(a)

(1) Unless otherwise approved, the FMP(s) for all Federal and Indian leases, unit PAs, or CAs must be located within the boundaries of the lease, unit, or communitized area from which the production originated and must measure only production from that lease, unit PA, or CA.

(2) Off-lease measurement or commingling and allocation of Federal or Indian production requires prior approval (see 43 CFR 3162.7-2, 3162.7-3, 3173.15, 3173.16, 3173.24, and 3173.25).

(b) The BLM will not approve as an FMP a gas processing plant tailgate meter located off the lease, unit, or communitized area.

(c) The operator must submit separate applications for approval of an FMP that measures oil produced from a lease, unit PA, or CA, or under a CAA that complies with the requirements of this subpart, and an FMP that measures gas produced from the same lease, unit PA, or CA, or under a CAA that complies with the requirements of this subpart. This requirement applies even if the measurement equipment or facilities are at the same location.

(d) For a permanent measurement facility that comes into service after January 17, 2017, the operator must apply for approval of the FMP before any production leaves the permanent measurement facility. This requirement does not apply to temporary measurement equipment used during well testing operations. After timely submission and prior to approval of an FMP request, an operator must use the lease, unit PA, or CA number for reporting production to ONRR, until the BLM assigns an FMP number, at which point the operator must use the FMP number for all reporting to ONRR as set forth in §3173.13.

(e) For a permanent measurement facility in service on or before January 17, 2017, the operator must apply for BLM approval of an FMP within the time prescribed in this paragraph, based on the production level of any one of the leases, unit PAs, or CAs, whether or not they are part of a CAA. The deadline to apply for an FMP approval applies to both oil and gas measurement facilities measuring production from that lease, unit PA, or CA.

(1) For a stand-alone lease, unit PA, or CA that produced 10,000 Mcf or more of gas per month or 100 bbl or more of oil per month, by January 17, 2018.

(2) For a stand-alone lease, unit PA, or CA that produced 1,500 Mcf or more, but less than 10,000 Mcf of gas per month, or 10 bbl or more, but less than 100 bbl of oil per month, by January 17, 2019.

(3) For a stand-alone lease, unit PA, or CA that produced less than 1,500 Mcf of gas per month or less than 10 bbl of oil per month, January 17, 2020.

(4) For a stand-alone lease, unit PA, or CA that has not produced for a year or more before January 17, 2017, the operator must apply for an FMP prior to the resumption of production.

(5) The production levels identified in paragraphs (e)(1) through (3) of this section should be calculated using the average production of oil or gas over the 12 months preceding the effective date of this section or over the period the lease, unit PA, or CA has been in production, whichever is shorter.

(6) If the operator of any facility covered by this section applies for an FMP approval by the deadline in this paragraph, the operator may continue using the lease, unit PA, or CA number for reporting production to ONRR, until the BLM's assigns an FMP number, at which point the operator must use the FMP number for all reporting to ONRR as set forth in §3173.13.

(7) If the operator fails to apply for an FMP approval by the deadline in this paragraph, the operator will be subject to an INC and may also be subject to an assessment of a civil penalty under 43 CFR part 3160, subpart 3163, together with any other remedy available under applicable law or regulation.

(f) All requests for FMP approval must include the following:

(1) A complete Sundry Notice requesting approval of each FMP;

(2) The applicable Measurement Type Code specified in WIS;

(3) Information about the equipment used for oil and gas measurement, including, for:

(i) “Gas measurement,” specify operator/purchaser/transporter unique station number, primary element (meter tube) size or serial number, and type of secondary device (mechanical or electronic);

(ii) “Oil measurement by tank gauge,” specify oil tank number or tank serial number and size in barrels or gallons for all tanks associated with measurement at an FMP; and

(iii) “Oil measurement by LACT or CMS,” specify whether the equipment is LACT or CMS and the associated oil tank number or tank serial number and size in barrels or gallons (there may be more than one tank associated with an FMP);

(4) Where production from more than one well will flow to the requested FMP, list the API well numbers associated with the FMP; and

(5) FMP location by land description.

(g) Request for approval of an FMP may be submitted concurrently with separate requests for off-lease measurement and/or CAA.