Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Review; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office

of Management and Budget (OMB) Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of extension of a currently approved information

collection (1010-0044).

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44

U.S.C. 3501, et seq.), we are notifying you that we have submitted the

information collection request (ICR) discussed below to the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. We are also

inviting your comments on this ICR.

DATES: Submit written comments by August 23, 1999.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments directly to the Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for

the Department of the Interior (1010-0044), 725 17th Street, NW,

Washington, D.C. 20503. Mail or handcarry a copy of your comments to

the Department of the Interior; Minerals Management Service; attention:

Rules Processing Team; 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 also contact Alexis London to obtain

a copy of the collection of information at no cost.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Application for Permit to Drill (APD), Form MMS-123.

OMB Control Number: 1010-0044.

Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act, 43 U.S.C.

1331 et seq., as amended, requires the Secretary of the Interior to

preserve, protect, and develop oil and gas resources in the OCS; make

such resources available to meet the Nation's energy needs as rapidly

as possible; balance orderly energy resources development with

protection of the human, marine, and coastal environment; ensure the

public a fair and equitable return on the resources offshore; and

preserve and maintain free enterprise competition.

To carry out these responsibilities, we issued rules governing oil

and gas and sulphur operations in the OCS. Regulations requiring

submission of form MMS-123 and supplemental information are 30 CFR

250.414, 250.513, and 250.1617.

We published a Federal Register notice with the required 60-day

comment period soliciting comments on this ICR on March 18, 1999 (64 FR

13443). The notice announced that form MMS-123 would be revised into a

two-page form to adopt a standard reporting format for supplemental

information that is currently submitted with APDs. However, during the

comment period, we determined that instead we would not change the form

MMS-123 and we would make the proposed second page a separate form

(MMS-123S, Supplemental APD Information Sheet) that can be submitted

with the APD or with a Sundry Notice and Report on Well (form MMS-124)

to request side tracking a well. Therefore, we are submitting form MMS-

123 to OMB and requesting the current approval be extended without

change.

We use the information collected on form MMS-123 to determine the

conditions of a drilling site to avoid hazards inherent in drilling

operations; to evaluate the adequacy of respondents' drilling, well-

completion, well-workover, and well-abandonment plans and equipment;

and to detemine if the proposed operations will be conducted in an

operationally safe manner that provides adequate environmental

protection. Except for proprietary data, we are required to make the

information available to the public.

We will protect proprietary information submitted with the plans

according to the Freedom of Information Act and 30 CFR 250.118, ``Data

and information to be made available to the public.'' No items of a

sensitive nature are collected. Responses are mandatory.

The 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 OMB control number.

Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 130

Federal OCS sulphur or oil and gas lessees.

Frequency: The frequency of reporting is on occasion.

Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden:

Average burden is 3.5 hours per form, including the time to gather the

information. The total annual estimated burden is 4,078 hours. This

represents an increase to the

[[Page 39524]]

currently approved burden for form MMS-123 to more accurately reflect

the time required to submit supplemental information and data, not only

the time to complete the form MMS-123.

Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Cost'' Burden: We

have identified no information collection cost burdens for this

collection of information.

Comments: All comments are made a part of the public record.

Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA 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.

Send your comments directly to the offices listed under the

addresses section of this notice. The 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 August 23, 1999.

MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach,

(202) 208-7744.

Dated: June 30, 1999.

John V. Mirabella,

Acting Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.

[FR Doc. 99-18729 Filed 7-21-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P