article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be referred to as the ``Department of the Interior Reform and Savings Act of 1993''. TITLE I--IMPROVE THE FEDERAL HELIUM PROGRAM SEC. 101. AMENDMENTS TO HELIUM ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1960. (a) Section 4 of the Helium Act Amendments of 1960 (74 Stat. 920, 50 U.S.C. 167b) is amended to insert after ``lands acquired, leased, or reserved;'' the following: ``reduce costs and increase operational efficiencies, especially in operations that do not produce revenue; establish and adjust fees charged private industry for storage, transmission, and withdrawal of privately-owned helium from Government storage facilities to compensate fully for all costs incurred;''. (b) Section 6 of the Helium Act Amendments of 1960 (74 Stat. 921, 50 U.S.C. 167d) is amended-- (1) by amending subsection (b) to read: ``(b) The Secretary is authorized to sell helium for Federal, medical, scientific, and commercial uses in such quantities and under such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines. Sales shall be made in quantities and a manner to avoid undue disruption of the usual markets of producers, processors, and consumers of helium and to protect the United States against avoidable loss.''; and (2) by amending subsection (c) to read: ``(c) Sales of helium by the Secretary shall be at prices, as established by the Secretary, that are adequate to cover all costs incurred in carrying out the provisions of this Act. Helium shall be sold at prices comparable to helium sold by private industry. An annual review of price comparability shall be made and adjustments shall be made accordingly.''. SEC. 102. LONG-TERM COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. The Secretary of the Interior shall prepare and develop a long- term, comprehensive plan to (1) cancel the outstanding debt owed to the Treasury by the Department of the Interior related to the Federal helium program; and (2) improve Federal helium program operations over a multi-year period. The plan should analyze various options to accomplish (1) and (2) above, with emphasis on ways to minimize adverse impacts on Federal employment, Federal helium purchasers, and U.S. private sector helium markets. The plan, with the Secretary's preferred options, shall be presented to the President within 4 months of enactment of this Act. The President may adopt the plan, in whole or in part, and is authorized to cancel the out-standing debt upon a finding that such debt cancellation is in the national interest. TITLE II--IMPROVE MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE ROYALTY COLLECTION SEC. 201. IMPROVEMENT OF MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE ROYALTY COLLECTION. (a) The Secretary of the Interior shall, by fiscal year 1995, direct the Minerals Management Service, Royalty Management Program, to develop and implement (1) an automated business information system to provide to its auditors a lease history that includes reference, royalty, production, financial, compliance history, pricing and valuation, and other information; (2) the optimum methods to identify and resolve anomalies and to verify that royalties are paid correctly; (3) a more efficient and cost-effective royalty collection process by instituting new compliance and enforcement measures, including assessments and penalties for erroneous reporting and underreporting; and (4) such other actions as may be necessary to reduce royalty underpayment and increase revenue to the U.S. Treasury by an estimated total of $28 million by fiscal year 1999. (b) The Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (Public Law No. 97-451), (30 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) is amended by adding a new subsection 111(h) as follows: ``penalty assessment for substantial underreporting of royalty'' ``Sec. 111. (h)(1) If there is any underreporting of royalty owned on production from any lease issued or administered by the Secretary for the production of oil, gas, coal, any other mineral, or geothermal steam, from any Federal or Indian lands or the Outer Continental Shelf, for any production month, by any person who is responsible for paying royalty, the Secretary may assess a penalty of 10 percent of the amount of that underreporting. ``(2) If there is a substantial underreporting of royalty owed on production from any lease issued or administered by the Secretary for the production of oil, gas, coal, any other mineral, or geothermal steam, from any Federal or Indian lands or the Outer Continental Shelf, for any production month, by any person who is responsible for paying royalty, the Secretary may access a penalty of 20 percent of the amount of that substantial underreporting. ``(3) For purposes of this section, the term `undereporting' means the difference between the royalty on the value of the production which should have been reported and the royalty on the value of the production which was reported, if the value of the production which should have been reported is greater than the value of the production which was reported. An underreporting constitutes a `substantial underreporting' if such difference exceeds 10 percent of the royalty on the value of the production which should have been reported. ``(4) The Secretary shall not impose the assessment provided in paragraphs (1) or (2) if the person corrects the underreporting before the date the person receives notice from the Secretary that an underreporting may have occurred, or before 90 days after the date of enactment of this section, whichever is later. ``(5) The Secretary shall waive any portion of an assessment provided in paragraphs (1) or (2) attributable to that portion of the underreporting for which the person demonstrates that-- ``(i) the person had written authorization from the Secretary to report royalty on the value of the production on the basis on which it was reported, or ``(ii) the person had substantial authority for reporting royalty on the value of the production on the basis on which it was reported, or ``(iii) the person previously had notified the Secretary, in such manner as the Secretary may by rule prescribe, of relevant reasons or facts affecting the royalty treatment of specific production which led to the underreporting, or ``(iv) the person meets any other exception which the Secretary may, by rule, establish. ``(6) All penalties collected under this subsection shall be deposited to the same accounts in the Treasury or paid to the same recipients in the same manner as the royalty with respect to which such penalty is paid.''. TITLE III--PHASE OUT THE MINERAL INSTITUTE PROGRAM SEC. 301. PHASE OUT OF MINERAL INSTITUTE PROGRAM. The Secretary of the Interior, beginning in fiscal year 1995, shall take action to phase out the Mining and Mineral Resources Research Institute Act of 1984, Public Law 98-409, as amended (98 Stat. 1536 through 1541 and 102 Stat. 2339 through 2341, 30 U.S.C. 1221 through 1230). There are hereby authorized to be appropriated under the Act the following amounts: fiscal year 1995--$6.5 million; fiscal year 1996--$5 million; fiscal year 1997--$3 million; and fiscal year 1998--$1.5 million. No further appropriations for this Act are authorized after September 30, 1998.
summary: TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Improve the Federal Helium Program Title II: Improve Minerals Management Service Royalty Collection Title III: Phase Out the Mineral Institute Program Department of the Interior Reform and Savings Act of 1993 - Title I: Improve the Federal Helium Program - Amends the Helium Act Amendments of 1960 to authorize the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) to: (1) reduce costs and increase operational efficiencies; and (2) set fees charged private industry for storage, transmission, and withdrawal of privately-owned helium from Federal storage facilities to compensate fully for all costs incurred. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make helium sales in a manner that avoids undue disruption of the usual helium market and protects the United States against avoidable loss; (2) sell helium at prices comparable to those set by private industry; and (3) develop a long-term comprehensive plan to cancel the outstanding debt owed to the Treasury related to the Federal helium program, and to improve Federal helium program operations. Title II: Improve Minerals Management Service Royalty Collection - Requires the Secretary to direct the Minerals Management Service, Royalty Management Program, to develop and implement: (1) an automated business information system to provide its auditors a lease history; (2) optimum methods to identify and resolve anomalies and to verify royalty payments; (3) new royalty compliance and enforcement measures; and (4) other actions necessary to reduce royalty underpayment and increase revenues by a specified amount. Amends the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 to authorize the Secretary to assess a penalty of ten percent of the amount of underreported royalty, and 20 percent of the amount of substantially underreported royalty. Title III: Phase Out the Mineral Institute Program - Directs the Secretary to phase out the Mining and Mineral Resources Research Institute Act of 1984 by the end of FY 1998.