[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 231 (Friday, November 30, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59814-59815]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-29795]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submitted for Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) Review; Comment Request
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of extension of a currently approved information
collection (OMB Control Number 1010-0112).
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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we
are submitting to OMB for review and approval an information collection
request (ICR) for form MMS-131, Performance Measures Data. We are also
soliciting comments from the public on this ICR.
DATES: Submit written comments by December 31, 2001.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments directly to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for
the Department of the Interior (1010-0112), 725 17th Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20503. Mail or hand-carry a copy of your comments to the
Department of the Interior; Minerals Management Service; Attention:
Rules Processing Team; Mail Stop 4024; 381 Elden Street; Herndon,
Virginia 20170-4817. If you wish to e-mail your comments to MMS, the e-
mail address is: rules.comments@mms.gov. Reference ``Information
Collection 1010-0112'' in your e-mail subject line. Include your name
and return address in your e-mail message and mark your message for
return receipt.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexis London, Rules Processing Team,
telephone (703) 787-1600.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Form MMS-131, Performance Measures Data.
OMB Control Number: 1010-0112.
Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act (43 U.S.C.
1331 et seq.), as amended, requires the Secretary of the Interior to
preserve, protect, and develop OCS oil, gas, and sulphur resources;
make such resources available to meet the Nation's energy needs as
rapidly as possible; balance orderly energy resource development with
protection of the human, marine, and coastal environments; ensure the
public a fair and equitable return on the resources of the OCS; and
preserve and maintain free enterprise competition. These
responsibilities are among those delegated to MMS. MMS generally issues
regulations to ensure that operations in the OCS will meet statutory
requirements; provide for safety and protect the environment; and
result in diligent exploration, development, and production of OCS
leases.
In 1991 MMS began promoting, on a voluntary basis, the
implementation of a comprehensive Safety and Environmental Management
Program (SEMP) for the offshore oil and gas industry as a complement to
current regulatory efforts to protect people and the environment during
OCS oil and gas exploration and production activities. From the
beginning, MMS, the industry as a whole, and individual companies
realized that at some point they would want to know the effect of SEMP
on safety and environmental management of the OCS. The natural
consequence of this interest was the establishment of performance
measures. We are requesting OMB approval for a routine renewal of the
form MMS-131, Performance Measures Data. There are a few editorial
changes, but no changes to the data elements.
The responses to this collection of information are voluntary,
although we consider the information to be critical for assessing the
effects of the OCS Safety and Environmental Management Program. We can
better focus our regulatory and research programs on areas where the
performance measures indicate that operators are having difficulty
meeting MMS expectations. We are more effective in leveraging resources
by redirecting research efforts, promoting appropriate regulatory
initiatives, and shifting inspection program emphasis. The performance
measures give us valuable quantitative information to use in judging
the reasonableness of company requests for alternative compliance or
departures under 30 CFR 250.141 and 250.142. We also use the
information collected to work with industry representatives to identify
and request ``pacesetter'' companies make presentations at periodic
workshops.
Knowing how the offshore operators as a group are doing and where
their own company ranks provides company management with information to
focus their continuous improvement efforts. This leads to more cost-
effective prevention actions and, therefore, better cost containment.
This information also provides offshore operators and organizations
with a credible data source to demonstrate to those outside the
industry how well the industry and individual companies are doing.
No questions of a ``sensitive'' nature are asked, and the
collection of information involves no proprietary information. We
intend to release data collected on form MMS-131 only in a summary
format that is not company-specific. We will protect the information
according to the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and its
implementing regulations (43 CFR part 2).
Frequency: The frequency is annual, with responses due during the
1st quarter of each calendar year.
Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 100
Federal OCS oil and gas or sulphur lessees.
Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: We
estimate the public reporting burden averages 12 hours per response.
This includes the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and
maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the information. The
total annual hour burden is estimated to be 760 hours.
Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost''
Burden: We have identified no ``non-hour cost'' burden associated with
form MMS-131.
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
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 August 16, 2001,
we published a Federal Register notice (66 FR 43023) announcing that
[[Page 59815]]
we would submit this ICR to OMB for approval. The notice provided the
required 60-day comment period. In addition, Sec. 250.199 provides the
OMB control numbers for the information collection requirements imposed
by the 30 CFR part 250 regulations and forms; specifies that the public
may comment at any time on these collections of information; and
provides the address to which they should send comments. This
information is also contained in the PRA statement on form MMS-131. We
have received no comments in response to these efforts.
If you wish to comment in response to this notice, send your
comments directly to the offices listed under the ADDRESSES section of
this notice. The 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 public comments by
December 31, 2001.
Public Comment Policy: Our practice is to make comments, including
names and home addresses of respondents, available for public review
during regular business hours. 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 comment. 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,
(202) 208-7744.
Dated: November 1, 2001.
E.P. Danenberger,
Chief, Engineering and Operations Division.
[FR Doc. 01-29795 Filed 11-29-01; 8:45 am]
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