[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 219 (Monday, November 14, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70484-70486]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29294]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Natural Resources Revenue

[Docket No. ONRR-2011-0009]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submitted for Office of 
Management and Budget Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Office of Natural Resources Revenue, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of an extension of a currently approved information 
collection.

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the 
Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) is notifying the public that 
we have submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) an 
information collection request (ICR) to renew approval of the paperwork 
requirements in the regulations under 30 CFR part 1218. This notice 
also provides the public a second opportunity to comment on the 
paperwork burden of these regulatory requirements.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before December 14, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments by either FAX (202) 395-5806 or 
email ([email protected]) directly to the Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for the Department 
of the Interior (OMB Control Number 1012-0008).
    Please also submit a copy of your comments to ONRR by one of the 
following methods:
     Electronically go to http://www.regulations.gov. In the 
entry titled ``Enter Keyword or ID,'' enter ONRR-2011-0009, and then 
click search. Follow the instructions to submit public comments. We 
will post all comments.
     Mail comments to Hyla Hurst, Regulatory Specialist, Office 
of Natural Resources Revenue, P.O. Box 25165, MS 61013C, Denver, 
Colorado 80225. Please reference ICR 1012-0008 in your comments.
     Hand-carry comments or use an overnight courier service. 
Our courier address is Building 85, Room A-614, Denver Federal Center, 
West 6th Ave. and Kipling St., Denver, Colorado 80225. Please reference 
ICR 1012-0008 in your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hyla Hurst, telephone (303) 231-3495, 
or email [email protected]. You may also contact Hyla Hurst to obtain 
copies, at no cost, of (1) the ICR, (2) any associated forms, and (3) 
the regulations that require the subject collection of information. You 
may also review the information collection request online at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: 30 CFR part 1218, Collection of 
Monies Due the Federal Government.
    OMB Control Number: 1012-0008.
    Bureau Form Number: Form ONRR-4425.
    Abstract: The Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior is 
responsible for mineral resource development on Federal and Indian 
lands and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The Secretary is required 
by various laws to manage mineral resource production from Federal and 
Indian lands and the OCS, collect the royalties and other mineral 
revenues due, and distribute the funds collected in accordance with 
applicable laws. The Secretary also has a trust responsibility to 
manage Indian lands and seek advice and information from Indian 
beneficiaries. The ONRR performs the minerals revenue management 
functions for the Secretary and assists the Secretary in carrying out 
the Department's trust responsibility for Indian lands. Public laws 
pertaining to mineral leases on Federal and Indian lands are posted on 
our Web site at http://www.onrr.gov/Laws_R_D/PublicLawsAMR.htm.
    Minerals produced from Federal and Indian leases vary greatly in 
the nature of occurrence, production, and processing methods. When a 
company or an individual enters into a lease to explore, develop, 
produce, and dispose of minerals from Federal or Indian lands, that 
company or individual agrees to pay the lessor a share in an amount or 
value of production from the leased lands. The lessee is required to 
report various kinds of information to the lessor relative to the 
disposition of the leased minerals. Such information is generally 
available within the records of the lessee or others involved in 
developing, transporting, processing, purchasing, or selling such 
minerals. The information collected includes data necessary to ensure 
that production is accurately valued and royalties are appropriately 
paid.
    This ICR covers unique reporting circumstances including (1) cross-
lease netting in calculation of late-payment interest; (2) designation 
of a designee; and (3) and tribal permission for recoupment on Indian 
oil and gas leases.

Cross-Lease Netting in Calculation of Late-Payment Interest

    Regulations at 1218.54 require ONRR to assess interest on unpaid or 
underpaid amounts. The ONRR distributes these interest revenues to 
states, Indian tribes, and the U.S. Treasury, based on financial lease 
distribution information. Current regulations at 1218.42 provide that 
an overpayment on a lease or leases may be offset against an 
underpayment on a different lease or leases to determine the net 
payment subject to interest, when certain conditions are met. This is 
called cross-lease netting. However, sections 6(a), (b), and (c) of the 
Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act (RSFA) require ONRR to pay 
interest on lessees' Federal oil and gas overpayments made on or after 
February 13, 1997 (6 months after the August 13, 1996, enactment of 
RSFA). The ONRR implemented this RSFA provision in 1997 and began 
calculating interest on both underpayments and overpayments for Federal 
oil and gas leases, making the cross-lease netting provisions at 
1218.42 no longer applicable for these leases. Lessees must comply with 
the provisions at 30 CFR 1218.42(b) and (c) for Indian tribal leases or 
Federal leases other than oil and gas. They must demonstrate that 
cross-lease netting is correct by submitting production reports, 
pipeline allocation reports, or other similar documentary evidence. 
This information is necessary for ONRR to determine the correct amount 
of interest the lessee owes and to ensure that we collect in full all 
monies owed the Federal Government.

Designation of Designee

    Requirements of RSFA established that owners of, primarily, 
operating rights or, secondarily, lease record title (both referred to 
as ``lessees'') are responsible for making royalty and related payments 
on Federal oil and gas leases (see 30 CFR 1218.52). It is

[[Page 70485]]

common, however, for a payor rather than a lessee to make these 
payments. When a payor makes payments on behalf of a lessee, RSFA 
section 6(g) requires that the lessee designate the payor as its 
designee and notify ONRR of this arrangement in writing. We designed 
Form ONRR-4425, Designation Form for Royalty Payment Responsibility, to 
request all the information necessary for lessees to comply with these 
RSFA requirements when choosing to designate an agent to pay for them. 
We require this information to ensure proper mineral revenue 
collection.

