I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3657

To establish fees for communication sites on public lands.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 22, 1993

Mr. LAROCCO (for himself, Mr. LEHMAN, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska,

Mr. RICHARDSON, Mr. SCHIFF, and Mrs. VUCANOVICH) introduced the

following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Natural

Resources and Agriculture

A BILL

To establish fees for communication sites on public lands.

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

3 SECTION 1. COMMUNICATION SITE USE FEES.

4 (a) FEES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of

5 law, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Ag6 riculture (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Secretaries’’),

7 shall assess and collect charges for utilization of radio and

8 television communications sites located on Federal lands

9 administered by the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land

10 Management at such rates as the Forest Service and the

11 Bureau of Land Management shall establish or at such
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1 modified rates as are established pursuant to the provi2 sions of subsection (b) of this section.

3 (b) ADJUSTMENTS.—(1) The Schedule of Charges es4 tablished under this section shall be reviewed by the For5 est Service and the Bureau of Land Management on an

6 annual basis, and shall be adjusted by the Forest Service

7 and the Bureau of Land Management to reflect changes

8 in the Consumer Price Index. Increases or decreases in

9 charges shall apply to all categories of charges, but any

10 increase or decrease shall not total less than 3 percent

11 or more than 5 percent of the charge assessed to the user

12 in the preceding year. The Bureau of Land Management

13 and the Forest Service shall transmit to the Congress noti14 fication of any such adjustment not later than 60 days

15 before the effective date of such adjustment.

16 (2) Under the Schedule of Changes established under

17 the section, if any radio or television communications site

18 user is to be charged an amount that is greater than

19 $1,000 more than the amount such site user pays to the

20 Bureau of Land Management or the Forest Service as of

21 January 1, 1993, then during the first year in which the

22 Schedule of Charges is in effect, such site user shall pay

23 an amount equal to the amount it paid to the Bureau of

24 Land Management of the Forest Service as of January

25 1, 1993, plus $1,000. Each year thereafter, such site user
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1 shall pay the full amount under the Schedule of Charges,

2 as modified pursuant to the subsection.

3 (3) Under the Schedule of Charges established under

4 this section, if any radio or television communications site

5 user is to be charged an amount that is less than the

6 amount such site user paid to the Bureau of Land Man7 agement or the Forest Service as of January 1, 1993, then

8 such site user shall continue to pay the higher amount

9 until such time as the charge to the site user in the Sched10 ule of Charges equals or exceeds that amount, as modified

11 pursuant to this subsection.

12 (c) ADDITIONAL USERS.—(1) If the radio or tele13 vision communications site user is permitted under the

14 terms of its site use authorization from the Bureau of

15 Land Management or the Forest Service to grant access

16 to the site to additional users, then the radio or television

17 communications site user shall pay annually to the Bureau

18 of Land Management or the Forest Service an amount

19 equal to 25 percent of the gross income it receives from

20 each such additional user during that year.

21 (2) Authorizations to radio and television commu22 nications site users shall require such site users to provide

23 the Bureau of Land Management or the Forest Service

24 with a certified list which identifies all additional users

25 of such sites and all gross revenues received from such
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1 additional users. The Bureau of Land Management and

2 the Forest Service shall not require any additional user

3 of a radio or television communications site to obtain a

4 separate authorization to use such a site.

5 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—(1) The Sec6 retaries shall prescribe appropriate rules and regulations

7 to carry out the provisions of this section.

8 (2) Ten years after the date of enactment of this sec9 tion, the Secretaries shall establish a broad-based advisory

10 group, including representatives from the radio and tele11 vision broadcast industry, to review the Schedule of

12 Charges and other acceptable criteria for determining fair

13 market value for radio and television communications site

14 uses. The advisory group shall report its findings to the

15 Congress no later than 1 year after it is established.

16 (e) EXISTING CHARGES.—(1) Until modified pursu17 ant to subsection (b) of this section, the Schedule of

18 Charges for television communications site users which the

19 Secretaries shall prescribe pursuant to subsection (a) of

20 this section shall be as listed in exhibit 3 (television rental

21 fee schedule) in the report of the radio and television

22 broadcast use fee advisory committee dated December

23 1992.

24 (2) Until modified pursuant to subsection (b) of this

25 section, the Schedule of Charges for radio communications
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1 site users which the Secretaries shall prescribe pursuant

2 to subsection (a) of this section shall be as listed in exhibit

3 4, radio rental fee schedule in the report of the radio and

4 television broadcast use fee advisory committee dated De5 cember 1992.

6 SEC. 2. NONBROADCAST COMMUNICATION SITE ADVISORY

7 BOARD.

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretaries of the Inte9 rior and Agriculture are directed to jointly establish a

10 broad-based advisory group comprised of representatives

11 from the nonbroadcast communications industry (users of

12 both private and public communication sites) and the 2

13 agencies to review recommendations on acceptable criteria

14 for determining fair market values and next best alter15 native use.

16 (b) REVIEW.—The advisory group shall review the

17 methodology used in any previous studies and reach con18 currence on such methodology.

19 (c) ASSESSMENTS.—The advisory group shall also as20 sess the validity of the results of such studies, taking into

21 account all reasonable options for the establishment of fair

22 market values and next best alternative use.

23 (d) REPORT.—The advisory group shall report its

24 findings to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re25 sources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Re-
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1 sources of the House of Representatives within 1 year

2 after the enactment of this Act.

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