IIB 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3397 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2012 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

To modify the Forest Service Recreation Residence Program 

by implementing a simple, equitable, and predictable procedure for determining cabin user fees, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Cabin Fee Act of 2012’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Cabin user fees. 

Sec. 4. Payment of cabin transfer fees. 

Sec. 5. Right of appeal and judicial review. 

Sec. 6. Effect. 

Sec. 7. Regulations. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) AUTHORIZATION; AUTHORIZE.—The terms 

9 ‘‘authorization’’ and ‘‘authorize’’ mean the issuance 

10 of a special use permit for the use and occupancy of 

11 National Forest System land by a cabin owner under 

12 the Recreation Residence Program. 

13 (2) CABIN.—The term ‘‘cabin’’ means a pri14 vately built and owned recreation residence and re15 lated improvements on National Forest System land 

16 that— 

17 (A) is authorized for private use and occu18 pancy; and 

19 (B) may be sold or transferred between 

20 private parties. 

21 (3) CABIN OWNER.—The term ‘‘cabin owner’’ 

22 means— 


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1 (A) a person authorized by the Secretary 

2 to use and to occupy a cabin; and 

3 (B) a trust, heir, or assign of a person de4 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

5 (4) CABIN TRANSFER FEE.—The term ‘‘cabin 

6 transfer fee’’ means a fee that is paid to the United 

7 States on the transfer of a cabin between private 

8 parties for money or other consideration that results 

9 in the issuance of a new permit. 

10 (5) CABIN USER FEE.—The term ‘‘cabin user 

11 fee’’ means an annual fee paid to the United States 

12 by a cabin owner in accordance with an authoriza13 tion for the use and occupancy of a cabin. 

14 (6) CURRENT APPRAISAL CYCLE.—The term 

15 ‘‘current appraisal cycle’’ means the completion of 

16 Forest Service review and acceptance of— 

17 (A) initial typical lot appraisals; and 

18 (B) second appraisals, if ordered by cabin 

19 owners and approved by the Forest Service. 

20 (7) CURRENT CABIN USER FEE.—The term 

21 ‘‘current cabin user fee’’ means the most recent 

22 cabin user fee, as adjusted under section 3(c). 

23 (8) LOT.—The term ‘‘lot’’ means a parcel of 

24 National Forest System land on which a person is 


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1 authorized to build, use, occupy, and maintain a 

2 cabin. 

3 (9) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term 

4 ‘‘National Forest System’’ has the meaning given 

5 that term in section 11 of the Forest and Rangeland 

6 Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 

7 U.S.C. 1609). 

8 (10) RECREATION RESIDENCE PROGRAM.—The 

9 term ‘‘Recreation Residence Program’’ means the 

10 Recreation Residence Program established under the 

11 last paragraph under the heading ‘‘FOREST SERV12 ICE’’ in the Act of March 4, 1915 (16 U.S.C. 497). 

13 (11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

14 means the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 

15 the Chief of the Forest Service. 

16 (12) TYPICAL LOT.—The term ‘‘typical lot’’ 

17 means a cabin lot, or group of cabin lots, in a tract 

18 that is selected for use in an appraisal as being rep19 resentative of, and that has similar value character20 istics as, other lots or groups of lots within the tract. 

21 SEC. 3. CABIN USER FEES. 

22 (a) PAYMENT OF CABIN USER FEES.—Cabin owners 

23 shall pay an annual cabin user fee established by the Sec24 retary in accordance with this section. 

25 (b) INITIAL CABIN USER FEES.— 


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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es2 tablish initial cabin user fees in accordance with this 

3 subsection. 

4 (2) ASSIGNMENT TO VALUE TIERS.—On com5 pletion of the current appraisal cycle, as required by 

6 paragraph (4), the Secretary shall assign each per7 mitted lot on National Forest System land to 1 of 

8 10 tiers based on the following considerations: 

9 (A) Before assigning the lots to tiers, all 

10 appraised lot values shall be adjusted, or nor11 malized, for price changes occurring after the 

12 appraisal, in accordance with the National As13 sociation of Homebuilders/Wells Fargo Housing 

14 Opportunity Index. 

15 (B) Second appraisal values shall super16 sede initial lot appraisal values for the normal17 ization and ranking process under subpara18 graph (A). 

19 (C) The tiers shall be established, on a na20 tional basis, according to relative lot value, with 

21 lots having the lowest adjusted appraised value 

22 assigned to tier 1 and lots having the highest 

23 adjusted appraised value assigned to tier 10. 


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1 (D) The number of lots (by percentage) as2 signed to each tier is contained in the table set 

3 forth in paragraph (3). 

4 (E) Data from incomplete appraisals may 

5 not be used to establish the fee tiers under this 

6 subsection. 

