Minerals Management Service August 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces the September 18, 2008, meeting of the Royalty Policy Committee (RPC). Agenda items for the meeting of the RPC will include remarks from the Director, MMS, and the Associate Director, Minerals Revenue Management (MRM); a status report on the Department of Interior's implementation of recommendations from the RPC Subcommittee on Royalty Management; and a presentation on the Royalty in Kind (RIK) Fiscal Year 2007 Annual Report. The agenda also includes a briefing on a recent Office of Inspector General Evaluation of the RIK oil sales process; an update on the MRM Compliance Program; status reports on the rulemakings for Indian Oil Valuation and Advanced Royalty for Coal; and updates from the Oil and Gas Valuation, Oil and Gas Royalty Reporting, and RIK Subcommittees. The RPC membership includes representation from states, Indian Tribes, various mineral interests, the public-at-large (with knowledge and interest in royalty issues), and other Federal departments.

To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we are inviting comments on a collection of information that we will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This information collection request (ICR) pertains to valuation of oil and gas produced from Federal onshore and offshore leases. We changed the title of this ICR to meet OMB requirements and to reflect the consolidation of two ICRs relating to Federal oil and gas valuation. The new title of this ICR is ``30 CFR Parts 202, 204, and 206, Federal Oil and Gas Valuation.'' In this extension, we are consolidating the following ICRs, which allows programwide review of Federal oil and gas leases: 1010-0136, previously titled ``30 CFR Part 202Royalties, Subpart CFederal and Indian Oil and Subpart DFederal Gas; and Part 206Product Valuation, Subpart CFederal Oil and Subpart DFederal Gas;'' and 1010-0155, previously titled ``30 CFR Part 204 Alternatives for Marginal Properties, Subpart CAccounting and Auditing Relief.''

Section 18 of the OCS Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) requires the Department of the Interior to solicit information from interested and affected parties during the preparation of a 5-year OCS oil and gas leasing program. The current 5-year program covers the period July 2007 to June 30, 2012. The Department's MMS is soliciting information on whether to begin a new Program for mid-2010 to mid-2015 (approximate dates) to succeed the current one. Section 18 requires completion of a multi-step process of public consultation and analysis before the Secretary of the Interior may approve a new 5-Year Program. The section 18 process includes the following required steps: This initial solicitation of comments; development of a draft proposed program, a proposed program, a proposed final program; and Secretarial approval. If the decision is made to prepare a new 5-Year Program, the MMS will also prepare appropriate NEPA analysis documents. The public will have opportunities to comment on the draft proposed program, the draft EIS or other NEPA documents, and the proposed program. This Notice in particular requests comments on areas that are restricted from leasing by Congressional Moratoria but were removed from Presidential Withdrawal on July 14, 2008.