I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 762

To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 and the 

Mineral Leasing Act to clarify the method by which the Secretary of 

the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture determine the fair market 

value of certain rights-of-way granted, issued, or renewed under these 

Acts. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2003

Mrs. CUBIN (for herself, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. MCINNIS, 

Mr. RADANOVICH, and Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 

of 1976 and the Mineral Leasing Act to clarify the 

method by which the Secretary of the Interior and the 

Secretary of Agriculture determine the fair market value 

of certain rights-of-way granted, issued, or renewed 

under these Acts.

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 ‘‘Reasonable Right-of5 Way Fees Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF FAIR MARKET RENTAL VALUE 

2 DETERMINATIONS FOR PUBLIC LANDS AND 

3 FOREST SERVICE RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 

4 (a) LINEAR RIGHTS-OF-WAY UNDER FEDERAL

5 LAND POLICY AND MANAGEMENT ACT.—Section 504 of 

6 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 

7 (43 U.S.C. 1764) is amended by adding at the end the 

8 following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(k) DETERMINATION OF FAIR MARKET VALUE OF

10 LINEAR RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—(1) Effective upon the 

11 issuance of the rules required by paragraph (2), for pur12 poses of subsection (g), the Secretary concerned shall de13 termine the fair market rental for the use of land encum14 bered by a linear right-of-way granted, issued, or renewed 

15 under this title using the valuation method described in 

16 paragraphs (2), (3), and (4). 

17 ‘‘(2) Not later than one year after the date of enact18 ment of the Reasonable Right-of-Way Fees Act of 2003, 

19 and in accordance with subsection (k), the Secretary of 

20 the Interior shall amend section 2803.1–2 of title 43, Code 

21 of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of enact22 ment of such Act, to revise the per acre rental fee zone 

23 value schedule by State, county, and type of linear right24 of-way use to reflect current values of land in each zone. 

25 The Secretary of Agriculture shall make the same revi-
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1 sions for linear rights-of-way granted, issued, or renewed 

2 under this title on National Forest System lands. 

3 ‘‘(3) The Secretary concerned shall update annually 

4 the schedule revised under paragraph (2) by multiplying 

5 the current year’s rental per acre by the annual change, 

6 second quarter to the second quarter (June 30 to June 

7 30) in the Gross National Product Implicit Price Deflator 

8 Index published in the Survey of Current Business of the 

9 Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. 

10 ‘‘(4) Whenever the cumulative change in the index 

11 referred to in paragraph (3) exceeds 30 percent, or the 

12 change in the 3-year average of the 1-year Treasury inter13 est rate used to determine per acre rental fee zone values 

14 exceeds plus or minus 50 percent, the Secretary concerned 

15 shall conduct a review of the zones and rental per acre 

16 figures to determine whether the value of Federal land has 

17 differed sufficiently from the index referred to in para18 graph (3) to warrant a revision in the base zones and rent19 al per acre figures. If, as a result of the review, the Sec20 retary concerned determines that such a revision is war21 ranted, the Secretary concerned shall revise the base zones 

22 and rental per acre figures accordingly.’’. 

23 (b) RIGHTS-OF-WAY UNDER MINERAL LEASING

24 ACT.—Section 28(l) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

25 U.S.C. 185(l)) is amended by inserting before the period 
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1 at the end the following: ‘‘using the valuation method de2 scribed in section 2803.1–2 of title 43, Code of Federal 

3 Regulations, as revised pursuant to section 504(k) of the 

4 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

5 U.S.C. 1764(k))’’.

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