2011-21911. Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection, Comment Request

AGENCY:

Office of Natural Resources Revenue, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of an extension of a currently approved information collection.

SUMMARY:

To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) is inviting comments on a collection of information that we will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This information collection request (ICR) concerns the paperwork requirements in the regulations under the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (CFO).

DATES:

Submit written comments on or before October 25, 2011.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments to ONRR by any of the following methods. Please use “ICR 1012-0001” as an identifier in your comment.

• Electronically go to http://www.regulations.gov. In the entry titled “Enter Keyword or ID,” enter ONRR-2011-0019, and then click search. Follow the instructions to submit public comments. The ONRR will post all comments.
• Mail comments to Hyla Hurst, Regulatory Specialist, Office of Natural Resources Revenue, P.O. Box 25165, MS 61013C, Denver, Colorado 80225. Please reference ICR 1012-0001 in your comments.
• Hand-carry comments or use an overnight courier service. Our courier address is Building 85, Room A-614, Denver Federal Center, West 6th Ave. and Kipling St., Denver, Colorado 80225. Please reference ICR 1012-0001 in your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Hyla Hurst, telephone [phone], or e-mail [e-mail]. You may also contact Hyla Hurst to obtain copies, at no cost, of (1) the ICR, (2) any associated forms, and (3) the regulations that require the subject collection of information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Accounts Receivable Confirmations.

OMB Control Number: 1012-0001.

Bureau Form Number: None.

Abstract: The Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior is responsible for mineral resource development on Federal and Indian lands and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) under the following laws: The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (30 U.S.C. 1923), the Indian Mineral Development of 1982 (Pub. L. 97-382—Dec. 22, 1982); and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1353). The Secretary is responsible for managing the production of minerals from Federal and Indian lands and the OCS, collecting royalties and other mineral revenues from lessees who produce minerals, and distributing the funds collected in accordance with applicable laws. The Secretary has a trust responsibility to manage Indian lands and seek advice and information from Indian beneficiaries. The ONRR performs the minerals revenue management functions and assists the Secretary in carrying out the Department's trust responsibility for Indian lands. Public laws pertaining to mineral revenues are on our Web site at http://www.onrr.gov/​Laws_​R_​D/​PublicLawsAMR.htm.

When a company or an individual enters into a lease to explore, develop, produce, and dispose of minerals from Federal or Indian lands, that company or individual agrees to pay the lessor a share in an amount or value of production from the leased lands. The lessee is required to report various kinds of information to the lessor relative to the disposition of the leased minerals. Such information is generally available within the records of the lessee or others involved in developing, transporting, processing, purchasing, or selling of such minerals. The information ONRR collects includes data necessary to ensure that the royalties are accurately valued and appropriately paid.

Companies submit financial information monthly to ONRR on Form ONRR-2014, Report of Sales and Royalty Remittance (OMB Control Number 1012-0004) and on Form ONRR-4430, Solid Minerals Production and Royalty Report (OMB Control Number 1012-0010).

Every year, under CFO, the Department's Office of Inspector General, or its agent (agent), audits the Department's financial statements. The Department's goal is to receive an unqualified opinion. Accounts receivable confirmations are a common practice in the audit business. Due to continuously increasing scrutiny on financial audits, third-party confirmation on the validity of ONRR's financial records is necessary.

As part of CFO audit requirements, the agent selects royalty payors at random and provides the companies' names and addresses to ONRR. We mail the letters to the payors, instructing them to respond directly to the agent to confirm the accuracy and/or validity of selected royalty receivable items and amounts. In order to meet CFO requirements, the letters must be on ONRR letterhead and signed by the Deputy Director for Office of Natural Resources Revenue. Third-party confirmation responses are requested by a specified date, confirming that ONRR's accounts receivable records agree with royalty payor records, for the following items: Customer identification; royalty/invoice number; payor-assigned document number; date received; original amount reported; and remaining balance due to ONRR, as of a specified date. Verifying the amounts reported and the balances due requires time for research and analysis by payors.

Frequency: Annually.

Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 48 Federal and Indian oil and gas and solid mineral royalty payors.

Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping “Hour” Burden: 12 hours. We estimate that each response will take 15 minutes for payors to complete.

Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping “Non-hour Cost” Burden: We have identified no “non-hour cost” burden associated with the collection of information.

Public Disclosure Statement: 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.

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.

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. 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, and 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: Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, be advised that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold from public review your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

ONRR Information Collection Clearance Officer: Armand Southall [phone].

Dated: August 23, 2011.

Gregory J. Gould,

Director for Office of Natural Resources Revenue.