Chapter 11B Administrative Appeal Overview

• Jurisdiction: United States

Chapter 11B Administrative Appeal Overview
Jana Grauberger Liskow & Lewis Houston, TX

JANA GRAUBERGER is a Shareholder at Liskow & Lewis in Houston, Texas. She has more than 20 years experience assisting clients in almost every aspect of federal offshore leasing and development, including negotiating and advising on upstream and midstream contracts such as purchase and sale agreements, joint operating agreements, production handling agreements, and transportation agreements. She also advises on day-to-day regulatory issues such as qualification, lease maintenance, royalties, and decommissioning, including providing advice and assistance as to offshore wind and other energy transition projects. Jana handles administrative appeals and litigates and arbitrates disputes related to offshore contracts and operations. She has served as a director-at-large on the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation board of directors, and she is also active in the Women's Energy Network, currently serving as a director on the board of the WEN Foundation.

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APPLICABLE REGULATIONS

1. Bureau of Land Management - BLM (43 C.F.R. Part 1840)

a. Examples: appeals regarding lease rights in minerals, rights in mining claims, oil and gas operations, grazing, and title issues)

2. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management - BOEM (30 C.F.R. Part 590)

a. Examples: bonding order, denial of RUE

3. Bureau of Safety Environmental Enforcement - BSEE (30 C.F.R. Part 290)

a. Examples: INC, civil penalties order, denial of suspension request, unitization decision, and decommissioning order

4. Office of Natural Resources Revenue - ONRR (30 C.F.R. Parts 1290 and 1241)

a. Examples: order to pay, order to amend report, civil penalties order

5. Interior Board of Land Appeals - IBLA (43 C.F.R. Part 4)

APPEALING ONRR ORDERS AND CIVIL PENALTY ASSESSMENTS

1. Appealing ONRR Order to ONRR Director

a. Time to Appeal: 30 days from service of an order. No extensions.
b. Staying the Effectiveness of the Order: If you appeal, you must post a bond or surety or demonstrate financial solvency (self bond) to stay effectiveness.
c. Challenging the Order: During the 30-day period for filing your appeal, you must also file a statement of reasons. Can request extension of deadline to file statement of reasons.
d. Other Notes:

i. Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act (RSFA): Requires that an appeal be complete within 33 months.
ii. Can request an extension, however, if subject to RSFA's 33-month time period in which the Department must issue a decision, appellant must also agree to execute a tolling agreement to extend the 33-month period by the amount of time requested in the extension.

e. ONRR Director Decision: Director will issue a decision based on the record and the appellant's statement of reasons. No answer briefs are filed.

i. If the Director (and later the IBLA) does not decide in 33-month period and the appeal concerns a nonmonetary obligation or a monetary

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obligation less than $10,000, the appeal is deemed to be decided in favor of the appellant.
ii. If the ONRR Director (and later the IBLA) does not decide in the 33-month period and the appeal concerns a monetary obligation more than $10,000, the appeal is deemed to be decided in favor of ONRR and the appellant has an immediate right to seek judicial review.

2. Appealing ONRR Director Decisions to IBLA

a. Time to appeal: Must file your notice of appeal with the ONRR

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