Published 60-Day Notice

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[L19900000.PO0000.LLHQ320.23X; OMB
Control No. 1004–0114]

Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget for Review
and Approval; Recordation of Location
Notices and Mining Claims; Payment
of Fees
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection;
request for comment.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA), the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) proposes to renew an information
collection.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to
submit comments on or before February
21, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and
recommendations for this information
collection request (ICR) should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/
PRAMain. Find this particular
information collection by selecting
‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open
for Public Comments’’ or by using the
search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To
request additional information about
this Information Collection Request
(ICR), contact Sabry Hanna by email at
shanna@blm.gov, or by telephone at
(571) 458–6644. Individuals in the
United States who are deaf, deafblind,
hard of hearing, or have a speech
disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or
TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services.
Individuals outside the United States
should use the relay services offered
within their country to make
international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. You may
also view the ICR at http://
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with the PRA (44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), we
invite the public and other Federal
agencies to comment on new, proposed,
revised and continuing collections of
information. This helps the BLM assess
impacts of its information collection
requirements and minimize the public’s
reporting burden. It also helps the
public understand BLM information
collection requirements and ensure
requested data are provided in the
desired format.

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SUMMARY:

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A Federal Register notice with a 60day public comment period soliciting
comments on this collection of
information was published on October
27, 2022, 2022 (87 FR 65099). No
comments were received.
As part of our continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we are again inviting the
public and other Federal agencies to
comment on the proposed ICR described
below. The BLM is especially interested
in public comment addressing the
following:
(1) Whether the collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility.
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the
burden for this collection of
information, including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used.
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) How might the agency minimize
the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to
respond, including the use of
appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of response.
Comments submitted in response to
this notice are a matter of public record.
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.
Abstract: The information that is
collected under this control number
enables the BLM to maintain records of
mining claims and sites on Federal
lands and enables the BLM to determine
which mining claims and sites
claimants wish to continue to hold such
claims and sites. The BLM collects
information under this control number
in accordance with The General Mining
Law, as amended, the Stock Raising
Homestead Act and other statutes. This
OMB Control Number is currently
scheduled to expire on April 30, 2023.
The BLM request that OMB renew this
OMB Control Number for an additional
three years.
Title of Collection: Recordation of
Location Notices and Mining Claims;
Payment of Fees (43 CFR 3832–3838).

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OMB Control Number: 1004–0114.
Form Numbers: 3830–2, Maintenance
Fee Waiver Certification; 3830–3, Notice
of Intent to Locate a Lode or Placer
Mining Claim(s) and/or a Tunnel Site(s)
on Lands Patented under the Stock
Raising Homestead Act of 1916, As
Amended by the Act of April 16, 1993;
and 3830–4, Affidavit of Annual
Assessment Work.
Type of Review: Extension of a
currently approved collection.
Respondents/Affected Public: Mining
claimants.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Respondents: 195,582.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Responses: 195,582.
Estimated Completion Time per
Response: Varies from 30 to 60 minutes
per response.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Hours: 95,014.
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
obtain or retain a benefit.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion,
except Form 3830–2 (which may be
filed annually) and annual FLPMA
documents (are to be filed annually
when required).
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour
Burden Cost: $3,387,355.
An agency may not conduct or
sponsor and, notwithstanding any other
provision of law, a person is not
required to respond to a collection of
information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
The authority for this action is the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Darrin King,
Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023–01006 Filed 1–18–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–84–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Natural Resources Revenue
[Docket No. ONRR–2011–0008; DS63644000
DRT000000.CH7000 234D1113RT; OMB
Control Number 1012–0006]

Agency Information Collection
Activities: Suspensions Pending
Appeal and Bonding
Office of Natural Resources
Revenue, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection;
request for comment.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(‘‘PRA’’), the Office of Natural Resources
Revenue (‘‘ONRR’’) is proposing to
revise a currently approved information
collection to expand its scope to include

SUMMARY:

