[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 420 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 420

To establish a user fee system that provides for an equitable return to 
  the Federal Government for the occupancy and use of National Forest 
  System lands and facilities by organizational camps that serve the 
     youth and disabled adults of America, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 28, 2003

  Mr. Kolbe introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
     Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a user fee system that provides for an equitable return to 
  the Federal Government for the occupancy and use of National Forest 
  System lands and facilities by organizational camps that serve the 
     youth and disabled adults of America, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``National Forest 
Organizational Camp Fee Improvement Act of 2003''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings, purpose, and definitions.
Sec. 3. Fees for occupancy and use of National Forest System lands and 
                            facilities by organizational camps.
Sec. 4. Implementation.
Sec. 5. Relationship to other laws.
Sec. 6. Deposit and expenditure of use fees.
Sec. 7. Ministerial issuance or amendment authorization.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS, PURPOSE, AND DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Organizational camps, such as those administered by the 
        Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and faith-based and community-based 
        organizations, provide a valuable service to young people, 
        individuals with a disability, and their families by promoting 
        physical, mental, and spiritual health through activities 
        conducted in a natural environment.
            (2) The 192,000,0000 acres of national forests and 
        grasslands of the National Forest System managed for multiple 
        uses by the Forest Service provides an ideal setting for such 
        organizational camps.
            (3) The Federal Government should charge land use fees for 
        the occupancy and use of National Forest System lands by such 
        organizational camps that, while based on the fair market value 
        of the land in use, also recognize the benefits provided to 
        society by such organizational camps, do not preclude the 
        ability of such organizational camps from utilizing these 
        lands, and permit capital investment in, and maintenance of, 
        camp facilities by such organizational camps or their 
        sponsoring organizations.
            (4) Organizational camps should--
                    (A) ensure that their facilities meet applicable 
                building and safety codes, including fire and health 
                codes;
                    (B) have annual inspections as required by local 
                law, including at a minimum inspections for fire and 
                food safety; and
                    (C) have in place safety plans that address fire 
                and medical emergencies and encounters with wildlife.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to establish a land use 
fee system that provides for an equitable return to the Federal 
Government for the occupancy and use of National Forest System lands by 
organizational camps that serve young people or individuals with a 
disability.
    (c) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) The term ``organizational camp'' means a public or 
        semi-public camp that--
                    (A) is developed on National Forest System lands by 
                a nonprofit organization or governmental entity;
                    (B) provides a valuable service to the public by 
                using such lands as a setting to introduce young people 
                or individuals with a disability to activities that 
                they may not otherwise experience and to educate them 
                on natural resource issues; and
                    (C) does not have as its primary purpose raising 
                revenue through commercial activities.
            (2) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service.
            (3) The term ``individual with a disability'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 7 of the Rehabilitation Act 
        of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 705).
            (4) The term ``children at risk'' means children who are 
        raised in poverty or in single-parent homes or are subject to 
        such circumstances as parental drug abuse, homelessness, or 
        child abuse.
            (5) The term ``change in control'' means--
                    (A) in the case of a corporation, the sale or 
                transfer of a controlling interest in the corporation;
                    (B) in the case of a partnership or limited 
                liability company, the sale or transfer of a 
                controlling interest in the partnership or limited 
                liability company; and
                    (C) in the case of an individual, the sale or 
                transfer of an organizational camp to another party.

SEC. 3. FEES FOR OCCUPANCY AND USE OF NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS AND 
              FACILITIES BY ORGANIZATIONAL CAMPS.

