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: In compliance 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 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 May 17, 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 1010-0033), 725 17th

Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 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: Dennis C. Jones, Rules and

Publications Staff, telephone (303) 231-3046, FAX (303) 231-3385,

e:Mail Dennis.C.J[email protected]. You may also contact Dennis Jones to

obtain a copy of the ICR at no cost.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Payor Information Form (Form MMS-4025).

OMB Control Number: 1010-0033.

Abstract: The Secretary of the Interior is responsible for the

collection of royalties from lessees 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 royalty management functions for the Secretary. We use a

database, an automated fiscal accounting system (the Auditing and

Financial System) to account for revenues collected from Federal and

Indian leases. Part of the database consists of information collected

using the Payor Information Form (Form MMS-4025). Form MMS-4025 is used

to record and report data from new producing leases, for updating payor

changes, and to notify MMS of the

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products on which royalties will be paid.

Based upon well data provided by the Bureau of Land Management, MMS

developed a well database and, consequently, payors no longer need to

report certain well data when submitting Form MMS-4025. Also, the

Royalty Policy Committee, established by the Secretary, and MMS

personnel identified several data elements that are only needed on an

exception basis and, therefore, do not need to be routinely reported on

Form MMS-4025. This program change reduces the reporting burden for

this information collection.

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 August 11, 1998 (63 FR 42870).

Burden statement: The respondent burden for this collection is

estimated to average 40 minutes to complete Form MMS-4025.

Recordkeeping requires an additional 5 minutes. The total annual burden

hour estimate is 17,250 hours which includes the time for reviewing

instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and

reviewing the form.

Respondents/Affected Entities: Federal and Indian lessees and

payors.

Frequency of Response: As necessary.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,200.

Estimated Total Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden: 17,250

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 May 17, 1999.

MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach

(202) 208-7744.

Dated: April 8, 1999.

Lucy Querques Denett,

Associate Director for Royalty Management.

[FR Doc. 99-9506 Filed 4-15-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P