II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 907

To amend the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986 to clarify

the authorities and duties of the Secretary of Agriculture in issuing

ski area permits on National Forest System lands and to withdraw

lands within ski area permit boundaries from the operation of the mining

and mineral leasing laws.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 9 (legislative day, JUNE 5), 1995

Mr. MURKOWSKI (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. KYL, Mr.

BROWN, Mr. GREGG, Mr. CRAIG, and Mr. DOMENICI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To amend the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986

to clarify the authorities and duties of the Secretary

of Agriculture in issuing ski area permits on National

Forest System lands and to withdraw lands within ski

area permit boundaries from the operation of the mining

and mineral leasing laws.

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

4 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) Although ski areas occupy less than one2 twentieth of one percent of National Forest System

3 lands nationwide, in many rural areas of the United

4 States, ski areas and investments by ski area per5 mittees on National Forest System lands form the

6 backbone of the local economy and a preponderance

7 of the employment base.

8 (2) Ski area operations and their attendant

9 communities provide revenues to the United States

10 in the form of permit fees, income taxes, and other

11 revenues which are extremely significant in propor12 tion to the limited Federal acreage and Forest Serv13 ice administration and contractual obligations re14 quired to support such operations.

15 (3) In addition to alpine skiing, many ski area

16 permittees provide multiseason facilities and en17 hanced access to National Forest System lands that

18 result in greater public use and enjoyment of such

19 lands than would otherwise occur.

20 (4) Unlike many other private sector users of

21 Federal lands, ski areas in almost all cases assume

22 the risk to finance, construct, maintain, and market

23 all recreational facilities and improvements on such

24 lands.
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1 (5) Many ski areas on National Forest System

2 lands operate in an extremely competitive environ3 ment with similar facilities located on private or

4 State lands, which requires ski area permittees to

5 maintain a high level of capital investment to up6 grade existing facilities and install new facilities

7 (such as lifts, trails, snowmaking and trail grooming

8 equipment, restaurants, and day care centers) to

9 serve the public.

10 (6) Despite an outward appearance of economic

11 well-being resulting from an intensive capital infra12 structure, many ski area operations are marginally

13 profitable due to the competition and capital invest14 ments referred to in paragraph (5), weather condi15 tions, insurance premiums, the national economy,

16 and other factors beyond the control of the ski area

17 permittee.

18 (7) Because of the contributions of ski areas to

19 the economies of the United States and the rural

20 communities in which they are located, and the en21 hanced use and enjoyment of National Forest Sys22 tem lands resulting from ski areas, it is in the na23 tional interest for the United States, where consist24 ent with national forest management objectives, to

25 take actions to promote the long-term economic
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1 health and stability of ski areas and associated com2 munities.

3 (8) The National Forest Ski Area Permit Act

4 of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 497b) has been of assistance to

5 ski area operations on National Forest System lands

6 by providing longer term lease tenure and contrac7 tual stability to ski area permittees, but further ad8 justments and policy direction are warranted to ad9 dress problems related to permit fees and fee cal10 culations and conflicts with certain mineral activi11 ties.

12 (b) PURPOSE.—In light of the findings specified in

13 subsection (a), it is the purpose of this Act—

14 (1) to legislate a ski area permit fee that re15 turns fair market value to the United States and at

16 the same time—

17 (A) provides ski area permittees and the

18 United States with a simplified, consistent, pre19 dictable, and equitable fee formula that is com20 mensurate with long-term planning, financing,

21 and operational needs of ski areas; and

22 (B) simplifies bookkeeping and other ad23 ministrative burdens on ski area permittees and

24 Forest Service personnel; and
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1 (2) to prevent future conflicts between ski area

2 operations and mining and mineral leasing programs

3 by withdrawing lands within ski area permit bound4 aries from the operation of the mining and mineral

5 leasing laws.

6 SEC. 2. SKI AREA PERMIT FEES AND WITHDRAWAL OF SKI

7 AREAS FROM OPERATION OF MINING LAWS.

8 The National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986

9 (16 U.S.C. 497b) is amended by adding at the end the

10 following new sections:

11 ‘‘SEC. 4. SKI AREA PERMIT FEES.

12 ‘‘(a) SKI AREA PERMIT FEE.—After the date of the

13 enactment of this section, the fee for all ski area permits

14 on National Forest System lands shall be calculated,

15 charged, and paid only as set forth in subsection (b) in

16 order to—

17 ‘‘(1) return fair market value to the United

18 States and at the same time provide ski area permit19 tees and the United States with a simplified, consist20 ent, predictable, and equitable permit fee;

21 ‘‘(2) simplify administrative, bookkeeping, and

22 other requirements currently imposed on the Sec23 retary of Agriculture and ski area permittees on na24 tional forest lands; and
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1 ‘‘(3) save costs associated with the calculation

2 of ski area permit fees.

