Agency Information Collection Activities: Submitted for Office of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request
Federal Register, Volume 76 Issue 219 (Monday, November 14, 2011)
Federal Register Volume 76, Number 219 (Monday, November 14, 2011)
Notices
Pages 70486-70489
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office www.gpo.gov
FR Doc No: 2011-29298
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Docket No. ONRR-2011-0008
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submitted for Office of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request
AGENCY: Office of Natural Resources Revenue, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of an extension of a currently approved information collection.
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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) is notifying the public that we have submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) an information collection request (ICR) to renew approval of the paperwork requirements in the regulations under 30 CFR part 1243. This notice also provides the public a second opportunity to comment on the paperwork burden of these regulatory requirements.
DATES: Submit written comments on or before December 14, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments by either FAX (202) 395-5806 or email (OIRA_Docket@omb.eop.gov) directly to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for the Department of the Interior (OMB Control Number 1012-0006).
Please also submit a copy of your comments to ONRR by one of the following methods:
Electronically go to http://www.regulations.gov. In the entry titled ``Enter Keyword or ID,'' enter ONRR-2011-0008, and then click search. Follow the instructions to submit public comments. We will post all comments.
Mail comments to Hyla Hurst, Regulatory Specialist, Office of Natural Resources Revenue, P.O. Box 25165, MS 64000A, Denver, Colorado 80225. Please reference ICR 1012-0006 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 1012-0006 in your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hyla Hurst, telephone (303) 231-3495, or email hyla.hurst@onrr.gov. 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. You may also review the ICR online at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: 30 CFR part 1243--Suspensions Pending Appeal and Bonding--
Office of Natural Resources Revenue.
OMB Control Number: 1012-0006.
Bureau Form Numbers: ONRR-4435, ONRR-4436, and ONRR-4437.
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 is required by various laws to manage mineral resource production from Federal and Indian lands and the OCS, collect the royalties and other mineral revenues due, and distribute the funds collected in accordance with applicable laws. The Secretary also has a trust responsibility to manage Indian lands and seek advice and information from Indian beneficiaries. The ONRR performs the minerals revenue management functions for the Secretary and assists the Secretary in carrying out the Department's trust responsibility for Indian lands. Public laws pertaining to mineral leases on Federal and Indian lands are posted on our Web site at http://www.onrr.gov/Laws_R_D/PublicLawsAMR.htm.
If ONRR determines that a lessee has not properly reported or paid, we may issue an order to pay additional royalties, a Notice of Noncompliance, or a Civil Penalty Notice requiring correct reporting or payment. Lessees then have a right to appeal those ONRR actions.
Regulations at 30 CFR part 1243 govern the submission of appropriate surety instruments to suspend compliance with orders or decisions and to stay the accrual of civil penalties (if the Office of Hearings and Appeals grants a lessee's petition to stay accrual of civil penalties), pending administrative appeal for Federal and Indian leases. For Federal oil and gas leases, under 30 U.S.C. 1724(l) and its implementing regulations in 30 CFR part 1243, appellants who are requesting a suspension without providing a surety may submit information to demonstrate financial solvency. This ICR covers the burden hours associated with submitting financial statements or surety instruments required to stay an ONRR order, decision, or accrual of civil penalties.
Stay of Payment Pending Appeal
Title 30 CFR 1243.1 explains how lessees or recipients of ONRR orders may suspend compliance with an order if they appeal in accordance with 30 CFR part 1290. Pending appeal, ONRR
Page 70487
suspends the payment requirement if the appellant submits a formal agreement of payment in case of default, such as a bond or other surety, or, for Federal oil and gas leases, demonstrates financial solvency. If the Office of Hearings and Appeals grants a lessee's, or other recipient of a Notice of Noncompliance or Civil Penalty Notice, request to stay the accrual of civil penalties under 30 CFR 1241.55(b)(2) and 1241.63(b)(2), the lessee or other recipient must post a bond or other surety, or, for Federal oil and gas leases, demonstrate financial solvency.
