[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 118 (Thursday, June 19, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36836-36837]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-15412]


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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 an information collection (1010-0143).

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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 in the regulations under 30 CFR 260, ``Outer 
Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing.''

DATES: Submit written comments by August 18, 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 1010-0143'' 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 regulations that require the subject collection of 
information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: 30 CFR Part 260, Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas 
Leasing.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-0143.
    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 (Secretary) to prescribe rules and 
regulations to administer leasing of the OCS. Section 8(a)(1) of the 
OCS Lands Act provides authority for the Secretary to offer leases 
under a variety of bidding systems. The regulations at 30 CFR part 260 
describe the bidding systems, our joint bidding requirements, and 
royalty suspensions for certain leases. They encourage leasing 
competition through the use of appropriate bidding-system alternatives 
and a joint bidding ban among certain large companies. Also, these 
regulations implement the Secretary's authority to promote leasing 
interest in certain areas of the OCS through automatic suspension of 
royalties. The Minerals Management Service (MMS) administers this 
program for the Secretary.
    Regulations under part 260 require lessees to notify MMS of their 
intention to begin production. Lessees must also request confirmation 
of the size of the royalty-suspension volume that applies to the pre-
2001 eligible lease. The MMS uses the information collected to make 
decisions on the shares of the royalty-suspension volume that applies 
to multiple pre-2001 eligible leases on the same field. The information 
is used to ensure royalty suspension volume is properly allocated among 
constituent leases in a field. Respondents may request reconsideration 
of an assignment of their lease that has a qualifying well to an 
existing field or to a newly designated field. We will use the 
information to reconsider and adjust, if necessary, the initial field 
assignment for a lease. These decisions can be contentious because a 
favorable field assignment can save a lessee tens of millions of 
dollars in royalties. However, currently pending legislation may result 
in the elimination of this information collection.
    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.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 130 
Federal OCS oil and gas lessees.
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: The 
currently approved annual reporting burden for this collection is 1,603 
hours. The individual components and their respective hour burden 
estimates are detailed below. 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.
    Sec. Sec.  260.114(a) and 260.124(a)--Request MMS to reconsider the 
field assignment of a lease (average of 400 hours per request x 4 
requests = 1,600 hours).
    Sec.  260.114(c)--Notify MMS of intent to begin production and 
request confirmation of the size of royalty-suspension volume (\1/2\ 
hour per notice x 6 notices = 3 hours).
    Part 260 also refers to various items of information collected 
under 30 CFR parts 203 and 256. OMB has approved those information 
collections under OMB Control Numbers 1010-0071 and 1010-0006, 
respectively.
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: We 
have identified no non-hour 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

[[Page 36837]]

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. 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, 2003.
E.P. Danenberger,
Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 03-15412 Filed 6-18-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P