I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 547
To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture
to establish grazing fees at fair market value for use of public grazing
lands.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 4, 1997
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 for use of public grazing lands.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Free Market Grazing
Fees Act’’.
SEC. 2. GRAZING FEES ESTABLISHED AT FAIR MARKET
VALUE.
(a) FEES REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec-
retary of the Interior, with respect to public grazing lands
subject to their respective jurisdiction, shall establish an
annual domestic livestock grazing fee equal to the fair
market value of the grazing lease or permit concerned.
(b) COMMENCEMENT OF FEES.—The grazing fees re-
quired by this section shall apply beginning with the graz-
ing season that commences on March 1, 1998.
(c) FACTORS.—In determining the fair market value
of a grazing lease or permit, the Secretary concerned shall
take into account the following:
(1) The amounts and conditions under which
neighboring non-Federal lands are leased or sold for
grazing purposes.
(2) The improvements provided or to be pro-
vided by the lessee or permit holder.
(3) The services to be provided by the United
States.
(d) PROCEDURES.—In determining the fair market
value of grazing permits, the Secretary concerned shall
publish rules in accordance with chapter 5 of title 5, Unit-
ed States Code, which ensure that whenever practicable
fair market value is established through competitive bid-
ding.
(e) SMALL FAMILY RANCH EXEMPTION.—
(1) CERTIFICATION FOR PREVAILING FEES.—
The holder of a Federal grazing lease or permit as
of the date of the enactment of this section who
makes a certification to the Secretary concerned in
accordance with this subsection shall be charged the
prevailing grazing fee on that date for the period be-
ginning on that date and ending on February 28,
2008.
(2) CONTENT OF CERTIFICATION.—
(A) ANNUAL INCOME.—The holder of the
Federal grazing lease or permit shall certify
that, for the immediately preceding calendar
year—
(i) the holder derived more than half
of the holder’s annual income from the
ranching operation associated with the
Federal grazing lease or permit; and
(ii) the holder—
(I) if an individual, has an ad-
justed gross annual income (as de-
fined in the Internal Revenue Code of
1986) of less than $50,000; or
(II) if a person other than an in-
dividual, has total assets of less than
$1,000,000, including the value of
Federal leases or permits of any kind,
including the assets of any entity
owned by, controlled by, or under
common control of, directly or indi-
rectly, the holder.
(B) SUBSTANTIAL LABOR.—The holder of
the Federal grazing lease or permit shall certify
that, for the immediately preceding calendar
year, the holder—
(i) if an individual, performed sub-
stantial labor in the ranching operation ei-
ther personally or using members of the
holder’s immediate family; or
(ii) if a person other than an individ-
ual, performed substantial labor in the
ranching operation using the officers of the
holder.
(3) SUBMISSION OF CERTIFICATION.—A certifi-
cation under this subsection shall be submitted to
the Secretary concerned before the beginning of each
grazing season.
(f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section:
(1) PUBLIC GRAZING LANDS.—The term ‘‘pub-
lic grazing lands’’ means the following:
(A) The National Forest lands (including
the national grasslands) in the 16 contiguous
Western States administered by the United
States Forest Service where domestic livestock
grazing is permitted under applicable law.
(B) The public domain lands administered
by the Bureau of Land Management where do-
mestic livestock grazing is permitted under ap-
plicable law.
(C) The lands within units of the National
Park System on which grazing is permitted
under applicable law.
(2) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec-
retary concerned’’ means—
(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re-
spect to public grazing lands subject to the ju-
risdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture; and
(B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re-
spect to public grazing lands subject to the ju-
risdiction of the Secretary of the Interior.
(g) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO ESTABLISH FEES.—No
grazing shall be permitted on any public grazing lands
after March 1, 1998, unless the Secretary of the Interior
and the Secretary of Agriculture each affirm to Congress
that grazing fees for all public grazing lands have been
established in compliance with this section.
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