The ONRR accepts the following surety types: Form ONRR-4435, Administrative Appeal Bond (formerly Form MMS-4435); Form ONRR-4436, Letter of Credit (formerly Form MMS-4436); Form ONRR-4437, Assignment of Certificate of Deposit (formerly Form MMS-4437); Self-bonding; and U.S. Treasury Securities.
When an appellant selects and puts one of the surety types in place, the appellant must maintain the surety until completion of the appeal. If the appeal is decided in favor of the appellant, ONRR returns the surety to the appellant. If the appeal is decided in favor of ONRR, then we may take action to collect the total amount due or draw down on the surety. We draw down on a surety if the appellant fails to pay or fails to comply with requirements relating to amount due, timeframe, or surety submission or resubmission. Whenever ONRR must draw down on a surety, we must draw down the total amount due, which is defined as unpaid principal plus the interest accrued to the projected receipt date of the surety payment. Appellants may refer to the Surety Instrument Posting Instructions, which are on our Web site at http://www.onrr.gov/FM/Forms/default.htm.
Forms and Other Surety Types
Form ONRR-4435, Administrative Appeal Bond
Appellants may file Form ONRR-4435, Administrative Appeal Bond, which ONRR uses to secure the financial interests of the public and Indian lessors during the entire administrative and judicial appeal process. Under 30 CFR 1243.4, appellants must submit their contact and surety amount information on the bond to obtain the benefit of suspension of an obligation to comply with an order. A surety company that the U.S. Department of the Treasury approves (see Department of the Treasury Circular No. 570, as revised periodically in the Federal Register) must issue the bond. The ONRR Director or the ONRR-delegated bond-approving officer maintains these bonds in a secure facility. After the appeal has concluded, ONRR may release and return the bond to the appellant or collect payment on the bond. If collection is necessary for a remaining balance, ONRR will issue a demand for payment to the surety company with a notice to the appellant. We also will include all interest accrued on the affected bill.
Form ONRR-4436, Letter of Credit
Appellants may choose to file Form ONRR-4436, Letter of Credit (LOC), with no modifications. Requirements at 30 CFR 1243.4 continue to apply. A bank with a minimum Fitch rating of ``C'' must notarize and issue the LOC for appellants for a LOC of less than $1 million; ``B/C'' for a LOC between $1 million and $10 million; or ``B'' for a LOC over $10 million. A Fitch rating is a bank rating provided by Fitch, Inc., and is available at http://www.fitchratings.com. The LOC must have a minimum coverage period of 1 year and be automatically renewable for up to 5 years.
The appellant is responsible for verifying that the bank provides a current Fitch rating to ONRR. If the issuing bank's rating falls below the minimum acceptable level, the appellant must submit a satisfactory replacement surety within 14 days or ONRR will draw down the existing LOC. If the bank issuing the LOC chooses not to renew the existing LOC, it must provide ONRR with a notice of its decision not to renew 30 days prior to expiration of the LOC. After the appeal concludes, ONRR may release and return the LOC to the appellant or collect payment on the LOC. If collection is necessary for a remaining payment balance, ONRR will issue a demand for payment, which includes all interest assessed on the affected bill, to the bank with a notice to the appellant.
Form ONRR-4437, Assignment of Certificate of Deposit
Appellants also may choose to secure a debt using a Certificate of Deposit (CD) from their bank and by submitting Form ONRR-4437, Assignment of Certificate of Deposit. Appellants must file the request with ONRR prior to the invoice due date. We will accept only a book-
entry CD that explicitly assigns the CD to the ONRR Director. The CD must be issued by a bank with the minimum required Fitch rating or be confirmed by a bank with an acceptable rating. The acceptable ratings for a CD are the same as for a LOC discussed above. If collection of the CD is necessary for a payment balance, ONRR will return unused CD funds to the appellant after total settlement of the appealed issues including applicable interest charges.
