Legacy Rehost 2000 (LR2000) and Bond and Surety System (BSS) Oil & Gas and Geothermal Records Phase Out

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
http://www.blm.gov
 

February 7, 2022

In Reply Refer To:
3100/3200 (HQ-350) P

EMS TRANSMISSION 02/18/2022
Instruction Memorandum No. 2022-021
Expires: 09/30/2025

To:                  All Field Office Officials

From:              Assistant Director, Energy, Minerals and Realty Management 

Subject:           Legacy Rehost 2000 (LR2000) and Bond and Surety System (BSS) Oil & Gas and Geothermal Records Phase Out                  DD: 03/04/2022, 03/14/2022

Program Area:  Fluid Minerals (Oil & Gas; Geothermal Resources).

Purpose:  This Instruction Memorandum (IM) directs the phase out and replacement of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Legacy Rehost 2000 (LR2000) Oil & Gas and Geothermal cases, and Bond and Surety System (BSS) Oil & Gas and Geothermal bonds, beginning on March 4, 2022.

This IM directs the use of the Mineral and Land Records System (MLRS)[1] for any Oil & Gas/Geothermal authorization and management actions beginning on March 4, 2022. This IM also describes the timeline and process for account access and training. Migration of existing LR2000 Oil & Gas/Geothermal case data to MLRS (case types beginning with 31 or 32, except for Geothermal Site Utilization case type 325060) will start on March 7, 2022, and is scheduled to be completed by March 14, 2022. After this date, LR2000 Oil & Gas/Geothermal data will “freeze” in place and become read-only.

MLRS is a customer-centric, spatially enabled Land Information System that employs nationally standardized business processes. Through enforceable business rules, MLRS will ensure the quality and accuracy of land and mineral records and data, while securely delivering land records and bond information to relevant BLM employees, customers, and public. MLRS will provide stability, adaptability, reliability, and longevity for the BLM, while reducing the BLM’s operational costs; enhance workforce productivity; and improve the quality of lands and minerals information and records. MLRS will replace the following systems incrementally over the course of the next several years: LR2000, BSS, Alaska Land Information System (ALIS), and the Accounting Advice function that resides in the Collection and Billing System (CBS). MLRS will also replace the mapping functionality currently provided by the Oregon Land Status System in a subsequent phase.

Mineral lease management information in Alaska is not maintained in LR2000; Alaska uses the ALIS for case management, together with the automated accounting advice in CBS. This IM does not affect Alaska’s Oil & Gas/Geothermal cases since ALIS is not planned to be decommissioned until after LR2000 and BSS data are fully migrated to MLRS. Alaska will continue to process the automated accounting advice for new Oil & Gas leases in CBS until ALIS migrates to the MLRS. However, this guidance does affect Oil & Gas/Geothermal bonds maintained by Alaska (using BSS) that will now be processed in the MLRS.

Administrative or Mission Related:  Mission.

Policy/Action:  Most LR2000 Oil & Gas/Geothermal cases, and their related bonds in the BSS, will be decommissioned from those databases after 5:00 pm PST on March 4, 2022. All affected BLM officials and employees are instructed to use the MLRS for creating new Oil & Gas/Geothermal cases and bonds and for updating existing Oil & Gas/Geothermal cases and bonds beginning on March 14, 2022. Any bonds NOT related to Oil & Gas/Geothermal cases will remain in BSS and be migrated to MLRS later. The automated accounting advice functionality for new Oil & Gas leases will also be decommissioned from the CBS (except for Alaska) and will now be processed in the MLRS after March 14, 2022. Updated accounting advice from post-leasing actions (any leasing action that occurs after a lease has been issued), as well as forfeited bids and new Geothermal leases will be created in the MLRS, and then manually sent to the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR), maintaining the current workflow in place today.

Internal BLM users of LR2000 are directed to use MLRS, once the MLRS Oil & Gas/Geothermal module is released in the production environment on March 14, 2022. All new pre-leasing actions for competitive and noncompetitive leases will continue to be processed in the National Fluids Lease Sale System (NFLSS). Other types of leases, e.g., 1930 Act Oil & Gas Right-of-Way leases, will be processed in the MLRS. Geothermal Utilization Sites (Case Type 325060) will continue to be maintained in LR2000 until migrated to MLRS with the remaining case types.  

External users may access the MLRS website, for more information.

Timeframe:  BLM’s legacy land information systems—LR2000, ALIS, BSS, and ORLSS—will be replaced with MLRS using a phased, modular approach. LR2000 and BSS will be incrementally phased out over the next two years. This process began with the Mining Claim Recordation Module (Release 1) released January 25, 2021. This IM covers decommissioning of LR2000 and BSS as it relates to MLRS Release 2 only. The remaining legacy land information systems, ALIS and ORLSS, will subsequently be phased out following the migration of the remaining LR2000 case types to MLRS (Release 3, 4, and 5). The BLM’s official land status records, Master Title Plats (MTP), Historical Indexes (HI), Tract Books (TB), and Use Plats (UP) are planned to be replaced by MLRS in the phase following ALIS and ORLSS migration. Critical Dates for transitioning Oil & Gas/Geothermal cases and bonds to MLRS are below.