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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 12 / Thursday, January 19, 2023 / Notices
the mineral estate underlying Osage
County, Oklahoma (‘‘Osage Mineral
Estate’’). Through this revision, ONRR
seeks authority to collect information
related to the paperwork requirements
under the Bureau of Indian Affairs’
(‘‘BIA’’) proposed regulations to post a
surety or bond, or demonstrate financial
solvency. ONRR uses forms ONRR–
4435, ONRR–4436, and ONRR–4437 as
part of these information collection
requirements.
DATES: Submit written comments on or
before March 20, 2023.
ADDRESSES: All comment submissions
must (1) reference ‘‘OMB Control
Number 1012–0006’’ in the subject line;
(2) be sent to ONRR before the close of
the comment period listed under DATES;
and (3) be sent using the following
method:
Electronically via the Federal
eRulemaking Portal: Please visit https://
www.regulations.gov. In the Search Box,
enter the Docket ID Number for this ICR
renewal (‘‘ONRR–2011–0008’’) and click
‘‘search’’ to view the publications
associated with the docket folder.
Locate the document with an open
comment period and click the
‘‘Comment Now!’’ button. Follow the
prompts to submit your comment prior
to the close of the comment period.
Docket: To access the docket folder to
view the ICR Federal Register
publications, go to https://
www.regulations.gov and search
‘‘ONRR–2011–0008’’ to view renewal
notices recently published in the
Federal Register, publications
associated with prior renewals, and
applicable public comments received
for this ICR. ONRR will make the
comments submitted in response to this
notice available for public viewing at
https://www.regulations.gov.
OMB ICR Data: OMB also maintains
information on ICR renewals and
approvals. You may access this
information at https://www.reginfo.gov/
public/do/PRASearch. Please use the
following instructions: Under the ‘‘OMB
Control Number’’ heading enter ‘‘1012–
0006’’ and click the ‘‘Search’’ button
located at the bottom of the page. To
view the ICR renewal or OMB approval
status, click on the latest entry (based on
the most recent date). On the ‘‘View
ICR—OIRA Conclusion’’ page, check the
box next to ‘‘All’’ to display all available
ICR information provided by OMB.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To
request additional information about
this ICR, please contact Kimberly
Werner, Financial Services, ONRR, by
telephone at (303) 231–3801 or email to
Kimberly.Werner@onrr.gov. Individuals
in the United States who are deaf,

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deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a
speech disability may dial 711 (TTY,
TDD, or TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services.
Individuals outside the United States
should use the relay services offered
within their country to make
international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant
to the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq., and
5 CFR 1320.5, all information
collections, as defined in 5 CFR 1320.3,
require approval by OMB. ONRR may
not conduct or sponsor, and you are not
required to respond to, a collection of
information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
As part of ONRR’s continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, ONRR is inviting the public
and other Federal agencies to comment
on new, proposed, revised, and
continuing collections of information in
accordance with the PRA and 5 CFR
1320.8(d)(1). This helps ONRR to assess
the impact of its information collection
requirements and minimize the public’s
reporting burden. It also helps the
public understand ONRR’s information
collection requirements and provide the
requested data in the desired format.
ONRR is especially interested in
public comments addressing the
following:
(1) Whether the collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of ONRR’s estimate
of the burden for this collection of
information, including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) How might the agency minimize
the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to
respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of response.
Comments that you submit in
response to this notice are a matter of
public record. ONRR will include or
summarize each comment in its request
to OMB to approve this ICR. 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.

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3431

While you can ask ONRR in your
comment to withhold your personal
identifying information from public
review, ONRR cannot guarantee that it
will be able to do so.
Abstract: (a) General Information: The
Federal Oil and Gas Royalty
Management Act of 1982 (‘‘FOGRMA’’)
directs the Secretary of the Interior
(‘‘Secretary’’) to ‘‘establish a
comprehensive inspection, collection
and fiscal and production accounting
and auditing system to provide the
capability to accurately determine oil
and gas royalties, interest, fines,
penalties, fees, deposits, and other
payments owed, and to collect and
account for such amounts in a timely
manner.’’ 30 U.S.C. 1711. ONRR
performs these and other mineral
revenue management responsibilities for
the Secretary. See U.S. Department of
the Interior Departmental Manual, 112
DM 34.1 (Sept. 9, 2020). FOGRMA and
ONRR’s regulations at 30 CFR Chapter
XII do not apply to the Osage Mineral
Estate.
The Osage Mineral Estate is held in
trust by the United States for the benefit
of the Osage Nation. See Osage
Allotment Act of June 28, 1906, Public
Law 59–321, § 3, 34 Stat. 539, as
amended. BIA’s regulations at 25 CFR
part 226 contain requirements specific
to the Osage Mineral Estate, and,
historically, BIA has performed
compliance activities related to those
requirements. In conjunction with this
ICR, BIA has published a proposed rule
in the Federal Register on January 13,
2023 (88 FR 2430) that would require a
lessee of the Osage Mineral Estate to
submit to ONRR certain forms already
authorized in this ICR for Federal and
non-Osage Indian lands. Accordingly,
this ICR revision adds information
collections specific to oil and gas
royalty and production reporting for the
Osage Mineral Estate.
For Federal lands only, Section 4(l),
‘‘Stay of Payment Obligation Pending
Review,’’ of the Federal Oil and Gas
Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act
of 1996 (‘‘RSFA’’) requires ONRR to
evaluate any person, ordered by the
Secretary or a delegated State to pay any
obligation (other than an assessment)
subject to RSFA, to determine whether
that person is entitled to a stay of the
order without bond or other surety
instrument, pending an administrative
or judicial proceeding, based on the
financial solvency of that person.
Regulations under 30 CFR part 1243
and proposed regulations under 25 CFR
part 226, subpart O, govern the
suspension of orders or decisions
pending administrative appeal for
Federal and Indian leases. For Federal

