federal register - U.S. Government Printing Office

Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 28 / Tuesday, February 11, 1997 / Proposed Rules6155(C) You must refer only to data thatare available to MMS.(ii) Details about your project such as:(A) A list and description of new orunusual technologies;(B) The location of travel routes forsupplies and personnel;(C) The kinds and approximate levelsof energy sources;(D) The environmental monitoringsystems; and(E) Suitable maps and diagramsshowing details of the proposed projectlayout.(iii) A description of the existingenvironment. For this section, you mustinclude the following information onthe area:(A) Geology;(B) Physical oceanography;(C) Other uses of the area;(D) Flora and fauna;(E) Existing environmental monitoringsystems; and(F) Other unusual or uniquecharacteristics that may affect or beaffected by the drilling activities.(iv) A description of the probableimpacts of the proposed action on theenvironment and the measures youpropose for mitigating these impacts.(v) A description of any unavoidableor irreversible adverse effects on theenvironment that could occur.(vi) Other relevant data that theRegional Director requires.(3) Copies for coastal States. Youmust submit copies of the drilling planand environmental report to theRegional Director for transmittal to theGovernor of each affected coastal Stateand the coastal zone managementagency of each affected coastal State thathas an approved program under theCoastal Zone Management Act. (TheRegional Director will make the drillingplan and environmental report availableto appropriate Federal agencies and thepublic according to DOI policies andprocedures.)(4) State concurrence. When requiredunder an approved coastal zonemanagement program of an affectedState, your proposed activities mustreceive State concurrence before theRegional Director can approve theactivities.(5) Protecting archaeologicalresources. The Regional Director mayrequire you to conduct and submitstudies that determine whether anyarchaeological resources exist in thearea that the drilling may affect.(i) You must include a description ofany archaeological resources you detect.(ii) You must not take any action thatcould disturb the archaeologicalresources.(iii) If you discover any archaeologicalresource after you submit the studyresults (i.e., during site preparation ordrilling), you must immediately haltoperations within the area of discovery,and you must report the discovery to theRegional Director.(iv) If investigations determine thatthe resource is significant, the RegionalDirector will inform you how to protectit. You must make every reasonableeffort to protect the archaeologicalresource from damage until the RegionalDirector has given you further directionsfor preserving it.(6) Application for permit to drill(APD). Before commencing deepstratigraphic test drilling activitiesunder an approved drilling plan, youmust submit an APD and receiveapproval. You must comply with allregulations relating to drillingoperations in 30 CFR part 250.(7) Revising an approved drillingplan. Before you revise an approveddrilling plan, you must obtain theRegional Director’s approval.(8) After drilling. When you completethe test activities, you mustpermanently plug and abandon theborehole of all deep stratigraphic testsin compliance with 30 CFR part 250. Ifthe tract on which you conducted adeep stratigraphic test is leased toanother party for exploration anddevelopment, and if the lessee has notdisturbed the borehole, MMS will holdyou and not the lessee responsible forproblems associated with the test hole.(9) Deadline for completing a deepstratigraphic test. If your deepstratigraphic test well is within 50geographic miles of a tract that MMShas identified for a future lease sale, aslisted on the currently approved OCSleasing schedule, you must complete alldrilling activities and submit the dataand information to the Regional Directorat least 60 days before the first day ofthe month in which MMS schedules thelease sale. However, the RegionalDirector may extend your permitduration to allow you to completedrilling activities and submit data andinformation if the extension is in thenational interest.(c) Group participation in test drilling.MMS encourages group participation fordeep stratigraphic tests.(1) Purpose of group participation.The purpose is to minimize duplicativeG&G activities involving drilling intothe seabed of the OCS.(2) Providing opportunity forparticipation in a deep stratigraphictest. When you propose to drill a deepstratigraphic test, you must give allinterested persons an opportunity toparticipate in the test drilling through asigned agreement on a cost-sharingbasis. You may include a penalty forlate participation of not more than 100percent of the cost to each originalparticipant in addition to the originalshare cost.(i) The participants must assess anddistribute penalties in accordance withthe terms of the agreement.(ii) For a significant hydrocarbonoccurrence that the Regional Directorannounces to the public, the penalty forsubsequent late participants may beraised to not more than 300 percent ofthe cost of each original participant inaddition to the original share cost.(3) Providing opportunity forparticipation in a shallow test drillingproject. When you apply to conductshallow test drilling activities, youmust, if ordered by the RegionalDirector or required by the permit, giveall interested persons an opportunity toparticipate in the test activity on a costsharingbasis. You may include apenalty provision for late participationof not more than 50 percent of the costto each original participant in additionto the original share cost.(4) Procedures for group participationin drilling activities. You must:(i) Publish a summary statement thatdescribes the approved activity in arelevant trade publication;(ii) Forward a copy of the publishedstatement to the Regional Director;(iii) Allow at least 30 days from thesummary statement publication date forother persons to join as originalparticipants;(iv) Compute the estimated cost bydividing the estimated total cost of theprogram by the number of originalparticipants; and(v) Furnish the Regional Director witha complete list of all participants beforestarting operations or at the end of theadvertising period if you beginoperations before the advertising periodis over. Forward the names of all lateparticipants to the Regional Director.(5) Changes to the original applicationfor test drilling. If you propose changesto the original application and theRegional Director determines that thechanges are significant, the RegionalDirector will require you to publish thechanges for an additional 30 days togive other persons a chance to join asoriginal participants.(d) Bonding requirements. You mustsubmit a bond under this part beforeyou may start a deep stratigraphic test.You must submit a bond for shallowdrilling if the Regional Director sorequires.(1) Before MMS authorizes thedrilling of a deep stratigraphic test, youmust furnish to MMS:(i) A corporate surety bond in theamount specified at 30 CFR 256.61(a)(1)