Self-Bonding
For Federal oil and gas leases, regulations at 30 CFR 1243.201 do not require a surety instrument when an appellant periodically demonstrates, to the satisfaction of ONRR, that the guarantor or appellant is financially solvent or otherwise able to pay the obligation. Appellants must submit a written request to ``self-bond'' every time a new appeal is filed. To evaluate the financial solvency and exemption from requirements of appellants to maintain a surety related to an appeal, ONRR requires appellants to submit a consolidated balance sheet subject to annual audit. In some cases, we also require copies of the most recent tax returns (up to 3 years) filed by appellants.
In addition, appellants must annually submit financial statements subject to annual audit to support a minimum net worth of $300 million. The ONRR uses the consolidated balance sheet or business information supplied to evaluate the financial solvency of a lessee, designee, or payor seeking to demonstrate financial solvency to stay its payment obligation pending appeal. If appellants do not have a consolidated balance sheet documenting their net worth or if they do not meet the $300 million net worth requirement, ONRR selects a business information or credit reporting service to provide information concerning an appellant's financial solvency. We charge the appellant a $50 fee each time we need to review data from a business information or credit reporting service. The fee covers our costs to determine an appellant's financial solvency.
U.S. Treasury Securities
Appellants may choose to secure their debts by requesting to use a U.S. Treasury Security (TS). Appellants must file a letter of request with ONRR prior to the invoice due date. The TS must: (1) Be a U.S. Treasury note or bond with maturity equal to or greater than 1 year; (2) 120 percent of the appealed amount plus 1 year of estimated interest (necessary to protect ONRR against interest rate fluctuations); and (3) be a book-entry TS. Book-entry securities are securities that are recorded in electronic records rather than as paper certificates.
OMB Approval
We are requesting OMB's approval to continue to collect this information. Not collecting this information would limit the Secretary's ability to discharge the
Page 70488
fiduciary duties of the office and also may result in loss of royalty and other payments.
The ONRR protects proprietary information submitted under this collection. We do not collect information of a sensitive nature in this ICR. A response is mandatory in order to suspend compliance with an order pending appeal.
Frequency: Annually and on occasion.
Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 105 Federal or Indian appellants.
Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 210 hours. We have not included in our estimates certain requirements performed in the normal course of business and considered usual and customary. The following table shows the estimated burden hours by CFR section and paragraph:
Respondents' Estimated Annual Burden Hours
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Reporting and recordkeeping Annual burden
Citation 30 CFR part 1243 requirement Hour burden Average number of annual responses hours
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1243.4(a)(1)..................... How do I suspend compliance with an 2 hours.............. 40 (Forms ONRR-4435, ONRR-4436, ONRR- 80
order? 4437; or TS).
(a) If you timely appeal an order, and
if that order or portion of that
order: (1) Requires you to make a
payment, and you want to suspend
compliance with that order, you must
post a bond or other surety
instrument or demonstrate financial
solvency * * *.
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1243.6........................... When must I or another person meet the Burden hours covered under Sec. 1243.4(a)(1).
bonding or financial solvency
requirements under this part?
If you must meet the bonding or
financial solvency requirements under
Sec. 1243.4(a)(1), or if another
person is meeting your bonding or
financial solvency requirements, then
either you or the other person must
post a bond or other surety
instrument or demonstrate financial
solvency within 60 days after you
receive the order or the Notice of
Order.
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1243.7(a)........................ What must a person do when posting a Burden hours covered under Sec. 1243.4(a)(1).
bond or other surety instrument or
demonstrating financial solvency on
behalf of an appellant?
If you assume an appellant's
responsibility to post a bond or
other surety instrument or
demonstrate financial solvency * * *
(a) Must notify ONRR in writing * * *
that you are assuming the appellant's
responsibility * * *.
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1243.8(a)(2) and (b)(2).......... When will ONRR suspend my obligation Burden hours covered under Sec. 1243.4(a)(1).
to comply with an order?
