Business Case for Collaborative Development of Shared Processes and Procedures by Participating US Federal and State Regulatory Agencies to Support Well Permits & Activity Reports

Prepared by:

Groundwater Protection Council Technical Advisory Group

U.S. Bureau of Land Management

U.S. Minerals Management Service, Minerals Revenue Management & Offshore Minerals Management

API-PIDX REGS

POSC eRegulatory Special Interest Group

Executive Summary

There is a growing acknowledgment among agencies and industry that the development of uniform data transfer procedures, reusable computing resources, and supporting standards can accelerate the acceptance and reduction of the cost of moving to electronic permitting. A common approach to permitting data transfers will greatly simplify electronic filing for operators who must submit applications to both the BLM and the states, as well as for operators who apply for permits in multiple states. A common approach to permitting data transfers will also facilitate the sharing of associated well technical data between state and federal agencies. This will enable the state and federal governments to more easily share solution software designed to process and report on drilling application and completion data.

Thus, the associated business case has established the tasks to accomplish this vision. These tasks involve defining and agreeing on a comprehensive and common set of data elements and definitions related to the electronic transfer of permitting, drilling, and completion data. These elements and definitions will include data used by the BLM and state agencies, from the common ones to those unique to a single agency. Based on the principle of maximizing consistency while respecting necessary differences, the proposed solution will allow for the transfer of exceptional data elements not defined in the common set. Moreover, where possible, the proposed solution will employ data definitions and transfer messages currently being standardized by industry for operational purposes.

Example of an E-commerce web site: http://www.bogc.dnrc.state.mt.us/jdpIntro.htm 

Ideally, all private operators, state agencies and federal agencies would engineer computer solutions based precisely on the commonly defined, standardized data elements. However, in actuality most agencies and operators have significant investments in existing and currently developing computer solutions. While a great deal of comparable data is stored in such systems, the same information may be referenced with different names and may be stored in somewhat different formats. Therefore, the business case calls for the defining mapping standards with existing state, federal, and industry practices to facilitate effective data translations.

Data mapping is more efficient because it need only be done once as opposed to multiple times. For instance, if an operator drills in ten states and has wells on federal land, that operator must report and map to eleven somewhat dissimilar systems. As the goals of this business case proposal are met, that operator would only have to develop one mapping, as the agency-specific mappings will have already been defined, which is an essential benefit of this proposal for industry.

The associated business case document elaborates on this vision with specific proposals for a series of projects involving federal and state agencies and industry. The proposed projects spearhead a comprehensive, step-by-step approach to achieving the benefits described above. Additional participation from agencies and industry is being sought. There are opportunities for industry and other government agencies to join the proposed projects and opportunities to define subsequent and parallel projects tuned to the functional, timing, and economic needs of the participants. In the name of all of those who prepared these proposals, we commend this business case to you for serious consideration.