(10) Description of any potential conflicts with other uses or users in the permit area. (b) If the penetration of one or more proposed drill holes will exceed 300 feet, the Director may require a drilling plan to be included as part of the plan before a permit is issued. (c) If all needed information is not available at the time the plan is submitted, a plan shall indicate when the needed information will be obtained and submitted. In such a case, depending on the significance of the missing information, the Director may disapprove the plan, approve the plan based on the information submitted, or approve the plan with a specific condition that certain specified activities are not authorized and shall not be conducted until additional information is obtained and submitted for evaluation, and the Director gives specific approval to proceed with those activities. § 280.7 Obligations of persons. (a) Activities authorized under a prospecting or scientific research permit issued under this part or research authorized pursuant to the provisions of § 280.5(c) of this part shall be conducted so as not to create conditions which will pose an unreasonable risk of (1) Interference with, or endangerment of, operations under any lease or permit issued or maintained pursuant to the Act; (2) Serious, irreparable, or immediate harm or damage to life (including fish and other aquatic life) or to the marine, coastal, or human environment; (3) Serious, irreparable, or immediate harm or damage to property or to any mineral (in areas leased or not leased); (c) The permittee shall notify and obtain the prior approval of the Director before a substantial change from the approved plan is initiated. § 280.8 Reporting. (a) The permittee shall submit a status report to the Director within 30 days of the close of each calendar quarter or more frequently if requested by the Director. The report shall include a summary of the prospecting or scientific research activities conducted prior to the end of the reporting period and the results obtained. The last quarterly report may be combined with the final report if the final report is submitted within 30 days after the end of the last quarter in which permitted activity occurs. Each permittee shall submit to the Director a final report of activities conducted under the permit within 6 months after expiration of the permit or after the completion of prospecting or scientific research activities, or 60 days prior to a planned lease offering when prospecting or scientific research activities are within the planned leasing area, whichever is sooner, provided that no report shall be required less than 30 days after completion of permitted activities. The report shall include (1) A description of the work performed; (2) Charts, maps, or plats depicting the area and blocks in which any activities were conducted specifically, identifying the lines of geophysical traverses and/or the locations where geological activity was conducted; (3) The dates on which the actual activities were performed; (4) A narrative summary of any mineral occurrences encountered including location, environmental features, and the nature and degree of adverse effects, if any, of the permitted activities on the environment, aquatic life, archaeological resources, or other uses of the area in which the activities were conducted; (5) A report of the results of the environmental monitoring required in § 280.6(a)(8) of this part; and (6) Such other descriptions of the activities conducted as may be specified by the Director. (b) All persons shall immediately notify the Director of all serious accidents, any death or serious injury, or fire or explosion connected with any activity conducted pursuant to this part. § 280.9 Recordkeeping. (a) Any permittee who acquires rock and mineral samples under a permit shall keep for 1 year after submittal of the final report a representative split of each geological sample and a quarter longitudinal segment of each core which shall be available for inspection at the convenience of the Director who may cut such core and geological samples for retention by MMS. (b) Any permittee who acquires G&G data and information under a permit shall keep the data and information available for 3 years after submittal of the final report. The data and information shall be available for inspection and copying at a location within the appropriate OCS Region or at another location approved by the Director. The records shall include environmental data and information; G&G data and information; drill logs; analyses of cores, cuttings, and samples; and maps and navigation tapes showing the location where samples were taken and test drilling conducted. § 280.10 Environmental effects. The potential of proposed prospecting or scientific research activities for adverse impact on the environment will be evaluated by MMS to determine the need for mitigation measures. The MMS anticipates that activities of the type listed below typically will not cause significant environmental impact and, in accordance with 516 DM 6, Appendix 10 to the Departmental Manual, will normally be categorically excluded from additional environmental analysis. The types of activities include (a) Gravity and magnetometric observations and measurements; (b) Bottom and subbottom acoustic profiling or imaging without the use of explosives; (c) Mineral sampling of a limited nature such as that using either test drillholes or cores to less than 300 feet below the seafloor; (d) Water and biotic sampling, if the sampling does not adversely affect shellfish beds, marine mammals, or an endangered species or if permitted by the National Marine Fisheries Service or another Federal Agency; (e) Meteorological observations and measurements, including the setting of instruments; (f) Hydrographic and oceanographic observations and measurements, including the setting of instruments; (g) Sampling by box core or grab sampler to determine seabed geological or geotechnical properties; (h) Television and still photographic observation and measurements; (i) Shipboard mineral assaying and analysis; and (j) Placement of positioning systems, including bottom transponders and surface and subsurface buoys reported in Notices to Mariners. (a) The Governor(s) of adjacent State(s) shall be notified by the Director with a copy of the application for a permit with the accompanying plan immediately upon the submission of an application for approval. (b) In cases where an environmental assessment is to be prepared, the Director will invite the Governor(s) of adjacent States(s) to review and provide comments regarding the proposed activities. The Director's invitation to provide comments shall allow the Governor a specified period of time to comment. (c) The Director shall notify Federal Agencies, as appropriate, with a copy of the application for a permit with the accompanying plan immediately upon the submission of the application for approval. § 280.12 Disclosure of information to the public. (a) The Director shall make data, information, and samples available in accordance with the requirements and subject to the limitations of the Act, the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), and the implementing regulations. (b) For geological data, information, and samples and geophysical information submitted under a permit and retained by MMS, the Director shall make such data, information, and samples available to the public 25 years after the date of submission of the data and information or such earlier time as may be agreed to by the