02-3878. Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection, Comment Request

AGENCY:

Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of an extension of a currently approved information collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0073).

SUMMARY:

To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, we are 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) is titled “30 CFR part 220, Accounting Procedures for Determining Net Profit Share Payment for Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leases.”

DATES:

Submit written comments on or before April 22, 2002.

ADDRESSES:

Submit written comments to Carol P. Shelby, Regulatory Specialist, Minerals Management Service, Minerals Revenue Management, P.O. Box 25165, MS 320B2, Denver, Colorado 80225. If you use an overnight courier service, our courier address is Building 85, Room A-614, Denver Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Carol P. Shelby, telephone [phone] or FAX [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: 30 CFR part 220, Accounting Procedures for Determining Net Profit Share Payment for Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leases.

OMB Control Number: 1010-0073.

Bureau Form Number: None.

Abstract: The Department of the Interior (DOI) is responsible for the management of all mineral leasing activities on Federal and Indian lands. The Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) requires the Secretary of the Interior to establish a comprehensive fiscal accounting, auditing, and collection system to accurately determine oil and gas royalties and other payments, and to collect and account for those monies in a timely manner. The Secretary delegated the authority for royalty management to MMS to develop a net profit share bidding system to encourage exploration and development of oil and gas leases on submerged lands of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Section 8(a) of the OCS Lands Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), authorizes DOI to implement alternative bidding systems for the award of Federal oil and gas leases on the OCS. The net profit share lease (NPSL) system endeavors to balance the securing of a fair market return to the Federal Government for the lease of its lands with a fair profit to companies risking their investment capital. The system provides an incentive for early and expeditious exploration and development and provides for a sharing of the risks by the lessee and the Government. The bidding system incorporates a fixed capital recovery system as the means through which the lessee recovers costs of exploration and development from production revenues, along with a reasonable return on investment.

NPSL lessees are required to maintain an NPSL capital account and to provide either annual or monthly reports using data maintained in the capital account. In addition, NPSL lessees must file a report after each inventory of controllable material and following the cessation of production. Further, when nonoperators of an NPSL lease call for an audit, they must notify MMS, and when DOI calls for an audit, the lessee must notify all nonoperators on the lease. These requirements can be found in 30 CFR 220.010, 220.031, and 220.033.

MMS is requesting an extension of OMB's approval to continue to collect this information. Submission of this information is required in order for MMS to determine when NPSL royalty payments are due and to determine the proper amount of payment. Proprietary information that is submitted is protected, and there are no questions of a sensitive nature included in this information collection.

Frequency: Annually before production; monthly after production.

Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 12 OCS oil and gas lessees.

Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping “Hour” Burden: 3,674 hours. The following chart shows the breakdown of the burden hours by CFR section and paragraph:

Section	Reporting or record keeping requirement	Burden hours per response	Annual number of responses	Annual burden hours
220.010(a)	For each NPSL tract, an NPSL capital account shall be established and maintained by the lessee for NPSL operations	See § 220.030(a)
220.030(a)	Each lessee * * * shall establish and maintain such records as are necessary * * *	1	22	22
220.031(a)	Each lessee * * * shall file an annual report during the period from issuance of the NPSL until the first month in which production revenues are credited to the NPSL capital account	16	5	80
220.031(b)	Beginning with the first month in which production revenues are credited to the NPSL capital account, each lessee * * * shall file a report for each NPSL, not later than 60 days following the end of each month	16	*204	3,264
220.031(d)	Each lessee subject to this part 220 shall file a report not later than 90 days after each inventory is taken * * *.	8	22	176
220.031(e)	Each lessee * * * shall file a final report, not later than 60 days following the cessation of production * * *	2	22	44
220.033(b)(1)	When non-operators of an NPSL lease call an audit in accordance with the terms of their operating agreement, the Director shall be notified of the audit call * * *	2	22	44
220.033(b)(2)	If DOI determines to call for an audit, DOI shall notify the lessee of its audit call and set a time and place for the audit. * * * The lessee shall send copies of the now operators on the lease	2	22	44
Total			319	3,674
* (17 leases × 12 mo.)

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

Comments: The PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) 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 OMB control number. 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.

The PRA also requires agencies to estimate the total annual reporting “non-hour cost” burden to respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of information. We have not identified non-hour cost burdens for this information collection. 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, sampling, 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.

We will summarize written responses to this notice and address them in our ICR submission for OMB approval, including appropriate adjustments to the estimated burden. We will provide a copy of the ICR to you without charge upon request.

Public Comment Policy. We will make copies of the comments available for public review, including names and addresses of respondents, during regular business hours at our offices in Lakewood, Colorado. Individual respondents may request that we withhold their home address from the public 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 request that we withhold your name and/or address, 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.

MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Jo Ann Lauterbach, [phone].

Dated: January 31, 2002.

Cathy J. Hamilton,

Acting Associate Director for Minerals Revenue Management.