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 extension of a currently approved information

collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0057).

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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 extend the currently approved 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 October 12, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand carry 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: 30 CFR 250, Subpart C, Pollution Prevention and Control

(1010-0057).

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

1331 et seq., gives the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) the

responsibility to preserve, protect, and develop oil and gas resources

in the OCS. This must be done in a manner that is consistent with the

need to make such resources available to meet the Nation's energy needs

as rapidly as possible; balance orderly energy resource development

with protection of the human, marine, and coastal environments; ensure

the public a fair and equitable return on the resources of the OCS; and

preserve and maintain free enterprise competition. The OCS Lands Act

Amendments of 1978 also gave the Secretary the responsibility to

minimize or eliminate conflicts among the exploration, development, and

production of oil and natural gas and the recovery of other resources

such as fish and shellfish. The OCS Lands Act at 43 U.S.C. 1332(6)

states that ``operations in the [O]uter Continental Shelf should be

conducted in a safe manner by well-trained personnel using technology,

precautions, and techniques sufficient to prevent or minimize the

likelihood of blowouts, loss of well control, fires, spillages,

physical obstruction to other users of the waters or subsoil and

seabed, or other occurrences which may cause damage to the environment

or to property, or endanger life or health.'' The OCS Lands Act at 43

U.S.C. 1334(a)(8) also requires the Secretary to administer the

provisions of this subchapter relating to the leasing of the OCS, and

prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary ``for

compliance with the national ambient air quality standards pursuant to

the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), to the extent that

activities authorized under this Act significantly affect the air

quality of any State.'' The OCS Lands Act Amendments at 43 U.S.C.

1843(b) direct the Secretary to ``establish regulations requiring all

materials, equipment, tools, containers, and all other items used on

the Outer Continental Shelf to be properly color coded, stamped, or

labeled, wherever practicable, with the owner's identification prior to

actual use.''

Regulations at 30 CFR 250, subpart C, ``Pollution, Prevention and

Control'' implement these statutory requirements. We use the

information collected and records maintained under subpart C to ensure:

There is no threat of serious, irreparable, or immediate

damage to the marine environment and to identify potential hazards to

commercial fishing caused by OCS oil and gas exploration, development,

and production activities;

The location of items lost overboard is recorded to aid in

recovery by the operator during site clearance activities on the lease;

Operations are conducted according to all applicable

regulations, permit conditions and requirements, and conducted in a

safe and workmanlike manner;

OCS oil and gas operations minimize air pollution of the

OCS and adjacent onshore areas and comply with the emission levels

specified in the MMS Development and Production Plan approval

conditions;

A data baseline is established for the meteorological,

oceanographic, and sea-ice conditions in frontier areas of the OCS to

determine that offshore facilities and operational practices can

withstand the expected environmental forces in an area;

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Emissions from OCS activities are not significantly

affecting the air quality of any State adjacent to the OCS facilities/

operations;

Discharge or disposal of drill cuttings, sand, and other

well solids, including those containing naturally occurring radioactive

materials, are properly handled for the protection of OCS workers and

the environment; and

Facilities are inspected daily for the prevention of

pollution and problems observed have been corrected.

We will protect proprietary information submitted according to the

Freedom of Information Act; 30 CFR 250.118, ``Data and information to

be made available to the public'; and 30 CFR Part 252, ``OCS Oil and

Gas Information Program.'' No items of a sensitive nature are

collected. Responses are mandatory.

Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 130

Federal OCS sulphur or oil and gas lessees.

Frequency: The frequency of reporting is on occasion or monthly.

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

currently approved annual hour burden for this collection is 149,510

hours, which averages 1,150 hours per respondent.

This burden includes a data collection effort for respondents to

monitor emissions air quality and submit monthly reports for a 1-year

study of selected in sites in the Breton National Wildlife Refuge/

Wilderness Area (BWA) under Secs. 250.303(k) and 250.304(g). OMB

previously approved the information collection burden for this,

however, the project has been on hold. We have now scheduled the effort

to begin on January 1, 2000, as announced in the Gulf of Mexico OCS

Region's Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) No. 99-G14.

In addition, we will be requesting an increase in the annual burden

for a 1-year data collection effort to monitor ozone and regional haze

air quality of facilities in the Gulf of Mexico west of 87 deg. 30'

West longitude also beginning January 1, 2000. As announced in NTL No.

99-G15, monitoring will be monthly, with an annual report due the

following March in 2001. We estimate 285 additional annual burden hours

per respondent for this data collection effort.

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

Burden: OMB previously approved the burden on lessees and operators of

each lease within 100 kilometers of the BWA to collect and report

meteorological data under Secs. 250.303(l) and 250.304(h), although

this collection effort has also been on hold. NTL No. 99-G03 announced

the start of this project on January 1, 2000. The Offshore Operators

Committee (OOC) has agreed to undertake this project. The OOC estimates

this one-time data collection effort will cost approximately

$750,000.00, which will be expensed to the affected OCS lessees.

Comments: We will summarize written responses to this notice and

address them in our submission for OMB approval. All comments will

become a matter of public record. As a result of your comments and our

consultations with a representative sample of respondents, we will make

any necessary adjustments to the burden in our submission to OMB. In

calculating the burden, we assumed that respondents perform many of the

requirements and maintain records in the normal course of their

activities. We consider these to be usual and customary and took that

into account in estimating the burden.

(1) We specifically solicit your comments on the following

questions:

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

properly perform our 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

respondents, including through the use of appropriate automated

electronic, mechanical, or other forms of information technology?

(2) In addition, the PRA requires agencies to estimate the total

annual reporting and recordkeeping ``cost'' burden to respondents or

recordkeepers resulting from the collection of information. We need to

know if you have costs associated with the collection of this

information for either total capital and startup cost components or

annual operation, maintenance, and purchase of service components. Your

estimates should consider the costs to generate, maintain, and disclose

or provide the information. You should describe the methods you use to

estimate major cost factors, including system and technology

acquisition, expected useful life of capital equipment, discount

rate(s), and the period over which you incur costs. Capital and startup

costs include, among other items, computers and software you purchase

to prepare for collecting information; monitoring, sampling, drilling,

and testing equipment; and record storage facilities. Generally, your

estimates should not include equipment or services purchased: (i)

Before October 1, 1995; (ii) to comply with requirements not associated

with the information collection; (iii) for reasons other than to

provide information or keep records for the Government; or (iv) as part

of customary and usual business or private practices.

MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach,

(202) 208-7744.

Dated: August 6, 1999.

John V. Mirabella,

Acting Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.

[FR Doc. 99-20798 Filed 8-11-99; 8:45 am]

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