(a) Federal leases. * * * (2) If the
amount under appeal is $10,000 or
more, ONRR will suspend your
obligation to comply with that order
if you:
(i) Submit an ONRR-specified surety
instrument under subpart B of this
part within a time period ONRR
prescribes; or
(ii) Demonstrate financial solvency
under subpart C.
(b) Indian leases. * * * (2) If the
amount under appeal is $1,000 or
more, ONRR will suspend your
obligation to comply with that order
if you submit an ONRR-specified
surety instrument under subpart B of
this part within a time period ONRR
prescribes.
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1243.101(b)...................... How will ONRR determine the amount of Burden hours covered under Sec. 1243.4(a)(1).
my bond or other surety instrument?
* * * (b) If your appeal is not
decided within 1 year from the filing
date, you must increase the surety
amount to cover additional estimated
interest for another 1-year period.
You must continue to do this annually
* * *.
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1243.200(a) and (b).............. How do I demonstrate financial 2 hours.............. 65 (Self-bonding submissions)......... 130
solvency?
(a) To demonstrate financial solvency
under this part, you must submit an
audited consolidated balance sheet,
and, if requested by the ONRR bond-
approving officer, up to 3 years of
tax returns to the ONRR, * * *.
Page 70489
(b) You must submit an audited
consolidated balance sheet annually,
and, if requested, additional annual
tax returns on the date ONRR first
determined that you demonstrated
financial solvency as long as you
have active appeals, or whenever ONRR
requests. * * *
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1243.201(c)(1), (c)(2)(i) and How will ONRR determine if I am Burden hours covered under Sec. Sec. 1243.4(a)(1) and 1243.200(a) and (b).
(c)(2)(ii) and (d)(2). financially solvent?
* * * (c) If your net worth, minus the
amount we would require as surety
under subpart B for all orders you
have appealed is less than $300
million, you must submit * * *:
(1) A written request asking us to
consult a business-information, or
credit-reporting service or program
to determine your financial solvency;
and
(2) A nonrefundable $50 processing
fee:
(i) You must pay the processing fee *
* *;
(ii) You must submit the fee with your
request * * * and then annually on
the date we first determined that you
demonstrated financial solvency, as
long as you are not able to
demonstrate financial solvency * * *
and you have active appeals.
(d)* * * (2) For us to consider you
financially solvent, the business-
information or credit-reporting
service or program must demonstrate
your degree of risk as low to
moderate: * * *
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1243.202(c)...................... When will ONRR monitor my financial Burden hours covered under Sec. 1243.4(a)(1).
solvency?
* * * (c) If our bond-approving
officer determines that you are no
longer financially solvent, you must
post a bond or other ONRR-specified
surety instrument under subpart B.
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Total Burden................. ...................................... ..................... 105................................... 210
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Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-hour'' Cost Burden: There are no additional recordkeeping costs associated with this information collection. However, ONRR estimates five appellants per year will pay a $50 fee to obtain credit data from a business information or credit reporting service, which is a total ``non-hour'' cost burden of $250 per year (5 appellants per year x $50 = $250).
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: Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA requires each agency to ``* * * provide 60-day notice in the Federal Register * * * 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, we published a notice in the Federal Register on May 4, 2011 (76 FR 25367), announcing that we would submit this ICR to OMB for approval. The notice provided the required 60-day comment period. We received no comments in response to the notice.
If you wish to comment in response to this notice, you may send your comments 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 14, 2011.
Public Comment Policy: We post all comments, including names and addresses of respondents, at http://www.regulations.gov. Before including your address, phone number, email 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 view your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Information Collection Clearance Officer: Karen Burke (703) 487-
3896.
Dated: November 7, 2011.
Gregory J. Gould,
Director, Office of Natural Resources Revenue.
FR Doc. 2011-29298 Filed 11-10-11; 8:45 am
BILLING CODE 4310-T2-P