LR2000 Oil & Gas/Geothermal Case Transitioning:

Direction: [TIME-SENSITIVE]

Due Date:  Friday, March 4, 2022, at 5:00PM PST. 

Change ALL cases to READ ONLY for Case Types that begin with 31 and 32 (except for Geothermal Site Utilization case type 325060), to include all case dispositions, on
Friday, March 4, 2022, at 5:00PM PST. No transactions for these cases will be processed through LR2000 after this time. Remove Sale Notice Upload, Non-Competitive and Competitive Uploads from Secure File Transfer Application (SFTA). Remove these case types (except Geothermal Utilization Sites) from the nightly batch updates.

LR2000 Oil & Gas and Geothermal Transition Timeline

• March 4, 2022:  Last day to use LR2000 for Oil & Gas/Geothermal. 
• March 7, 2022:  Oil & Gas/Geothermal case data (including Bond & Surety) will be pulled from LR2000.
• March 8, 2022:  Begin pause for data entry for Mining Claims in MLRS at 5:00 pm PST.  
• March 9, 2022:  LR2000 Oil & Gas/Geothermal data (including Bond & Surety) will be migrated to MLRS.  

• March 14, 2022: MLRS will be used for Oil & Gas/Geothermal case processing and Bond & Surety actions. End of pause for data entry for Mining Claims in MLRS.

Serial Number Automation Module (SNAM):

Direction: [TIME-SENSITIVE]

Due Date:  Friday, March 4, 2022, at 5:00PM PST. 

Remove the ability to create or modify serial numbers for case types that begin with 31 and 32 (except Geothermal Utilization Sites) on Friday, March 4, 2022, at 5:00PM PST.

Note:  Following decommissioning of the LR2000 Oil & Gas/Geothermal cases (except Geothermal Utilization Sites), all data entry will be accomplished using MLRS. LR2000 data will only be available as read-only for Oil & Gas/Geothermal case types and bonds, except those noted above.

1. Data Freeze: [TIME-SENSITIVE] March 4, 2022, will be the last day to use LR2000 for data entry and processing of case types that begin with 31 for Oil & Gas and 32 for Geothermal (except Geothermal Utilization Sites Case Type 325060). LR2000 Oil & Gas/Geothermal data will “freeze” in place and become read-only as of March 4, 2022, at 5:00PM PST. All bond cases in the BSS related to Oil & Gas/Geothermal cases will also “freeze” in place and become read-only as of March 4, 2022, at 5:00PM PST. Users will pause data entry for Oil & Gas and Geothermal cases from March 4, 2022, until
   March 14, 2022. Users will pause data entry for mining claims from March 9, 2022, until March 14, 2022. All users will begin entering new data within MLRS on March 14, 2022.

2. Payments:  Monies received for oil and gas and geothermal from March 7, 2022, through March 11, 2022, will be applied to the appropriate Commodity Subject Action (CSA) in CBS. The receipt information will be held by CBS and transferred to the proper records in MLRS on March 14, 2022. Monies received for mining claims from March 9, 2022, through March 11, 2022, will be put in suspense and monies will need to be transferred to the appropriate CSA in CBS on March 14, 2022.

3. Data Migration: [TIME-SENSITIVE] Final data pull from LR2000 and BSS will be on March 7, 2022. The data will be uploaded to the new environment no later than
   March 9, 2022.

4. MLRS Account User Login:  BLM internal users will submit a Remedy Ticket for a new MLRS account using the BLM’s National Help Desk Remedy System beginning February 14, 2022. Once appropriate training in MLRS has been completed and the user is approved for access to the BLM User Console, access roles and permissions will be created by User Support Specialists at the BLM Help web page.

5. Permissions/Security:  The MLRS application uses DOI Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) accounts for internal users (BLM employees/contractors), and the user credentials are verified through the ADFS single sign-on flow each time the user signs in. BLM users will be granted roles and permissions to MLRS for specific program areas. The User Support Specialist will receive the MLRS access ticket and assign specific roles and permissions for access within MLRS.

6. Public Room Access:  A common technology footprint has been established within the BLM’s State Office public rooms that includes two computers for public access to MLRS. Access to specific internal BLM and DOI websites have been approved and are available for use from the public room computers. State Offices will need to provide printers with scanning capability to support in-person MLRS customers with document printing and scanning.
    
7. Help Desk:  The BLM Public Help Desk web page at:  https://phd.blm.gov/ will be modified to include MLRS instructions for entering Oil & Gas/Geothermal cases (except Geothermal Utilization Sites) and will be monitored and adapted to triage application issues, as well as to resolve external customer support problems.
    
