Calendar No. 263

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 907

[Report No. 104–183]

A BILL

To amend the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act

leasing laws.from the operation of the mining and mineralwithdraw lands within ski area permit boundariespermits on National Forest System lands and tothe Secretary of Agriculture in issuing ski areaof 1986 to clarify the authorities and duties of

DECEMBER 8, 1995

Reported with an amendemnt and an amendment to the

title
II

Calendar No. 263

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 907

[Report No. 104–183]

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, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. BURNS, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. PRESSLER, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr.

SMITH, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. KEMPTHORNE, and Mr. BENNETT) introduced

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee

on Energy and Natural Resources

DECEMBER 8, 1995

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment and an amendment to the

title

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

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
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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:

5 (1) Although ski areas occupy less than one6 twentieth of one percent of National Forest System

7 lands nationwide, in many rural areas of the United

8 States, ski areas and investments by ski area per9 mittees on National Forest System lands form the

10 backbone of the local economy and a preponderance

11 of the employment base.

12 (2) Ski area operations and their attendant

13 communities provide revenues to the United States

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

15 revenues which are extremely significant in propor16 tion to the limited Federal acreage and Forest Serv17 ice administration and contractual obligations re18 quired to support such operations.

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

20 permittees provide multiseason facilities and en21 hanced access to National Forest System lands that

22 result in greater public use and enjoyment of such

23 lands than would otherwise occur.
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1 (4) Unlike many other private sector users of

2 Federal lands, ski areas in almost all cases assume

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

4 all recreational facilities and improvements on such

5 lands.

6 (5) Many ski areas on National Forest System

7 lands operate in an extremely competitive environ8 ment with similar facilities located on private or

9 State lands, which requires ski area permittees to

10 maintain a high level of capital investment to up11 grade existing facilities and install new facilities

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

13 equipment, restaurants, and day care centers) to

14 serve the public.

15 (6) Despite an outward appearance of economic

16 well-being resulting from an intensive capital infra17 structure, many ski area operations are marginally

18 profitable due to the competition and capital invest19 ments referred to in paragraph (5), weather condi20 tions, insurance premiums, the national economy,

21 and other factors beyond the control of the ski area

22 permittee.

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

24 the economies of the United States and the rural

25 communities in which they are located, and the en-
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1 hanced use and enjoyment of National Forest Sys2 tem lands resulting from ski areas, it is in the na3 tional interest for the United States, where consist4 ent with national forest management objectives, to

5 take actions to promote the long-term economic

6 health and stability of ski areas and associated com7 munities.

8 (8) The National Forest Ski Area Permit Act

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

10 ski area operations on National Forest System lands

11 by providing longer term lease tenure and contrac12 tual stability to ski area permittees, but further ad13 justments and policy direction are warranted to ad14 dress problems related to permit fees and fee cal15 culations and conflicts with certain mineral activi16 ties.

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

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

19 (1) to legislate a ski area permit fee that re20 turns fair market value to the United States and at

21 the same time—

22 (A) provides ski area permittees and the

23 United States with a simplified, consistent, pre24 dictable, and equitable fee formula that is com-
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1 mensurate with long-term planning, financing,

2 and operational needs of ski areas; and

3 (B) simplifies bookkeeping and other ad4 ministrative burdens on ski area permittees and

5 Forest Service personnel; and

6 (2) to prevent future conflicts between ski area

7 operations and mining and mineral leasing programs

8 by withdrawing lands within ski area permit bound9 aries from the operation of the mining and mineral

10 leasing laws.

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

12 AREAS FROM OPERATION OF MINING LAWS.

13 The National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986

14 (16 U.S.C. 497b) is amended by adding at the end the

15 following new sections:

16 ‘‘SEC. 4. SKI AREA PERMIT FEES.

