I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 676

To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture

to establish grazing fees at fair market value.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 25, 1995

Mr. NADLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary

of Agriculture to establish grazing fees at fair market value.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Free Market Grazing

5 Fees Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. GRAZING FEES ESTABLISHED AT FAIR MARKET

7 VALUE.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi9 sion of law, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary

10 of the Interior, with respect to public grazing lands subject
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1 to their respective jurisdiction, shall establish beginning

2 with the grazing season which commences on March 1,

3 1996, an annual domestic livestock grazing fee equal to

4 the fair market value of the grazing lease or permit con5 cerned.

6 (b) FACTORS.—In determining the fair market value

7 of a grazing lease or permit, each Secretary shall take into

8 account—

9 (1) the amounts and conditions under which

10 neighboring non-Federal lands are leased or sold for

11 grazing purposes;

12 (2) the improvements provided or to be pro13 vided by the leasee or permit holder; and

14 (3) the services to be provided by the United

15 States.

16 (c) PROCEDURES.—In determining the fair market

17 value of grazing permits, the Secretary of the Interior and

18 the Secretary of Agriculture shall publish rules in accord19 ance with chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, which

20 ensure that whenever practicable fair market value is es21 tablished through competitive bidding.

22 (d) SMALL FAMILY RANCH EXEMPTION.—(1) The

23 holder of a Federal grazing lease or permit as of the date

24 of enactment of this Act who makes a certification to the

25 Secretary in accordance with paragraph (2) shall be
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1 charged the prevailing grazing fee on that date for a pe2 riod ending on February 28, 2006.

3 (2) Prior to the beginning of each grazing season, the

4 holder of the Federal grazing lease or permit certifies to

5 the appropriate Secretary that for the calendar year imme6 diately preceding, that the holder—

7 (A) derived more than half of its annual income

8 from the ranching operation associated with the

9 Federal grazing lease or permit;

10 (B) performed substantial labor in the ranching

11 operation by the individual or the individual’s imme12 diate family, or, if a business, by the officers of the

13 business; and

14 (C) if an individual, has an adjusted gross an15 nual income (as defined in the Internal Revenue

16 Code of 1986) of less than $50,000; or, if a person

17 other than an individual has total assets including

18 (but not limited to) the value of Federal leases or

19 permits of any kind, including the assets of any en20 tity owned by, controlled by, or under common con21 trol with—directly or indirectly—the person, of less

22 than $1,000,000.

23 (e) PUBLIC GRAZING LANDS DEFINED.—For the

24 purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘public grazing lands’’

25 means—
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1 (1) the National Forest lands (including the na2 tional grasslands) in the 16 contiguous Western

3 States administered by the United States Forest

4 Service where domestic livestock grazing is per5 mitted under applicable law;

6 (2) the public domain lands administered by the

7 Bureau of Land Management where domestic live8 stock grazing is permitted under applicable law; and

9 (3) the lands within units of the National Park

10 System on which grazing is permitted under applica11 ble law.

12 (f) LIMITATION ON GRAZING.—No grazing shall be

13 permitted on any public grazing lands after March 1,

14 1996, unless the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec15 retary of Agriculture each affirm that grazing fees for all

16 lands under their respective jurisdiction are established in

17 compliance with this Act.

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