultations are designed to (1) detect adverse effects resulting from 
a proposed action, (2) assess the actual level of incidental take in 
comparison with the level of anticipated incidental take documented in 
the biological opinion, (3) detect when the level of anticipated take 
is exceeded, and (4) determine the effectiveness of reasonable and 
prudent alternatives and their implementing terms and conditions.
    To provide supplementary guidance and procedures, MMS issues 
Notices to Lessees and Operators (NTLs) on a regional or national 
basis. Regulation 30 CFR 250.103 allows MMS to issue NTLs to clarify, 
supplement, or provide more detail about certain requirements. To 
implement the nondiscretionary terms and conditions of these biological 
opinions, the MMS issued three NTLs:
    [sbull] NTL 2002-G07 (Addendum 1)--Implementation of Seismic Survey 
Mitigation Measures
    [sbull] NTL 2003-G06--Marine Trash and Debris Awareness and 
Elimination
    [sbull] NTL 2003-G07--Vessel Strike Avoidance and Injured/Dead 
Protected Species Reporting
    The MMS will use the information collected to report annually to 
NOAA Fisheries the effectiveness of mitigation, any adverse effects of 
the proposed action, and any incidental take, in accordance with 50 CFR 
402.14(i)(3). The MMS engineers, geologists, geophysicists, 
environmental scientists, and other Federal agencies (FWS, NOAA 
Fisheries, etc.) also will analyze the information and data collected 
under these NTLs to better evaluate the potential impacts to listed 
species and to plan operations in a manner that will further reduce 
and/or avoid adverse impacts to protected species in the OCS.
    On March 26, 2003, the OMB approved our request under emergency 
processing procedures to collect the information required by these NTLs 
and assigned OMB Control Number 1010-0154. Emergency processing permits 
the collection of information for 180 days. This notice announces our 
intention to request a 3-year extension for this information 
collection. As the programs in these NTLs develop further, MMS 
acknowledges there may be some revisions to the collection of 
information. MMS is now more fully developing the observer training and 
reporting programs associated with NTL 2002-G07 (Addendum 1), 
Implementation of Seismic Survey Mitigation Measures, and with NTL 
2003-G07, Vessel Strike Avoidance and Injured/Dead Protected Species 
Reporting. MMS is currently working

[[Page 25905]]

with NOAA Fisheries to develop a training and network reporting program 
indicated in NTL 2003-G07. Therefore, with this submission, we are 
requesting an extension of the approved collections and noting that we 
are revising details of the observer training programs and we are 
adding an experimental (voluntary) passive acoustic monitoring program. 
Consequently, these NTLs may be reissued.
    We will protect information from respondents considered proprietary 
under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and its 
implementing regulations (43 CFR part 2) and under regulations at 30 
CFR parts 250, 251, and 252. No items of a sensitive nature are 
collected. Responses are mandatory or required to obtain or retain a 
benefit.
    Frequency: On occasion and on the 1st and 15th of each month for 
the marine mammal observation reports.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 130 
Federal OCS lessees and operators.
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: The 
currently approved annual reporting burden for this collection is 310 
hours. The following chart details the individual components and 
respective hour burden estimates of this ICR. In calculating 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, posting, and
           NTL number and name                 recordkeeping requirement                  Hour burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2002-G07 (Addendum 1) Seismic Survey       Marine mammal observation/reports  1 hour/report.
 Mitigation Measures.                       (including observer, survey,
                                            sighting, shut-down, and passive
                                            acoustic monitoring reports).
2003-G06 Marine Trash and Debris.........  Training certification             \1/2\ hour/record.
                                            recordkeeping.
                                           Post placards on vessels and       0.
                                            structures. (Exempt from
                                            information collection burden
                                            because MMS is providing exact
                                            language for the trash and
                                            debris warning, similar to the
                                            ``Surgeon General's Warning''
                                            exemption.).
2003-G07 Vessel Strikes..................  Injured/dead protected species     \1/2\ hour/report.
                                            report.
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    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: We 
have identified no cost burdens for this collection.
    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: 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.
    Agencies must also estimate the ``non-hour cost'' burdens to 
respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of 
information. Therefore, 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, and record storage 
facilities. You should not include estimates for 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 submission for OMB approval. As a result of your comments, we 
will make any necessary adjustments to the burden in our submission to 
OMB.
    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: May 5, 2003.
E.P. Danenberger,
Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 03-11965 Filed 5-13-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P