Risk Management and Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant Obligations

The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq. and 43 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to prescribe rules and regulations to administer leasing of the OCS. Such rules and regulations apply to all operations conducted under a lease. Operations on the OCS must preserve, protect, and develop oil and natural gas resources in a manner that is consistent with the need to make such resources available to meet the Nation’s energy needs as rapidly as possible; balance orderly energy resource development with protection of 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. Also, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 prohibits certain lease bidding arrangements (42 U.S.C. 6213 (c)). The Independent Offices Appropriations Act (31 U.S.C. 9701), the Omnibus Appropriations Bill (Pub. L. 104-133, 110 Stat. 1321, April 26, 1996), and OMB Circular A-25, authorize Federal agencies to recover the full cost of services that provide special benefits. Under the Department of the Interior's policy implementing this Act, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is required to charge the full cost for services that provide special benefits or privileges to an identifiable non-Federal recipient above and beyond those that accrue to the public at large. Instruments of transfer of a lease or interest are subject to cost recovery, and BOEM regulations specify the filing fee for these transfer applications. These authorities and responsibilities are among those delegated to BOEM under which we issue regulations governing oil and gas and sulphur operations in the OCS. This information collection request addresses the regulations at 30 CFR 556, Leasing of Sulphur or Oil and Gas and Bonding Requirements in the OCS; 30 CFR 550, Subpart J, Pipelines and Pipelines Rights-of-Way; and 30 CFR 560, Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing; and the associated supplementary Notices to Lessees and Operators intended to provide clarification, description, or explanation of these regulations. This ICR also concerns the use of forms to process bonds, transfer interest in leases, and file relinquishments.

The latest form for Risk Management and Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant Obligations expires 2023-01-31 and can be found here.

30 CFR 556 - Subpart I - Forms BOEM-2028 & BOEM-2028A

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Energy - Energy Resource Management

Review document collections for all forms, instructions, and supporting documents - including paper/printable forms.