30 C.F.R. § 1218.51

Current through September 30, 2024

Section 1218.51 - How to make payments

(a)Definitions.

ACH -Automated Clearing House. A type of EFT using the ACH bank-to-bank network.

Courtesy Notice -An ONRR-issued notice of rental or bonus due.

Deferred Bonus Payment -Lease bonus paid in equal annual installments over a specified number of years.

EFT -Electronic Funds Transfer. Any paperless transfer of funds initiated through an electronic terminal. For ONRR purposes, EFT includes Fedwire and ACH transfers, such as Pay.gov.

Fedwire -A type of EFT using the Federal Reserve Wire network.

Invoice document identification -The ONRR-assigned invoice document identification (three-alpha and nine-numeric characters).

Pay.gov -A type of EFT using the ACH network that is initiated by a payor on the Pay.gov Web site.

Payment -Any monies for royalty, bonus, rental, late payment charge, assessment, penalty, or other money sent to ONRR.

Person -Any individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, consortium, or joint venture (when established as a separate entity). The term does not include Federal agencies.

Report -Form ONRR-2014, Report of Sales and Royalty Remittance.

(b)General instructions. You must make all payments to ONRR electronically to the extent it is cost effective and practical. If you pay money to ONRR or to an Indian tribe or allottee, you must follow these procedures:

(1) If ONRR instructs you to use EFT, you must use EFT for all payments to ONRR and/or a tribe.

(2) Contact ONRR before using EFT. ONRR will provide you with EFT payment instructions.

(3) Separate any payments on a Federal lease from any payments on an Indian lease.

(4) If you are not required to use EFT, use one of the following types of payment documents. ONRR prefers that you use these payment documents in the order presented:

(i) Commercial check drawn on a solvent bank;

(ii) Certified check;

(iii) Cashier's check;

(iv) Money order;

(v) Bank draft drawn on a solvent bank; or

(vi) Federal Reserve check.

(5) You must include your payor code on all payments.

(6) You must pay in U.S. dollars.

(c)How to complete a non-EFT payment.

(1) Make any payment on a Federal lease payable to: "Department of the Interior-Office of Natural Resources Revenue" or "DOI-ONRR."

(2) For an Indian allottee payment, send a separate payment for each Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agency or area office represented by the leases on your report or invoice document. You must include the name of the applicable BIA agency or area office on your payment. Make your payment document payable to: "Department of the Interior-Office of Natural Resources Revenue for BIA [Name] Agency (allotted)" or "DOI-ONRR for BIA [Name] Agency (allotted)."

(3) For an Indian tribal payment other than a lockbox payment, send a separate payment for each tribe represented by the leases on your report or invoice document. You must include the name of the Indian tribe on your payment. Make it payable to: "Department of the Interior-Office of Natural Resources Revenue for BIA [Name of Tribe]" or "DOI-ONRR for BIA [Name of Tribe]."

(4) For an Indian tribal lockbox payment, follow the instructions ONRR provides you on how to report and make the lockbox payment. These instructions are specific to each tribe's lockbox written agreement with the bank authorized to receive payments on the tribe's mineral leases. You will receive these instructions from ONRR when you are required to use a tribal lockbox for reports and payments.

(d)Where to send a non-EFT payment when you use the U.S. Postal Service.

(1) For a payment to an Indian tribal lockbox, send your payment to the appropriate tribal lockbox address.

(2) For a Federal nonproducing lease rental or deferred bonus payment, send it to: Office of Natural Resources Revenue, P.O. Box 25627, Denver, CO 80225-0627.

(e)Where to send a non-EFT payment when you use a courier or overnight delivery service. You should send this type of payment to: Office of Natural Resources Revenue, Building 85, Denver Federal Center, 6th Avenue and Kipling Street, Room A322, Denver, CO 80225.

(f)How to prepare and what to include on your payment document.

(1) For Form ONRR-2014 payments, you must include both your payor code and your payor-assigned document number.

(2) For invoice payments, including RIK invoice payments, you must include both your payor code and invoice document identification.

(3) For bonus payments:

(i) For one-fifth bonus payments for offshore oil, gas, and sulphur leases, follow the instructions in the Notice of Lease Offering.

(ii) For payment of the four-fifths bonus for an offshore lease, use EFT and follow the instructions in § 1218.155(c) .

(iii) For the successful bidder's bonus in the competitive sale of a coal, geothermal, or offshore mineral (other than oil, gas or sulfur) lease, follow the instructions and terms of the Notice of Competitive Lease Sale.

(iv) For installment payments of deferred bonuses, you must use EFT.

(4) If you are paying a lease rental you must:

(i) See § 1218.155(c) for instructions on how to pay first-year rentals of an offshore oil, gas, or sulfur lease;

(ii) See the Notice of Lease Offering for instructions on how to pay first-year rentals other than those covered in paragraph (f)(4)(i) of this section.

(iii) Include the ONRR Courtesy Notice, when provided, or write your payor code and government-assigned lease number on the payment document when paying a rental that is not reported on Form ONRR-2014 and not paid by EFT.

(g)When is a payment to ONRR due?

(1) All payments are due to ONRR at the time law, regulation, or lease terms require unless ONRR approves a change according to part 1243 of this chapter. If you file an appeal, and the requirement to submit payment is suspended, the original payment due date for purposes such as calculating late payment interest is not changed.

(2) If you use the U.S. Postal Service, courier, or overnight mail to send your payment, it is due at the ONRR addresses in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section before 4 p.m. Mountain Time on the due date, regardless of when you sent it.

(3) If you use EFT to send your payment, it is due in the ONRR account by the payment due date. You are responsible for your actions or your bank's actions that cause a late or incorrect payment. You will not be held responsible for mechanical or system failures of EFT payments.

(h)What happens if payments are late or overdue?

(1) If ONRR receives your payment late, ONRR will impose a late-payment interest charge under § 1218.54 .

(2) If you do not pay an amount you owe, ONRR may assess civil penalties under part 1241 of this chapter or other applicable regulations.

30 C.F.R. §1218.51

62 FR 19498, Apr. 22, 1997, as amended at 66 FR 45773, Aug. 30, 2001; 67 FR 19112, Apr. 18, 2002; 73 FR 15898, Mar. 26, 2008; 77 FR 25880, May 2, 2012; 87 FR 21746, Apr. 13, 2022

87 FR 21745, 5/13/2022