1014-0005 30-day Part 203

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 204 / Monday, October 22, 2012 / Notices
• Welcome, introductions and agenda
review;
• Trust Commission Operations;
• Review and Discussion of
Commission Draft Documents to-date;
• Public Comments;
• Overview of December 6–7, 2012
meeting and related youth outreach
session;
• Review action items from today’s
discussion; and
• Adjourn.
Written comments may be sent to the
Designated Federal Official listed in the
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section above. To review all related
material on the Commission’s work,
please refer to http://www.doi.gov/
cobell/commission/index.cfm. All
meetings are open to the public.
Dated: October 16, 2012.
David J. Hayes,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012–25916 Filed 10–19–12; 8:45 am]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

BILLING CODE 4310–W7–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Safety and Environmental
Enforcement (BSEE)
[Docket ID BSEE–2012–0009; OMB Number
1014–0005]

Information Collection Activities: Relief
or Reduction in Royalty Rates;
Submitted for Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) Review; Comment
Request
ACTION:

30-day Notice.

To comply with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA), we are notifying the public that
we have submitted to OMB an
information collection request (ICR) to
renew approval of the paperwork
requirements in the regulations under
30 CFR part 203, Relief or Reduction in
Royalty Rates. This notice also provides
the public a second opportunity to
comment on the paperwork burden of
these regulatory requirements.
DATES: You must submit comments by
November 21, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments by either
fax (202) 395–5806 or email (OIRA_
[email protected]) directly to the
Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer
for the Department of the Interior (1014–
0005). Please provide a copy of your
comments to BSEE by any of the means
below.
• Electronically: Go to http://www.
regulations.gov. In the entry titled,
‘‘Enter Keyword or ID,’’ enter BSEE–

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2012–0009, then click search. Follow
the instructions to submit public
comments and view all related
materials. We will post all comments.
• Email: [email protected], fax
(703) 787–1546, or mail or hand-carry
comments to: Department of the
Interior; Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement;
Regulations and Standards Branch;
Attention: Nicole Mason; 381 Elden
Street, HE3313; Herndon, Virginia
20170–4817. Please reference 1014–
0005 in your comment and include your
name and return address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Nicole Mason, Regulation and
Standards Branch, (703) 787–1605, to
request additional information about
this ICR. To see a copy of the entire ICR
submitted to OMB, go to http://www.
reginfo.gov (select Information
Collection Review, Currently Under
Review).

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Title: 30 CFR 203, Relief or Reduction
in Royalty Rates.
OMB Control Number: 1014–0005.
Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf
(OCS) Lands Act, as amended by Public
Law 104–58, Deep Water Royalty Relief
Act (DWRRA), gives the Secretary of the
Interior (Secretary) the authority to
reduce or eliminate royalty or any net
profit share specified in OCS oil and gas
leases to promote increased production.
The DWRRA also authorized the
Secretary to suspend royalties when
necessary to promote development or
recovery of marginal resources on
producing or non-producing leases in
the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) west of 87
degrees, 30 minutes West longitude.
Section 302 of the DWRRA provides
that new production from a lease in
existence on November 28, 1995, in a
water depth of at least 200 meters, and
in the GOM west of 87 degrees, 30
minutes West longitude qualifies for
royalty suspension in certain situations.
To grant a royalty suspension, the
Secretary must determine that the new
production or development would not
be economic in the absence of royalty
relief. The Secretary must then
determine the volume of production on
which no royalty would be due in order
to make the new production from the
lease economically viable. This
determination is done on a case-by-case
basis. Production from leases in the
same water depth and area issued after
November 28, 2000, also can qualify for
royalty suspension in addition to any
that may be included in their lease
terms.
In addition, the Independent Offices
Appropriations Act (31 U.S.C. 9701), the

