[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 6, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5271-5273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02299]



[[Page 5271]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Natural Resources Revenue

[Docket No. ONRR-2011-0009; DS63644000 DR2000000.CH7000 189D0102R2; OMB 
Control Number 1012-0008]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Collection of 
Monies Due the Federal Government

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Office of Natural Resources Revenue, 
Interior.

ACTION: Notice of extension.

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the 
Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR), is proposing to renew an 
information collection with revisions under 30 CFR part 1218.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
March 8, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit your written comments on this information 
collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget's Desk 
Officer for the Department of the Interior by email to 
[email protected].gov; or via facsimile to (202) 395-5806. Please 
also mail a copy of your comments to Mr. Armand Southall, Regulatory 
Specialist, ONRR, P.O. Box 25165, MS 64400, Denver, Colorado 80225-
0165, or by email to [email protected]. Please reference OMB 
Control Number ``1012-0008'' in the subject line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on technical issues, 
contact Mr. Hans Meingast, Financial Services/Financial Management, 
ONRR, telephone (303) 231-3382, or email to [email protected]. For 
other questions, contact Mr. Armand Southall, telephone (303) 231-3221, 
or email to [email protected]. You may also contact Mr. Southall 
to obtain copies, at no cost, of (1) the ICR, (2) any associated 
form(s), and (3) the regulations that require us to collect the 
information. You may review the ICR at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain and select ``Information Collection Review,'' then select 
``Department of the Interior'' in the drop-down box under ``Currently 
Under Review.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, we provide the general public and other Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on new, proposed, revised, and 
continuing collections of information. This helps us assess the impact 
of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. It also helps the public understand our information 
collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired 
format.
    We published a notice, with a 60-day public comment period 
soliciting comments on this collection of information, in the Federal 
Register on July 24, 2017 (82 FR 34333). We received the following 
comments from companies regarding the published 60-day Federal Register 
notice.
Public Commenter #1 stated the following:

    In the San Juan basin where we pay royalties, our recoupment 
process takes around 2 hours per month, or around 20 hours per year. 
A colleague who reports royalties in the Williston Basin, however, 
spends much more time and can have over a day's worth of work 
associated with tracking and reporting recoupments during the month. 
The colleague would estimate closer to 70 hours per year.

Public Commenter #2 also stated the following:

    I'm sorry. I know I agreed to do this survey, but I find the 
request takes more time to read than I would like to spend on the 
entire survey. We have had some unexpected projects come up and I 
cannot spare the time.

Public Commenter #3 stated the following:

    I forwarded your request to CLR legal, for their review; I read 
the FRN then passed it to our company's lawyers. I have no comments.

Public Commenter #4 also stated the following:

    I talked to my Supervisor this morning. Cimarex as a company 
doesn't comment on items like this. Cimarex in the past, through 
COPAS/PASO has taken part in discussions on items like this. Cimarex 
will follow COPAS/PASO's jointly discussed approach. We are not 
aware of any discussions taking place within COPAS/PASO regarding 
ICR 1012-0008. Hope this resolves your question.

    Once again, we are soliciting comments on this ICR that is 
described below. We are especially interested in public comment 
addressing the following issues: (1) Is the collection necessary to the 
proper functions of ONRR; (2) will this information be processed and 
used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of the burden accurate; 
(4) how might ONRR enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the 
information collected; and (5) how might ONRR minimize the burden of 
this collection on the respondents, including through the use of 
information technology.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. Before including your Personally Identifiable 
Information (PII), such as your address, phone number, email address, 
or other personal identifying 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 your PII from public view, we cannot guarantee 
that we will be able to do so.
    Abstract: The Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior is 
responsible for collecting royalties from lessees who produce minerals 
from leased 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. 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.

I. General Information

    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.

II. Information Collections

    This ICR covers unique reporting circumstances, including (1) 
cross-lease netting in calculation of late-payment interest; (2) 
designation of a designee; and (3) Tribal permission for recoupment on 
Indian oil and gas leases.

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A. Cross-Lease Netting in Calculation of Late-Payment Interest

    Regulations at Sec.  1218.54 require ONRR to assess interest on 
unpaid or underpaid amounts. ONRR distributes these interest revenues 
to States, Indian Tribes, and the U.S. Treasury, based on financial 
lease distribution information. Current regulations at Sec.  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 
process is called cross-lease netting. Lessees must demonstrate that 
cross-lease netting applies by submitting production reports, pipeline 
allocation reports, or other similar documentary evidence. This 
information is necessary in order for ONRR to determine the correct 
amount of interest that the lessee owes and to ensure that lessees are 
neither undercharged nor overcharged interest.

B. Designation of Designee

    Owners of operating rights are primarily liable for Federal oil and 
gas royalties and other revenue payments, while owners of record title 
are secondarily liable (though both are referred to as ``lessees'') 
(see 30 U.S.C. 1712(a) and 30 CFR 1218.52). It is 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 ONRR orders and demands are addressed to and 
served on the proper parties.

C. Tribal Permission for Recoupment on Indian Oil and Gas Leases

    In order to recoup overpayments made on Tribal Indian oil and gas 
leases, lessees must comply with regulations at 30 CFR 1218.53(a), 
which limits recoupments to the amount of royalties or other revenues 
owed on the same lease that month. However, regulations at 30 CFR 
1218.53(b) allow 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 lessee must provide ONRR with a copy of 
the Tribe's written permission.

III. OMB Approval

    We are requesting OMB's approval to continue to collect this 
information. Not collecting this information may result in the loss of 
royalty payments due Federal and Indian lessors. Also, it may deprive 
lessees of the ability to minimize or avoid interest due when they have 
offsetting under-reporting and over-reporting of production. And it 
would deprive lessees of a right of recoupment of overpayments 
authorized by Tribes. Proprietary information submitted is protected, 
and there are no questions of a sensitive nature included in this 
information collection.

IV. Data

    Title: Collection of Monies Due the Federal Government, 30 CFR part 
1218.
    OMB Control Number: 1012-0008.
    Bureau Form Number: ONRR-4425.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Businesses.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 31 Federal and Indian 
lessees.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 31
    Estimated Completion Time per Response: 4.87 hours.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 151 hours.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to Obtain or Retain a Benefit.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
    Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.
    We have not included in our estimates certain requirements 
performed in the normal course of business that are considered usual 
and customary. The following table shows the estimated burden hours by 
CFR section and paragraph:

                                                       Respondents' Estimated Annual Burden Hours
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                                                                                                                              Average
                                                                                                                             number of     Annual burden
              Citation 30 CFR  part 1218                     Reporting and recordkeeping requirement        Hour burden       annual           hours
                                                                                                                             responses
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                               Subpart A--General Provisions--Cross-lease netting in calculation of late-payment interest.
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1218.42(b) and (c)....................................  Cross-lease netting in calculation of late-                    2              25              50
                                                         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?
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1218.52(a), (c), and (d)..............................  How does a lessee designate a 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.
                                                        ONRR currently uses Form ONRR-4425, Designation                1               1               1
                                                         Form for Royalty Payment Responsibility, to
                                                         collect this information.
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                                  Subpart B--Oil and Gas, General--Recoupment of overpayments on Indian mineral leases.
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1218.53(b)............................................  Recoupment of overpayments on Indian mineral                  20               5             100
                                                         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......................................  ................................................  ..............              31             151
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    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.
    ONRR Information Collection Clearance Officer: Armand Southall 
(303) 231-3221.

    Authority: The authorities for this action are the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et. seq.).

Gregory J. Gould,
Director for Office of Natural Resources Revenue.
[FR Doc. 2018-02299 Filed 2-5-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4335-30-P