7 (F) Until assigned to a tier under this sub8 section, the Secretary shall assess (and may ad9 just annually subject to clause (ii)) an interim 

10 fee for permitted cabin lots (including lots with 

11 incomplete appraisals) in an amount equal to 

12 the lesser of— 

13 (i) $5,000; or 

14 (ii) the amount of the current cabin 

15 user fee, as determined under the Cabin 

16 User Fee Fairness Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 

17 6201 et seq.), which amount the Secretary 

18 may increase annually by not more than 

19 25 percent, except that the increased fee 

20 shall not exceed the otherwise scheduled 

21 fee determined under the Cabin User Fee 

22 Fairness Act of 2000. 

23 (3) AMOUNT OF INITIAL CABIN USER FEES.— 

24 The initial cabin user fees, based on the assignments 

25 under paragraph (2), are as follows: 


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Fee Tier Approximate Percent of 

Permits Nationally Fee Amount 

Tier 1 5 percent $500 

Tier 2 12 percent $1,000 

Tier 3 22 percent $1,500 

Tier 4 22 percent $2,000 

Tier 5 10 percent $2,500 

Tier 6 9 percent $3,000 

Tier 7 7 percent $3,500 

Tier 8 5 percent $4,000 

Tier 9 5 percent $4,500 

Tier 10 3 percent $5,000 

1 (4) DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION OF CURRENT

2 APPRAISAL CYCLE.—Not later than 3 years after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

4 complete the current appraisal cycle. 

5 (5) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The initial cabin user 

6 fees required by this subsection shall take effect be7 ginning with the first calendar year beginning after 

8 the completion of the current appraisal cycle. 

9 (c) ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS OF CABIN USER FEE.— 

10 Once initial cabin user fees have been assessed, based on 

11 the tier assignments under subsection (b)(2), the Sec12 retary shall use changes in the Implicit Price Deflator for 

13 the Gross Domestic Product published by the Bureau of 

14 Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce, apVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:57 Sep 12, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3397.RFS H3397

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1 plied on a 5-year rolling average, to assess an annual ad2 justment to cabin user fees. 

3 (d) EFFECT OF DESTRUCTION, SUBSTANTIAL DAM4 AGE, OR LOSS OF ACCESS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall reduce 

6 the cabin user fee to $100 per year for a cabin if— 

7 (A) the cabin is destroyed or suffers sub8 stantial damage in an amount that is greater 

9 than 50 percent of replacement cost of the 

10 cabin; or 

11 (B) access to the cabin is significantly im12 paired, whether by catastrophic events, natural 

13 causes, or governmental actions. 

14 (2) TERM OF REDUCED FEE.—The reduced fee 

15 under paragraph (1) shall be in effect until the later 

16 of— 

17 (A) the last day of the year in which the 

18 destruction or impairment occurs; or 

19 (B) the date on which the cabin may be 

20 lawfully reoccupied and normal access has been 

21 restored. 

22 SEC. 4. PAYMENT OF CABIN TRANSFER FEES. 

23 As a condition of the issuance by the Secretary of 

24 a new authorization for the use and occupancy of the 

25 cabin, the cabin owner transferring the cabin shall pay to 


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1 the Secretary a cabin transfer fee in the amount of 

2 $1,200. 

3 SEC. 5. RIGHT OF APPEAL AND JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

4 (a) RIGHT OF APPEAL.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any action 

6 of a cabin owner to exercise rights in accordance 

7 with section 6, the Secretary shall by regulation 

8 grant to the cabin owner the right to an administra9 tive appeal of the determination of a new cabin user 

10 fee, fee tier, or whether or not to reduce a cabin 

11 user fee under section 3(d). 

12 (2) APPLICABLE LAW.—An appeal under para13 graph (1) shall be pursuant to the appeal process 

14 provided under subpart C of part 251 of title 36, 

15 Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regula16 tion). 

17 (b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—A cabin owner that contests 

19 a final decision of the Secretary under this Act may 

20 bring a civil action in United States district court. 

21 (2) VENUE.—The venue for an action brought 

22 before the United States district court under this 

23 subsection shall be in the Federal judicial district in 

24 which the cabin is located. 


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1 (3) EFFECT ON MEDIATION.—Nothing in this 

2 Act precludes a person from seeking mediation for 

3 an action under this Act. 

4 SEC. 6. EFFECT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act limits or re6 stricts any right, title, or interest of the United States in 

7 or to any land or resource. 

8 (b) SPECIAL RULE FOR ALASKA.—In determining a 

9 cabin user fee in the State of Alaska, the Secretary shall 

10 not establish or impose a cabin user fee or a condition 

11 affecting a cabin user fee that is inconsistent with 1303(d) 

12 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 

13 (16 U.S.C. 3193(d)). 

14 SEC. 7. REGULATIONS. 

15 Not later than December 31, 2013, the Secretary 

16 shall issue regulations to carry out this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 10, 

2012. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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