Rent for Nonlinear Rights-of-Way and Permits
December 11, 2014
EMS Transmission: 12/12/14
Instruction Memorandum No. NM-2015-009
Expires: 09/30/2016
To: DMs and FMs
From: State Director
Subject: Rent for Nonlinear Rights-of-Way and Permits
The Division of Lands, Minerals and Cadastral Survey, Washington Office (WO-350), requested the Office of Valuation Services (OVS) to prepare a nationwide rental fee schedule to reduce the need and expense of requesting individual appraisals to determine rent for the various types of land use authorizations provided under Section 302, and when applicable, under Section 504 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended.
Regulation at 43 CFR § 2920.8 directs the BLM to collect rent based either upon the fair market value of the rights authorized in the land use authorization or as determined by competitive bidding. Regulation at 43 CFR § 2806.50 directs the BLM to establish fair market rent for right-of-way grants that are not appropriate under the linear or communication site schedules. In no case shall the rental be less than fair market value.
In accordance with the above regulations, OVS completed the attached 2014 LAND USE AUTHORIZATION RENT STUDY - Small Uses up to 25 Acres (schedule) that provides a rental fee for land use authorizations/non-linear right-of-ways for each of New Mexico’s District and Field Offices to maintain a consistent approach to determining fees for annual rentals for minimum land use authorizations on Federal lands throughout the state for areas of 25 acres or less. The nationwide template schedule utilizes the National Agricultural Statistical Service’ (NASS) that reports agricultural land values by state and county and is published every 5 years. OVS used the latest report and adjusted the values to appropriately reflect public land rent values. A more detailed explanation of how the values were derived is in the attached schedule.
OVS organized the schedule by BLM District Office and counties under that District Offices’ jurisdiction. Each county has a per acre rent value which is adjusted depending on the intensity of the use by 50 percent for minimum impact, 75 percent for moderate impact and 100 percent for high impact. The realty specialist will select the appropriate county, identify the range of acreage the use falls within and select the severity of the impact to arrive at the estimated annual rental for the proposed use.
The examples provided under the minimum, moderate or high impact uses are not inclusive. The realty specialist may use the schedule for any use that is determined appropriate, i.e., resolves trespass issues or apiary sites. However, the realty specialist must exercise reasonable judgment in assessing the impact to the proposed rental sites. While the schedule provides exact values within the acreage ranges, there is great leeway for the realty specialists to interpret the category of use and degree of impact.
This schedule is not intended for filming, linear rights-of-way, special recreation use permits, mineral, solar, telecommunication, hydroelectric, geothermal, oil and gas or related uses that may require annual rent or have established schedules.
The BLM realty staff will use the schedule to administratively establish the rental rates to charge for non-linear rights-of-way and permit authorizations located in rural and/or low intensity land use areas where individual appraisal are not economically warranted. By using the schedule, the BLM will provide consistent and fair values to the public for the use of Federal lands and the BLM and OVS will save time and a substantial amount of appraisal costs.
This office requests constructive feedback throughout the first year of implementation to provide OVS with comments to improve this schedule where necessary during its next update. After the first year, it is recommended the BLM update this schedule upon the 2019 publication of the NASS report.
If you have any questions or wish to provide feedback, you may contact Debby Lucero, State Office Realty Specialist at 505-954-2196 or by email at dlucero@blm.gov.
Authenticated by: Veronica Maldonado, Staff Assistant
Signed by: Jesse Juen, State Director
1 Attachment
1 – Minimum Rent Analysis & Schedule (15pp)