Agency Information Collection Activities: Submitted for Office of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

Agency Information Collection Activities: Submitted for Office of

Management and Budget Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et

seq.), we are notifying you that we have submitted an information

collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

for review and approval. We are also soliciting your comments on this

ICR which describes the information collection, its expected costs and

burden, and how the data will be collected.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before August 27,

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 (OMB Control Number 1010-0073), 725 17th

Street, NW, Washington, DC 20503; telephone (202) 395-7340. Copies of

these comments should also be sent to us. The U.S. Postal Service

address is Minerals Management Service, Royalty Management Program,

Rules and Publications Staff, P.O. Box 25165, MS 3021, Denver, Colorado

80225-0165; the courier address is Building 85, Room A-613, Denver

Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225; and the e:Mail address is

RMP.[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions concerning this

collection of information, please contact Larry Barker, RIK Study Team,

telephone (303) 231-3157. You may also obtain copies of this collection

of information at no cost by contacting MMS's Information Collection

Clearance Officer at (202) 208-7744.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Royalty-in-Kind Pilot Program--Directed Third Party

Communications Between Operators and Purchasers of Federal Royalty Oil

and Gas.

OMB Control Number: 1010-0126.

Abstract: The Secretary of the Interior, under the Mineral Leasing

Act (30 U.S.C. 192) and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43

U.S.C. 1353), is responsible for the management of royalties on

minerals produced from leased Federal lands. MMS carries out these

responsibilities for the Secretary. Most royalties are now paid in

value--when a company or individual enters into a contract to develop,

produce, and dispose of minerals from Federal lands, that company or

individual agrees to pay the United States a share (royalty) of the

full value received for the minerals taken from leased lands. MMS has

undertaken several pilot programs to study the feasibility of taking

the Government's royalty in the form of production, that is, as RIK.

Collection of RIK requires communication between the operators of a

lease and the purchaser of RIK from that lease to assure accurate and

timely delivery of MMS' royalty share of production volumes. On January

29, 1999, OMB granted emergency approval for MMS to instruct lessees

(or their operators), through a letter to operators which contains

reporting requirements, to conduct all necessary communications with

RIK purchasers during RIK pilot activities.

The three kinds of directed communication between operators and

purchasers of RIK are: (1) Information about the volumes made available

as RIK; (2) information about transportation of the RIK; and (3)

information about correcting volumes made available as RIK. Experience

with the Wyoming and Texas 8(g) Pilots demonstrates that the directed

communication requirements differ according to the needs of each pilot

situation. For example, in the Wyoming Pilot, RIK is delivered to the

purchaser at the lease. Therefore, the direction to make transportation

arrangements was not included in letters issued to those operators. For

these reasons, we are not requesting approval of specific letters to

operators but, instead, approval for the three kinds of reporting

requirements concerning communications between operators and purchasers

of RIK. By obtaining approval for these three kinds of reporting

requirements, MMS will be able to select the types of directed

communications needed for each pilot and include only those types in a

letter appropriate to the operation of that pilot.

The types of communication and supporting data MMS will require

operators to use in setting up the monthly delivery of RIK to the

purchaser are standard business practices in the oil and gas industry.

The information in the directed communication is essential to the

delivery and acceptance of verifiable quantities and qualities of oil

and gas and is exchanged as a normal part of the conduct of those

business activities, even when operators are not directed to do so.

Failure of lessees/operators and purchasers to timely communicate

volumetric, delivery, and transportation information concerning MMS'

RIK volumes will result in storage costs being incurred due to lack of

pipeline space being reserved to move MMS' royalty production. Monetary

penalties would also be incurred for failure to meet delivery due

dates. Additionally, failure to communicate data from balancing

accounts would severely impair MMS' ability to verify that it is

receiving the full and accurate volume of its royalty share of

production.

No proprietary information will be submitted to MMS under this

collection. No items of a sensitive nature are collected. The

requirement to respond is 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. The Federal

Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on

this collection of information was published on April 26, 1999 (64 FR

20321).

Estimated Number and Type of Respondents/Affected Entities:

Approximately 80 lessees or operators of Federal oil or gas leases

participating in RIK pilot programs.

Frequency of Response: Monthly.

Burden Statement and Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping

``Hour'' Burden: We estimate the respondent burden to average 2 minutes

per response for a total of 285 hours. We estimate no additional

recordkeeping burden.

Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost''

Burden: We have identified no paperwork cost burdens for this

collection.

Comments: Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act

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

[[Page 40894]]

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. 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 27, 1999.

MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach

(202) 208-7744.

Dated: July 21, 1999.

Joan Killgore,

Acting Associate Director for Royalty Management.

[FR Doc. 99-19261 Filed 7-27-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P