[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 10, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27268-27270]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7068]


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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 (1010-0154).

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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 (NTLs)--Implementation of 
Seismic Survey Mitigation Measures and Protected Species Observer 
Program, NTL--Vessel Strike Avoidance and Injured/Dead Protected 
Species Reporting; and NTL--Marine Trash and Debris Awareness and 
Elimination.''

DATES: Submit written comments by July 10, 2006.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
listed below. Please use the Information Collection Number 1010-0154 as 
an identifier in your message.
     Public Connect on-line commenting system, https://ocsconnect.mms.gov. Follow the instructions on the Web site for 
submitting comments.
     E-mail MMS at [email protected]. Identify with 
Information Collection Number 1010-0154 in the subject line.
     Fax: 703-787-1093. Identify with Information Collection 
Number 1010-0154.

[[Page 27269]]

     Mail or hand-carry comments to the Department of the 
Interior; Minerals Management Service; Attention: Rules Process Team 
(RPT); 381 Elden Street, MS-4024; Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817. Please 
reference ``Information Collection 1010-0154'' in your comments.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Notices to Lessees and Operators (NTLs)--Implementation of 
Seismic Survey Mitigation Measures and Protected Species Observer 
Program, NTL--Vessel Strike Avoidance and Injured/Dead Protected 
Species Reporting; and NTL--Marine Trash and Debris Awareness and 
Elimination.
    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.
    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) marine wildlife, marine mammals 
including 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 (Endangered Species Act) (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 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:
     NTL 2004-G01--Implementation of Seismic Survey Mitigation 
Measures and Protected Species Observer Program,
     NTL 2003-G11--Marine Trash and Debris Awareness and 
Elimination, and
     NTL 2003-G10--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.) will also 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.
    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 
22,305 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 and
              NTL                    recordkeeping         Hour burden
                                      requirement
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Implementation of Seismic       Submit marine mammal    1 hour/report.
 Survey Mitigation Measures      observation reports/
 and Protected Species           forms (including
 Observer Program.               observer, survey,
                                 sighting, shut-down,
                                 borehole, and passive
                                 acoustic monitoring
                                 reports).
                                Actual visual           8 hours/day 3
                                 observation on duty.    observers/
                                                         vessel = 24.
                                Submit to MMS observer  \1/2\ hour.
                                 training requirement
                                 materials and
                                 information.
                                Observer training.....  8 hours.
                                Training certification  \1/2\ hour.
                                 and recordkeeping.
                                Submit to MMS           1 hour.
                                 information on
                                 passive acoustic
                                 monitoring system
                                 before its use
                                 (voluntary program).

[[Page 27270]]

 
Vessel Strike Avoidance and     Submit injured/dead     \1/2\ hour/
 Injured/Dead Protected          protected species       report.
 Species Rpting.                 report.
Marine Trash and Debris         Write to obtain         \1/2\ hour/
 Awareness and Elimination.      training video          request.
                                 (optional).
                                Submit annual report    \1/2\ hour/
                                 to MMS on training      record.
                                 process and
                                 certification.
                                Training recordkeeping  \1/2\ hour/
                                                         record.
                               -----------------------------------------
                                Post placards on vessels and 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.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 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 Procedures: MMS's practice is to make comments, 
including names and addresses of respondents, available for public 
review. If you wish your name and/or address to be withheld, you must 
state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. MMS will honor 
this request to the extent allowable by law; however, anonymous 
comments will not be considered. All submissions from organizations or 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be 
made available for public inspection in their entirety.
    MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Arlene Bajusz (202) 
208-7744.

    Dated: May 3, 2006.
William S. Hauser,
Acting Chief, Office of Offshore Regulatory Programs.
[FR Doc. E6-7068 Filed 5-9-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P