(a) As specified under the provisions of the lease, the lessee shall submit all rental payments when due and shall pay in value or deliver in production all royalties and net profit shares in the amounts of value or production determined by ONRR to be due.

(b) The failure to make timely or proper payments of any monies due pursuant to leases, permits, and contracts subject to these regulations will result in the collection of the amount past due plus a late payment charge. Exceptions to this late payment charge may be granted when estimated payments on minerals production have already been made timely and otherwise in accordance with instructions provided by ONRR to the payor.

(c) Late payment charges will be assessed on any late payment or underpayment from the date that the payment was due until the date that the payment was received at the ONRR addresses specified in § 1218.51. Payments received at the specified ONRR addresses after 4 p.m. mountain time are considered received the following business day.

(d) Late payment charges apply to all underpayments and payments received after the date due. These charges include production and minimum royalties; assessments for liquidated damages; administrative fees and payments by purchasers of royalty taken-in-kind; or any other payments, fees, or assessments that a lessee/operator/payor/permittee/royalty taken-in-kind purchaser is required to pay by a specified date. The failure to pay past due amounts, including late payment charges, will result in the initiation of other enforcement proceedings.

(e) An overpayment on a lease or leases, excluding rental payments, may be offset against an underpayment on a different lease or leases to determine a net underpayment on which interest is due pursuant to conditions specified in § 1218.42.

The annual rental paid in any year is in addition to, and is not credited against, any royalties due from production. The lessee must pay an annual rental as shown in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this section. Discovery means one or more wells on the lease that meet the requirements in part 250, subpart A of this title.

(a) This paragraph applies to any lease not covered by paragraph (b) or paragraph (c) of this section.

(b) This paragraph applies to any lease created by segregating a portion of a producing lease when there is no actual or allocated production on the segregated portion. The lessee must pay an annual rental for the segregated portion at the rate specified in the lease. The lessee must pay the rental as shown in the following table.

(c) For leases issued subject to the net profit sharing provisions, annual rental payments shall be due and payable in advance, on the first day of each lease year which commences prior to the date the first profit share payment becomes due. The owner of any lease created by the segregation of a portion of a lease subject to net profit sharing provisions, shall pay an annual rental for such segregated portion at the rate per acre or hectare specified in the lease. This rental shall be payable each year following the year in which the segregation becomes effective and shall continue to be due and payable, in advance, on the first day of each year which commences prior to the date the first profit share payment becomes due.

Upon the establishment of the Fishermen's Contingency Fund, any holder of a lease issued or maintained under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and any holder of an exploration permit or of an easement or right-of-way for the construction of a pipeline, shall pay an amount specified by the Director, ONRR, who shall assess and collect the specified amount from each holder and deposit it into the Fund. With respect to prelease exploratory drilling permits, the amount will be collected at the time of issuance of the permit.

(a) ONRR will not relieve the lessee of the obligation to pay rental or minimum royalty for or during the suspension if the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Regional Supervisor:

(1) Grants a suspension of operations or production, or both, at the request of the lessee; or

(2) Directs a suspension of operations or production, or both, under 30 CFR 250.173(a).

(b) ONRR will not require a lessee to pay rental or minimum royalty for or during the suspension if the BSEE Regional Supervisor directs a suspension of operations or production, or both, except as provided in (a)(2) of this section.

(c) If the lease anniversary date falls within a period of suspension for which no rental or minimum royalty payments are required under paragraph (b) of this section, the prorated rentals or minimum royalties are due and payable as of the date the suspension period terminates. These amounts shall be computed and notice thereof given the lessee. The lessee shall pay the amount due within 30 days after receipt of such notice. The anniversary date of a lease shall not change by reason of any period of lease suspension or rental or royalty relief resulting therefrom.

(a) Payment of royalties and rentals. With the exception of first-year rental, the payor shall tender all payments in accordance with § 1218.51. First-year rental shall be paid in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section.

(b) Payment of the one-fifth bonus bid amount. (1) Each lease bid must include a payment for the one-fifth bonus bid deposit amount unless the bidder is otherwise directed by the Secretary. Further instructions on how to make payment with the bid will be included in the notice of each lease offering. EFT may be used as a method of payment for the one-fifth bonus bid amount.

(2) Beginning with lease offerings held after February 1, 1984, the one-fifth bonus amount received from a high bidder shall be deposited into an escrow account created pursuant to an agreement between the Departments of the Interior and Treasury, pending acceptance or rejection of the bid. The one-fifth bonus funds will be invested in public debt securities. Investment of this amount by the U.S. Government does not indicate acceptance of the bid. The one-fifth bonus amounts submitted with bids other than the highest valid bid will be returned to respective bidders after bids are opened, recorded, and ranked. Return of such amounts will not affect the status, validity, or ranking of bids. The one-fifth bonus bid amount received from any high bidder and held by the Government pending acceptance or rejection, will be returned with actual interest earned, if the bid is subsequently rejected. The interest accrued during the period held in the account pending acceptance or rejection of the bid will accrue to the Government when the bid is accepted.

(c) Payment of the four-fifths bonus bid amount and the first year's rental. Payment shall be made to ONRR by EFT unless otherwise directed by the Secretary. The payment by EFT via the FRCS must be received by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York no later than noon, eastern standard time, on the 11th business day after receipt of the lease forms by the successful bidder. A “business day” is considered to be a day on which the OCS regional office issuing the lease is open for business. The lease will not be executed by the appropriate ONRR official until payment is received. Failure to remit by EFT or as directed by the Secretary within the time specified above will result in forfeiture of the one-fifth bonus bid amount and the lease will not be executed by the appropriate ONRR official. Payors will not be held responsible for late payment due to actions beyond their control, such as mechanical or systems failure of FRCS or FDS. Payors will be held responsible for incorrect actions of their bank which result in late payments. A 2-day grace period will be allowed to make up a deficient payment, but a late payment charge will be assessed for this late payment and a penalty will also be assessed if appropriate. Late payment charges will be assessed in accordance with subpart B of this part.

(d) General. (1) Payors using the appropriate means of payment (EFT, check, etc.) may pay for multiple lease obligations with a single remittance but must ensure that the payment complies with subpart B of this part and the remittance advice adequately identifies the single payment. The format to be used for such identification will be provided by the ONRR Accounting Center.

(2) Where to pay.

(3) The ONRR mailing addresses for payments to ONRR are specified in § 1218.51.

(4) Payments received at the ONRR addresses after 4 p.m. mountain time are considered received the following business day.

(e) Miscellaneous payments. Payments shall be made to the manager of the appropriate Outer Continental Shelf field office by cash, check or bank draft payable to “Department of the Interior—ONRR” for miscellaneous payments such as:

(1) Pipeline rights-of-way application filing fees and rentals, pipeline accessory site rentals and application fees, and other related costs.

(2) Filing and approval fees for transfers of interest in leases.

Terms used in this subpart have the same meaning as in 30 U.S.C. 1702.