[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 94 (Friday, May 15, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28007-28009]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-11799]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Natural Resources Revenue

[Docket No. ONRR-2014-0002; DS63602000 DR2PS0000.PX8000 156D0102R2]


Agency Information Collection Activities: United States 
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (USEITI) Revenue 
Information Collection--OMB Control Number 1012--0NEW; Comment Request

AGENCY: Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR), Interior.

ACTION: Notice for OMB approval.

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we 
are notifying the public that we have submitted this Information 
Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for review and approval. This ICR covers the paperwork requirements for 
participation in the United States implementation of the Extractive 
Industries Transparency Initiative (USEITI). This notice also provides 
the public a second opportunity to comment on the paperwork burden of 
these regulatory requirements.

DATES: OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove this information 
collection request but may respond after 30 days; therefore, you should 
submit your public comments to OMB by June 15, 2015 for the assurance 
of consideration.

ADDRESSES: You may submit your written comments directly to the Desk 
Officer for the Department of the Interior (OMB Control Number 1012--
NEW), Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, by email to 
[email protected].gov or telefax at (202) 395-5806. Please also 
mail a copy of your comments to Mr. Luis Aguilar, Regulatory 
Specialist,

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ONRR, P.O. Box 25165, MS 61030A, Denver, Colorado 80225-0165, or email 
[email protected]. Please reference OMB Control Number 1012--NEW in 
your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on technical issues, 
contact Jonathan Swedin, Program & Performance Analysis, ONRR, 
telephone (303) 231-3028, or email [email protected]. For other 
questions, contact Mr. Luis Aguilar, telephone (303) 231-3418, or email 
[email protected]. You may also contact Mr. Aguilar to obtain 
copies (free of charge) of the ICR and any associated forms. You may 
also review the information collection request online at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. 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). Under various laws, the Secretary's 
responsibility is to manage mineral resources production on Federal and 
Indian lands and the OCS, collect the royalties and other mineral 
revenues due, and distribute the funds collected under those laws. ONRR 
performs the royalty management functions and assists the Secretary in 
carrying out the Department's responsibility. We have posted those laws 
pertaining to mineral leases on Federal and Indian lands and the OCS at 
http://www.onrr.gov/Laws_R_D/PubLaws/default.htm.
    In September 2011, President Obama announced the U.S. commitment to 
domestic implementation of EITI, a key element of the President's Open 
Government Partnership commitments. President Obama appointed the 
Secretary of the Interior as the senior U.S. official to lead the 
USEITI implementation. EITI is a voluntary global effort designed to 
strengthen transparency, accountability, and public trust for the 
revenues paid and received for a country's oil, gas, and mineral 
resources. The Administration renewed its commitment to implement EITI 
in the December 2013 U.S. Open Government National Action Plan. By 
signing onto the global EITI standard, the U.S. Government will help 
ensure that American taxpayers are receiving every dollar due for the 
extraction of these valuable public resources. The EITI Standard 
contains the set of requirements that countries need to meet in order 
to be recognized first as an EITI Candidate and ultimately as an EITI 
Compliant Country. In March 2014, the U.S. became the first G7 country 
to achieve Candidate Country status. When fully implemented, EITI will 
ensure more transparency in how the country's natural resources are 
governed and also will provide full disclosure of government revenues 
from its extractive sector.
    The following laws and executive initiative are applicable to 
USEITI, including the Secretary's and ONRR's management of mineral 
resource production, revenue, and information disclosure obligations:

 U.S. Open Government National Action Plan
 Freedom of Information Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. 552)
 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331-
56b), including provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 
15801 et seq.)
 Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 as amended 
by the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act of 
1996 (30 U.S.C. 1701-1759)
 Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001-28)
 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C 181-287)
 Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C 351-60)

General Information

    International EITI requirements direct participating governments to 
publish annual reports to help citizens understand how governments 
manage their extractive sectors. The U.S. Open Government National 
Action Plan commits the U.S. to publish the first United States EITI 
report in 2015 and to achieve EITI compliance in 2016. An Independent 
Administrator produces the annual reports, which include parallel 
public disclosures by both the government and companies. These 
disclosures relate to the payments that companies have made to the 
government on their oil, gas, and mining development.
    In order to produce the USEITI annual reports, the Independent 
Administrator, in partnership with industry and DOI, created a document 
called the ``USEITI Reporting Form,'' including reporting instructions, 
which provide guidance on how to complete this form. The Independent 
Administrator will use this form to collect revenue information from 
extractive companies which paid more than $20 million to ONRR in a 
given year. The form will collect information on the amounts of 
royalties, rentals, and other payments related to mineral development 
that companies have made to the Federal Government. The Independent 
Administrator will collect this information; however, it will not 
collect items of a sensitive nature such as proprietary data, 
Personally Identifiable Information, etc. EITI is a voluntary 
initiative, and companies are not required to provide the requested 
information.

OMB Approval

    We are requesting OMB's approval to collect this information. This 
ICR is necessary to successfully implement EITI in the U.S. Not 
collecting this information would limit the Secretary's ability to 
implement the U.S. Open Government National Action Plan and could 
prevent the Independent Administrator from creating and completing the 
annual USEITI report. If the annual USEITI report is not completed, the 
U.S. will not become an EITI Compliant Country.

II. Data

    Title: United States Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative 
(USEITI) Revenue Information Collection.
    OMB Control Number: 1012--NEW.
    Bureau Form Number: None.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 76 extractive 
companies that paid $20 million or more to ONRR in calendar year 2013.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 6,384 
hours. We estimate that each response will take approximately 84 hours 
for each company to complete. We have not included in our estimates 
certain requirements performed in the normal course of business and 
considered usual and customary.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-hour'' Cost 
Burden: We have identified no ``non-hour'' cost burden associated with 
the 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 displays 
a currently valid OMB control number.

III. Request for Comments

    Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA requires each agency to ``* * * 
publish a 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

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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 December 18, 2014 (79 FR 75583) 
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. 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 June 15, 2015.
    Public Comment Policy: ONRR will post all comments, including names 
and addresses of respondents at http://www.regulations.gov. Before 
including Personally Identifiable Information (PII), such as your 
address, phone number, email address, or other personal information in 
your comment(s), you should be aware that your entire comment 
(including PII) may be made available to the public at any time. While 
you may ask us to withhold PII from public view, we cannot guarantee 
that we will be able to do so.

    Dated: May 12, 2015.
Gregory J. Gould,
Director, Office of Natural Resources Revenue.
[FR Doc. 2015-11799 Filed 5-14-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4335-30-P