[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 124 (Tuesday, June 28, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37890-37891]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-16009]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Fiscal Service


Certification Pursuant to Energy Policy Act of 2005

AGENCY: Financial Management Service, Fiscal Service, Treasury.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-58) requires the 
Secretary of the Treasury to publish a certification when certain 
royalties withheld by lessees amount to a particular sum. This Notice 
is to provide the required certification.

DATES: This notice is effective as of June 28, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Teresa Dawson, Senior Counsel, 
Financial Management Service, 401 14th Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20227; telephone (202) 874-7000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Oil Pollution Control Act of 1990, 
Public Law 101-380, dated August 18, 1990, authorized the appropriation 
of ``such sums as may be necessary to provide compensation, including 
interest, to the State of Louisiana and its lessees, for net drainage 
of oil and gas resources * * *'' The authorization also included funds 
for the payment of interest on this amount.
    Congress established an alternate means of paying this compensation 
in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 109-58, dated August 8, 
2005. Rather than using appropriated funds to pay compensation to 
lessees and the State of Louisiana, section 383 of that Act provided 
that a lessee could withhold 100% of royalty payments due to the United 
States if the lessee paid to the State of Louisiana 44 cents of every 
dollar withheld. Any royalty payment withheld pursuant to that 
provision of law would be treated as paid in satisfaction of the 
lessee's royalty obligations to the United States. Section 383 also 
charged the Secretary of the Treasury with (1) determining the amount 
of royalty withheld by a lessee, and (2) publishing a certification 
when the total amount of royalty withheld by the lessee equaled 
$18,115,147.16 plus interest at 8% per annum.
    To implement the payment provisions of Section 383, in October 2006 
the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the United States Department 
of the Interior entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with 
the State of Louisiana and the lessee. Pursuant to that MOU, the lessee 
would report monthly to MMS the amount of royalties due, and would 
remit a

[[Page 37891]]

payment of 44% of that total to the State of Louisiana. After the State 
of Louisiana confirmed receipt of that payment, MMS would offset the 
royalty receivable created on its books for amounts due from the lessee 
with a credit for the amount of royalty withheld. In January 2011, the 
Department of the Interior's Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) 
advised Treasury that the total amount due pursuant to Section 383 had 
been paid and requested the publication of the required certification.
    Pursuant to the delegation of authority in Treasury Order 101-05 
and the assignment of duties in Treasury Directive 27-02, Treasury's 
Financial Management Service (FMS) is publishing this notice to carry 
out the Secretary's certification obligation under the Oil Pollution 
Act of 2005. FMS has reviewed the schedule of withheld royalty payments 
provided by ONRR. Based on the information presented in that payment 
schedule, FMS is publishing this notice, certifying that, as of October 
1, 2010, the royalties reported as withheld by the lessee in accordance 
with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 amounted to $18,115,147.16 plus 
interest at 8% per annum. This certification is applicable as of 
October 1, 2010.

    Dated: June 21, 2011.
David A. Lebryk,
Commissioner.
[FR Doc. 2011-16009 Filed 6-27-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-35-M