Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;

Comment Request

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of a new information collection.

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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and

respondent burden, MMS invites the public and other Federal agencies to

comment on a proposal to request approval of the new collection of

information discussed below. The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA)

provides that 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 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

DATES: Submit written comments by June 15, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to the Rules Processing Team,

Minerals Management Service, Mail Stop 4024, 381 Elden Street, Herndon,

Virginia 20170-4817.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexis London, Rules Processing Team,

telephone (703) 787-1600. You may contact Alexis London to obtain a

copy of the proposed collection of information at no cost.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Survey--Testing and Calibrating the Measurement of Nonmarket

Values for Natural Resources via the Contingent Valuation Methods.

Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act, as amended,

directs the Secretary of the Interior to prepare a ``5-Year Program''

that specifies the schedule of offshore natural gas and oil lease sales

for the 5-year period covered by the document. The MMS prepares the 5-

Year Program for the Secretary. The key analytical support for the

Secretary's decision is a cost-benefit analysis of all size, timing,

and location alternatives for all lease sales being considered. The

MMS's 5-year cost-benefit analysis is an almost complete accounting of

all the costs and benefits attributable to the offshore natural gas and

oil leasing and development process. However, the cost-benefit

[[Page 18440]]

analysis has one major exclusion. MMS does not account fully for the

existence values (also called passive enjoyment values) of resources

that might be damaged or lost through offshore activities. Existence

values include the values people might place on a resource just by

knowing it exists, or by having the option of using it at some future

date, or by being able to bequeath it to future generations.

The only way currently available to measure existence values is

through the use of the contingent valuation method (CVA). CVA consists

of carefully constructed questionnaires which are used in interviews

that elicit from people their estimate of what they would be willing to

pay to avoid the loss or damage. The MMS has two major reasons why it

has not funded CVA studies to provide estimates of existence values to

complete its cost-benefit analysis: First, the methodology for CVA

studies is still somewhat controversial in the economics profession.

Second, CVA studies for a program covering as vast an array of

environmental resources across the entire outer continental shelf would

be prohibitively expensive.

The work proposed here is part of a research plan designed to come

to grips with both of these problems. This project focuses on improving

the methodology of CVA and its acceptance by the economics profession.

A follow-on project would build on the results of this project to test

a less expensive way of gathering estimates of peoples' willingness to

pay for environmental resource protection. This new approach is

expected to cut the cost of CVA studies to one-third the present cost.

With these improvements, MMS should be able to complete its 5-year

cost-benefit analysis using methodology acceptable to a majority of the

economics profession.

Frequency: This is a one-time voluntary survey.

Estimated number and description of respondents and reporting and

recordkeeping ``hour'' burden: Approximately 1,200 American adults will

be asked four questions, averaging about 4 minutes per respondent.

Estimated reporting and recordkeeping ``cost'' burden: The PRA

requires agencies to estimate the total annual cost burden to

respondents as a direct result of this collection of information. This

is a one-time survey. There are no questions asked which would require

review of such detailed records as capital or operating expenditures of

businesses or individuals. There is no cost burden on the respondents

associated with this collection of information.

Comments: The MMS will summarize written responses to this notice

and address them in its submission for OMB approval. All comments will

become a matter of public record. In calculating the burden, MMS has

assumed that information requested from respondents will not require

the reviewing of detailed records. Questions have been designed to

elicit information which would reasonably be recalled by respondents or

quickly estimated. The MMS specifically solicits comments on the

following questions:

(a) Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the

proper performance of MMS's functions, and will it be useful?

(b) Are the estimates of the burden hours of the proposed

collection reasonable?

(c) Do you have any suggestions that would enhance the quality,

clarity, or usefulness of the information to be collected?

(d) Is there a way to minimize the information collection burden on

those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate

automated electronic, mechanical, or other forms of information

technology?

MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach,

(202) 208-7744.

Dated: April 7, 1998.

John Mirabella,

Acting Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.

[FR Doc. 98-9969 Filed 4-14-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P