Since it began to reengineer its front-end system software and follow-up procedures in 1996, MMS has resolved almost 50,000 of these exceptions and collected an additional $54.4 million in royalties. By comparison, in the 24 months before reengineering its process, MMS resolved only 24,000 exceptions and collected $39.8 million in additional royalties.

"This represents an outstanding achievement on the part of our employees and has helped to ensure that the American taxpayer is receiving royalties on the full amount of oil and gas production to which they are entitled sooner," said MMS Director Cynthia Quarterman. "We are always looking for ways to do our job better. This is a major step in that direction."

In April 1997, MMS completed its software and procedure redesign. The results have been impressive. In the first three months after implementation of the new software, royalty collections increased by 50% and case closures by 21%. For the year, royalty collections increased by 55% and case closures by 57%. For fiscal year 1998, MMS established a stretch goal to again improve case closures - 25% over 1997. With one month left, that goal has already been exceeded.

When the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act was signed in 1996, it directed MMS to resolve the backlog of these cases pending at that time. MMS successfully resolved those cases within the two years prescribed by the Act.

The success of this effort benefits revenue recipients like States, Tribes and individual Indian mineral owners because they receive their money more quickly. It benefits industry because it provides closure and certainty faster. Finally, it has allowed MMS to reassign employees to work on other initiatives, resulting in a savings of approximately $272,000 per year in this area of operations.