Oil and Gas Leasing; Royalty on Production, Rental Payments, Minimum Acceptable Bids, Bonding Requirements, and Civil Penalty Assessments

Federal Register, Volume 80 Issue 106 (Wednesday, June 3, 2015)

Federal Register Volume 80, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 3, 2015)

Proposed Rules

Pages 31560-31561

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov

FR Doc No: 2015-13474

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

43 CFR Part 3100

LLWO3100 L13100000.PP0000

RIN 1004-AE41

Oil and Gas Leasing; Royalty on Production, Rental Payments, Minimum Acceptable Bids, Bonding Requirements, and Civil Penalty Assessments

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: On April 21, 2015, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published in the Federal Register an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to solicit public comments and suggestions that may be used to update the BLM's regulations related to royalty rates, annual rental payments, minimum acceptable bids, bonding requirements, and civil penalty assessments for Federal onshore oil and gas leases. In response to requests received for additional time to provide comment, the BLM is announcing by issuance of this notice that the public comment period for the ANPR will be extended 14 days beyond the end of the initial comment period.

DATES: The comment period for the ANPR published April 21, 2015 (80 FR

Page 31561

22148), is extended. Send your comments on this proposed rule to the BLM on or before June 19, 2015. The BLM need not consider, or include in the administrative record for the final rule, comments that the BLM receives after the close of the comment period or comments delivered to an address other than those listed below (see ADDRESSES).

ADDRESSES: Mail: U.S. Department of the Interior, Director (630), Bureau of Land Management, Mail Stop 2134 LM, 1849 C St. NW., Washington, DC 20240, Attention: 1004-AE41. Personal or messenger delivery: Bureau of Land Management, 20 M Street SE., Room 2134 LM, Attention: Regulatory Affairs, Washington, DC 20003. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions at this Web site.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dylan Fuge, Office of the Director, at 202-208-5235, Steven Wells, Division of Fluid Minerals, at 202-912-

7143, or Jully McQuilliams, Division of Fluid Minerals, at 202-912-

7156, for information regarding the substance of this ANPR. For information on procedural matters or the rulemaking process generally, you may contact Anna Atkinson, Regulatory Affairs, at 202-912-7438. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to contact the above individuals.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Comment Procedures

If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any one of several methods: Mail: You may mail comments to U.S. Department of the Interior, Director (630), Bureau of Land Management, Mail Stop 2134LM, 1849 C Street NW., Washington, DC 20240, Attention: 1004-AE41. Personal or messenger delivery: Bureau of Land Management, 20 M Street SE., Room 2134 LM, Attention: Regulatory Affairs, Washington, DC 20003. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions at this Web site.

Please make your comments as specific as possible by confining them to issues directly related to the content of the ANPR, and explain the basis for your comments. The comments and recommendations that will be most useful and likely to influence agency decisions are:

1. Those supported by quantitative information or studies; and

2. Those that include citations to, and analyses of, the applicable laws and regulations.

The BLM is not obligated to consider or include in the Administrative Record for the rule comments received after the close of the comment period (see DATES) or comments delivered to an address other than those listed above (see ADDRESSES).

Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at the address listed under ADDRESSES during regular hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.), Monday through Friday, except holidays.

Before including your address, telephone 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 in your comment to withhold from public review your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Background

The ANPR was published on April 21, 2015 (80 FR 22148), with a 45-

day comment period closing on June 5, 2015. The ANPR poses questions and seeks information related to potential updates and changes to the BLM's existing regulations governing Federal onshore oil and gas leases related to royalty rates, annual rental payments, minimum acceptable bids, bonding requirements, and civil penalty assessments. Following publication of the ANPR, the BLM received requests for extension of the comment period. In response to those requests, the BLM has decided to extend the comment period on the rule for 14 days, until June 19, 2015.

Dated: May 26, 2015.

Janice M. Schneider,

Assistant Secretary, Land and Minerals Management.

FR Doc. 2015-13474 Filed 6-2-15; 8:45 am

BILLING CODE 4310-84-P