113
HR 1296 EAS
TITLE XVI—TAOS PUEBLO LAND
TRANSFER
SEC. 1601. LAND TRANSFER.
(a) TRANSFER.—The parcel of land described in sub-
section (b) is hereby transferred without consideration to
the Secretary of the Interior to be held in trust for the Pueb-
lo de Taos. Such parcel shall be a part of the Pueblo de
Taos Reservation and shall be managed in accordance with
section 4 of the Act of May 31, 1933 (48 Stat. 108) (as
amended, including as amended by Public Law 91–550 (84
Stat. 1437)).
(b) LAND DESCRIPTION.—The parcel of land referred
to in subsection (a) is the land that is generally depicted
on the map entitled ‘‘Lands transferred to the Pueblo of
Taos—proposed’’ and dated September 1994, comprises
764.33 acres, and is situated within sections 25, 26, 35,
and 36, Township 27 North, Range 14 East, New Mexico
Principal Meridian, within the Wheeler Peak Wilderness,
Carson National Forest, Taos County, New Mexico.
(c) CONFORMING
BOUNDARY
ADJUSTMENTS.—The
boundaries of the Carson National Forest and the Wheeler
Peak Wilderness are hereby adjusted to reflect the transfer
made by subsection (a).
(d) RESOLUTION
OF OUTSTANDING CLAIMS.—The
Congress finds and declares that, as a result of the enact-
114
HR 1296 EAS
ment of this Act, the Taos Pueblo has no unresolved equi-
table or legal claims against the United States on the lands
to be held in trust and to become part of the Pueblo de Taos
Reservation under this title.
TITLE XVII—SKI FEES
SEC. 1701. SKI AREA PERMIT RENTAL CHARGE.
(a) The Secretary of Agriculture shall charge a rental
charge for all ski area permits issued pursuant to section
3 of the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986 (16
U.S.C. 497b), the Act of March 4, 1915 (38 Stat. 1101,
chapter 144; 16 U.S.C. 497), or the 9th through 20th para-
graphs under the heading ‘‘SURVEYING THE PUBLIC
LANDS’’ under the heading ‘‘UNDER THE DEPART-
MENT OF THE INTERIOR’’ in the Act of June 4, 1897
(30 Stat. 34, chapter 2), on National Forest System lands.
Permit rental charges for permits issued pursuant to the
National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986 shall be cal-
culated as set forth in subsection (b). Permit rental charges
for existing ski area permits issued pursuant to the Act of
March 4, 1915, and the Act of June 4, 1897, shall be cal-
culated in accordance with those existing permits: Provided,
That a permittee may, at the permittee’s option, use the
calculation method set forth in subsection (b).
(b)(1) The ski area permit rental charge (SAPRC)
shall be calculated by adding the permittee’s gross revenues
115
HR 1296 EAS
from lift ticket/year-round ski area use pass sales plus reve-
nue from ski school operations (LT+SS) and multiplying
such total by the slope transport feet percentage (STFP) on
National Forest System land. That amount shall be in-
creased by the gross year-round revenue from ancillary fa-
cilities (GRAF) physically located on national forest land,
including all permittee or subpermittee lodging, food serv-
ice, rental shops, parking and other ancillary operations,
to determine the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) subject to
the permit rental charge. The final rental charge shall be
calculated by multiplying the AGR by the following per-
centages for each revenue bracket and adding the total for
each revenue bracket:
(A) 1.5 percent of all adjusted gross revenue
below $3,000,000;
(B) 2.5 percent for adjusted gross revenue be-
tween $3,000,000 and $15,000,000;
(C) 2.75 percent for adjusted gross revenue be-
tween $15,000,000 and $50,000,000; and
(D) 4.0 percent for the amount of adjusted gross
revenue that exceeds $50,000,000.
Utilizing the abbreviations indicated in this subsection
the ski area permit fee (SAPF) formula can be simply illus-
trated as:
116
HR 1296 EAS
SAPF = ((LT + SS) × STFP) + GRAF = AGR; AGR × % BRACKETS
(2) In cases where ski areas are only partially located
on national forest lands, the slope transport feet percentage
on national forest land referred to in subsection (b) shall
be calculated as generally described in the Forest Service
Manual in effect as of January 1, 1992. Revenues from Nor-
dic ski operations shall be included or excluded from the
rental charge calculation according to the percentage of
trails physically located on national forest land.
(3) In order to ensure that the rental charge remains
fair and equitable to both the United States and the ski
area permittees, the adjusted gross revenue figures for each
revenue bracket in paragraph (1) shall be adjusted annually
by the percent increase or decrease in the national
Consumer Price Index for the preceding calendar year. No
later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act
and every 10 years thereafter the Secretary shall submit to
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
United States Senate and the Committee on Resources of
the United States House of Representatives a report analyz-
ing whether the ski area permit rental charge legislated by
this Act is returning a fair market value rental to the Unit-
ed States together with any recommendations the Secretary
may have for modifications of the system.
(c) The rental charge set forth in subsection (b) shall
be due on June 1 of each year and shall be paid or pre-