[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 168 (Monday, August 31, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52497-52498]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21621]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Natural Resources Revenue

[Docket No. ONRR-2011-0019; DS63610000 DR2PS0000.CH7000 156D0102R2]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Accounts Receivable 
Confirmations--OMB Control Number 1012-0001; Comment Request

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

ACTION: Notice of renewal of an existing Information Collection.

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), ONRR 
is inviting comments on an information collection request that we will 
submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and 
approval. This Information Collection Request (ICR) covers the 
paperwork requirements under the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 
(CFO). This notice also provides the public a second opportunity to 
comment on the paperwork burden of the regulatory requirements.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before September 30, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit your written comments directly to the Desk 
Officer for the Department of the Interior (OMB Control Number 1012-
0001), Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, by email to 
[email protected] or telefax at (202) 395-5806. Please also 
mail a copy of your comments to Mr. Luis Aguilar, Regulatory 
Specialist, ONRR, P.O. Box 25165, MS 61030A, Denver, Colorado 80225-
0165, or email [email protected]. Please reference OMB Control 
Number 1012-0001 in your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on technical issues, 
contact Mr. Hans Meingast, Financial Management, ONRR, telephone (303)

[[Page 52498]]

231-3382, or email at [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 (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: 

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. 
Public laws pertaining to mineral leases on Federal and Indian lands 
and the OCS are posted at http://www.onrr.gov/Laws_R_D/PubLaws/default.htm.
    The Secretary also has a trust responsibility to manage Indian 
lands and seek advice and information from Indian beneficiaries. 
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 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 that royalties are appropriately paid.
    Every year, under the CFO, the Department's Office of Inspector 
General, or its agent (agent), audits the Department's financial 
statements. The Department's goal is to receive an unqualified opinion. 
Accounts receivable confirmations are a common practice in the audit 
business. Due to continuously increasing scrutiny on financial audits, 
third-party confirmation on the validity of ONRR's financial records is 
necessary.
    As part of CFO audits, the agent requests, by a specified date, 
third-party confirmation responses confirming that ONRR accounts 
receivable records agree with royalty payor records, for the following 
items: customer identification; royalty/invoice number; payor-assigned 
document number; date received; original amount reported; and remaining 
balance due ONRR as of a specified date. In order to meet this 
requirement, ONRR must mail letters on ONRR letterhead, signed by the 
Deputy Director for Office of Natural Resources Revenue, to royalty 
payors selected by the agent at random, asking them to respond to the 
agent, confirming the accuracy and/or validity of selected royalty 
receivable items and amounts. Verifying the amounts reported and the 
balances due requires time for research and analysis by payors.
    This collection does not require proprietary, trade secret, or 
other confidential information not protected by agency procedures. No 
items of a sensitive nature are collected. The requirement to respond 
is voluntary.

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 the loss of royalty payments. Proprietary information 
submitted is protected, and there are no questions of a sensitive 
nature included in this information collection.

II. Data

    Title: Accounts Receivable Confirmations.
    OMB Control Number: 1012-0001.
    Bureau Form Number: None.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 24 randomly 
selected Federal and Indian oil and gas and solid mineral royalty 
payors.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 6 
hours. We estimate that each response will take 15 minutes for payors 
to complete.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-hour'' Cost 
Burden: We have identified no ``non-hour'' cost burden associated with 
the collection of information.

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 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 February 10, 2015 (80 FR 7494), 
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 
September 30, 2015.
    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.
    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 in your comment to withhold PII from public view, we 
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

    Dated: August 27, 2015.
Gregory J. Gould,
Director, Office of Natural Resources Revenue.
[FR Doc. 2015-21621 Filed 8-28-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4335-30-P