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Omnibus Appropriations Bill (Pub. L.
104–134, 110 Stat. 1321, April 26,
1996), and OMB Circular A–25,
authorize Federal agencies to recover
the full cost of services that confer
special benefits. Under the Department
of the Interior’s (DOI) implementing
policy, BSEE is required to charge fees
for services that provide special benefits
or privileges to an identifiable nonFederal recipient above and beyond
those which accrue to the public at
large.
Regulations at 30 CFR part 203
implement these statutes and policy and
require respondents to pay a fee to
request royalty relief. Section 30 CFR
203.3 states that, ‘‘We will specify the
necessary fees for each of the types of
royalty-relief applications and possible
BSEE audits in a Notice to Lessees. We
will periodically update the fees to
reflect changes in costs as well as
provide other information necessary to
administer royalty relief.’’
The BSEE uses the information to
make decisions on the economic
viability of leases requesting a
suspension or elimination of royalty or
net profit share. These decisions have
enormous monetary impacts to both the
lessee and the Federal Government.
Royalty relief can lead to increased
production of natural gas and oil,
creating profits for lessees and royalty
and tax revenues for the government
that they might not otherwise receive.
We could not make an informed
decision without the collection of
information required by 30 CFR part
203.
We will protect information from
respondents considered proprietary
under the Freedom of Information Act
(5 U.S.C. 552) and its implementing
regulations (43 CFR part 2) and under
regulations at 30 CFR 203.63, Does my
application have to include all leases in
the field, and 30 CFR 250.197, Data and
information to be made available to the
public or for limited inspection. No
items of a sensitive nature are collected.
Responses are mandatory or are
required to obtain or retain a benefit.
Frequency: On occasion.
Description of Respondents: Potential
respondents comprise Federal oil, gas,
or sulphur lessees and/or operators.
Estimated Reporting and
Recordkeeping Hour Burden: The
estimated annual hour burden for this
information collection is a total of 2,329
hours. The following chart details the
individual components and estimated
hour burdens. In calculating the
burdens, we assumed that respondents
perform certain requirements in the
normal course of their activities. We
consider these to be usual and

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estimating the burden.

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 204 / Monday, October 22, 2012 / Notices

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 204 / Monday, October 22, 2012 / Notices

* CPA certification expense burden
also imposed on applicant.
** These applications currently do
not have a set fee since they are done
on a case-by-case basis.

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Note: Applications include numerous
items such as: transmittal letters, letters of
request, modifications to applications,
reapplications, etc.

Estimated Reporting and
Recordkeeping Non-Hour Cost Burden:
We have identified two non-hour costs
associated with this information
collection. The estimated non-hour cost
burden is $117,441. This estimate is
based on:
Under § 203.3, we charge lessees
(respondents) applying for royalty relief
an amount that covers the cost of
processing their applications and
auditing financial data when necessary
to determine the proposed
development’s economic situation. The
total annual estimated cost burden for
these fees is $72,441.
Cost of a report prepared by
independent certified public
accountant. Under § 203.81, a report
prepared by an independent certified
public accountant must accompany the
application and post-production report
(expansion project, short form, and
preview assessment applications are
excluded). The OCS Lands Act
applications will require this report
only once; the DWRRA applications will
require this report at two stages—with
the application and post-production
development report for successful
applicants. The BSEE estimates
approximately one submission each
year at an average cost of $45,000 per
report.

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Public Disclosure Statement: The PRA
(44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.,) provides that
an agency may not conduct or sponsor
a collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control
number. Until OMB approves a
collection of information, you are not
obligated to respond.
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
collection is necessary or useful; (b)
evaluate the accuracy 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
technology.
To comply with the public
consultation process, on May 22, 2012,
we published a Federal Register notice
(77 FR 30310) announcing that we
would submit this ICR to OMB for
approval. The notice provided the
required 60-day comment period. In
addition, § 203.82 provides the OMB
control number for the information
collection requirements imposed by the
30 CFR part 203 regulations. The
regulation also informs the public that
they may comment at any time on the
collections of information and provides
the address to which they should send
comments. We have received one
comment in response to these efforts;
however, the comment did not pertain

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to the paperwork burden associated
with this IC. The comment was a
personal opinion of the bureau location
of where this program resides.
Public Availability of Comments:
Before including your address, phone
number, email address, or other
personal identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware 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 your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Acting BSSE Information Collection
Clearance Officer: Cheryl Blundon (703)
787–1607.
Dated: October 9, 2012.
Robert W. Middleton,
Deputy Chief, Office of Offshore Regulatory
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2012–25971 Filed 10–19–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–VH–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R1–R–2012–N132: 1265–0000–10137
S3]

Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge,
Washington and Yamhill Counties, OR,
Draft Comprehensive Conservation
Plan and Environmental Assessment
AGENCY:

Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

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