NTL 2016-N04 - Inspection Fees for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 - October 1, 2015

The purpose of this NTL is to inform you that the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) will collect inspection fees from you for FY 2016 as required by Division G, Section 107 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (Public Law 114-113), on behalf of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

ONRR will collect inspection fees from the designated operator of facilities above the waterline, excluding drilling rigs that were in place at the start of FY 2016. For drilling rigs (see definition), ONRR will collect inspection fees for all inspections completed during FY 2016, commencing on the first day of the Federal fiscal year (October 1, 2015). All subsea completions are counted as wells delivering production to a central facility and not as individual facilities requiring a separate inspection fee. Please note that ONRR has already invoiced the designated operators of facilities above the waterline, and for inspections of drilling rigs that have occurred through April 2016.

In addition, prior NTLs on this topic included a statement that structures in State waters that have bottom-founded wells in Federal waters are not subject to the inspection fee. Based on further review and interpretation of the appropriations language, this statement has been removed and the determination made that such structures are subject to the applicable inspection fees.