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 of information collection requests.

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

seq.), we are notifying you that an information collection request

(ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

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

ICR describing the information collection, its expected costs and

burdens, and how the data will be collected.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before January 18,

2000.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments directly to the Office of

Information and

[[Page 70283]]

Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for the Interior

Department (OMB Control Number 1010-0063), 725 17th Street, NW,

Washington, D.C. 20503. You should also send copies of these comments

to us. Our mailing address for written comments regarding this

information collection is David S. Guzy, Chief, Rules and Publications

Staff, Minerals Management Service, Royalty Management Program, P.O.

Box 25165, MS 3021, Denver, Colorado 80225. Courier or overnight

delivery address is Building 85, Room A-613, Denver Federal Center,

Denver, Colorado 80225. Email address is RMP.[email protected].

Public Comment Procedure

Your comments and copies of your comments may be submitted to the

addresses listed above. Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII

file avoiding the use of special characters and any form of encryption.

Please also include Attn: Production Accounting and Auditing System

Reports on Solid Minerals, OMB Control Number 1010-0063, Forms MMS-

4050, MMS-4051-S, MMS-4059 and MMS-4060, 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

David S. Guzy directly at (303) 231-3432.

We will post public comments after the comment period closes on the

Internet at http://www.rmp.mms.gov. You may arrange to view paper

copies of the comments by contacting David S. Guzy, Chief, Rules and

Publications Staff, telephone (303) 231-3432, FAX (303) 231-3385. Our

practice is to make comments, including names and addresses of

respondents, available for public review on the Internet and during

regular business hours at our offices in Lakewood, Colorado. Individual

respondents may request that we withhold their home address from the

rulemaking record, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law.

There also may be circumstances in which we would withhold from the

rulemaking record a respondent's identity, as allowable by law. If you

wish us to withhold your name and/or address, you must state this

prominently at the beginning of your comment. However, we will not

consider anonymous comments. We will make all submissions from

organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying

themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or

businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis C. Jones, Rules and

Publications Staff, phone (303) 231-3046, FAX (303) 231-3385, email

Dennis.C.J[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Production Accounting and Auditing System Reports on Solid

Minerals.

OMB Control Number: 1010-0063.

Abstract: The Secretary of the Interior is responsible for

collecting royalties from leases producing minerals from leased Federal

and Indian lands. The Secretary is required by various laws to manage

the production of mineral resources on Indian lands and Federal onshore

and offshore leases, to collect the royalties due, and to distribute

the funds in accordance with those laws; we perform these royalty

management functions for the Secretary.

Respondents/Affected Entities: Operators of solid mineral leases.

Frequency of Response: Monthly, quarterly, annually.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 170.

Estimated Total Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden: 2,763

hours.

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 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 January 18, 2000.

MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach,

(202) 208-7744.

Dated: December 9, 1999.

Lawrence E. Cobb,

Acting Associate Director for Royalty Management.

[FR Doc. 99-32558 Filed 12-15-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P