60-day 1010-0162

Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 83 / Tuesday, April 29, 2008 / Notices
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
[Docket No. MMS–2008–MRM–0019]

Agency Information Collection
Activities: Proposed Collection,
Comment Request
Minerals Management Service
(MMS), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of an extension of a
currently approved information
collection (OMB Control Number 1010–
0162).

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AGENCY:

SUMMARY: To comply with the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of
1995, we are inviting comments on
information collection request (ICR) that
we will submit to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and approval. This ICR concerns
the paperwork requirements in the
regulations under the Chief Financial
Officers Act of 1990 (CFO). This ICR is
titled ‘‘Accounts Receivable
Confirmations.’’
DATES: Submit written comments on or
before June 30, 2008.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by the following methods:
• Electronically go to http://
www.regulations.gov. In the ‘‘Comment
or Submission’’ column, enter ‘‘MMS–
2008–MRM–0019’’ to view supporting
and related materials for this ICR. Click
on ‘‘Send a comment or submission’’
link to submit public comments.
Information on using Regulations.gov,
including instructions for accessing
documents, submitting comments, and
viewing the docket after the close of the
comment period, is available through
the site’s ‘‘User Tips’’ link. All
comments submitted will be posted to
the docket.
• Mail comments to Hyla Hurst,
Regulatory Specialist, Minerals
Management Service, Minerals Revenue
Management, P.O. Box 25165, MS
302B2, Denver, Colorado 80225. Please
reference ICR 1010–0162 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 Blvd., Denver, Colorado
80225. Please reference ICR 1010–0162
in your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hyla
Hurst, telephone (303) 231–3495, or
e-mail [email protected]. 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.

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Title: Accounts Receivable
Confirmations.
OMB Control Number: 1010–0162.
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). The Secretary,
under 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), 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 MMS 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.mrm.mms.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
collected includes data necessary to
ensure that the royalties are accurately
valued and appropriately paid.
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 MMS
financial records is necessary.
Companies submit financial information
on Form MMS–2014, Report of Sales
and Royalty Remittance (OMB Control
Number 1010–0140, expires November
30, 2009) and on Form MMS–4430,

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Solid Minerals Production and Royalty
Report (OMB Control Number 1010–
0120, expires December 31, 2010).
As part of CFO audits, the agent
requests, by a specified date, third-party
confirmation responses confirming that
MMS 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 MMS as of a
specified date. In order to meet this
requirement, MMS must mail letters on
MMS letterhead, signed by the Deputy
Associate Director for Minerals Revenue
Management, to royalty payors selected
by the agent at random, asking them to
confirm back to the agent the accuracy
and/or validity of selected royalty
receivable items and amounts. Verifying
the amounts reported and the balances
due requires time for research and
analysis by payors.
This collection does not require
proprietary, trade secret, or other
confidential information not protected
by agency procedures. No items of a
sensitive nature are collected. The
requirement to respond is voluntary.
The MMS is requesting OMB’s
approval to continue to collect this
information. Not collecting this
information would limit the Secretary’s
ability to discharge the duties of the
office. Failure to collect this information
could be considered a scope limitation
for CFO audits.
Frequency: Annually.
Estimated Number and Description of
Respondents: 125 Federal and Indian oil
and gas and solid mineral royalty
payors.
Estimated Annual Reporting and
Recordkeeping ‘‘Hour’’ Burden: 32
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 ‘‘nonhour 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

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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 83 / Tuesday, April 29, 2008 / Notices

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. The ICR also will be
posted at http://www.mrm.mms.gov/
Laws_R_D/FRNotices/FRInfColl.htm.

Public Comment Policy: We will post
all comments in response to this notice
at http://www.mrm.mms.gov/Laws_R_D/
FRNotices/FRInfColl.htm. We also 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. 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.
MMS Information Collection
Clearance Officer: Arlene Bajusz (202)
208–7744.

prices. This notice provides the major
portion prices for the 12 months of
2006.

Dated: April 23, 2008.
Richard J. Adamski,
Acting Associate Director for Minerals
Revenue Management.
[FR Doc. E8–9331 Filed 4–28–08; 8:45 am]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
[Docket No. MMS–2008–MRM–0018]

Major Portion Prices and Due Date for
Additional Royalty Payments on Indian
Gas Production in Designated Areas
Not Associated With an Index Zone
Minerals Management Service
(MMS), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of major portion prices
for calendar year 2006.
AGENCY:

SUMMARY: Final regulations for valuing
gas produced from Indian leases,
published August 10, 1999, require
MMS to determine major portion prices
and notify industry by publishing the
prices in the Federal Register. The
regulations also require MMS to publish
a due date for industry to pay additional
royalty based on the major portion

The due date to pay additional
royalties based on the major portion
prices is June 30, 2008.

DATES:

John
Barder, Indian Oil and Gas Compliance
and Asset Management, MMS;
telephone (303) 231–3702; FAX (303)
231–3755; e-mail to
[email protected]; or Larry Gratz,
Indian Oil and Gas Compliance and
Asset Management, MMS; telephone
(303) 231–3427; FAX (303) 231–3755;
e-mail to [email protected]. Mailing
address: Minerals Management Service,
Minerals Revenue Management,
Compliance and Asset Management,
Indian Oil and Gas Compliance and
Asset Management, P.O. Box 25165, MS
396B2, Denver, Colorado 80225–0165.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

On August
10, 1999, MMS published a final rule
titled ‘‘Amendments to Gas Valuation
Regulations for Indian Leases,’’ (64 FR
43506) with an effective date of January
1, 2000. The gas regulations apply to all
gas production from Indian (tribal or
allotted) oil and gas leases, except leases
on the Osage Indian Reservation.
The rule requires that MMS publish
major portion prices for each designated
area not associated with an index zone
for each production month beginning
January 2000, along with a due date for
additional royalty payments. See 30
CFR 206.174(a)(4)(ii) (2007). If
additional royalties are due based on a
published major portion price, the
lessee must submit an amended Form
MMS–2014, Report of Sales and Royalty
Remittance, to MMS by the due date. If
additional royalties are not paid by the
due date, late payment interest, under
30 CFR 218.54, will accrue from the due
date until payment is made and an
amended Form MMS–2014 is received.
The table below lists the major portion
prices for all designated areas not
associated with an index zone. The due
date is 60 days after the publication date
of this notice.

GAS MAJOR PORTION PRICES ($/MMBTU) FOR DESIGNATED AREAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH AN INDEX ZONE
Jan
2006

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MMS-designated areas
Blackfeet Reservation ......................................................................................................
Fort Belknap ....................................................................................................................
Fort Berthold ....................................................................................................................
Fort Peck Reservation .....................................................................................................
Navajo Allotted Leases in the Navajo Reservation .........................................................
Rocky Boys Reservation .................................................................................................
Ute Allotted Leases in the Uintah and Ouray Reservation .............................................
Ute Tribal Leases in the Uintah and Ouray Reservation ................................................

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10.17
6.36
7.45
9.89
10.03
7.05
8.61
8.66

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Feb
2006
7.12
6.15
6.44
7.96
7.24
5.66
6.59
6.45

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Mar
2006
6.07
5.95
5.37
7.57
6.57
5.01
6.40
5.54

Apr
2006
5.38
5.99
5.47
6.07
6.03
4.74
5.95
5.07