The presence of an endangered species or of an archaeological site may require numerous field observations by BLM or the grant holder, even though processing the application did not require more than one visit. As part of the proposed regulations, BLM is requesting comments on whether or not to establish a separate cost recovery schedule for monitoring costs and on what criteria the schedule should be based. Because several of the categories are seldom used. The reasons are primarily economic. The BLM considered eliminating the automatic exemptions and reductions for all applicants except those exempted by statute.
Federal agencies are a special case, however.
They usually enter into interagency agreements with BLM for work done on their applications. Negotiating these agreements may take many months. Assigning each federal project to a category will enable other federal agencies to determine their costs in advance and will also reduce the administrative paperwork involved in federal transactions. Individuals and groups who want their applications processed must pay the fees, unless their projects qualify for fee reductions under the limited circumstances of reasonability or hardship. The proposed regulations at section 2804.15 list the criteria for determining whether entities should consider applying for fee reductions.