3 ‘‘(b) METHOD OF CALCULATION.—

4 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF ADJUSTED GROSS

5 REVENUE SUBJECT TO FEE.—The Secretary of Agri6 culture shall calculate the ski area permit fee

7 (SAPF) to be charged a ski area permittee by first

8 determining the permittee’s adjusted gross revenue

9 (AGR) to be subject to the permit fee. The permit10 tee’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) is equal to the

11 sum of the following:

12 ‘‘(A) The permittee’s gross revenues from

13 alpine lift ticket and alpine season pass sales

14 plus revenue from alpine ski school operations

15 (LTA+SSA), with such total multiplied by the

16 permittee’s slope transport feet percentage

17 (STFP) on National Forest System lands.

18 ‘‘(B) The permittee’s gross revenues from

19 nordic ski use pass sales and nordic ski school

20 operations (LTN+SSN), with such total multi21 plied by the permittee’s percentage (NR) of

22 nordic trails on National Forest System lands.

23 ‘‘(C) The permittee’s gross revenues from

24 ancillary facilities (GRAF) physically located on

25 National Forest System lands, including all per-
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1 mittee or subpermittee lodging, food service,

2 rental shops, parking, and other ancillary oper3 ations.

4 ‘‘(2) DEPICTION OF FORMULA.—Utilizing the

5 abbreviations indicated in paragraph (1), the cal6 culation of the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of a

7 ski are permittee is illustrated by the following for8 mula:

‘‘AGR = ((LTA + SSA) × STFP) + ((LTN + SSN) × NR) + GRAF

9 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF SKI AREA PERMIT

10 FEE.—The Secretary shall determine the ski area

11 permit fee (SAPF) to be charged a ski area permit12 tee by multiplying adjusted gross revenue deter13 mined under paragraph (1) for the permittee by the

14 following percentages for each revenue bracket and

15 adding the total for each revenue bracket:

16 ‘‘(A) 1.5 percent of all adjusted gross reve17 nue below $3,000,000.

18 ‘‘(B) 2.5 percent for adjusted gross reve19 nue between $3,000,000 and $15,000,000.

20 ‘‘(C) 2.75 percent for adjusted gross reve21 nue between $15,000,000 and $50,000,000.

22 ‘‘(D) 4.0 percent for the amount of ad23 justed gross revenue that exceeds $50,000,000.

24 ‘‘(4) SLOPE TRANSPORT FEET PERCENTAGE.—

25 In cases where ski areas are only partially located on
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1 National Forest System lands, the slope transport

2 feet percentage on national forest land referred to in

3 paragraph (1) is hereby determined to most accu4 rately reflect the percent of an alpine ski area per5 mittee’s total skier service capacity which is located

6 on National Forest System land. It shall be cal7 culated as generally described in the Forest Service

8 Manual in effect as of January 1, 1992.

9 ‘‘(5) ANNUAL ADJUSTMENT OF ADJUSTED

10 GROSS REVENUE.—In order to insure that the ski

11 area permit fee set forth in this subsection remains

12 fair and equitable to both the United States and ski

13 area permittees, the Secretary shall adjust, on an

14 annual basis, the adjusted gross revenue figures for

15 each revenue bracket in subparagraphs (A) through

16 (D) of paragraph (3) by the percent increase or de17 crease in the national Consumer Price Index for the

18 preceding calendar year.

19 ‘‘(c) MINIMUM RENTAL FEE.—In cases where an

20 area of National Forest System land is under a ski area

21 permit but the permittee does not have revenue or sales

22 qualifying for fee payment pursuant to subsection (a), the

23 permittee shall pay an annual minimum rental fee of $2

24 for each acre of National Forest System land under per-
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1 mit. Rental fees imposed under this subsection shall be

2 paid at the time specified in subsection (d).

3 ‘‘(d) TIME FOR PAYMENT.—Unless otherwise mutu4 ally agreed to by the ski area permittee and the Secretary,

5 the ski area permit fee set forth in subsection (b) shall

6 be paid by the permittee by August 31 of each year and

7 cover all applicable revenues received during the 12-month

8 period ending on June 30 of that year. To simplify book9 keeping and fee calculation burdens on the permittee and

10 the Forest Service, the Secretary shall no later than

11 March 15 of each year provide each ski area permittee

12 with a standardized form and worksheets (including an13 nual fee calculation brackets and rates) to be utilized for

14 fee calculation and submitted with the fee payment.

15 ‘‘(e) EXCLUSION OF REVENUE OBTAINED OUTSIDE

16 OF NATIONAL FOREST LANDS.—Under no circumstances

17 shall ski area permittee revenue or subpermittee revenue

18 (other than lift ticket, area use pass, or ski school sales)

19 obtained from operations physically located on nonnational

20 forest land be included in the ski area permit fee calcula21 tion.