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

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

19 on National Forest System lands shall be calculated,

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

21 order to—

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

23 States and at the same time provide ski area permit24 tees and the United States with a simplified, consist25 ent, predictable, and equitable permit fee;
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1 ‘‘(2) simplify administrative, bookkeeping, and

2 other requirements currently imposed on the Sec3 retary of Agriculture and ski area permittees on na4 tional forest lands; and

5 ‘‘(3) save costs associated with the calculation

6 of ski area permit fees.

7 ‘‘(b) METHOD OF CALCULATION.—

8 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF ADJUSTED GROSS

9 REVENUE SUBJECT TO FEE.—The Secretary of Agri10 culture shall calculate the ski area permit fee

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

12 determining the permittee’s adjusted gross revenue

13 (AGR) to be subject to the permit fee. The permit14 tee’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) is equal to the

15 sum of the following:

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

17 alpine lift ticket and alpine season pass sales

18 plus revenue from alpine ski school operations

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

20 permittee’s slope transport feet percentage

21 (STFP) on National Forest System lands.

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

23 nordic ski use pass sales and nordic ski school

24 operations (LTN+SSN), with such total multi-
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1 plied by the permittee’s percentage (NR) of

2 nordic trails on National Forest System lands.

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

4 ancillary facilities (GRAF) physically located on

5 National Forest System lands, including all per6 mittee or subpermittee lodging, food service,

7 rental shops, parking, and other ancillary oper8 ations.

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

10 abbreviations indicated in paragraph (1), the cal11 culation of the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of a

12 ski are permittee is illustrated by the following for13 mula:

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

14 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF SKI AREA PERMIT

15 FEE.—The Secretary shall determine the ski area

16 permit fee (SAPF) to be charged a ski area permit17 tee by multiplying adjusted gross revenue deter18 mined under paragraph (1) for the permittee by the

19 following percentages for each revenue bracket and

20 adding the total for each revenue bracket:

21 ‘‘(A) 1.5 percent of all adjusted gross reve22 nue below $3,000,000.

23 ‘‘(B) 2.5 percent for adjusted gross reve24 nue between $3,000,000 and $15,000,000.
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1 ‘‘(C) 2.75 percent for adjusted gross reve2 nue between $15,000,000 and $50,000,000.

3 ‘‘(D) 4.0 percent for the amount of ad4 justed gross revenue that exceeds $50,000,000.

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

6 In cases where ski areas are only partially located on

7 National Forest System lands, the slope transport

8 feet percentage on national forest land referred to in

9 paragraph (1) is hereby determined to most accu10 rately reflect the percent of an alpine ski area per11 mittee’s total skier service capacity which is located

12 on National Forest System land. It shall be cal13 culated as generally described in the Forest Service

14 Manual in effect as of January 1, 1992.

15 ‘‘(5) ANNUAL ADJUSTMENT OF ADJUSTED

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

17 area permit fee set forth in this subsection remains

18 fair and equitable to both the United States and ski

19 area permittees, the Secretary shall adjust, on an

20 annual basis, the adjusted gross revenue figures for

21 each revenue bracket in subparagraphs (A) through

22 (D) of paragraph (3) by the percent increase or de23 crease in the national Consumer Price Index for the

24 preceding calendar year.
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1 ‘‘(c) MINIMUM RENTAL FEE.—In cases where an

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

3 permit but the permittee does not have revenue or sales

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

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

6 for each acre of National Forest System land under per7 mit. Rental fees imposed under this subsection shall be

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

9 ‘‘(d) TIME FOR PAYMENT.—Unless otherwise mutu10 ally agreed to by the ski area permittee and the Secretary,

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

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

13 cover all applicable revenues received during the 12-month

14 period ending on June 30 of that year. To simplify book15 keeping and fee calculation burdens on the permittee and

16 the Forest Service, the Secretary shall no later than

17 March 15 of each year provide each ski area permittee

18 with a standardized form and worksheets (including an19 nual fee calculation brackets and rates) to be utilized for

20 fee calculation and submitted with the fee payment.

21 ‘‘(e) EXCLUSION OF REVENUE OBTAINED OUTSIDE

22 OF NATIONAL FOREST LANDS.—Under no circumstances

23 shall ski area permittee revenue or subpermittee revenue

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

25 obtained from operations physically located on nonnational
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1 forest land be included in the ski area permit fee calcula2 tion.

