E7-941. Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY:

Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of extension of an information collection (1010-0043).

SUMMARY:

To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), MMS is inviting comments on a collection of information that we will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The information collection request (ICR) concerns the paperwork requirements in the regulations under “30 CFR 250, Subpart F, Oil and Gas Well-Workover Operations.”

DATES:

Submit written comments by March 26, 2007.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments by any of the following methods listed below. Please use the Information Collection Number 1010-0043 as an identifier in your message.

• E-mail MMS at [e-mail]. Identify with Information Collection Number 1010-0043 in the subject line.
• Fax: [phone]. Identify with Information Collection Number 1010-0043.
• Mail or hand-carry comments to the Department of the Interior; Minerals Management Service; Attention: Cheryl Blundon; 381 Elden Street, MS-4024; Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817. Please reference “Information Collection 1010-0043” in your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cheryl Blundon, Regulations and Standards Branch at [phone]. You may also contact Cheryl Blundon to obtain a copy, at no cost, of the regulations that require the subject collection of information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: 30 CFR 250, Subpart F, Oil and Gas Well-Workover Operations.

OMB Control Number: 1010-0043.

Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq. and 43 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), authorizes the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to prescribe rules and regulations to administer leasing of the OCS. Such rules and regulations will apply to all operations conducted under a lease. Operations on the OCS must preserve, protect, and develop oil and natural gas resources 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; to balance orderly energy resource development with protection of human, marine, and coastal environments; to ensure the public a fair and equitable return on the resources of the OCS; and to preserve and maintain free enterprise competition.

Section 5(a) of the OCS Lands Act requires the Secretary to prescribe rules and regulations “to provide for the prevention of waste, and conservation of the natural resources of the Outer Continental Shelf, and the protection of correlative rights therein” and to include provisions “for the prompt and efficient exploration and development of a lease area.” These authorities and responsibilities are among those delegated to the Minerals Management Service (MMS) to ensure that operations in the OCS will meet statutory requirements; provide for safety and protection of the environment; and result in diligent exploration, development, and production of OCS leases. This information collection request addresses the regulations at 30 CFR 250, Subpart F, Oil and Gas Well-Workover Operations and the associated supplementary Notices to Lessees and Operators (NTLs) intended to provide clarification, description, or explanation of these regulations.

MMS District Managers use the information collected to analyze and evaluate planned well-workover operations to ensure that operations result in personnel safety and protection of the environment. They use this evaluation in making decisions to approve, disapprove, or to require modification to the proposed well-workover operations. For example, MMS uses the information to:

• Review log entries of crew meetings to verify that safety procedures have been properly reviewed.
• Review well-workover procedures relating to hydrogen sulfide (H₂ S) to ensure the safety of the crew in the event of encountering H₂ S.
• Review well-workover diagrams and procedures to ensure the safety of well-workover operations.
• Verify that the crown block safety device is operating and can be expected to function and avoid accidents.
• Verify that the proposed operation of the annular preventer is technically correct and will provide adequate protection for personnel, property, and natural resources.
• Verify the reasons for postponing blowout preventer (BOP) tests, verify the state of readiness of the equipment and to ascertain that the equipment meets safety standards and requirements, ensure that BOP tests have been conducted in the manner and frequency to promote personnel safety and protect natural resources. Specific testing information must be recorded to verify that the proper test procedures were followed.
• Assure that the well-workover operations are conducted on well casing that is structurally competent.

We will protect information from respondents considered proprietary under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and its implementing regulations (43 CFR Part 2) and under regulations at 30 CFR 250.197, “Data and information to be made available to the public.” No items of a sensitive nature are collected. Responses are mandatory.

Frequency: On occasion, weekly, monthly, varies by section.

Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 130 Federal OCS lessees and operators.

Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping “Hour” Burden: The currently approved annual reporting burden for this collection is 19,459 hours. The following chart details the individual components and respective hour burden estimates of this ICR. In calculating the burdens, we assumed that respondents perform certain requirements in the normal course of their activities. We consider these to be usual and customary and took that into account in estimating the burden.

Citation 30 CFR 253	Reporting requirement	Hour burden
602	Request exceptions prior to moving well-workover equipment.	1.
602	Notify MMS of any rig mvoement within Gulf of Mexico (Form MMS-144)	Burden included in 1010-0150.
605; 613; 615(a), (e)(4); 616(d)	Request approval to begin subsea well-workover operations; submit Forms MMS-124 (include, if required, alternate procedures and equipment; stump test procedures plan) and MMS-125	Burden included in 1010-0141.
606	Instruct crew members in safety requirements of operations to be performed; document meeting (weekly for 2 crews × 2 weeks per workover = 4)	1.
611	Perform operational check of traveling-block safety device; document results (weekly × 2 weeks per workover = 2)	1.
612	Request establishment/amendment/cancellation of field well-workover rules	6.
614	Post number of stands of drill pipe or workover string and drill collars that may be pulled prior to filling the hole and equivalent well-control fluid volume	0.25.
616(a)	Request exception to rated working pressure of the BOP equipment; request exception to annular-type BOP testing	2.
616(a), (b), (f), (g)	Perform BOP pressure tests, actuations, inspections & certifications; record results; retain records 2 years following completion of workover activities (when installed; at a minimum every 7 days × 2 weeks per workover = 2)	7.
616(b)(2)	Test blind or blind-shear rams; document results (every 30 days during operations). (Note: this is part of BOP test when BOP test is conducted.)	1.
616(b)(2)	Record reason for postponing BOP system tests	0.5.
616(c)	Perform crew drills; record results (weekly for 2 crews × 2 weeks per workover = 4)	1.
617(b)	Pressure test, caliper, or otherwise evaluate tubing & wellhead equipment casing; submit results (every 30 days during prolonged operations)	6.
617(c)	Notify MMS if sustained casing pressure is observed on a well	0.5.
600-618	General departure and alternative compliance requests not specifically covered elsewhere in subpart F regulations	2.

Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping “Non-Hour Cost” Burden: We have identified no “non-hour cost” burdens for this collection.

Public Disclosure Statement: The PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) provides that an agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Until OMB approves a collection of information, you are not obligated to respond.

Comments: Before submitting an ICR to OMB, PRA section 3506(c)(2)(A) 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.

Agencies must also estimate the “non-hour cost” burdens to respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of information. Therefore, if you have costs to generate, maintain, and disclose this information, you should comment and provide your total capital and startup cost components or annual operation, maintenance, and purchase of service components. 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, and record storage facilities. You should not include estimates for 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.

We will summarize written responses to this notice and address them in our submission for OMB approval. As a result of your comments, we will make any necessary adjustments to the burden in our submission to OMB.

Public Comment Procedures: MMS's practice is to make comments, including names and addresses of respondents, available for public review. If you wish your name and/or address to be withheld, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. MMS will honor this request to the extent allowable by law; however, anonymous comments will not be considered. There may be circumstances in which we would withhold from the record a respondent's identity, as allowable by the law. If you wish us to withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. In addition, you must present a rationale for withholding this information. This rationale must demonstrate that disclosure “would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy.” Unsupported assertions will not meet this burden. In the absence of exceptional, documentable circumstances, this information will be released. All submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their entirety.

MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Arlene Bajusz [phone].

Dated: January 11, 2007.

E.P. Danenberger,

Chief Office of Offshore Regulatory Programs.