Reasonable Right-of-Way Fees Act of 2003

Reasonable Right-of-Way Fees Act of 2003 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to amend the Code of Federal Regulations to revise the per acre rental fee zone value schedule by State, county, and type of linear right-of-way use to reflect current land values. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to make such revisions for linear rights-of-way granted, issued, or renewed on National Forest System lands.

Directs the Secretaries to annually update the schedules of linear rights-of-way under their respective jurisdictions by a specified method using the Gross National Product Implicit Price Deflator Index.

Requires the Secretaries to review the zones and rental per acre figures whenever the cumulative change in the index exceeds 30 percent, or whenever the change in the 3-year average of the 1-year Treasury interest rate used to determine per acre rental fee zone values exceeds plus or minus 50 percent. Authorizes the Secretaries to revise the base zones and rental fees if the value of Federal land differs sufficiently from the index to warrant such action.

Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior or appropriate agency heads to use the same valuation method as in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (as revised by this Act) to calculate the value of rights-of-way for pipeline passage.

[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 762 Introduced in House (IH)]







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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Reasonable Right-of-Way Fees Act of 
2003''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF FAIR MARKET RENTAL VALUE DETERMINATIONS FOR 
              PUBLIC LANDS AND FOREST SERVICE RIGHTS-OF-WAY.

    (a) Linear Rights-of-Way Under Federal Land Policy and Management 
Act.--Section 504 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 
(43 U.S.C. 1764) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(k) Determination of Fair Market Value of Linear Rights-of-Way.--
(1) Effective upon the issuance of the rules required by paragraph (2), 
for purposes of subsection (g), the Secretary concerned shall determine 
the fair market rental for the use of land encumbered by a linear 
right-of-way granted, issued, or renewed under this title using the 
valuation method described in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4).
    ``(2) Not later than one year after the date of enactment of the 
Reasonable Right-of-Way Fees Act of 2003, and in accordance with 
subsection (k), the Secretary of the Interior shall amend section 
2803.1-2 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the 
date of enactment of such Act, to revise the per acre rental fee zone 
value schedule by State, county, and type of linear right-of-way use to 
reflect current values of land in each zone. The Secretary of 
Agriculture shall make the same revisions for linear rights-of-way 
granted, issued, or renewed under this title on National Forest System 
lands.
    ``(3) The Secretary concerned shall update annually the schedule 
revised under paragraph (2) by multiplying the current year's rental 
per acre by the annual change, second quarter to the second quarter 
(June 30 to June 30) in the Gross National Product Implicit Price 
Deflator Index published in the Survey of Current Business of the 
Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    ``(4) Whenever the cumulative change in the index referred to in 
paragraph (3) exceeds 30 percent, or the change in the 3-year average 
of the 1-year Treasury interest rate used to determine per acre rental 
fee zone values exceeds plus or minus 50 percent, the Secretary 
concerned shall conduct a review of the zones and rental per acre 
figures to determine whether the value of Federal land has differed 
sufficiently from the index referred to in paragraph (3) to warrant a 
revision in the base zones and rental per acre figures. If, as a result 
of the review, the Secretary concerned determines that such a revision 
is warranted, the Secretary concerned shall revise the base zones and 
rental per acre figures accordingly.''.
    (b) Rights-of-Way Under Mineral Leasing Act.--Section 28(l) of the 
Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185(l)) is amended by inserting before 
the period at the end the following: ``using the valuation method 
described in section 2803.1-2 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations, 
as revised pursuant to section 504(k) of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1764(k))''.
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