[Federal Register: February 25, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 37)]
[Notices]
[Page 8781-8782]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25fe03-72]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submitted for Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) Review; Comment Request
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of an extension of a currently approved information
collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0113).
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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, we
are notifying the public that we have submitted to OMB an information
collection request (ICR) to renew approval of the paperwork
requirements in the regulations under 30 CFR Part 206, Subpart B,
Indian Oil. This notice also provides the public a second opportunity
to comment on the paperwork burden of these regulatory requirements.
The ICR is titled: ``30 CFR Part 206, Subpart B, Indian Oil (Form MMS-
4416, Indian Crude Oil Valuation Report).''
DATES: Submit written comments on or before March 27, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Sharron L. Gebhardt, Regulatory
Specialist, Minerals Management Service, Minerals Revenue Management,
PO 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 email 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 email, contact Ms. Gebhardt at (303)
231-3211.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sharron L. Gebhardt, telephone (303)
231-3211, FAX (303) 231-3385 or email sharron.gebhardt@mms.gov. You may
also contact Sharron Gebhardt to obtain a copy at no cost of the
regulations that require the subject collection of information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: 30 CFR part 206, subpart B, Indian Oil (Form MMS-4416,
Indian Crude Oil Valuation Report).
OMB Control Number: 1010-0113.
Bureau Form Number: Form MMS-4416.
Abstract: The Department of the Interior (DOI) is responsible for
matters relevant to mineral resource development on Federal and Indian
lands and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The Secretary of the
Interior (Secretary) is responsible for managing the production of
minerals from Federal and Indian lands and the OCS, collecting
royalties from lessees who produce minerals, and distributing the funds
collected in accordance with applicable laws. The Secretary 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 DOI's
Indian trust responsibility.
Section 101(a) of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of
1982 (FOGRMA), as amended, requires the Secretary to ``establish a
comprehensive inspection, collection, and fiscal and production
accounting and auditing system to provide the capability to accurately
determine oil and gas royalties, interest, fines, penalties, fees,
deposits, and other payments owed, and collect and account for such
amounts in a timely manner.'' To accomplish these tasks more
effectively, MMS published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on
February 12, 1998 (63 FR 7089) and a supplementary proposed rule on
January 5, 2000 (65 FR 403). The proposed rules add more certainty to
the valuation of oil produced from Indian lands and eliminate any
direct reliance on posted prices by, among other provisions, requiring
Indian lessees and purchasers to submit certain contract information to
MMS.
MMS has announced in the Federal Register on February 12, 2003 (68
FR 7086), the dates, places, and times for workshops on issues related
to the existing rules adopted in March 2000 governing the valuation for
royalty purposes of crude oil produced from Federal leases. The
workshops will address, among other things, issues related to
calculation of transportation allowances (including the rate of return
allowed for calculating actual costs under non-arm's-length
transportation arrangements), timing and application of published index
prices, and calculation of location and quality differentials under
certain circumstances.
Because of the substantive overlap between these issues and issues
involved in the proposed rule on Indian oil valuation, and to give
persons interested in Indian lease issues an opportunity to participate
in the workshops, MMS is reopening the comment period for 60 days on
the proposed rule on Indian oil valuation so it can include in the
record any relevant comments received. MMS can then consider those
comments as they might apply to the Indian oil valuation rule.
Not collecting this information would limit the Secretary's ability
to discharge his/her duties and may also result in loss of royalty
payments to the Indian lessor due to royalties not being collected on
prices received under higher priced long-term sales contracts.
Proprietary information submitted is protected, and there are no
questions of a sensitive nature included in this ICR.
We have also changed the title of this ICR from ``Indian Crude Oil
Valuation Report (Form MMS-4416)'' to ``30 CFR part 206, subpart B,
Indian Oil (Form MMS-4416, Indian Crude Oil Valuation Report)'' to
clarify the regulatory language we are covering under 30 CFR part 206.
Frequency: Annually; as Agreements/Contracts Change.
Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 337 (225 oil
royalty payors/112 nonpayor--purchasers).
Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 2,363
hours.
[[Page 8782]]
The following chart details the individual components and estimated
hour burdens. In calculating the burdens, we assumed that respondents
perform certain requirements in the normal course of their activities.
Therefore, we consider these to be usual and customary and took that
into account in estimating the burden.
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Burden Annual Annual
Proposed 30 CFR section Reporting requirement hours per number of burden
response responses hours
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Sec. 206.81........................... You must submit information on .1667 2,025 \1\ 338
Form MMS-4416 related to all
of your crude oil production
from Indian leases. You must
initially submit Form MMS-4416
no later than [insert the date
2 months after the effective
date of this rule] and then by
October 31 [insert the year
this regulation takes effect],
and by October 31 of each
succeeding year.
In addition to the annual .5 4,050 \2\ 2,025
requirement to file this form,
you must file a new form each
time you execute a new
exchange or sales contract
involving the production of
oil from an Indian lease.
However, if the contract
merely extends the time period
a contract is in effect
without changing any other
terms of the contract, this
requirement to file does not
apply.
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Total............................. ............................... ........... 6,075 2,363
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\1\ 1,350 payor-purchaser agreements or contracts plus 675 non-payor-purchaser agreements or contracts.
\2\ 225 payor-purchasers x 6 agreements or contracts per payor x \1/2\ hour per submission x 2 submissions per
year plus 675 agreements or contracts submitted by non-payor-purchasers x \1/2\ hour per submission x 2
submissions per year.
Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-hour Cost''
Burden: We have identified no ``non-hour'' cost burdens.
Public Disclosure Statement: 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.
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.
To comply with the public consultation process, we published a
Federal Register Notice on October 9, 2002 (67 FR 62985), announcing
that we would submit this ICR to OMB for approval. The notice provided
the required 60-day comment period. We received no comments in response
to the notice.
If you wish to comment in response to this notice, you may send
your comments to the offices listed under the ADDRESSES section of this
notice. OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove the information
collection but may respond after 30 days. Therefore, to ensure maximum
consideration, OMB should receive public comments by March 27, 2003.
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 organizations
or businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.
MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach,
(202) 208-7744.
Dated: February 14, 2003.
Lucy Querques Denett,
Associate Director for Minerals Revenue Management.
[FR Doc. 03-4398 Filed 2-24-03; 8:45 am]