[Federal Register: November 13, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 219)] [Notices] [Page 63492-63493] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr13no98-107] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Minerals Management Service Agency Information Collection Activities: Submitted for Office of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, DOI. ACTION: Notice of information collection solicitation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) is soliciting comments on an information collection, Designation of Royalty Payment Responsibility (OMB Control Number 1010-0107, Form MMS-4425), which expires on December 31, 1998. FORM: MMS-4425, Designation of Royalty Payment Responsibility. DATES: Written comments should be received on or before January 12, 1999. ADDRESSES: Comments sent via the U.S. Postal Service should be sent to Minerals Management Service, Royalty Management Program, Rules and Publications Staff, P.O. Box 25165, MS 3021, Denver, Colorado 80225- 0165; courier address is Building 85, Room A613, Denver Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225; e:mail address is RMP.comments@mms.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis C. Jones, Rules and Publications Staff, phone (303) 231-3046, FAX (303) 231-3385, e-mail Dennis.C.Jones@mms.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Section 3506 (c)(2)(A), we are notifying you, members of the public and affected agencies, of this collection of information, Designation of Royalty Payment Responsibility, which expires December 31, 1998. We are requesting OMB approval for a three year extension of this existing collection authority. Is this information collection necessary for us to properly do our job? Have we accurately estimated the industry burden for responding to this collection? Can we enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information we collect? Can we lessen the burden of this information collection on the respondents by using automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology? The Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act of 1996 (RSFA), Pub. L 104-185, as corrected by Pub. L. 104-200, establishes the owners of operating rights and/or lease record title (who are jointly defined as ``lessees'' under RSFA) as responsible for making royalty and related payments on a Federal lease. The Secretary of the Interior is responsible for the collection of royalties from lessees producing minerals from leased Federal lands. The Secretary is required by various laws to manage the production of mineral resources on Federal onshore and offshore leases, to collect the royalties due, and to distribute the funds in accordance with those laws. MMS performs the royalty management functions for the Secretary. When a company or individual enters into a contract to develop, produce, and dispose of minerals from Federal lands, that company or individual agrees to pay the United States a share (royalty) of the full value received for the minerals taken from leased lands. Currently, it is common for a payor rather than a lessee to make royalty and related payments on a Federal lease. When a payor pays royalties on a [[Page 63493]] Federal lease on behalf of a lessee, RSFA requires that the lessee certify to MMS, in writing, that a particular payor has been designated by the lessee to make such royalty and related payments to MMS on behalf of the lessee. RSFA made this payor designation requirement effective for lease production beginning September 1, 1996. We may require some payors to provide us information regarding the lessees on whose behalf they are paying if we need to inform those lessees that they must certify to MMS in writing their respective payors as their designees. We are asking lessees and payors (designees) to provide data required under RSFA so that we can fully implement the Act. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) maintains records of operating rights owners and lessees. To facilitate the collection of lessee and payor data described above, MMS is discussing with BLM their assistance in including language in the lease transfer instrument, when operating rights and/or lease record title transfers from one owner to another, notifying new operating rights and/or lease record title owners that they must file their written designation of payors with MMS. The form the lessee must file with MMS, the Designation of Royalty Payment Responsibility form, Form MMS-4425, will be available from the MMS Home Page on the Internet, from MMS offices directly, and perhaps from BLM offices also. We estimate that 20,000 Designation of Royalty Payment Responsibility forms will be completed annually by 20,000 lessees and 2,500 payors (designees). We estimate that a lessee and a payor (designee) will take \3/4\ hour and \1/4\ hour, respectively, to complete this form. These estimates include time for learning requirements, research, lessee/payor contact and coordination, and preparation and transmission of the information to MMS. We estimate that the annual burden is 20,000 hours (20,000 forms x \3/4\ hour + 20,000 forms x \1/4\ hour), and that the annual cost is $1,000,000 (20,000 hours x $50). Dated: November 6, 1998. R. Dale Fazio, Acting Associate Director for Royalty Management. [FR Doc. 98-30329 Filed 11-12-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P