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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 12 / Thursday, January 19, 2023 / Notices

leases, these regulations allow an
appellant to submit information
demonstrating financial solvency in lieu
of providing a surety. For appellants
who are not financially solvent or for
appeals involving Indian leases, ONRR
requires appellants to post a surety
instrument to secure the financial
interest of the public and Indian lessors
during the entire administrative or
judicial appeal process.
BIA has published a proposed rule in
the Federal Register on January 13,
2023 (88 FR 2430) that would require
lessees of the Osage Mineral Estate to
submit the forms authorized by this ICR
to ONRR. Accordingly, this ICR revision
adds information collections specific to
posting an ONRR-specified surety
instrument under 30 CFR part 1243
subpart B within the time period that
ONRR prescribes to secure the financial
interest of the Osage Mineral Estate.
This ICR remains unchanged in its
application and effect as to all leases
previously subject to the information
collections described below, which
includes all Federal leases onshore and
offshore and all Indian leases held in
trust by the United States, except for the
Osage Mineral Estate.
If ONRR determines that a lessee did
not properly report, pay, or both, it may
issue orders, notices of noncompliance,
and civil penalty notices to compel
corrective reporting, payment, or both.
Lessees have a right to appeal ONRR’s
determinations.
(b) Information Collections:
Regulations under 30 CFR part 1243 and
proposed regulations under 25 CFR part
226, subpart O, govern the submission
of appropriate surety instruments to
suspend compliance with an order or
decision, 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 under 30 CFR
part 1243, an appellant requesting a
suspension without providing a surety
must submit information to demonstrate
financial solvency. This ICR covers the
burden hours associated with
submitting financial statements and
surety instruments required to stay an
ONRR order, decision, or accrual of civil
penalties as follows:
(1) Stay of Payment Pending Appeal:
Title 30 CFR 1243.1 states that lessees
or recipients of ONRR orders may
suspend compliance with an order if
they appeal under 30 CFR part 1290.
Pending appeal, ONRR may suspend the
payment requirement if the appellant
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in the case of default, such as a bond or
other surety. For Federal oil and gas
leases, the appellant may alternatively
demonstrate financial solvency. If the
Office of Hearings and Appeals grants a
recipient of a notice of noncompliance
or civil penalty notice’s request to stay
the accrual of civil penalties under 30
CFR 1241.55(b)(2) and 1241.63(b)(2),
recipient must post a bond or other
surety. For Federal oil and gas leases,
the appellant may alternatively
demonstrate financial solvency.
ONRR accepts the following surety
types:
(i) Form ONRR–4435, Administrative
Appeal Bond;
(ii) Form ONRR–4436, Letter of Credit;
(iii) Form ONRR–4437, Assignment of
Certificate of Deposit;
(iv) Self-bonding (Federal leases only);
and
(v) U.S. Treasury Securities.
When an appellant selects one of the
surety types and puts it in place, the
appellant must maintain the surety until
the appeal’s resolution. If the appeal is
decided in favor of the appellant, ONRR
will return the surety to the appellant.
If the appeal is decided in favor of
ONRR, then ONRR will take action to
collect the total amount due or draw
down on the surety. ONRR will draw
down on a surety if the appellant fails
to comply with requirements relating to
the amount due, timeframe, or surety
submission or resubmission. Whenever
ONRR draws down on a surety, it
reduces the total amount due, which is
defined as the unpaid principal plus the
interest accrued to the projected receipt
date of the surety payment. Appellants
may refer to the Surety Instrument
Posting Instructions, available on our
website at http://www.onrr.gov/
compliance/appeals.htm.
(2) Forms and Other Surety Types:
A. Form ONRR–4435, Administrative
Appeal Bond: An appellant 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 processes. Under 30 CFR 1243.4
and proposed regulations at 25 CFR
226.179, an appellant is required to
submit its contact and surety amount
information on the bond to obtain the
benefit of suspension of an obligation to
comply with an order. The bond must
be issued by a qualified surety company
that the U.S. Department of the Treasury
approves (see Department of the
Treasury Circular No. 570, revised
periodically in the Federal Register).
ONRR’s Director, or the delegated bondapproving officer, maintains the bonds
in a secure facility. After an appeal’s

