[Federal Register: May 14, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 93)]
[Notices]
[Page 25904-25905]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14my03-76]
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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 extension of a currently approved information
collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0154).
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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 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) concerns the
paperwork requirements under the Endangered Species Act Biological
Opinions, issued by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA Fisheries) and
is titled: ``Notices to Lessees and Operators Numbers 2002-G07, 2003-
G06, and 2003-G07.''
DATE: Submit written comments by July 14, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Mail or hand carry comments to the Department of the
Interior; Minerals Management Service; Attention: Rules Processing
Team; Mail Stop 4024; 381 Elden Street; Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817.
If you wish to e-mail comments, the address is: rules.comments@mms.gov.
Reference ``Information Collection 1010-0154'' in your e-mail subject
line and mark your message for return receipt. Include your name and
return address in your message.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Arlene Bajusz, Rules Processing Team
(703) 787-1600. You may also contact Arlene Bajusz to obtain a copy, at
no cost, of the Notices to Lessees that require the subject collection
of information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Notices to Lessees and Operators Numbers 2002-G07, 2003-G06,
and 2003-G07.
OMB Control Number: 1010-0154.
Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act, as amended
(43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq. and 43 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), authorizes the
Secretary of the Interior to prescribe rules and regulations to
administer leasing of the OCS. Such rules and regulations will apply to
all operations conducted under a lease. Operations on the OCS must
preserve, protect, and develop oil and natural gas resources in a
manner that is consistent with the need to make such resources
available to meet the Nation's energy needs as rapidly as possible; to
balance orderly energy resource development with protection of human,
marine, and coastal environments; to ensure the public a fair and
equitable return on the resources of the OCS; and to preserve and
maintain free enterprise competition.
The Department of the Interior, MMS, as a Federal agency, has a
continuing affirmative duty to comply with the Endangered Species Act
(ESA). This includes a substantive duty to carry out any agency action
in a manner that is not likely to jeopardize protected species as well
as a procedural duty to consult with the FWS and NOAA Fisheries before
engaging in a discretionary action that may affect a protected species.
The MMS follows these procedural requirements by conducting formal
consultations with FWS and NOAA Fisheries prior to lease sales.
Consultations on OCS lease sales 181, 184, and the 5-year multisale
(2002-2007) program in the Central and Western Planning Areas of the
Gulf of Mexico resulted in no-jeopardy biological opinions from the FWS
and NOAA Fisheries. In their biological opinions, NOAA Fisheries
determined that some activities associated with the proposed action
(lease sale and related exploration, development, and production
activities) may adversely affect (harm) sperm whales and sea turtles in
the action area and that certain reasonable and prudent measures are
necessary to minimize the potential for incidental take of these
animals. To be exempt from the prohibitions of Section 9 of the ESA
(which prohibits taking listed species), MMS must implement and enforce
nondiscretionary terms and conditions. The ESA also requires monitoring
and reporting. Monitoring programs resulting from ESA interagency
consultations are designed to (1) detect adverse effects resulting from
a proposed action, (2) assess the actual level of incidental take in
comparison with the level of anticipated incidental take documented in
the biological opinion, (3) detect when the level of anticipated take
is exceeded, and (4) determine the effectiveness of reasonable and
prudent alternatives and their implementing terms and conditions.
To provide supplementary guidance and procedures, MMS issues
Notices to Lessees and Operators (NTLs) on a regional or national
basis. Regulation 30 CFR 250.103 allows MMS to issue NTLs to clarify,
supplement, or provide more detail about certain requirements. To
implement the nondiscretionary terms and conditions of these biological
opinions, the MMS issued three NTLs:
[sbull] NTL 2002-G07 (Addendum 1)--Implementation of Seismic Survey
Mitigation Measures
[sbull] NTL 2003-G06--Marine Trash and Debris Awareness and
Elimination
[sbull] NTL 2003-G07--Vessel Strike Avoidance and Injured/Dead
Protected Species Reporting
The MMS will use the information collected to report annually to
NOAA Fisheries the effectiveness of mitigation, any adverse effects of
the proposed action, and any incidental take, in accordance with 50 CFR
402.14(i)(3). The MMS engineers, geologists, geophysicists,
environmental scientists, and other Federal agencies (FWS, NOAA
Fisheries, etc.) also will analyze the information and data collected
under these NTLs to better evaluate the potential impacts to listed
species and to plan operations in a manner that will further reduce
and/or avoid adverse impacts to protected species in the OCS.