3 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—To simplify bookkeeping and ad4 ministrative burdens on ski area permittees and the For5 est Service, as used in this section, the terms ‘revenue’

6 and ‘sales’ shall mean actual income from sales. Such

7 terms shall not include sales of operating equipment, re8 funds, rent paid to the permittee by sublessees, sponsor

9 contributions to special events or any amounts attrib10 utable to employee gratuities, discounts, complimentary

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

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

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

14 permit fees required by this section shall become effective

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

16 1994. If a ski area permittee has paid fees for the 12-

17 month period ending on June 30, 1995, under the grad18 uated rate fee system formula in effect prior to the date

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

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

21 under this section.

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

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

24 order to minimize in any one year the effects of con25 verting individual ski areas from the fee system in
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1 existence on the date of the enactment of this sec2 tion to the ski area permit fee required by sub3 section (a), each ski area permittee subject to the

4 new fee shall determine the permittee’s average ex5 isting fees (AEF) for each year of the three-year pe6 riod ending on June 30, 1994, and the permittee’s

7 proforma average ski area permit fee (ASF) under

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

9 AEF and ASF shall be determined by adding to10 gether the fee payment made by the ski area or the

11 estimated payment that would have been paid under

12 subsection (a) for each year of that period and divid13 ing by three.

14 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF TRANSITIONAL

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

16 by subsection (a) for each year in the five-year pe17 riod ending on June 30, 1999, the Secretary of Ag18 riculture shall divide the ski area permit fee required

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

20 the AEF. The resulting fee shall be called the Ad21 justed Base Fee (ABF). After June 30, 1999, all ski

22 areas will pay the ski area permit fee required by

23 subsection (a) without regard to previous fees or

24 rates paid.
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1 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF LOW ABF.—Should the ABF

2 be less than the ski area permit fee required by sub3 section (a), the ski area permittee shall pay the less4 er of the fee required by subsection (a) or the ABF,

5 which shall be adjusted by multiplying the ABF

6 by—

7 ‘‘(A) 1.1 for the fee required to be paid by

8 August 31, 1995;

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

10 August 31, 1996;

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

12 August 31, 1997;

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

14 August 31, 1998; and

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

16 August 31, 1999.

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

18 be greater than the ski area permit fee required by

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

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

21 ABF, which shall be adjusted by multiplying the

22 ABF by—

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

24 August 31, 1995;
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1 ‘‘(B) 0.8 for the fee required to be paid by

2 August 31, 1996;

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

4 August 31, 1997;

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

6 August 31, 1998; and

7 ‘‘(E) 0.5 for the fee required to be paid by

8 August 31, 1999.

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

10 MINING LAWS.

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

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

13 on, or after the date of the enactment of this section pur14 suant to the authority of the Act of March 4, 1915 (16

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

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

17 automatically withdrawn from all forms of appropriation

18 under the mining laws and from disposition under all laws

19 pertaining to mineral and geothermal leasing and all

20 amendments to such laws. Such withdrawal shall continue

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

22 reissuance, or renewal of the permit. Such withdrawal

23 shall be canceled automatically upon expiration or other

24 termination of the permit unless, at the request of the Sec25 retary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior deter-
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1 mines to continue the withdrawal. Upon cancellation of the

2 withdrawal, the land shall be automatically restored to all

3 appropriation not otherwise restricted under the public

4 land laws.’’.

5 SECTION 1. SKI AREA PERMIT RENTAL CHARGE.

6 (a) The Secretary of Agriculture shall charge a rental

7 charge for all ski area permits issued pursuant to section

8 3 of the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986 (16

9 U.S.C. 497b), the Act of March 4, 1915 (38 Stat. 1101,

10 chapter 144; 16 U.S.C. 497), or the 9th through 20th para11 graphs under the heading ‘‘SURVEYING THE PUBLIC

12 LANDS’’ under the heading ‘‘UNDER THE DEPART13 MENT OF THE INTERIOR’’ in the Act of June 4, 1897

14 (30 Stat. 34, chapter 2), on National Forest System lands.

