(a) The ONRR bond-approving officer will determine your financial solvency by examining your total net worth, including, as appropriate, the net worth of your affiliated entities.

(b) If your net worth, minus the amount we would require as surety under subpart B for all orders you have appealed is greater than $300 million, you are presumptively deemed financially solvent, and we will not require you to post a bond or other surety instrument.

(c) If your net worth, minus the amount we would require as surety under subpart B for all orders you have appealed is less than $300 million, you must submit the following to the ONRR Debt Collection Section by one of the methods in § 1243.200(a):

(1) A written request asking us to consult a business-information, or credit-reporting service or program to determine your financial solvency; and

(2) A nonrefundable $50 processing fee:

(i) You must pay the processing fee to us following the requirements for making payments found in 30 CFR 1218.51. You are not required to use Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) for these payments;

(ii) You must submit the fee with your request under paragraph (c)(1) of this section, and then annually on the date we first determined that you demonstrated financial solvency, as long as you are not able to demonstrate financial solvency under paragraph (a) of this section and you have active appeals.

(d) If you request that we consult a business-information or credit-reporting service or program under paragraph (c) of this section:

(1) We will use criteria similar to that which a potential creditor would use to lend an amount equal to the bond or other surety instrument we would require under subpart B;

(2) For us to consider you financially solvent, the business-information or credit-reporting service or program must demonstrate your degree of risk as low to moderate:

(i) If our bond-approving officer determines that the business-information or credit-reporting service or program information demonstrates your financial solvency to our satisfaction, our bond-approving officer will not require you to post a bond or other surety instrument under subpart B;

(ii) If our bond-approving officer determines that the business-information or credit-reporting service or program information does not demonstrate your financial solvency to our satisfaction, our bond-approving officer will require you to post a bond or other surety instrument under subpart B or pay the obligation.