Notice2026-08116
Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of a Previously Approved Information Collection: Barrier Failure Reporting in Oil and Gas Operations on the Outer Continental Shelf
Primary source
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Published
April 27, 2026
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentTransportation Statistics Bureau
Abstract
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, BTS announces its plan to submit the information collection request (ICR) described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its review and approval and invites public comment. BTS is requesting approval to renew an existing ICR 2138-0046, Barrier Failure Reporting in Oil and Gas Operations on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The renewal of this ICR will enable BTS to continue collecting equipment failure data to provide a comprehensive source of information about failure types and modes of critical safety barriers for offshore operations related to well control and production safety systems.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 80 (Monday, April 27, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 80 (Monday, April 27, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22575-22576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-08116]
[[Page 22575]]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
[Docket No. DOT-OST-2026-1784]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of a Previously
Approved Information Collection: Barrier Failure Reporting in Oil and
Gas Operations on the Outer Continental Shelf
AGENCY: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: 60-Day notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, BTS
announces its plan to submit the information collection request (ICR)
described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its
review and approval and invites public comment. BTS is requesting
approval to renew an existing ICR 2138-0046, Barrier Failure Reporting
in Oil and Gas Operations on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The
renewal of this ICR will enable BTS to continue collecting equipment
failure data to provide a comprehensive source of information about
failure types and modes of critical safety barriers for offshore
operations related to well control and production safety systems.
DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted until June 26,
2026.
ADDRESSES: To ensure that your comments are not entered more than once
into the docket, submit comments by only one of the following methods:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and follow the instructions for sending your
comments electronically. Docket Number: [DOT-OST-2026-1784].
<bullet> Mail: Dockets Operations; U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, 5th Floor,
Room W58-213, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
<bullet> Hand Delivery: Deliver to mail address above between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and
docket number. Note that all comments received will be posted without
change to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, including any personal
information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading below.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, and follow the
online instructions for accessing the docket, or go to the street
address listed above.
Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits
comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT
posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information
the commenter provides, to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, as described in
the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed
at <a href="http://www.dot.gov/privacy">www.dot.gov/privacy</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allison Fischman, Bureau of
Transportation Statistics, Office of the Assistant Secretary for
Research and Technology, USDOT, RTS-35, E36-302, 1200 New Jersey Avenue
SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#56373a3a3f25393878303f25353e3b37381632392278313920"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="37565b5b5e44585919515e44545f5a56597753584319505841">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This data collection effort addresses the
collection of equipment failure data as referenced in Department of the
Interior regulations at 30 CFR 250.730(c) and 30 CFR 250.803, which
require the submission of failure reports for well control equipment
and safety and pollution prevention equipment. BTS has entered into a
memorandum of understanding with the Department of the Interior to
facilitate the collection of this information for statistical purposes.
This information collection is necessary to aid the Department of the
Interior, the oil and gas industry, and other stakeholders in
identifying barrier failure trends and causes of critical safety
barrier failure events.
Title: Barrier Failure Reporting in Oil and Gas Operations on the
Outer Continental Shelf.
OMB Control Number: 2138-0046.
Type of Review: Renewal of information collection.
Respondents: BTS has entered into a memorandum of understanding
with the Department of the Interior to facilitate the collection of
information from respondents identified in the Department of the
Interior notices for OMB Control Number 1014-0028 and OMB Control
Number 1014-0003. Responsibility for establishing the actual scope and
burden for this collection resides with the Department of the Interior.
This BTS information collection request does not create any additional
burden for respondents. For the purposes of this collection, BTS has
identified the Department of the Interior as the sole respondent.
Estimated Number of Respondents: For the purposes of this
collection, BTS has identified the Department of the Interior as the
sole respondent reporting to BTS at the annual frequency of one.
Estimated Time per Response: 1 hour.
Frequency: Annual.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 1 hour.
Abstract: The Confidential Information Protection and Statistical
Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) of 2018, codified at 44 U.S.C. 3561-3583, can
provide strong confidentiality protection for information acquired for
statistical purposes under a pledge of confidentiality. CIPSEA guidance
from the Office of Management and Budget advises that a non-statistical
agency or unit that wishes to acquire information with CIPSEA
protection may consider entering into an agreement with a Federal
statistical agency or unit. BTS and the Department of the Interior have
determined that it is in the public interest to collect and process the
barrier-related failure reports required by 30 CFR 250.730(c) and 30
CFR 250.803, or any other data deemed necessary to administer the
Department of the Interior's safety program pertaining to barrier
failures under a pledge of confidentiality for statistical purposes
only.
BTS has agreed through a memorandum of understanding with the
Department of the Interior, signed August 18, 2016, and available at
<a href="https://www.bsee.gov/sites/bsee.gov/files/bsee-bts-mou-08-18-2016.pdf">https://www.bsee.gov/sites/bsee.gov/files/bsee-bts-mou-08-18-2016.pdf</a>,
to undertake this information collection in order to ensure the
confidentiality of submissions under CIPSEA. Since this information
collection is limited to the establishment of BTS as an authorized
repository for the previously approved information collection (OMB
Control Number 1014-0028, expiration for well control equipment is 05/
31/2027 and OMB Control Number 1014-0003, expiration for safety and
pollution prevention equipment is 12/31/2028), this information
collection request does not create any additional burden for
respondents.
