Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing and Operations

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

43 CFR Parts 3100, 3110, 3120, 3130, 3140, 3150, 3160, 3170, and

3180

[WO-310-1310-00-2I-IP]

RIN 1004-AC94

Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing and Operations

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of extension of public comment period and

notice of public hearings.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is extending the public

comment period on a Notice of Proposed Rule, published in the Federal

Register on December 3, 1998 (63 FR 66840). The proposed rule would

revise BLM's oil and gas leasing and operations regulations. The rule

uses performance standards in certain instances in lieu of the current

prescriptive requirements. It would also cite industry standards and

incorporate them by reference rather than repeat those standards in the

rule itself. Also, BLM's onshore orders and national notices to lessees

would be incorporated into the regulations to eliminate overlap with

existing regulations. The rule would increase certain minimum bond

amounts and would revise and replace BLM's current unitization

regulations with a more flexible unit agreement process. Finally, the

proposed rule would eliminate redundancies, clarify procedures and

regulatory requirements, and streamline processes. In response to

public requests for additional time, BLM extends the comment period 60

days from the original comment period closing date of April 5, 1999, to

the extended comment period's closing date of June 4, 1999. BLM will

also hold public hearings on the proposal.

DATES:

Comments. Send your comments to BLM on or before June 4, 1999. BLM

will consider comments received or postmarked on or before this date in

preparing the final rule.

Public hearings. BLM will hold public hearings on this proposed

rule. The dates and times of the hearings are in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section under ``Public hearings.''

ADDRESSES: Please send your comments to the Bureau of Land Management

Administrative Record, Room 401 LS, 1849 C Street, NW., Washington, DC

20240, or hand deliver comments to the Bureau of Land Management

Administrative Record, Room 401, 1620 L Street, NW., Washington D.C.

For information about filing comments electronically, see the

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section under ``Electronic access and filing

address.''

Public hearings. The locations of the public hearings that BLM is

holding on this proposed rule are in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

section under ``Public hearings.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Duletsky of BLM's Fluid Minerals

Group at (202) 452-0337 or Ian J. Senio of BLM's Regulatory Affairs

Group at (202) 452-5049. If you require a telecommunications device for

the deaf (TDD), you may call the Federal Information Relay Service at

1-800-877-8339 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday

through Friday, excluding Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic access and filing address

You can view an electronic version of this proposed rule at BLM's

Internet home page: www.blm.gov. You can also comment via the Internet

at: WOC[email protected]. Please include ``Attention: AC94'' and your

name and return address in your Internet message. If you do not receive

a confirmation from our system that we have received your Internet

message, contact us directly at (202) 452-5030.

Written Comments

Written comments on the proposed rule should:

(A) Be specific;

(B) Be confined to issues pertinent to the proposed rule;

(C) Explain the reason for any recommended change; and

(D) Reference the specific section or paragraph of the proposal you

are addressing.

BLM may not necessarily consider or include in the Administrative

Record for the final rule comments which BLM receives after the close

of the comment period (See DATES) or comments delivered to an address

other than those listed above (See ADDRESSES).

You can review comments, including names, street addresses, and

other contact information of respondents at this address during regular

business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.), Monday through Friday, except

Federal holidays. BLM will also post all comments on its Internet home

page (www.blm.gov) at the end of the comment period. If you are an

individual respondent you may request confidentiality. If you request

that BLM consider withholding your name, street address, and other

contact information (such as: Internet address, FAX or phone number)

from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information

Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment.

We will not consider anonymous comments. BLM will honor requests for

confidentiality on a case-by-case basis to the extent allowed by law.

BLM will make available for public inspection in their entirety all

submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals

identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations

or businesses.

Public Hearings

The hearings will take the form of a question and answer workshop.

BLM will hold the public hearings at the following locations on the

dates and local times specified.

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Location Date and time BLM contact

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California Hearing, Doubletree Hotel, April 7, 1999, 1:00 p.m..................... Leroy Mohorich (916) 978-4363.

Buena Vista Room, 3100 Camino Del Rio

Court, (at the intersection of U.S.

Highway 99 and State Highway 58 in

Bakersfield), Bakersfield, California.

Montana Hearing, Bureau of Land April 7, 1999, 8:00 a.m..................... Jim Albano (406) 255-2849.

Management, Montana State Office, Sixth

Floor Conference Room, 222 North 32nd

Street, Billings, Montana.

Texas Hearing, Midland Center, Room 5, April 14, 1999 2:00 p.m..................... Rick Wymer (505) 438-7411.

105 North Main, Midland, Texas.

Colorado Hearing, Bureau of Land April 14, 1999 1:00 p.m..................... Sherri Thompson (303) 239-3758.

Management, Colorado State Office,

Fourth Floor Conference Room, 2850

Youngfield Street, Lakewood, Colorado.

Utah Hearing, Western Park Center, 300 April 14, 1999 1:00 p.m..................... Howard Cleavinger (435) 781-4480.

East, 200 South, Vernal, Utah.

Washington, D.C. Hearing, Washington April 20, 1999 1:00 p.m..................... Kermit Witherbee (202) 452-0335.

Plaza Hotel, State Suites, 10 Thomas

Circle, NW (14th and Massachusetts

Avenue) Washington, D.C..

Wyoming Hearing, The Wyoming Oil and Gas, April 20, 1999 1:00 p.m..................... Michael Madrid (307) 775-6201.

Conservation Commission Building, 777

West 1st Street, Casper, Wyoming.

New Mexico Hearing, Civic Center, Exhibit April 21, 1999 2:00 p.m..................... Rick Wymer (505) 438-7411.

Hall 3, 200 West Arrington, Farmington,

New Mexico.

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Eastern States Hearing, Holiday Inn, May 12, 1999 1:00 p.m....................... Dave Stewart (703) 440-1728.

Downtown/Riverfront Pavilion I, 102 Lake

Street (exit Spring Street at I-20),

Shreveport, Louisiana.

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The meeting sites are accessible to individuals with disabilities.

If you have a disability and will need an auxiliary aid or service to

participate in the hearing, such as interpreting service, assistive

listening device, or materials in an alternate format, you must notify

one of the persons listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT two

weeks before the scheduled hearing date. Although BLM will attempt to

meet a request received after that date, the requested auxiliary aid or

service may not be available because of insufficient time to arrange

it.

Dated: March 22, 1999.

Sylvia V. Baca,

Acting Assistant Secretary, Land and Minerals Management.

[FR Doc. 99-7440 Filed 3-25-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-84-P