108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 762

AN ACT

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

to clarify the method by which the Secretary ofthe Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture determine the fair market value of certain rightsof-way granted, issued, or renewed under theseActs.

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 762

AN ACT

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.
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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’’.

6 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF FAIR MARKET RENTAL VALUE

7 DETERMINATIONS FOR PUBLIC LANDS AND

8 FOREST SERVICE RIGHTS-OF-WAY.

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

10 LAND POLICY AND MANAGEMENT ACT.—Section 504 of

11 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976

12 (43 U.S.C. 1764) is amended by adding at the end the

13 following new subsection:

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

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

16 issuance of the rules required by paragraph (2), for pur17 poses of subsection (g), the Secretary concerned shall de18 termine the fair market rental for the use of land encum19 bered by a linear right-of-way granted, issued, or renewed

20 under this title using the valuation method described in

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

22 ‘‘(2) Not later than one year after the date of enact23 ment of the Reasonable Right-of-Way Fees Act of 2003,

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

25 the Interior shall amend section 2803.1–2 of title 43, Code
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1 of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of enact2 ment of such Act, to revise the per acre rental fee zone

3 value schedule by State, county, and type of linear right4 of-way use to reflect current values of land in each zone.

5 The Secretary of Agriculture shall make the same revi6 sions for linear rights-of-way granted, issued, or renewed

7 under this title on National Forest System lands.

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

9 the schedule revised under paragraph (2) by multiplying

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

11 second quarter to the second quarter (June 30 to June

12 30) in the Gross National Product Implicit Price Deflator

13 Index published in the Survey of Current Business of the

14 Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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

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

17 change in the 3-year average of the 1-year Treasury inter18 est rate used to determine per acre rental fee zone values

19 exceeds plus or minus 50 percent, the Secretary concerned

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

21 figures to determine whether the value of Federal land has

22 differed sufficiently from the index referred to in para23 graph (3) to warrant a revision in the base zones and rent24 al per acre figures. If, as a result of the review, the Sec25 retary concerned determines that such a revision is war-
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1 ranted, the Secretary concerned shall revise the base zones

2 and rental per acre figures accordingly.’’.

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

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

5 U.S.C. 185(l)) is amended by inserting before the period

6 at the end the following: ‘‘using the valuation method de7 scribed in section 2803.1–2 of title 43, Code of Federal

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

9 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43

10 U.S.C. 1764(k))’’.

Passed the House of Representatives April 1, 2003.

Attest:

Clerk.