03-2691. Extension of Approved Information Collection, OMB Control Number 1004-0137

AGENCY:

Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is requesting the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to extend an existing approval to collect certain information from oil and gas well operators concerning operations performed on each well, using the Well Completion or Recompletion Report and Log (Form 3160-4). We use the information to ensure recording of an accurate, up-to-date, and detailed description of well completion or recompletion operations and compliance with approved plans for conservation of the resources and protection of the environment.

DATES:

You must submit your comments to BLM at the address below on or before April 7, 2003. BLM will not necessarily consider and comments received after the above date.

ADDRESSES:

You may mail comments to: Bureau of Land Management, (WO-630), Eastern States Office, 7450 Boston Blvd., Springfield, Virginia 22153.

You may send comments via Internet to: [e-mail]. Please include “ATTN: 1004-0137” and your name and return address in your Internet message.

You may deliver comments to the Bureau of Land Management, Administrative Record, Room 401, 1620 L Street, NW., Washington, DC.

All comments will be available for public review at the L Street address during regular business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.), Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

You may contact Barbara Gamble, Fluid Minerals Group, on [phone] (Commercial or FTS). Persons who use a telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service on 1-800-877-8330, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to contact Ms. Gamble.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

5 CFR 1320.12(a) requires that we provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning a collection of information to solicit comments on:

(a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper functioning of the agency, including whether the information has practical utility;

(b) The accuracy of our estimates of the information collection burden, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions we use;

(c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and

(d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), as amended; the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 351-359), as amended; the various Indian leasing acts; the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.), as amended; and other environmental laws govern onshore oil and gas operations. BLM's implementing regulations are at 43 CFR part 3160. The regulation 43 CFR 3162.4-1(b) requires an oil and gas well operator to submit a Well Completion or Recompletion Report and Log (Form 3160-4) within 30 days after well completion. The information that the operator submits to us includes the type of work, surface and subsurface location, start and completion dates, producing interval, casing, date of first production, and initial well potential. The operator certifies the accuracy and completeness of the information by signature and date.

BLM uses the information for inspection and reservoir management purposes. Technical data provide means to evaluate the appropriateness of specific drilling and completion techniques. The data enable us to monitor the engineering aspects of oil and gas production. The form documents that operations were carried out under the terms and provisions of the lease in a technically and environmentally safe manner. We would lack the necessary information to monitor compliance of well activity and operations that were performed on wells if we did not collect this information.

Based on our experience administering the onshore oil and gas program, we estimate the public reporting burden for the information collected is 1 hour per response. The information collected is already maintained by respondents for their own recordkeeping purposes and must only be entered on the form. Respondents are operators of oil and gas wells. The frequency of response varies depending on the type of activity conducted at oil and gas wells. We estimate the number of responses per year is 2,200 and the total annual burden is 2,200 hours.

BLM will summarize all responses to this notice and include them in the request for OMB approval. All comments will become a matter of public record.

Dated: January 31, 2003.

Michael H. Schwartz,

Bureau of Land Management, Information Collection Clearance Officer.