30 CFR § 203.68 - What pre-application costs will BSEE consider in determining economic viability?
---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t30/s203.68"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "30 CFR § 203.68 - What pre-application costs will BSEE consider in determining economic viability?"
title_number: 30
title_name: "Mineral Resources"
section_number: "203.68"
section_name: "What pre-application costs will BSEE consider in determining economic viability?"
chapter_name: "BUREAU OF SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR"
subchapter_number: "A"
subchapter_name: "MINERALS REVENUE MANAGEMENT"
part_number: "203"
part_name: "RELIEF OR REDUCTION IN ROYALTY RATES"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "25 U.S.C. 396 25 U.S.C. 396a 25 U.S.C. 2101 30 U.S.C. 181 30 U.S.C. 351 30 U.S.C. 1001 30 U.S.C. 1701 31 U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 15903-15906; 43 U.S.C. 1301 43 U.S.C. 1331 and 43 U.S.C. 1801"
regulatory_source: "76 FR 64462, Oct. 18, 2011, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "203"
---
# 203.68 What pre-application costs will BSEE consider in determining economic viability?
(a) We will not consider ineligible costs as set forth in § 203.89(h) in determining economic viability for purposes of royalty relief.
(b) We will consider sunk costs according to the following table.
| We will . . . | When determining . . . |
| --- | --- |
| (1) Include sunk costs, | Whether a field that includes a pre-Act lease which has not produced, other than test production, before the application or redetermination submission date needs relief to become economic. |
| (2) Not include sunk costs, | Whether an authorized field, a development project, or an expansion project can become economic with full relief (see § 203.67). |
| (3) Not include sunk costs, | How much suspension volume is necessary to make the field, a development project, or an expansion project economic (see § 203.69(c)). |
| (4) Include sunk costs for the project discovery well on each lease, | Whether a development project or an expansion project needs relief to become economic. |