Today the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service announced plans to implement the reengineering improvements presented in a November 1998, publication entitled, Road Map to the 21st Century. "I am pleased with the efforts by the staff and management of the Royalty Management Program (RMP) to review and analyze their business. It is because of these efforts, that we are now able to begin an extraordinary transformation of the RMP into an organization that truly meets the highest expectation of reinventing government," said MMS Director Cynthia Quarterman.

The RMP is charged with collecting, accounting for and distributing nearly $6 billion annually in moneys associated with minerals and oil and natural gas produced from federal and Indian lands. Early last year, a reengineering initiative was undertaken to design and develop new business processes and automated support systems to better manage these mineral revenues. The new financial and compliance designs have been successfully tested and the RMP is now beginning implementation. A key aspect to successful implementation will be the continuing engagement of States, Tribes, and industry as full partners in the transformation.

The Road Map to the 21st Century presents the new picture of what RMP will look like, how it will operate, and how it will better serve its customers. The publication also provides a look at the operations and describes the actions that are necessary to move from concept to reality over the next three years. "The future RMP will be highly integrated, focused on outcomes, and less costly to operate than today’s function-based operations," said Lucy Querques Denett, Associate Director for Royalty Management. She added that the new business processes will be supported by state-of-the-art computers and software programs.

Set to guide RMP through organizational transformation, the Road Map to the 21st Century details major action elements needed to attain the Program’s reengineering performance goals of:

•Cutting in half the time necessary to collect and verify mineral revenues;

• Distributing revenue to states and Indian land owners within 24 hours;

that is, 30 times faster than is customary today;

• Reducing industry reporting requirements by 40%; and

• Modernizing RMP’s aging computer and software systems to accommodate interactive electronic reporting via the Internet.

"Implementing these reengineering improvements will enable the RMP to meet its mission requirements well into the 21st century at less cost. It will also make royalty compliance less costly for companies, which is important at a time of low oil prices. We have designated this initiative as MMS’ highest priority for the coming year," said Director Quarterman.