Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) of Federal Oil, Gas,
and Sulphur Leases in the Outer Continental Shelf

Subpart O - Well Control and Production Safety Training Clarification

NOTE: NTL 2000-N03 is available for download in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF).

This Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) supersedes NTL No. 98-10N.

On August 14, 2000, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) published in the Federal Register (65 FR 49485) final regulations revising 30 CFR 250, Subpart O, Well Control and Production Safety Training. The MMS has distributed the published final rulemaking to lessees and operators and the training schools. They are also posted on the MMS website (http://www.mms.gov/federalregister/PDFs/SubpartOFinal.pdf).

These new performance-based regulations will take effect on October 13, 2000. However, to allow sufficient time for you to implement your training program, § 250.1502 of the new regulations provides a 2-year transition period from October 13, 2000 until October 15, 2002.

If you have employees whose current Subpart O certificates expire during the 2-year transition period, you must either: 1) retrain your employees under the current regulations before certificates expire to be recognized by the MMS as being trained during the entire transition period; or 2) notify the MMS Regional Supervisor of Field Operations, in writing, that you have implemented the new Subpart O rule. You are only required to notify the MMS Regional Supervisor during the 2-year transition period. After October 15, 2002, you are required to comply with the new rule and, therefore, no notification is necessary.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) Statement: The collection of information referred to in this NTL provides clarification, description, or interpretation of requirements in the final rule revising 30 CFR 250, Subpart O, regulations. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the information collection requirements and assigned OMB control number 1010-0128. This NTL does not impose additional information collection requirements subject to the PRA.

Contact: If you have any questions about this transition policy, you may contact Joseph Levine at (703) 787-1032.