    (a) Land Use Fee.--
            (1) Percentage of land value.--The Secretary shall charge 
        an annual land use fee for each organizational camp for its 
        occupancy and use of National Forest System lands equal to five 
        percent of the product of the following:
                    (A) The total number of acres of National Forest 
                System lands authorized for the organizational camp.
                    (B) The estimated per-acre market value of land and 
                buildings in the county where the camp is located, as 
                reported in the most recent Census of Agriculture 
                conducted by the National Agricultural Statistics 
                Service.
            (2) Annual adjustment.--The land use fee determined under 
        paragraph (1) for an organizational camp shall be adjusted 
        annually by the annual compounded rate of change between the 
        two most recent Censuses of Agriculture.
            (3) Reduction in fees.--
                    (A) Based on type of participants.--The Secretary 
                shall reduce the land use fee determined under 
                paragraph (1) for an organizational camp if the 
                organizational camp is attended by individuals with a 
                disability or children at risk. The amount of the 
                reduction for a year shall bear the same ratio to the 
                land use fee determined under paragraph (1) for the 
                organizational camp as the total number of individuals 
                with a disability and children at risk who attend the 
                organizational camp bears to the total number of 
                individuals who attend the organizational camp for the 
                year.
                    (B) Based on type of programs.--After making the 
                reduction required by subparagraph (A), the Secretary 
                shall also reduce the land use fee determined under 
                paragraph (1) for an organizational camp if the 
                organizational camp provides youth programs for 
                individuals attending the camp consisting of organized 
                and supervised social, citizenship, character-building, 
                or faith-based activities oriented to outdoor-
                recreation experiences. The amount of the reduction for 
                a year shall be equal to 60 percent of the land use fee 
                determined under paragraph (1), as adjusted under 
                subparagraph (A).
                    (C) Relation to minimum fee.--Notwithstanding 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B), the reductions made under 
                this paragraph may not reduce the land use fee for an 
                organizational camp below the minimum land use fee 
                required to be charged under paragraph (4).
                    (D) Special considerations.--For purposes of 
                determining the amount of the land use fee reduction 
                required under subparagraph (A) or (B), the Secretary 
                may not take into consideration the existence of 
                sponsorships or scholarships to assist individuals in 
                attending the organizational camp.
            (4) Minimum land use fee.--The Secretary shall charge a 
        minimum land use fee under paragraph (1) that represents, on 
        average, the Secretary's cost annually to administer an 
        organizational camp special use authorization in the National 
        Forest Region in which the organizational camp is located. 
        Notwithstanding paragraph (3) or subsection (d), the minimum 
        land use fee shall not be subject to a reduction or waiver.
    (b) Facility Use Fee.--
            (1) Percentage of facilities value.--If an organizational 
        camp uses a Government-owned facility on National Forest System 
        lands pursuant to section 7 of the Act of April 24, 1950 
        (commonly known as the Granger-Thye Act; 16 U.S.C. 580d), the 
        Secretary shall charge, in addition to the land use fee imposed 
        under subsection (a), a facility use fee equal to five percent 
        of the value of the authorized facilities, as determined by the 
        Secretary.
            (2) Reduction in fees prohibited.--Notwithstanding 
        subsection (d), the facility use fees determined under 
        paragraph (1) shall not be subject to a reduction or waiver.
    (c) Fee Related to Receipt of Other Revenues.-- If an 
organizational camp derives revenue from the use of National Forest 
System lands or authorized facilities described in subsection (b) for 
purposes other than to introduce young people or individuals with a 
disability to activities that they may not otherwise experience and to 
educate them on natural resource issues, the Secretary shall charge, in 
addition to the land use fee imposed under subsection (a) and the 
facility use fee imposed under subsection (b), an additional fee equal 
to five percent of that revenue.
    (d) Work-In-Lieu Program.--Subject to subsections (a)(4) and 
(b)(2), section 3 of the Federal Timber Contract Payment Modification 
Act (16 U.S.C. 539f) shall apply to the use fees imposed under this 
section.

SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION.

    (a) Prompt Implementation.--The Secretary shall issue direction 
regarding implementation of this Act by interim directive within 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act. The Secretary shall 
implement this Act beginning with the first billing cycle for 
organizational camp special use authorizations occurring more than 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Phase-In of Use Fee Increases.--In issuing any direction 
regarding implementation of this Act under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall consider whether to phase-in any significant increases 
in annual land or facility use fees for organizational camps.

SEC. 5. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.

     Except as specifically provided by this Act, nothing in this Act 
supersedes or otherwise affects any provision of law, regulation, or 
policy regarding the issuance or administration of authorizations for 
organizational camps regarding the occupancy and use of National Forest 
System lands.

SEC. 6. DEPOSIT AND EXPENDITURE OF USE FEES.

    (a) Deposit and Availability.--Unless subject to section 7 of the 
Act of April 24, 1950 (commonly known as the Granger-Thye Act; 16 
U.S.C. 580d), use fees collected by the Secretary under this Act shall 
be deposited in a special account in the Treasury and shall remain 
available to the Secretary for expenditure, without further 
appropriation until expended, for the purposes described in subsection 
(c).
    (b) Transfer.--Upon request of the Secretary, the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary from the special account such 
amounts as the Secretary may request. The Secretary shall accept and 
use such amounts in accordance with subsection (c).
    (c) Use.--Use fees deposited pursuant to subsection (a) and 
transferred to the Secretary under subsection (b) shall be expended for 
monitoring of Forest Service special use authorizations, administration 
of the Forest Service's special program, interpretive programs, 
environmental analysis, environmental restoration, and similar 
purposes.

SEC. 7. MINISTERIAL ISSUANCE OR AMENDMENT AUTHORIZATION.

    (a) NEPA Exception.--The ministerial issuance or amendment of an 
organizational camp special use authorization shall not be subject to 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
    (b) Rule of Construction.--For purposes of subsection (a), the 
ministerial issuance or amendment of an authorization occurs only when 
the issuance or amendment of the authorization would not change the 
physical environment or the activities, facilities, or program of the 
operations governed by the authorization, and at least one of the 
following apply:
            (1) The authorization is issued upon a change in control of 
        the holder of an existing authorization.
            (2) The holder, upon expiration of an authorization, is 
        issued a new authorization.
            (3) The authorization is amended--
                    (A) to effectuate administrative changes, such as 
                modification of the land use fee or conversion to a new 
                special use authorization form; or
                    (B) to include nondiscretionary environmental 
                standards or to conform with current law.
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