[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 12, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 1654]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-321]



[[Page 1654]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

[Docket No. MMS-2009-MRM-0017]


States' Decisions on Participating in Accounting and Auditing 
Relief for Federal Oil and Gas Marginal Properties

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of States' decisions to participate or not participate 
in accounting and auditing relief for Federal oil and gas marginal 
properties located within the States' boundaries for calendar year 
2010.

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SUMMARY: The Minerals Management Service (MMS) published final 
regulations on September 13, 2004 (69 FR 55076), codified at sections 
204.200 through 204.215 of title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR), to provide two types of accounting and auditing relief for 
Federal onshore or Outer Continental Shelf lease production from 
marginal properties. These regulations require MMS to publish in the 
Federal Register the decisions of the States concerned to allow or not 
allow one or both forms of relief allowed by the regulations. As 
required by the regulations, MMS provided States receiving a portion of 
the Federal royalties with a list of qualifying marginal Federal oil 
and gas properties located in the States so that each affected State 
could decide whether to participate in one or both relief options. For 
calendar year 2010, this notice provides the decisions by the States 
concerned to allow one or both types of relief.

DATE: Effective January 1, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Williams, Manager, Western Audit 
& Compliance Management, telephone (303) 231-3403, FAX (303) 231-3744, 
e-mail to [email protected], or mail to P.O. Box 25165, MS 62200B, 
Denver Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225-0165.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    The regulations implement certain provisions of section 7 of the 
Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act of 1996 (30 
U.S.C. 1726) and provide two options for relief: (1) Notification-based 
relief for annual reporting, and (2) other requested relief, as 
proposed by industry and approved by MMS and the State concerned. The 
regulations require that MMS publish a list of the States and their 
decisions regarding marginal property relief by December 1 of each 
year.
    To qualify for the first relief option (notification-based relief) 
for calendar year 2010, properties must have produced less than 1,000 
barrels-of-oil-equivalent (BOE) per year for the base period (July 1, 
2008, through June 30, 2009). Annual reporting relief will begin 
January 1, 2010, with the annual report and payment due February 28, 
2011; or March 31, 2011, if you have an estimated payment on file. To 
qualify for the second relief option (other requested relief), the 
combined equivalent production of the marginal properties during the 
base period must equal an average daily well production of less than 15 
BOE per well per day calculated under 30 CFR 204.4(c).
    The following table shows the States that have marginal properties, 
where a portion of the royalties are shared between the State and MMS, 
and the States' decisions to allow one or both forms of relief.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Notification-based relief
                  State                     (less than 1,000 BOE per     Request-based relief (less than 15 BOE
                                                     year)                         per well per day)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama.................................  No.........................  No.
California..............................  No.........................  No.
Colorado................................  No.........................  No.
Kansas..................................  No.........................  No.
Louisiana...............................  Yes........................  Yes.
Michigan................................  Yes........................  Yes.
Mississippi.............................  No.........................  No.
Montana.................................  No.........................  No.
Nebraska................................  No.........................  No.
Nevada..................................  Yes........................  Yes.
New Mexico..............................  No.........................  Yes.
North Dakota............................  Yes........................  Yes.
Oklahoma................................  No.........................  No.
South Dakota............................  Yes........................  No.
Texas...................................  No.........................  No.
Utah....................................  No.........................  No.
Wyoming.................................  Yes........................  No.
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    Federal oil and gas properties located in all other States, where a 
portion of the royalties is not shared with the State, are eligible for 
relief if they qualify as marginal under this rule. The MMS believes 
this covers any exceptions under section 117(c) of RSFA. For 
information on how to obtain relief, please refer to the rule, which 
you can view on our MMS Web site at http://www.mrm.mms.gov/Laws_R_D/FRNotices/AC30.htm.
    Unless the information received is proprietary data, all 
correspondence, records, or information that we receive in response to 
this notice may be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of 
Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552 et seq.) (FOIA). If applicable, please 
highlight the proprietary portions, including any supporting 
documentation, or mark the page(s) that contain proprietary data. 
Proprietary information is protected by the Trade Secrets Act (18 
U.S.C. 1905); FOIA, Exemption 4; and Department regulations (43 CFR, 
part 2).

    Dated: December 17, 2009.
Gregory J. Gould,
Associate Director for Minerals Revenue Management.
[FR Doc. 2010-321 Filed 1-11-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P