Federal Register: December 21, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 246)
DOCID: FR Doc 01-31532
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
NOTICE: NOTICES
ACTION: Agency information collection activities:
DOCUMENT ACTION: Notice of a revision of a currently approved information collection (OMB Control Number 10100104).
SUBJECT CATEGORY:
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submitted for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Review; Comment Request
DATES: Submit written comments on or before January 22, 2002.
DOCUMENT SUMMARY:
To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, we are submitting to OMB for review and approval an information collection request (ICR) titled ``Accounting for Comparison (Dual Accounting).'' We are also soliciting comments from the public on this ICR.
SUMMARY:
Submission for OMB review; comment request,
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
Title: Accounting for Comparison (Dual Accounting).
OMB Control Number: 10100104.
Bureau Form Number: Form MMS4410.
Abstract: The Department of the Interior (DOI) is responsible for matters relevant to mineral resource development on Federal and Indian lands and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) is responsible for managing the production of minerals from Federal and Indian lands and the OCS, collecting royalties from lessees who produce minerals, and distributing the funds collected in accordance with applicable laws. The Secretary also has an Indian trust responsibility to manage Indian lands and seek advice and information from Indian beneficiaries. MMS performs the royalty management functions for the Secretary.
MMS regulations at 30 CFR 206.172 require lessees to certify on Form MMS4410, ``Certification for Not Performing Accounting for Comparison (Dual Accounting),'' that dual accounting is not required for a specific Indian lease. This is a onetime certification that remains in effect until there is a change in lease status or ownership. In this information collection request, we are asking approval to add to Form MMS4410 the lessee's reason for not performing dual accounting. The certification and reason for not performing dual accounting will be submitted on new Part A of Form MMS4410.
MMS regulations also require lessees to elect to perform either
actual dual accounting under 30 CFR 206.176 or the alternative
methodology for dual accounting under 30 CFR 206.173. Previously,
lessees reported the dual accounting election on a monthly basis on
Form MMS2014, Report of Sales and Royalty Remittance. However, in our
reengineering initiative, we redesigned and streamlined Form MMS2014
(OMB Control Number 10100140). The revised Form MMS2014 no longer contains the dual
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accounting election information. Since we must collect the information,
we are requesting approval to revise Form MMS4410 to include the dual
accounting election in a new Part B. Lessees will make the actual or
alternative dual accounting election every 2 years or whenever lessees
elect alternative dual accounting at the beginning of any month rather
than monthly as previously required on Form MMS2014. By moving the
dual accounting election to Part B of Form MMS4410, we are reducing
the reporting burden associated with the dual accounting election from a monthly collection to a biennial collection.
The revised Form MMS4410, Parts A and B, will consolidate the collection of all dual accounting information on one form. The changes will be effective January 2002 if OMB approves our request.
Responses to this information collection are mandatory for all
Indian gas leases (except leases on the Osage Indian Reservation).
Proprietary information is requested and protected, and there are no
questions of a sensitive nature involved in this collection of information.
Frequency: On occasion.
Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 370 payors on approximately 2,340 Indian leases.
Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 1,000
hours. See the following chart for a breakdown of the burden estimate.
Burden Annual Annual
30 CFR Section Reporting requirement hours per number of burden
response responses hours
206.172(b)(1)(ii)....................... Gas production that you certify 4 25 100
on Form MMS4410,
Certification for Not
Performing Accounting for
Comparison (Dual Accounting),
is not processed before it
flows into a pipeline with an
index but which may be
processed later. (New Part A
of revised Form MMS4410).
206.173(a)(1)........................... You may elect to perform the 2 450 900
dual accounting calculation
according to either Sec.
206.176(a) (called actual dual
accounting), or paragraph (b)
of this section (called the
alternative methodology for
dual accounting). (New Part B
of revised Form MMS4410).
206.173(a)(2)........................... You must make a separate See 206.173(a)(1) above.
election to use the
alternative methodology for
dual accounting for your
Indian leases in each MMS
designated area. (New Part B
of revised Form MMS4410).
206.176(b).............................. If you are required to account See 206.173(a)(1) above.
for comparison, you may elect
to use the alternative dual
accounting methodology
provided for in Sec. 206.173
instead of the provisions in
paragraph (a) of this section.
(New Part B of revised Form MMS4410).
206.176(c).............................. If you do not perform dual See 206.172(b)(1)(ii) above.
accounting, you must certify
to MMS that gas flows into
such pipeline before it is
processed. (New Part A of
revised Form MMS4410).
Total............................... ............................... ........... ........... 1,000
Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Nonhour'' Burden: We have identified no ``nonhour cost'' burden.
Comments: Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) 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.
To comply with the public consultation process, on June 6, 2001, we
published a Federal Register notice (66 FR 30480) with the required 60
day comment period announcing that we would submit this ICR to OMB for
approval. We received comments from one company. We responded to the
comments in our ICR submission for OMB approval. We have posted a copy of the ICR at our Internet web site
http://www.mrm.mms.gov/Laws_R_D/FRNotices/FRInfColl.htm. We will also
provide a copy of the ICR to you without charge upon request.
If you wish to comment in response to this notice, please 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 your comments by January 22, 2002. The PRA 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.
Public Comment Policy: We will post all comments received in response to this notice on our Internet web site at http:// www.mrm.mms.gov/Laws_R_D/InfoColl/InfoColCom.htm for public review. We also make copies of these comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular business hours at our offices in Lakewood, Colorado.
Individual respondents may request that we withhold their home address from the record, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. 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 comments. 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, telephone (202) 2087744.
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Dated: November 30, 2001.
Milton K. Dial,
Acting Associate Director for Minerals Revenue Management.
[FR Doc. 0131532 Filed 122001; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310MRW
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
Carol Shelby, Regulatory Specialist, phone (303) 2313151, FAX (303) 2313385, or email
Carol.Shelby@mms.gov.