15 Permit rental charges for permits issued pursuant to the

16 National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986 shall be cal17 culated as set forth in subsection (b). Permit rental charges

18 for existing ski area permits issued pursuant to the Act of

19 March 4, 1915, and the Act of June 4, 1897, shall be cal20 culated in accordance with those existing permits: Provided,

21 That a permittee may, at the permittee’s option, use the

22 calculation method set forth in subsection (b).

23 (b)(1) The ski area permit rental charge (SAPRC)

24 shall be calculated by adding the permittee’s gross revenues

25 from lift ticket/year-round ski area use pass sales plus reve-
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1 nue from ski school operations (LT+SS) and multiplying

2 such total by the slope transport feet percentage (STFP) on

3 National Forest System land. That amount shall be in4 creased by the gross year-round revenue from ancillary fa5 cilities (GRAF) physically located on national forest land,

6 including all permittee or subpermittee lodging, food serv7 ice, rental shops, parking and other ancillary operations,

8 to determine the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) subject to

9 the permit rental charge. The final rental charge shall be

10 calculated by multiplying the AGR by the following per11 centages for each revenue bracket and adding the total for

12 each revenue bracket:

13 (A) 1.5 percent of all adjusted gross revenue

14 below $3,000,000;

15 (B) 2.5 percent for adjusted gross revenue be16 tween $3,000,000 and $15,000,000;

17 (C) 2.75 percent for adjusted gross revenue be18 tween $15,000,000 and $50,000,000; and

19 (D) 4.0 percent for the amount of adjusted gross

20 revenue that exceeds $50,000,000.

21 Utilizing the abbreviations indicated in this subsection

22 the ski area permit fee (SAPF) formula can be simply illus23 trated as:

SAPF=((LT+SS)×STFP)+GRAF=AGR; AGR×% BRACKETS

24 (2) In cases where ski areas are only partially located

25 on national forest lands, the slope transport feet percentage
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1 on national forest land referred to in subsection (b) shall

2 be calculated as generally described in the Forest Service

3 Manual in effect as of January 1, 1992. Revenues from Nor4 dic ski operations shall be included or excluded from the

5 rental charge calculation according to the percentage of

6 trails physically located on national forest land.

7 (3) In order to ensure that the rental charge remains

8 fair and equitable to both the United States and ski area

9 permittees, the adjusted gross revenue figures for each reve10 nue bracket in paragraph (1) shall be adjusted annually

11 by the percent increase or decrease in the national

12 Consumer Price Index for the preceding calendar year. No

13 later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act

14 and every 10 years thereafter the Secretary shall submit to

15 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the

16 United States Senate and the Committee on Resources of

17 the United States House of Representatives a report analyz18 ing whether the ski area permit rental charge legislated by

19 this Act is returning a fair market value rental to the

20 United States together with any recommendations the Sec21 retary may have for modifications of the system.

22 (c) The rental charge set forth in subsection (b) shall

23 be due on June 1 of each year and shall be paid or pre24 paid by the permittee on a monthly, quarterly, annual or

25 other schedule as determined appropriate by the Secretary
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1 in consultation with the permittee. Unless mutually agreed

2 otherwise by the Secretary and the permittee, the payment

3 or prepayment schedule shall conform to the permittee’s

4 schedule in effect prior to enactment of this Act. To reduce

5 costs to the permittee and the Forest Service, the Secretary

6 shall each year provide the permittee with a standardized

7 form and worksheets (including annual rental charge cal8 culation brackets and rates) to be used for rental charge

9 calculation and submitted with the rental charge payment.