22 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—To simplify bookkeeping and ad23 ministrative burdens on ski area permittees and the For24 est Service, as used in this section, the terms ‘revenue’

25 and ‘sales’ shall mean actual income from sales. Such
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1 terms shall not include sales of operating equipment, re2 funds, rent paid to the permittee by sublessees, sponsor

3 contributions to special events or any amounts attrib4 utable to employee gratuities, discounts, complimentary

5 lift tickets, or other goods or services (except for bartered

6 goods) for which the permittee does not receive money.

7 ‘‘(g) EFFECTIVE DATE FOR FEES.—The ski area

8 permit fees required by this section shall become effective

9 on July 1, 1995 and cover receipts retroactive to July 1,

10 1994. If a ski area permittee has paid fees for the 12-

11 month period ending on June 30, 1995, under the grad12 uated rate fee system formula in effect prior to the date

13 of the enactment of this section, such fees shall be credited

14 toward the new ski area permit fee due for that period

15 under this section.

16 ‘‘(h) TRANSITIONAL SKI AREA PERMIT FEES.—

17 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF AVERAGE FEES.—In

18 order to minimize in any one year the effects of con19 verting individual ski areas from the fee system in

20 existence on the date of the enactment of this sec21 tion to the ski area permit fee required by sub22 section (a), each ski area permittee subject to the

23 new fee shall determine the permittee’s average ex24 isting fees (AEF) for each year of the three-year pe25 riod ending on June 30, 1994, and the permittee’s
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1 proforma average ski area permit fee (ASF) under

2 subsection (a) for each year of that period. Both the

3 AEF and ASF shall be determined by adding to4 gether the fee payment made by the ski area or the

5 estimated payment that would have been paid under

6 subsection (a) for each year of that period and divid7 ing by three.

8 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF TRANSITIONAL

9 FEES.—To calculate the ski area permit fee required

10 by subsection (a) for each year in the five-year pe11 riod ending on June 30, 1999, the Secretary of Ag12 riculture shall divide the ski area permit fee required

13 by subsection (a) by the ASF and then multiply by

14 the AEF. The resulting fee shall be called the Ad15 justed Base Fee (ABF). After June 30, 1999, all ski

16 areas will pay the ski area permit fee required by

17 subsection (a) without regard to previous fees or

18 rates paid.

19 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF LOW ABF.—Should the ABF

20 be less than the ski area permit fee required by sub21 section (a), the ski area permittee shall pay the less22 er of the fee required by subsection (a) or the ABF,

23 which shall be adjusted by multiplying the ABF

24 by—
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1 ‘‘(A) 1.1 for the fee required to be paid by

2 August 31, 1995;

3 ‘‘(B) 1.2 for the fee required to be paid by

4 August 31, 1996;

5 ‘‘(C) 1.3 for the fee required to be paid by

6 August 31, 1997;

7 ‘‘(D) 1.4 for the fee required to be paid by

8 August 31, 1998; and

9 ‘‘(E) 1.5 for the fee required to be paid by

10 August 31, 1999.

11 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF HIGH ABF.—Should the ABF

12 be greater than the ski area permit fee required by

13 subsection (a), the ski area permittee shall pay the

14 greater of the fee required by subsection (a) or the

15 ABF, which shall be adjusted by multiplying the

16 ABF by—

17 ‘‘(A) 0.9 for the fee required to be paid by

18 August 31, 1995;

19 ‘‘(B) 0.8 for the fee required to be paid by

20 August 31, 1996;

21 ‘‘(C) 0.7 for the fee required to be paid by

22 August 31, 1997;

23 ‘‘(D) 0.6 for the fee required to be paid by

24 August 31, 1998; and
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1 ‘‘(E) 0.5 for the fee required to be paid by

2 August 31, 1999.

3 ‘‘SEC. 5. WITHDRAWAL OF SKI AREAS FROM OPERATION OF

4 MINING LAWS.

5 ‘‘Subject to valid existing rights, all lands located

6 within the boundaries of ski area permits issued prior to,

7 on, or after the date of the enactment of this section pur8 suant to the authority of the Act of March 4, 1915 (16

9 U.S.C. 497), the Act of June 4, 1897 (16 U.S.C. 473 et

10 seq.), or section 3 of this Act are hereby and henceforth

11 automatically withdrawn from all forms of appropriation

12 under the mining laws and from disposition under all laws

13 pertaining to mineral and geothermal leasing and all

14 amendments to such laws. Such withdrawal shall continue

15 for the full term of the permit and any modification,

16 reissuance, or renewal of the permit. Such withdrawal

17 shall be canceled automatically upon expiration or other

18 termination of the permit unless, at the request of the Sec19 retary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior deter20 mines to continue the withdrawal. Upon cancellation of the

21 withdrawal, the land shall be automatically restored to all

22 appropriation not otherwise restricted under the public

23 land laws.’’.

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