[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 121 (Monday, June 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52500-52501]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-13711]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

[OMB Control Number 1010-0082; Docket ID: BOEM-2024-0007]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Leasing of Minerals 
Other Than Oil, Gas, and Sulphur in the Outer Continental Shelf

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) proposes this information 
collection request (ICR) to renew Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
control number 1010-0082.

DATES: Comments must be received by the OMB desk officer no later than 
July 24, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit your written comments on this ICR to the OMB's desk 
officer for the Department of the Interior at www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. From the www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain landing page, 
find this information collection by selecting ``Currently under 
Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. 
Please provide a copy of your comments by parcel delivery service or 
U.S. mail to the BOEM Information Collection Clearance Officer, Anna 
Atkinson, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 45600 Woodland Road, 
Sterling, Virginia 20166; or by email to [email protected]. Please 
reference OMB Control Number 1010-0082 in the subject line of your 
comments. You may also comment by searching the docket number ``BOEM-
2024-0007'' at www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anna Atkinson by email at 
[email protected], or by telephone at 703-787-1025. Individuals in 
the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a 
speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside of the United 
States should use the relay services offered within their country to 
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, BOEM provides the general public and other Federal 
agencies with an opportunity to comment on new, proposed, revised, and 
continuing collections of information. This helps BOEM assess the 
impact of its information collection requirements and minimize the 
public's reporting burden. It also helps the public understand BOEM's 
information collection requirements and provide the requested data in 
the desired format.
    Title of Collection: 30 CFR part 581, ``Leasing of Minerals Other 
Than Oil, Gas, and Sulphur in the Outer Continental Shelf.''
    Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act (Act), as 
amended (43 U.S.C. 1334 and 43 U.S.C. 1337(k)), authorizes the 
Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to administer OCS leasing and to 
prescribe the necessary regulations to do so. The Act authorizes the 
Secretary to lease any mineral other than oil, gas, and sulphur, 
subject to royalty, rental, and other terms and conditions that the 
Secretary may prescribe at the time of the lease offer.
    Regulations at 30 CFR part 581 implement these statutory 
requirements. BOEM has not conducted any OCS leasing activity for 
minerals other than oil, gas, or sulphur in many years. Consequently, 
BOEM has not generally collected information under this part of its 
regulations. However, BOEM recognizes that the potential for such 
information collection exists under part 581. Therefore, BOEM seeks OMB 
renewal of the part 581 information collection.
    BOEM will use the information required by 30 CFR part 581 to 
determine if statutory requirements are met prior to the issuance of a 
lease. Specifically, BOEM will use the information to:
     Evaluate the area and minerals requested by the applicant 
to assess the viability of offering leases for sale;
     Request States to establish a joint task force to assess 
the proposed action;
     Ensure excessive overriding royalty interests are not 
created that would put economic constraints on all parties involved;
     Document that a leasehold or geographical subdivision has 
been surrendered by the record title holder; and
     Determine if activities on the proposed lease area(s) will 
have a significant impact on the environment.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-0082.
    Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: As there are no active respondents, 
BOEM estimates the potential annual number of respondents are OCS lease 
requestors,

[[Page 52501]]

State governments, and OCS mineral lessees.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 11 responses.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 1,004 hours.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to retain or obtain a benefit.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
    Total Estimated Annual Non-hour Cost Burden: $50 non-hour cost 
burden.
    The current approved annual burden hours are equal to 984 hours and 
the annual responses are equal to 10. Tie bid requirements would 
involve more than one respondent, so BOEM plans to increase this by one 
response and 20 annual burden hours. This information collection 
request increases burdens to 1,004 and annual responses to 11 due to 
the potential of tie bids. BOEM assumed that respondents perform 
certain requirements in the normal course of their activities. BOEM 
considers such requirements to be usual and customary and took that 
into account in estimating the burden.
    A Federal Register notice with a 60-day public comment period on 
the proposed ICR was published on March 5, 2024 (89 FR 15890). BOEM 
received one comment opposing leasing for minerals on the OCS. This 
comment does not change the purpose of or need for the ICR, nor does it 
affect the cost or hour burden.
    BOEM is again soliciting comments on the proposed ICR. BOEM is 
especially interested in public comments addressing the following 
issues: (1) is the collection necessary to the proper functions of 
BOEM; (2) what can BOEM do to ensure that this information is processed 
and used in a timely manner; (3) is the burden estimate accurate; (4) 
how might BOEM enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (5) how might BOEM minimize the burden 
of this collection on the respondents, including minimizing the burden 
through the use of information technology?
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record and will be available for public review on 
www.reginfo.gov. BOEM will include or summarize each comment in its ICR 
to OMB for approval of this information collection. You should be aware 
that your entire comment--including your address, phone number, email 
address, or other personally identifiable information included in your 
comment--may be made publicly available at any time. Even if BOEM 
withholds your personally identifiable information in the context of 
this ICR, your comment is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552). Your information will only be withheld if a 
determination is made that one of the FOIA exemptions to disclosure 
applies. Such a determination will be made in accordance with the 
Department of the Interior's (DOI) FOIA implementing regulations (43 
CFR part 2) and applicable law.
    For BOEM to consider withholding from disclosure your personally 
identifiable information, you must identify, in a cover letter, any 
information contained in the submittal of your comments that, if 
released, would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of your 
personal privacy. You must also briefly describe any possible harmful 
consequences of the disclosure of information, such as embarrassment, 
injury, or other harm. BOEM will make available for public inspection, 
in their entirety, all comments submitted by organizations and 
businesses, or by individuals identifying themselves as representatives 
of organizations or businesses.
    BOEM protects proprietary information in accordance with the 
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), DOI's implementing 
regulations (43 CFR part 2), and 30 CFR part 581.7, promulgated 
pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCS Lands Act) (43 
U.S.C. 1352(c)).
    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.
    The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Karen Thundiyil,
Chief, Office of Regulations, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2024-13711 Filed 6-21-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4340-98-P