Renew Barrier Failure Reporting Oil Gas OCS

Notice

Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of a Previously Approved Information Collection: Barrier Failure Reporting in Oil and Gas Operations on the Outer Continental Shelf

A Notice by the Transportation Statistics Bureau on 04/27/2026

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• Public Inspection Published Document: 2026-08116 (91 FR 22575) Document Headings ###### Department of Transportation

Bureau of Transportation Statistics

1. Docket No. DOT-OST-2026-1784 # AGENCY:

Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION:

60-Day notice and request for comments.

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:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and follow the instructions for sending your comments electronically. Docket Number: [DOT-OST-2026-1784].
• Mail: Dockets Operations; U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, 5th Floor, Room W58-213, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
• 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 https://www.regulations.gov, 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 https://www.regulations.gov, 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 https://www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at www.dot.gov/​privacy.

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, allison.fischman@dot.gov.

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 https://www.bsee.gov/​sites/​bsee.gov/​files/​bsee-bts-mou-08-18-2016.pdf, 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- ( printed 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 www.SafeOCS.gov. 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 www.SafeOCS.gov 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

Published Document: 2026-08116 (91 FR 22575)