[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 57 (Friday, March 25, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 15246-15247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-5884]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
 
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 

  Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 57 / Friday, March 25, 2005 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 15246]]



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

30 CFR Part 250

RIN 1010-AD23


Recovery of Costs Related to the Regulation of Oil and Gas 
Activities on the Outer Continental Shelf

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR).

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SUMMARY: MMS is proposing to develop regulations which impose new fees 
to cover MMS's costs of processing certain applications and permits. 
The purpose of this proposed rulemaking would be to charge those who 
benefit from the processing of applications and permits, rather than 
the general public. This document solicits recommendations and comments 
on the proposal to charge fees.

DATES: MMS will consider all comments received by April 25, 2005. MMS 
will begin reviewing comments and may not fully consider comments 
received after April 25, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the rulemaking by any of the 
following methods listed below. Please use 1010-AD23 as the Regulation 
Identifier Number in your message. See also Public Comment Procedures 
under Procedural Matters.
     MMS's Public Connect on-line commenting system, https://ocsconnect.mms.gov. Follow the instructions on the website for 
submitting comments.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions on the Web site for submitting comments.
     E-mail MMS at [email protected]. Use the Regulation 
Identifier Number (RIN) in the subject line.
     Fax: (703) 787-1093. Identify with RIN.
    Mail or hand-carry comments to the Department of the Interior; 
Minerals Management Service; Attention: Rules Processing Team (RPT); 
381 Elden Street, MS-4024; Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817. Please 
reference ``Recovery of Costs Related to the Regulation of Oil and Gas 
Activities on the Outer Continental Shelf--AD23'' in your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martin Heinze, Program Analyst at 
(703) 787-1010.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public Comment Procedure: All submissions 
received must include the agency name and RIN for this rulemaking. 
MMS'' practice is to make comments, including names and addresses of 
respondents, available for public review during regular business hours. 
Individual respondents may request that we withhold their 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 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. Except for proprietary information, 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.
    Regulatory Background: Federal agencies are generally authorized to 
recover the costs of providing services to non-federal entities through 
the provisions of the Independent Offices Appropriations Act of 1952 
(IOAA), 31 U.S.C. 9701. The governing language concerning cost recovery 
can be found in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-25 
which states in part, ``The provisions of this Circular cover all 
federal activities that convey benefits to recipients beyond those 
accruing to the general public. When a service (or privilege) provides 
special benefits to an identifiable recipient, beyond those that accrue 
to the general public, a charge will be imposed to recover the full 
costs to the Federal Government for providing this specific benefit, or 
the market price. The general policy is that user charges will be 
instituted through the promulgation of regulations.''
    Regulatory Objectives: This ANPR solicits comments, 
recommendations, and specific remarks on a proposal to initiate a 
program of collecting fees for reviewing certain plans and permit 
applications. MMS will carefully evaluate all timely received responses 
as we develop a rule. MMS is considering regulations requiring 
operators to pay MMS fees for the review of the following:
     Exploration Plans (Sec.  250.203).
     Development and Production Plans (Sec.  250.204).
     Deep Water Operations Plans (Gulf Of Mexico (GOM) Notice 
To Lessees No. 2000-N06).
     Applications for Permit to Drill (APD; form MMS-123).
     Application for Permit to Modify (APM; form MMS-124).
     Application to Remove a Platform (Required by Sec.  
250.1727).
     Platform Approvals (Required by Sec.  250.901 for the 
installation or modification of a platform).
     Conservation Information Documents (GOM Notice To Lessees 
No. 2000-N05).
     G&G Permits: Permit for Geophysical Exploration for 
Mineral Resources or Scientific Research on the OCS (MMS-328); Permit 
for Geological Exploration for Mineral Resources or Scientific Research 
on the OCS (form MMS-329).
     Sand and Gravel Permits: Permit for Geophysical 
Prospecting for Mineral Resources or Scientific Research on the OCS 
Related to Minerals Other than Oil, Gas, and Sulphur (MMS-135); Permit 
for Geological Prospecting for Mineral Resources or Scientific Research 
on the OCS Related to Minerals Other than Oil, Gas, and Sulphur (form 
MMS-136).
    MMS invites specific comments on the following:
    1. Are there other actions for which MMS should require fees to 
recover costs from operators?
    2. MMS plans to calculate the fees in a manner similar to that used 
in the recently published Cost Recovery Rule (RIN 1010-AD16, 70 FR 
12626). Are there alternative ways to determine fair and equitable 
fees?
    3. MMS may have large cost differences associated with issuing 
permits and reviewing plans in the different regions (GOM, Pacific, 
Alaska);

[[Page 15247]]

should the fee be uniform nationwide or vary by region?

    Dated: March 21, 2005.
R.M. ``Johnnie'' Burton,
Director, Minerals Management Service.
[FR Doc. 05-5884 Filed 3-24-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P