permittee who provides the data or information. Geophysical data submitted under a permit and retained by MMS shall be made available to the public by the Director 50 years after the date of submission to MMS unless an earlier date is agreed to by the permittee who submits the data. (c) The Director reserves the right to disclose any data, information, or samples submitted by a permittee to an independent contractor or agent for the purpose of reproducing, processing, reprocessing, or interpreting the data or information. Such contractor or agent shall be subject to the same limitations on disclosure of data, information, and samples as those applicable to the Director under paragraph (b) of this section. § 280.13 Disclosure of data and information to the adjacent States. (a) Proprietary data, information, and samples submitted to MMS by permittees shall be made available to adjacent State(s) upon request by the Governor(s) in accordance with paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section. (b) Disclosure shall occur only after the Governor has entered into an agreement with the Secretary providing that (1) The confidentiality of the information shall be maintained; (2) In any action commenced against the Federal Government or the State for the failure to protect the confidentiality of proprietary information, the Federal Government or the State, as the case may be, may not raise as a defense any claim of sovereign immunity or any claim that the employee who revealed the proprietary information, which is the basis of the suit, was acting outside the scope of the person's employment in revealing the information; (3) The State agrees to hold the United States harmless for any violation by the State or its employees or contractors of the agreement to protect the confidentiality of proprietary data and information and samples; and (4) The materials containing the proprietary data, information, and samples shall remain the property of the United States. (c) The data, information, and samples available to the State(s) pursuant to an agreement shall be related to leased lands. (d) The materials containing the proprietary data, information, and samples shall be returned to MMS when they are no longer needed by the State or when requested by the Director. § 280.14 Suspension or temporary prohibition of activities. The Director may suspend or temporarily prohibit the conduct of G&G prospecting or scientific research activities by notifying the person conducting the activity, either orally or in writing, when the Director determines that there is a threat of serious, irreparable, or immediate harm or damage to life (including fish and other aquatic life), property, any mineral (in areas leased or not leased), the national security or defense, or the marine, coastal, or human environment; or there is a failure to comply with a provision of the Act or of any applicable law, the provisions of the permit, or provisions of these and other applicable regulations. Such suspension or temporary prohibition shall be effective immediately upon receipt of the notice. Suspensions or temporary prohibitions issued orally shall be followed by a written notice confirming the action, and all written notices will be sent by certified or registered mail. A suspension or temporary prohibition shall remain in effect until the basis for the suspension or temporary prohibition has been corrected to the satisfaction of the Director. § 280.15 Cancellation or relinquishment. The Director may cancel or a permittee may relinquish, in whole or in § 281.1 Purpose and applicability. The purpose of these regulations is to establish procedures under which the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) will exercise the authority granted to administer a leasing program for minerals other than oil, gas, and sulphur in the OCS. The rules in this part apply exclusively to leasing activities for minerals other than oil, gas, and sulphur in the OCS pursuant to the Act. § 281.2 Authority. The Act authorizes the Secretary to grant leases for any mineral other than oil, gas, and sulphur in any area of the OCS to the qualified persons offering the highest cash bonuses on the basis of competitive bidding upon such royalty, rental, and other terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe at the time of offering the area for lease (43 U.S.C. 1337(k)). The Secretary is to administer the leasing provisions of the Act and prescribe the rules and regulations necessary to carry out those provisions (43 U.S.C. 1334(a)). § 281.3 Definitions. When used in this part, the following terms shall have the meaning given below: Act means the OCS Lands Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.). Adjacent State means with respect to any activity proposed, conducted, or approved under this part, any coastal State (1) That is, or is proposed to be, receiving for processing, refining, or transshipping OCS mineral resources commercially recovered from the seabed; (2) That is used, or is scheduled to be used, as a support base for prospecting, exploration, testing, and mining activities; or (3) In which there is a reasonable probability of significant effect on land or water uses from such activity. Director means the Director of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the U.S. Department of the Interior or an official authorized to act on the Director's behalf. Governor means the Governor of a State or the person or entity designat ed by, or pursuant to, State law to exercise the powers granted to such Governor pursuant to the Act. Lease means any form of authorization which is issued under section 8 of the Act and which authorizes exploration for, and development and production of, minerals, or the area covered by that authorization, whichever is required by the context. Lessee means the person authorized by a lease, or an approved assignment thereof, to explore for and develop and produce the leased deposits in accordance with the regulations in this chapter. The term includes all persons holding that authority by or through the lessee. OCS mineral means a mineral deposit or accretion found on or below the surface of the seabed but does not include oil, gas, sulphur; salt or sand and gravel intended for use in association with the development of oil, gas, or sulphur; or source materials essential to production of fissionable materials which are reserved to the United States pursuant to section 12(e) of the Act. Outer Continental Shelf means all submerged lands lying seaward and outside of the area of lands beneath navigable waters as defined in section 2 of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301) and of which the subsoil and seabed appertain to the United States and are subject to its jurisdiction and control. Overriding royalty means a royalty created out of the lessee's interest which is over and above the royalty reserved to the lessor in the original lease. Person means a citizen or national of the United States; an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residency in the United States as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20); a private, public, or municipal corporation organized under the laws of the United States or of any State or territory thereof; an association of such citizens, nationals, resident aliens or private, public, or municipal corporations, States, or political subdivisions of States; or anyone operating in a manner provided for by treaty or other applicable international agreements. The term does not include Federal Agencies. |