10 Information provided on such forms shall be compiled by

11 the Secretary annually and kept in the Office of the Chief,

12 U.S. Forest Service.

13 (d) The ski area permit rental charge set forth in this

14 section shall become effective on June 1, 1996 and cover re15 ceipts retroactive to June 1, 1995: Provided, however, That

16 if a permittee has paid rental charges for the period June

17 1, 1995, to June 1, 1996, under the graduated rate rental

18 charge system formula in effect prior to the date of enact19 ment of this Act, such rental charges shall be credited to20 ward the new rental charge due on June 1, 1996. In order

21 to ensure increasing rental charge receipt levels to the

22 United States during transition from the graduated rate

23 rental charge system formula of this Act, the rental charge

24 paid by any individual permittee shall be—
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1 (1) for the 1995–1996 permit year, either the

2 rental charge paid for the preceding 1994–1995 base

3 year or the rental charge calculated pursuant to this

4 Act, whichever is higher;

5 (2) for the 1996–1997 permit year, either the

6 rental charge paid for the 1994–1995 base year or the

7 rental charge calculated pursuant to this Act, which8 ever is higher;

9 (3) for the 1997–1998 permit year, either the

10 rental charge for the 1994–1995 base year or the rent11 al charge calculated pursuant to this Act, whichever

12 is higher.

13 If an individual permittee’s adjusted gross revenue for the

14 1995–1996, 1996–1997, or 1997–1998 permit years falls

15 more than 10 percent below the 1994–1995 base year, the

16 rental charge paid shall be the rental charge calculated pur17 suant to this Act.

18 (e) Under no circumstances shall revenue, or

19 subpermittee revenue (other than lift ticket, area use pass,

20 or ski school sales) obtained from operations physically lo21 cated on non-national forest land be included in the ski

22 area permit rental charge calculation.

23 (f) To reduce administrative costs of ski area permit24 tees and the Forest Service the terms ‘‘revenue’’ and ‘‘sales’’,

25 as used in this section, shall mean actual income from sales
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1 and shall not include sales of operating equipment, refunds,

2 rent paid to the permittee by sublessees, sponsor contribu3 tions to special events or any amounts attributable to em4 ployee gratuities or employee lift tickets, discounts, or other

5 goods or services (except for bartered goods and complimen6 tary life tickets) for which the permittee does not receive

7 money.

8 (g) In cases where an area of national forest land is

9 under a ski area permit but the permittee does not have

10 revenue or sales qualifying for rental charge payment pur11 suant to subsection (a), the permittee shall pay an annual

12 minimum rental charge of $2 for each national forest acre

13 under permit or a percentage of appraised land value, as

14 determined appropriate by the Secretary.

15 (h) Where the new rental charge provided for in sub16 section (b)(1) results in an increase in permit rental charge

17 greater than one half of one percent of the permittee’s ad18 justed gross revenue as determined under subsection (b)(1),

19 the new rental charge shall be phased in over a five year

20 period in a manner providing for increases for approxi21 mately equal increments.

22 (i) To reduce federal costs in administering the provi23 sions of this Act, the reissuance of a ski area permit to pro24 vide activities similar in nature and amount to the activi25 ties provided under the previous permit shall not constitute
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1 a major Federal action for the purposes of the National En2 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.).

3 SEC. 2. WITHDRAWALS.

4 Subject to valid existing rights, all lands located with5 in the boundaries of ski area permits issued prior to, on

6 or after the date of enactment of this Act pursuant to au7 thority of the Act of March 4, 1915 (38 Stat. 1101, chapter

8 144; 16 U.S.C. 497), and the Act of June 4, 1897, or the

9 National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C.

10 497b) are hereby and henceforth automatically withdrawn

11 from all forms of appropriation under the mining laws and

12 from disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral and

13 geothermal leasing and all amendments thereto. Such with14 drawal shall continue for the full term of the permit and

15 any modification, reissuance, or renewal thereof. Unless the

16 Secretary requests otherwise of the Secretary of the Interior,

17 such withdrawal shall be canceled automatically upon expi18 ration or other termination of the permit and the land auto19 matically restored to all appropriation not otherwise re20 stricted under the public land laws.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to further 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.’’.

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