Background: Department of the Interior regulations require, in
part, the reporting of barrier-related failure event and analysis
information for well control equipment (30 CFR 250.730(c)) and safety
and pollution prevention equipment (30 CFR 250.803). Both regulations
require submission of failure information to a designated third party
(see sections 250.730(c)(4) and 250.803(d)), if one has been designated
by the regulator. The Department of the Interior designated BTS for
collection of this information, as documented in the memorandum of
understanding referenced above and through an announcement issued
October 26, 2016 (https://www.bsee.gov/newsroom/latest-
[[Page 22576]]
news/statements-and-releases/press-releases/bsee-expands-safeocs-
program). BTS implements this collection as part of the SafeOCS
program, a confidential reporting program independently administered by
BTS that collects and analyzes data to advance safety in energy
operations on the OCS.
Both BTS and the Department of the Interior agree that reports on
equipment failures are considered a type of precursor safety
information and can be included in SafeOCS to provide a means of
identifying industrywide data trends on barrier failures or potential
for barrier failures. This data collection provides parties in the oil
and gas industry a trusted means to report sensitive or proprietary
information related to equipment failures and fosters trust in the
confidential collection, handling, and storage of the raw data. Using
BTS as the designated third party for submission of equipment failure
information is designed to promote the sharing of safety data and
information while protecting sensitive identifying information which
could reduce the incentive to share all of the facts that pertain to
safety related to an incident.
BTS uses the data collected to grow and maintain a comprehensive
source of barrier-related failure data for statistical purposes. BTS
will continue to collect failure notices, failure analysis reports, and
design change/modified procedures reports as described in 30 CFR
250.730(c) and 30 CFR 250.803 submitted by industry operators; grow and
maintain an analytical database using the reported data and other
pertinent information; and protect the confidentiality of notices and
reports in accordance with the BTS confidential statute (49 U.S.C.
6307(b)) and CIPSEA. With input from subject matter experts, BTS will
continue to process and analyze information on equipment failures and
publish results of such analyses in public reports and data products,
available at <a href="http://www.SafeOCS.gov">www.SafeOCS.gov</a>. These publications and products will
provide the industry, the regulator, other OCS stakeholders, and the
public with essential information about failure types and modes of
critical safety barriers for offshore operations related to well
control and production safety systems, contributing to research and
development of intervention programs aimed at preventing safety
incidents on the OCS.
Respondents submit equipment failure information through
<a href="http://www.SafeOCS.gov">www.SafeOCS.gov</a> by filling out a form and submitting pertinent
supplemental information as described in 30 CFR 250.730(c), 30 CFR
250.803, and cited industry standards. Respondents are asked to provide
information such as: (1) name and contact information; (2) time and
location of the failure event; (3) a short description of the failure
event and operating conditions that existed at the time of the event;
(4) details of the specific equipment involved; (5) contributing
factors to the event; (6) results of an investigation or safety
analysis report; (7) any design or procedural changes as a result of
the reported equipment failure; and (8) any other information that
might be useful in determining ways to prevent such failures from
occurring.
Companies may also share well control equipment failure data under
30 CFR 250.730(c) with BTS through their participation in RAPID-S53, a
joint industry project (JIP) for reliability and performance
information sponsored by the International Association of Drilling
Contractors and the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers. A
company participating in RAPID-S53 can grant the JIP permission to
share the company's submitted data with BTS. With this permission, the
data is then shared with BTS through a system-to-system connection,
relieving the company of the burden of uploading the same data to the
SafeOCS web portal.
Data Confidentiality Provisions: The confidentiality of barrier
failure information submitted to BTS is protected under the BTS
confidentiality statute (49 U.S.C. 6307(b)) and CIPSEA. In accordance
with these confidentiality statutes, only statistical (aggregated) and
non-identifying data will be made publicly available by BTS through its
reports. Except for compliance notices to the Department of the
Interior described below, BTS will not release to the Department of the
Interior or any other public or private entity any information that
might reveal the identity of individuals or organizations mentioned in
failure notices or reports without explicit consent of the respondent
and any other affected entities.
To provide proof of an operator's compliance with the reporting
regulation, without sharing the details of the reported equipment
failure, the following information is shared with the Department of the
Interior via an automated email following receipt of an event
notification: submittal date, company, and event reference number. No
other information is shared.
Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of
this information collection, including: (1) ways to enhance the
quality, usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and (2)
ways to minimize the collection burden without reducing the quality of
the information collected.
Allison Fischman,
Director, Office of Safety Data and Analysis, Bureau of Transportation
Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation.
[FR Doc. 2026-08116 Filed 4-24-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P
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