Tribal Permission for Recoupment on Indian Oil and Gas Leases

    In order to report cross-lease netting on Indian oil and gas 
leases, lessees must also comply with regulations at 30 CFR 1218.53(b), 
allowing only lessees with written permission from the tribe to recoup 
overpayments on one lease against a different lease for which the tribe 
is the lessor. The payor must provide ONRR with a copy of the tribe's 
written permission. Generally, a payor may recoup an overpayment 
against the current month's royalties or other revenues owed on the 
same tribal lease. For any month, a payor may not recoup more than 50 
percent of the royalties or other revenues owed in that month, under an 
individual allotted lease, or more than 100 percent of the royalties or 
other revenues owed in that month, under a tribal lease. Lessees report 
oil and gas lease recoupments on Form MMS-2014, Report of Sales and 
Royalty Remittance (which will be renumbered as Form ONRR-2014, as we 
update our forms and form numbers in the regulations). The burden hours 
are covered under ICR 1012-0004.

OMB Approval

    We are requesting OMB's approval to continue to collect this 
information. Not collecting this information would limit the 
Secretary's ability to discharge the duties of the office and may also 
result in loss of royalty payments. Proprietary information submitted 
is protected, and there are no questions of a sensitive nature included 
in this information collection.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 1,630 Federal and 
Indian lessees.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 1,255 
hours.
    We have not included in our estimates certain requirements 
performed in the normal course of business and considered usual and 
customary. The following chart shows the estimated burden hours by CFR 
section and paragraph:

                                   Respondents' Estimated Annual Burden Hours
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                                                                                          Average
                                          Reporting and recordkeeping                    number of      Annual
     Citation 30 CFR part 1218                    requirement              Hour burden     annual       burden
                                                                                         responses      hours
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           Subpart A--General Provisions--Cross-lease netting in calculation of late-payment interest.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1218.42 (b) and (c)................  Cross-lease netting in calculation              2           25           50
                                      of late-payment interest. (b)
                                      Royalties attributed to production
                                      from a lease or leases which should
                                      have been attributed to production
                                      from a different lease or leases
                                      may be offset * * * if * * * the
                                      payor submits production reports,
                                      pipeline allocation reports, or
                                      other similar documentary evidence
                                      pertaining to the specific
                                      production involved which verifies
                                      the correct production information
                                      * * * (c) If ONRR assesses late-
                                      payment interest and the payor
                                      asserts that some or all of the
                                      interest is not owed * * * the
                                      burden is on the payor to
                                      demonstrate that the exception
                                      applies * * *.
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                    Subpart B--Oil and Gas, General--How does a lessee designate a Designee?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1218.52(a), (c), and (d)...........  How does a lessee designate a                0.75        1,600        1,200
                                      Designee? (a) If you are a lessee
                                      under 30 U.S.C. 1701(7), and you
                                      want to designate a person to make
                                      all or part of the payments due
                                      under a lease on your behalf * * *
                                      you must notify ONRR * * * in
                                      writing of such designation * * *.
                                      (c) If you want to terminate a
                                      designation * * * you must provide
                                      [the following] to ONRR in writing
                                      * * *. (d) ONRR may require you to
                                      provide notice when there is a
                                      change in the percentage of your
                                      record title or operating rights
                                      ownership.
                                     The ONRR currently uses Form MMS-
                                      4425, Designation Form for Royalty
                                      Payment Responsibility, to collect
                                      this information.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Subpart B--Oil and Gas, General--Recoupment of overpayments on Indian mineral leases.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1218.53(b).........................  Recoupment of overpayments on Indian            1            5            5
                                      mineral leases. (b) With written
                                      permission authorized by tribal
                                      statute or resolution, a payor may
                                      recoup an overpayment against
                                      royalties or other revenues owed *
                                      * * under other leases * * *. A
                                      copy of the tribe's written
                                      permission must be furnished to
                                      ONRR * * *.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Burden...................  ....................................  ...........        1,630        1,255
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-hour'' Cost 
Burden: We have identified no ``non-hour cost'' burden associated with 
this collection of information.
    Public Disclosure Statement: The PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) 
provides that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless it

[[Page 70486]]

displays a currently valid OMB control number.
    Comments: Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA requires each agency to 
``* * * provide 60-day notice in the Federal Register * * * 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.
    To comply with the public consultation process, we published a 
notice in the Federal Register on May 4, 2011 (76 FR 25370), announcing 
that we would submit this ICR to OMB for approval. The notice provided 
the required 60-day comment period. We received no comments in response 
to the notice.
    If you wish to comment in response to this notice, you may send 
your comments to the offices listed under the ADDRESSES section of this 
notice. The OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove the 
information collection but may respond after 30 days. Therefore, to 
ensure maximum consideration, OMB should receive public comments by 
December 14, 2011.
    Public Comment Policy: We post all comments, including names and 
addresses of respondents, at http://www.regulations.gov. Before 
including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal 
identifying information in your comment, be advised that your entire 
comment--including your personal identifying information--may be made 
publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to 
withhold from public view your personal identifying information, we 
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    Information Collection Clearance Officer: Karen Burke (703) 487-
3896.

    Dated: November 3, 2011.
Gregory J. Gould,
Director, Office of Natural Resources Revenue.
[FR Doc. 2011-29294 Filed 11-10-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-T2-P