PUBLIC LAW 104-185—AUG. 13, 1996 110 STAT. 1711 "SEC. IIIA. ADJUSTMENTS AND REFUNDS. 30 USC 1721a. "(a) ADJUSTMENTS TO ROYALTIES PAID TO THE SECRETARY OR A DELEGATED STATE.— "(1) If, during the adjustment period, a lessee or its designee determines that an adjustment or refund request is necessary to correct an underpa5anent or overpayment of an obligation, the lessee or its designee shall make such adjustment or request a refund within a reasonable period of time and only during the adjustment period. The filing of a royalty report which reflects the underpayment or overpayment of an obligation shall constitute prior written notice to the Secretary or the applicable delegated State of an adjustment. "(2)(A) For any adjustment, the lessee or its designee shall calculate and report the interest due attributable to such adjustment at the same time the lessee or its designee adjusts the principle amount of the subject obligation, except as provided by subparagraph (B). "(B) In the case of a lessee or its designee who determines that subparagraph (A) would impose a hardship, the Secretary or such delegated State shall calculate the interest due and notify the lessee or its designee within a reasonable time of the amount of interest due, unless such lessee or its designee elects to calculate and report interest in accordance with subparagraph (A). "(3) An adjustment or a request for a refund for an obligation may be made after the adjustment period only upon written notice to and approval by the Secretary or the applicable delegated State, as appropriate, during an audit of the period which includes the production month for which the adjustment is being made. If an overpa5anent is identifled during an audit, then the Secretary or the applicable delegated State, as appropriate, shall allow a credit or refund in the amount of the overpa3ntnent. "(4) For purposes of this section, the adjustment period for any obligation shall be the six-year period following the date on which an obligation became due. The adjustment period shall be suspended, tolled, extended, enlarged, or terminated by the same actions as the limitation period in section 115. " (b) REFUNDS. — "(1) IN GENERAL.—^A request for refund is sufficient if it— "(A) is made in writing to the Secretary and, for purposes of section 115, is specifically identified as a demand; "(B) identifies the person entitled to such refund; "(C) provides the Secretary information that reasonably enables the Secretary to identify the overpayment for which such refund is sought; and "(D) provides the reasons why the payment was an overpayment. "(2) PAYMENT BY SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.— The Secretary shall certify the amount of the refund to be paid under paragraph (1) to the Secretary of the Treasury who shall make such refund. Such refund shall be paid from amounts received as current receipts from sales, bonuses, royalties (including interest charges collected under this section) and rentals of the public lands and the Outer Continental Shelf under the provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which are not payable to a State or
�
