- adjustment
means an amendment to a previously filed report on an obligation, and any additional payment or credit, if any, applicable thereto, to rectify an underpayment or overpayment on an obligation;
- administrative proceeding
means any Department of the Interior agency process in which a demand, decision or order issued by the Secretary or a delegated State is subject to appeal or has been appealed;
- assessment
means any fee or charge levied or imposed by the Secretary or a delegated State other than—
- commence
means—
- credit
means the application of an overpayment (in whole or in part) against an obligation which has become due to discharge, cancel or reduce the obligation;
- delegated State
means a State which, pursuant to an agreement or agreements under section 1735 of this title, performs authorities, duties, responsibilities, or activities of the Secretary;
- demand
means—
- designee
means the person designated by a lessee pursuant to section 1712(a) of this title, with such written designation effective on the date such designation is received by the Secretary and remaining in effect until the Secretary receives notice in writing that the designation is modified or terminated;
- Federal land
means all land and interests in land owned by the United States which are subject to the mineral leasing laws, including mineral resources or mineral estates reserved to the United States in the conveyance of a surface or nonmineral estate;
- Indian allottee
means any Indian for whom land or an interest in land is held in trust by the United States or who holds title subject to Federal restriction against alienation;
- Indian lands
means any lands or interest in lands of an Indian tribe or an Indian allottee held in trust by the United States or which is subject to Federal restriction against alienation or which is administered by the United States pursuant to section 1613(g) of title 43, including mineral resources and mineral estates reserved to an Indian tribe or an Indian allottee in the conveyance of a surface or nonmineral estate, except that such term does not include any lands subject to the provisions of section 3 of the Act of June 28, 1906 (34 Stat. 539);
- Indian tribe
means any Indian tribe, band, nation, pueblo, community, rancheria, colony, or other group of Indians, including the Metlakatla Indian Community of Annette Island Reserve, for which any land or interest in land is held by the United States in trust or which is subject to Federal restriction against alienation or which is administered by the United States pursuant to section 1613(g) of title 43;
- lease
means any contract, profit-share arrangement, joint venture, or other agreement issued or approved by the United States under a mineral leasing law that authorizes exploration for, extraction of, or removal of oil or gas;
- lease site
means any lands or submerged lands, including the surface of a severed mineral estate, on which exploration for, or extraction or removal of, oil or gas is authorized pursuant to a lease;
- lessee
means any person to whom the United States issues an oil and gas lease or any person to whom operating rights in a lease have been assigned;
- marginal property
means a lease that produces on average the combined equivalent of less than 15 barrels of oil per well per day or 90 thousand cubic feet of gas per well per day, or a combination thereof, determined by dividing the average daily production of crude oil and natural gas from producing wells on such lease by the number of such wells, unless the Secretary, together with the State concerned, determines that a different production is more appropriate.
- mineral leasing law
means any Federal law administered by the Secretary authorizing the disposition under lease of oil or gas;
- obligation
means—
- oil or gas
means any oil or gas originating from, or allocated to, the Outer Continental Shelf, Federal, or Indian lands;
- operator
means any person, including a lessee, who has control of, or who manages operations on, an oil and gas lease site on Federal or Indian lands or on the Outer Continental Shelf;
- order to pay
means a written order issued by the Secretary or the applicable delegated State to a lessee or its designee (with notice to the lessee who designated the designee) which—
- Outer Continental Shelf
has the same meaning as provided in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (Public Law 95–372);
- overpayment
means any payment by a lessee or its designee in excess of an amount legally required to be paid on an obligation and includes the portion of any estimated payment for a production month that is in excess of the royalties due for that month;
- payment
means satisfaction, in whole or in part, of an obligation;
- penalty
means a statutorily authorized civil fine levied or imposed for a violation of this chapter, any mineral leasing law, or a term or provision of a lease administered by the Secretary;
- person
means any individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, consortium, or joint venture;
- production
means those activities which take place for the removal of oil or gas, including such removal, field operations, transfer of oil or gas off the lease site, operation monitoring, maintenance, and workover drilling;
- refund
means the return of an overpayment;
- royalty
means any payment based on the value or volume of production which is due to the United States or an Indian tribe or an Indian allottee on production of oil or gas from the Outer Continental Shelf, Federal, or Indian lands, or any minimum royalty owed to the United States or an Indian tribe or an Indian allottee under any provision of a lease;
- Secretary
means the Secretary of the Interior or his designee;
- State
means the several States of the Union, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the territories and possessions of the United States, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands;
- State concerned
means, with respect to a lease, a State which receives a portion of royalties or other payments under the mineral leasing laws from such lease;
- underpayment
means any payment or nonpayment by a lessee or its designee that is less than the amount legally required to be paid on an obligation;
- United States
means the United States Government and any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, the several States, the District of Columbia, and the territories of the United States.