Oil and Gas Leasing; Onshore Oil and Gas Operations

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

43 CFR Parts 3100, 3106, 3130, and 3160

[AA-610-08-4111-2410]

RIN 1004-AC54

Oil and Gas Leasing; Onshore Oil and Gas Operations

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is reopening the public

comment period under a proposed rule published in the Federal Register

on January 13, 1998, (63 FR 1936), concerning lessee responsibility for

oil and gas drainage. BLM is reopening the comment period for 60 days

in order to consult with Indian Tribes, pursuant to Executive Order

13084, on the issue of whether the proposed rule should apply to Tribal

and individual Indian oil and gas leases. BLM seeks further public

comments solely on the issue of the appropriateness of applying the

proposed rule to Indian oil and gas leases.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 1, 1999. BLM

will not necessarily consider comments received after this time in

developing the final rule or include them in the administrative record.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any

one of several methods. You may mail comments to the Bureau of Land

Management, Administrative Record, 1849 ``C'' Street, NW, Room 401LS,

Washington, DC 20240. You may also comment via the Internet to

WOC[email protected]. Please submit comments as an ASCII file avoiding

the use of special characters and any form of encryption. Please also

include ``Attn: AC54'' and your name and return address in your

Internet message. If you do not receive a confirmation from the system

that we have received your Internet message, contact us directly at

(202) 452-5030.

Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will

be available for public review at this address during regular business

hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.), Eastern Time, Monday through Friday,

except holidays. BLM will also post all comments on its home page

(www.blm.gov) at the end of the comment period. Individual respondents

may request confidentiality, which BLM will consider on a case-by-case

basis. If you wish to request that BLM consider withholding your name,

home street address, Internet address, or personal telephone number

from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information

Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment.

Such requests will be honored to the extent allowed by law. All

submissions from organizations or businesses, and individuals

identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations

or businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their

entirety.

Finally, you may hand-deliver comments to BLM at 1620 L Street, NW,

Room 401, Washington, DC.

[[Page 66777]]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donnie Shaw, Fluid Minerals Group,

Bureau of Land Management, Mail Stop 401LS, 1849 ``C'' Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20240; telephone (202) 452-0340 (Commercial or FTS).

Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may

call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339

between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 13, 1998, (63 FR 1936), BLM

published the drainage proposed rule in the Federal Register. The

comment period was extended for 60 days in a notice published on

February 24, 1998, (63 FR 9171). BLM is reopening the comment period

for 60 days in order to consult with Indian Tribes, pursuant to

Executive Order 13084, on the issue of whether the proposed rule should

apply to Tribal and individual Indian oil and gas leases. Comments were

solicited on this question in the original Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking, but only one comment was received.

BLM seeks further public comments solely on the issue of the

appropriateness of applying the proposed rule to Indian oil and gas

leases. Specifically, BLM seeks comment on the issue of whether the

proposed amendments to 43 CFR 3100.5 through 3100.80 should apply to

both Federal and Indian leases. Should BLM determine to make those

amendments applicable to Indian leases as well as Federal leases, the

proposed amendments would be made in Part 3160 and replace 3162.2(a)

and (b).

BLM is not considering applying to Indian oil and gas leases the

proposed revisions to 43 CFR Subpart 3106 governing the obligations of

Federal oil and gas assignors and assignees. Instead, Indian oil and

gas leases are governed by the obligations in 25 CFR 211.53 and 212.53.

The proposed rule would clarify the responsibilities of oil and gas

lessees for protecting Federal and Indian oil and gas resources from

drainage by operations on nearby lands that would result in lower

royalties to the Federal Government and Indian mineral owners. It would

specify when the obligations of the lessee or operating rights owner to

protect against drainage begin and end and what steps should be taken

to determine if drainage is occurring.

Dated: November 23, 1998.

Sylvia V. Baca,

Acting Assistant Secretary, Land and Minerals Management.

[FR Doc. 98-31846 Filed 12-2-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-84-p