On March 26, 2003, the OMB approved our request under emergency
processing procedures to collect the information required by these NTLs
and assigned OMB Control Number 1010-0154. Emergency processing permits
the collection of information for 180 days. This notice announces our
intention to request a 3-year extension for this information
collection. As the programs in these NTLs develop further, MMS
acknowledges there may be some revisions to the collection of
information. MMS is now more fully developing the observer training and
reporting programs associated with NTL 2002-G07 (Addendum 1),
Implementation of Seismic Survey Mitigation Measures, and with NTL
2003-G07, Vessel Strike Avoidance and Injured/Dead Protected Species
Reporting. MMS is currently working
[[Page 25905]]
with NOAA Fisheries to develop a training and network reporting program
indicated in NTL 2003-G07. Therefore, with this submission, we are
requesting an extension of the approved collections and noting that we
are revising details of the observer training programs and we are
adding an experimental (voluntary) passive acoustic monitoring program.
Consequently, these NTLs may be reissued.
We will protect information from respondents considered proprietary
under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and its
implementing regulations (43 CFR part 2) and under regulations at 30
CFR parts 250, 251, and 252. No items of a sensitive nature are
collected. Responses are mandatory or required to obtain or retain a
benefit.
Frequency: On occasion and on the 1st and 15th of each month for
the marine mammal observation reports.
Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 130
Federal OCS lessees and operators.
Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: The
currently approved annual reporting burden for this collection is 310
hours. The following chart details the individual components and
respective hour burden estimates of this ICR. In calculating the
burdens, we assumed that respondents perform certain requirements in
the normal course of their activities. We consider these to be usual
and customary and took that into account in estimating the burden.
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Reporting, posting, and
NTL number and name recordkeeping requirement Hour burden
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2002-G07 (Addendum 1) Seismic Survey Marine mammal observation/reports 1 hour/report.
Mitigation Measures. (including observer, survey,
sighting, shut-down, and passive
acoustic monitoring reports).
2003-G06 Marine Trash and Debris......... Training certification \1/2\ hour/record.
recordkeeping.
Post placards on vessels and 0.
structures. (Exempt from
information collection burden
because MMS is providing exact
language for the trash and
debris warning, similar to the
``Surgeon General's Warning''
exemption.).
2003-G07 Vessel Strikes.................. Injured/dead protected species \1/2\ hour/report.
report.
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Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: We
have identified no cost burdens for this collection.
Public Disclosure Statement: The PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.)
provides that an agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
Until OMB approves a collection of information, you are not obligated
to respond.
Comments: 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.
Agencies must also estimate the ``non-hour cost'' burdens to
respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of
information. Therefore, 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, and record storage
facilities. You should not include estimates for 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 submission for OMB approval. As a result of your comments, we
will make any necessary adjustments to the burden in our submission to
OMB.
Public Comment Policy: Our practice is to make comments, including
names and home addresses of respondents, available for public review
during regular business hours. Individual respondents may request that
we withhold their home address from the record, which we will honor to
the extent allowable by law. There may be circumstances in which we
would withhold from the record a respondent's identity, as allowable by
the law. If you wish us to withhold your name and/or address, you must
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 organizations or
businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.
MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach,
(202) 208-7744.
Dated: May 5, 2003.
E.P. Danenberger,
Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 03-11965 Filed 5-13-03; 8:45 am]