8. Training:  Training commenced with ‘Train-the-Trainer’ sessions and computer-based training for BLM users on January 11, 2022. Instructor led training sessions for specific MLRS modules will begin February 14, 2022, and continue through March 11, 2022.

9. Hard (Physical) Copy Case Files:  The MLRS database can create and maintain electronic case files; however, the BLM will continue to maintain the BLM’s paper filing system in tandem with the MLRS system until complete electronic integration can be achieved. State and Field Offices may scan and upload new documents to the MLRS for access by remote staff. However, all case information must continue to be placed in the official paper case file in accordance with BLM MS-1274 Serialized Case File System guidance, until the full deployment of the MLRS electronic case file system.
   
   Files uploaded to MLRS will be named to include the date filed (e.g., YYYYMMDD or 20220124) and the type of document (e.g., Assignment). An assignment of lease rights filed on January 24, 2022, will be named 20220124_Assignment.
   
   MLRS will default all uploaded files to “customer access-enabled” status, which makes the file publicly available. The internal BLM MLRS user will need to disable customer access for any files submitted and marked as having proprietary or confidential information, or documents, such as those including protected information regarding Indian mineral leases. 
    
10. Change in Serial Number Format:  The MLRS application will generate serial numbers for both new and existing fluid mineral cases. The new serial number format will contain a two-character abbreviation for geographic state, a two-character abbreviation for the corresponding administrative State Office, and a nine-digit global unique number. Cases with existing “legacy” serial numbers will retain the former serial number in MLRS as a searchable field but will be assigned a new conforming serial number. All new fluid mineral cases will conform to the new serial number. MLRS will provide links between related cases, such as participating areas and areas committed to unit agreements. NO spaces will be included in the case serial number and NO suffixes will be used to identify relationships between cases.
    All notices and decisions should inform the customer of the new MLRS serial number as well as the legacy serial number for existing cases. Any applications for legacy cases (e.g., assignments, transfers, applications for permit to drill, sundry notices) that reference the legacy serial number should not be denied for this reason. In the field, legacy serial numbers posted on signs will not need to be changed.
    
    The office of record for each lease and unit will continue to file paper files of participating areas within the associated unitized area and should add a note on the front of the case file with the new participating area and/or unit serial numbers. The file manager may choose to place an empty dummy case file or ‘red card’ under the MLRS serial number for each affected lease, directing the case file manager to the unit file location.
     

Example:  ARES123456789 is a sample MLRS-generated case serial number, where AR is the two-character abbreviation for geographic state Arkansas; ES is the two-character administrative state abbreviation for the BLM Eastern States Office; it is followed by the nine (9) digit global unique identifier.

Budget Impact:  The application of this policy will have minimal budget impact for documenting Oil & Gas/Geothermal case information; the same is true for using MLRS versus using the legacy LR2000 and BSS databases. The BLM anticipates a workload reduction by having customers monitor the status of their filings so there can be near real-time communication between customers and BLM regarding any issues with their filings, and by asking customers to update their own address information.

Background:  This IM supports the administration’s priorities by accelerating responsible development of renewable energy (geothermal) on public lands (see 43 U.S.C §§ 3001-3005) and by making Federal fluid minerals program data available to the public to ensure that these programs continue to serve the public interest. This IM partially implements 43 U.S.C §§ 3001-3005, although a public-facing database was not a direct requirement of the Act.

LR2000 provides information on BLM land and mineral programs for oil, gas, and geothermal leasing, rights-of-way, coal and other mineral development, land status and mineral title, withdrawals, landscape planning classifications, applications for permits, use authorizations and other actions on Federal lands or on Federal mineral estate outside of Alaska. The LR2000 Case Recordation and BSS databases contain information on Oil & Gas and Geothermal cases located on Federal lands within the lower 48 states. It is the objective of the BLM to enter and maintain data in a standardized manner to achieve high quality lease, unit agreement, and bonding data. The importance of accurate, timely, and complete data entry in the MLRS improves communication with others who rely heavily on the information.

Manual/ Handbook Sections Affected:  All references to the data entry of leases, agreements, and bonds in BLM Manuals and Handbooks for the Oil & Gas and Geothermal (fluid minerals) programs.

Coordination:  The Division of Fluid Minerals (HQ-310), Division of Lands, Realty & Cadastral Survey (HQ-350), and the National Operations Center, Directorate of Information Technology Management (NOC-371).

Contact:  If you have any questions regarding this IM, please contact Rebecca Good, Deputy Chief, Division of Fluid Minerals (HQ-310) at (307) 251-3487 or email address rgood@blm.gov or Dominica VanKoten, Chief Cadastral Surveyor, at (571) 266-9585 or email address dvankote@blm.gov.

Signed by:                                Authenticated by:
Nicholas Douglas                     Robert M. Williams
Assistant Director                  Division of Regulatory Affairs and Directives,(HQ-630)
Energy, Minerals and Realty
   Management