[Federal Register: December 29, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 248)]
[Notices]
[Page 74968-74970]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29de03-74]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection,
Comment Request
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of an extension of a currently approved information
collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0110).
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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, we
are inviting comments on a collection of information that we will
submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and
approval. The information collection request (ICR) is titled Training
and Outreach Evaluation Forms.
DATES: Submit written comments on or before February 27, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Sharron L. Gebhardt, Regulatory
Specialist, Minerals Management Service, Minerals Revenue Management,
P.O. Box 25165, MS 320B2, Denver, Colorado 80225. If you use an
overnight courier service, our courier address is Building 85, Room A-
614, Denver Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225. You may also e-mail
your comments to us at mrm.comments@mms.gov. Include the title of the
information collection and the OMB control number in the ``Attention''
line of your comment. Also include your name and return address. Submit
electronic comments as an ASCII file avoiding the use of special
characters and any form of encryption. If you do not receive a
confirmation we have received your e-mail, contact Ms. Gebhardt at
(303) 231-3211.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sharron L. Gebhardt, telephone (303)
231-3211, FAX (303) 231-3781 or e-mail sharron.gebhardt@mms.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Training and Outreach Evaluation Forms (Form MMS-4420A-H).
OMB Control Number: 1010-0110.
Bureau Form Number: Form MMS-4420A-H.
Abstract: The Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior
(DOI) is responsible for collecting royalties from lessees who produce
minerals from leased Federal and Indian lands. The Secretary is
required by various laws to manage mineral resources production on
Federal and Indian lands, collect the royalties due, and distribute the
funds in accordance with those laws. The Secretary also has an Indian
trust responsibility to manage Indian lands and seek advice and
information from Indian beneficiaries. MMS performs the royalty
management functions and assists the Secretary in carrying out the DOI
Indian trust responsibility.
MMS provides training and outreach to our constituents to
facilitate their compliance with laws and regulations and to ensure
that constituents are well informed. We use training and outreach
evaluation questionnaires to improve our training and outreach efforts
and to assure its continued relevance. We present training sessions to
the oil and gas and solid minerals reporters on various aspects of
royalty reporting, production reporting, and valuation. We also provide
outreach sessions to individual Indian minerals owners, Indian tribes,
and the Bureau of Indian Affairs on Indian royalty management issues.
Additionally, we provide training sessions to our financial and systems
contractors and State and tribal auditors.
During the last few minutes of each training or outreach session,
we ask participants to complete and return evaluation questionnaires.
Participant response is voluntary. Some questions are uniform across
all of the evaluation questionnaires; however, we also ask questions
specific to each type of training or outreach or specific to our
audiences.
No proprietary information will be submitted to MMS under this
collection. No items of a sensitive nature are collected. The
requirement to respond is voluntary.
Frequency of Response: On occasion.
Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 1,750 industry
representatives, State auditors, Indian auditors, Indian tribes, Indian
allottees, MMS contractors, and MMS employees.
Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 175
hours.
Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-hour Cost''
Burden: We have identified no ``non-hour cost'' burdens.
Comments: The PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) provides 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. Before submitting an ICR to OMB, PRA Section
3506(c)(2)(A) requires each agency ``* * * to provide notice * * * 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.
The PRA also requires agencies to estimate the total annual
reporting ``non-hour cost'' burden to respondents or recordkeepers
resulting from the collection of information. We have not identified
non-hour cost burdens for this information collection. If you have
costs to generate, maintain, and disclose this information, you should
comment and provide your total capital and startup cost components or
annual operation, maintenance, and purchase of service components. You
should describe the methods you use to estimate major cost factors,
including system and technology acquisition, expected useful life of
capital equipment, discount rate(s), and the period over which you
incur costs. Capital and startup costs include, among other items,
computers and software you purchase to prepare for collecting
information; monitoring, sampling, and testing equipment; and record
storage facilities. Generally, your estimates should not include
equipment or services purchased: (i) Before October 1, 1995; (ii) to
comply with requirements not associated with the information
collection; (iii) for reasons other than to provide information or keep
records for the Government; or (iv) as part of customary and usual
business or private practices.
We will summarize written responses to this notice and address them
in our ICR submission for OMB approval, including appropriate
adjustments to the estimated burden. We will provide a copy of the ICR
to you without charge upon request and the ICR will also be posted on
our Web site at http://www.mrm.mms.gov/Laws_R_D/FRNotices/FRInfColl.htm
.
Public Comment Policy: We will post all comments in response to
this notice on our Web site at http://www.mrm.mms.gov/Laws_R_D/FRNotices/FRInfColl.htm.
We will also make copies of the comments
available for public review, including names and addresses of
respondents, during regular business hours at our offices in Lakewood,
Colorado. Individual respondents may request we withhold their home
address from the public record, which we will honor to the extent
allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in which we would
withhold from the rulemaking record a respondent's identity, as
allowable by law. If you request that we withhold your name and/or
address, state this prominently at the beginning of your comment.
However, we will not consider anonymous comments. We will make all
submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of
[[Page 74970]]
organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their
entirety.
MMS Federal Register Liaison Officer: Denise Johnson (202) 208-
3976.
Dated: December 17, 2003.
Lucy Querques Denett,
Associate Director for Minerals Revenue Management.
[FR Doc. 03-31796 Filed 12-24-03; 8:45 am]