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conclusion, 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. ONRR will also
include all interest accrued on the
affected receivable.
B. Form ONRR–4436, Letter of Credit:
An appellant may choose to file form
ONRR–4436, Letter of Credit, with no
modifications. Requirements under 30
CFR 1243.4 and proposed regulations at
25 CFR 226.179 continue to apply.
ONRR’s Director, or the delegated bondapproving officer, maintains the Letter
of Credit (‘‘LOC’’) in a secure facility.
The appellant is responsible for
verifying that the bank provides a
current Fitch rating to ONRR. After the
appeal’s resolution, ONRR may release
and return the LOC to the appellant or
collect payment on the LOC. If
collection is necessary for a remaining
balance, ONRR will issue a demand for
payment that includes the principal
amount plus the interest assessed on the
receivable, to the bank with a notice to
the appellant.
C. Form ONRR–4437, Assignment of
Certificate of Deposit: An appellant may
choose to secure a debt by requesting to
use a Certificate of Deposit (‘‘CD’’) from
a bank with the required minimum
rating and submitting form ONRR–4437,
Assignment of Certificate of Deposit.
Requirements under 30 CFR 1243.4 and
proposed regulations at 25 CFR 226.179
continue to apply. The appellant must
file the request with ONRR prior to the
invoice due date. ONRR will accept a
book-entry CD that explicitly assigns the
CD to ONRR’s Director. If collection of
the CD is necessary for an unpaid
balance, ONRR will return unused CD
funds to the appellant after total
settlement of the appealed issues,
including applicable interest charges.
D. Self-Bonding (Federal leases only,
not applicable to Indian or the Osage
Mineral Estate leases): For Federal oil
and gas leases, regulations under 30
CFR 1243.201 provide that no surety
instrument is required when a person
representing the appellant periodically
demonstrates, to the satisfaction of
ONRR, that the guarantor or appellant is
financially solvent or otherwise able to
pay the obligation. The appellant 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,
ONRR also requires copies of the most

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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 12 / Thursday, January 19, 2023 / Notices
recent tax returns (up to three years)
filed by the appellant.
In addition, an appellant must
annually submit financial statements,
subject to audit, to support its net
worth. ONRR uses the consolidated
balance sheet or business information
supplied to evaluate the financial
solvency of a lessee, designee, or payor
seeking a stay of payment obligation
pending review. If the appellant does
not have a consolidated balance sheet
documenting its net worth, or if it does
not meet the $300 million net worth
requirement, ONRR will select a
business information or credit reporting
service to provide information
concerning the appellant’s financial
solvency. ONRR charges the appellant a
$50 fee each time it reviews data from
a business information or credit
reporting service. The fee covers
ONRR’s cost to determine an appellant’s
financial solvency.
E. U.S. Treasury Securities: An
appellant may choose to secure its debts
by requesting to use a U.S. Treasury
Security (‘‘TS’’). The appellant must file
the letter of request with ONRR prior to
the invoice due date. The TS must be a
U.S. Treasury note or bond with
maturity equal to or greater than one
year. The TS must equal 120 percent of
the appealed amount plus 1 year of
estimated interest (necessary to protect
ONRR against interest rate fluctuations).
ONRR only accepts book-entry TS.
Title of Collections: Suspensions
Pending Appeal and Bonding.
OMB Control Number: 1012–0006.
Form Numbers: ONRR–4435, ONRR–
4436, and ONRR–4437.
Type of Review: Revision to a
currently approved collection.
Respondents/Affected Public:
Businesses.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Respondents: 107 appellants.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Responses: 107.
Estimated Completion Time per
Response: The time per response is 120
mins. The average completion time is
calculated by first multiplying the
estimated annual burden hours (214
burden hours) by 60 to obtain the total
annual burden minutes. Then the total
annual burden minutes (12,840) is
divided by the estimated annual
responses (107).
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Burden Hours: 214 hours.
Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory.
Frequency of Collection: Annually
and on occasion.
Total Estimated Annual Non-Hour
Burden Cost: ONRR identified no ‘‘nonhour cost’’ burden associated with this
collection of information.

