Calendar Year (CY) 2007 Communication Uses Rental Schedule
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
Washington, D.C. 20240
http://www.blm.gov
November 16, 2006
In Reply Refer To:
2860 (350) P
EMS TRANSIMISSION 11/21/2006
Information Bulletin No. 2007-012
To: All Field Officials
From: Division Chief, Lands, Realty and Cadastral Survey
Subject: Calendar Year (CY) 2007 Communication Uses Rental Schedule
Program Area: Rights-of-Way Management
Purpose: This Information Bulletin (IB) provides the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with the Calendar Year 2007 rental schedule for communication uses (Attachment 1). The schedule provides rental rates by population zones for various communication uses and reflects the annual adjustment based upon the change in the Consumer Price Index, All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), up 4.1 percent from July 2005 to July 2006.
Policy/Action: Regulations in 43 CFR 2806.30(a)(2) state that rental payments will be updated annually based on the change in the CPI-U and Ranally Metro Area (RMA) population rankings. The 4.1 percent increase should also be applied to any rental value established by other methods if, by the terms of the authorization, the annual rent is indexed to the CPI-U.
Field Offices should reproduce the schedule locally and make copies available to applicants or holders as appropriate or as requested. The schedule will also be posted on the BLM Washington Office (WO) external web page under the Lands, Realty and Cadastral Survey section at: http://www.blm.gov/nhp/what/lands/realty/management.htm.
Attachment 2 shows the cities, grouped by population strata, that have been designated RMAs for 2007. All cities that have had changes in population are listed below:
Cities (RMAs) added:
None
Cities that increased in population:
Detroit, MI-CAN (incl. Ann Arbor, MI, and Windsor, CAN)
Anderson, SC
Manhattan, KS
Cities that decreased in population:
None
Cities that changed their RMA status:
Brownsville, TX-MEX (now includes Harlinger, TX)
Cities dropped as an RMA:
None
The Communication Site Rental Calculation Program (CSRC) has been updated and is available for data entry and calculation of rental bills for 2007. All communication use authorizations, even those not currently subject to rent, must be entered into CSRC. This information is required in order to run various reports that can not be obtained from LR2000. Attachment 3 provides instructions for updating 2006 worksheets for use in generating rental amounts for 2007. CSRC will be available to users in Alaska, with certain limitations, on November 1, 2006. Please contact Andrea Hauger at (303) 236-0535 for any questions regarding access to and use of the CSRC Program.
Prior to generating the CY 2007 communication use rental bills, offices should review the Unpaid Bill Report located on the Collections and Billing System (CBS) Web site. The report contains communication use authorizations that have unpaid rent, late payment fees, or administrative fees. The unpaid bills appearing in the CBS report must be cleared up prior to issuing the CY 2007 rent bill. The unpaid bill report is located at: http://cbs.blm.gov/cbs/reports/Billsum.bqy.
Please refer to the revised right-of-way regulations at 43 CFR 2806.30 through 2806.50 for guidance on the sitting and administration of communication uses. The regulations can be found at the following BLM Web site: http://www.blm.gov/nhp/what/lands/realty/rowcr/. In addition, please be reminded that: (1) the rent payment options outlined in the new right-of-way regulations at 43 CFR 2806.23, only apply to linear grants, not communication site leases; and (2) the BLM will only waive or reduce rent to a non-profit entity if that entity is not controlled by, or is not a subsidiary of, a profitmaking corporation or business enterprise, and the facility or project will provide a benefit or special service to the general public or to a program of the Secretary (43 CFR 2806.15(b)(1). As discussed in IB No. 2003-005, non-profit communication lease holders may have their rent waived only under two conditions: 1) the entity must meet the requirements established of non-profit organization under IRS regulations at section 501(c)(3); and 2) the Federal Communication Commission license for the use specifies that the holder is both non-commercial and educational. Any non-profit organizations not meeting both of the above criteria are subject to rent.
Timeframe: Effective January 1, 2007.
Background: Regulations at 43 CFR 2806.30(a)(2) state that the communication use rental schedule will be updated annually based on the difference in the CPI-U from July of one year to July of the following year, and any changes in the RMA population rankings.
Budget Impact: There is no budget impact.
Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: This IB follows the guidance provided for in BLM Manual Section 2806.
Coordination: ThisIB was coordinated with WO-330D, CBS, and the U.S. Forest Service.
Contact: Any questions concerning the content in this IB should be directed to the WO Division of Lands, Realty and Cadastral Survey (WO-350). Points of contact for Communication Use questions are Scott Forssell at (208) 769-5044 or e-mail at scott_forssell@blm.gov and Rick Stamm at (202) 452-5185, or e-mail at rick_stamm@blm.gov.
Signed by:
Authenticated by:
Jeff Holdren
Robert M. Williams
Division Chief
Division of IRM Governance,WO560
Lands, Realty and Cadastral Survey
3 Attachments
1 - 2007 Communication Rent Schedule (1 p)
2 - Listing of Cities by Population Strata (5 pp)
3 – Updating CSRC Worksheets for 2007 (1 p)