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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 5 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 × $50 = $250).
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.
The authority for this action is the
PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.).
Howard Cantor,
Acting Director, Office of Natural Resources
Revenue.
[FR Doc. 2023–01009 Filed 1–18–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4335–30–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[Docket No. BOEM–2023–0008]

Modifications to the Bid Adequacy
Procedures for Offshore Oil and Gas
Lease Sales
Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notification of procedural
changes; request for comments.
AGENCY:

The Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management (BOEM) announces and
invites comments on its intention to
change its bid adequacy procedures
(BAPs), which ensure the United States
receives fair market value (FMV) from
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and
gas lease sales. BOEM proposes to
discontinue the use of both tract
classification and delayed valuation
methodology. Instead, BOEM proposes
to use a statistical lower bound
confidence interval (LBCI), at the 90
percent confidence level, as a measure
of bid adequacy. BOEM is also
proposing other, minor adjustments to
its BAPs to clarify and streamline its
processes.
DATES: BOEM must receive your
comments by March 6, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by either of the following methods:
• Regulations.gov web portal:
Navigate to http://www.regulations.gov
and under the ‘‘Search’’ tab, in the space
provided, type in Docket ID: BOEM–
2023–0008. Select the document that
you would like to comment on and click
on the ‘‘Comment’’ button to submit
SUMMARY:

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3433

your comments. You may also view
other comments already posted to the
docket.
• In written form by mail or other
delivery services: Send comments in an
envelope labeled ‘‘Comments for the
proposed revised BAP’’ and addressed
to Mr. Matt Frye, Chief, Resource
Evaluation Division, Office of Strategic
Resources, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, 45600 Woodland Road,
Sterling, VA 20166–9216.
• For additional information on
sending comments, see the ‘‘Public
Participation and Availability of
Comments’’ heading under the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this notice.
The proposed, revised procedures are
available for review at: https://
www.boem.gov/oil-gas-energy/energyeconomics/lease-sales-and-fair-marketvalue. A copy of BOEM’s current BAP
entitled ‘‘Summary of Procedures for
Determining Bid Adequacy at Offshore
Oil and Gas Lease Sales, Effective March
2016 with Central Gulf of Mexico Sale
241 and Eastern Gulf of Mexico Sale
226’’ is available on BOEM’s website at:
https://www.boem.gov/sites/default/
files/oil-and-gas-energy-program/
Energy-Economics/Fair-Market-Value/
Summary-of-Procedures-ForDetermining-Bid-Adequacy.pdf.
Mr.
Matt Frye, Chief, Resource Evaluation
Division, Office of Strategic Resources,
at (703) 787–1514 or email at matt.frye@
boem.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Summary of Changes
In administering the offshore oil and
gas leasing program under the OCS
Lands Act, the Secretary of the Interior
is required to ensure that the Federal
Government receives FMV for the lease
rights granted and the rights conveyed.
To carry out this responsibility since
1983, BOEM (and its predecessor
agency) has used a two-phase, post-sale
bid evaluation process to assess the
adequacy of bids received in Federal
offshore oil and gas lease sales. Under
its BAP, BOEM reviews all high bids
and evaluates all tracts to ensure that
FMV is received for each OCS lease
issued. The BAP relies on both evidence
of market competition and in-house
estimates of tract value.
Currently, in phase 1 of the BAP,
BOEM reviews all bids for legal
sufficiency and anomalies to establish
the set of bids to be evaluated for each
tract. All tracts receiving legal bids are

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19JAN1