1.Short title; table of
contents
(a)This Act may be cited
as the Cabin Fee Act of
2010
.
(b)The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 3. Cabin user fees.
Sec. 4. Cabin transfer fees.
Sec. 5. Right of appeal and judicial review.
Sec. 6. Consistency with other law and rights.
Sec. 7. Regulations.
2.In this Act:
(1)The terms authorized and
authorization refer to the issuance of a special use permit for
the use and occupancy of National Forest System land derived from the public
domain by a cabin owner under the Recreation Residence Program.
(2)The term cabin means a
privately built and owned recreation residence and related improvements on
National Forest System land derived from the public domain that is authorized
for private use and occupancy and may be sold or transferred between private
parties.
(3)The term cabin
owner means—
(A)a person authorized by the Secretary to use
and to occupy a cabin on National Forest System land derived from the public
domain; and
(B)a trust or an heir
or assigns of such a person.
(4)The term cabin
transfer fee means a fee paid to the United States upon the transfer of
a cabin between private parties for money or other consideration that also
includes issuance of a new permit.
(5)The term cabin user
fee means an annual fee paid to the United States by a cabin owner
pursuant to an authorization for the use and occupancy of a cabin on National
Forest System land derived from the public domain.
(6)The term current appraisal cycle
means the completion of Forest Service review and acceptance of initial typical
lot appraisals or second appraisals if ordered by cabin owners and approved by
the Forest Service.
(7)The term current cabin user fee means the
most recent cabin user fee, which results from an annual adjustment to the
prior cabin user fee under section 3(d).
(8)The term lot means a parcel of
National Forest System land derived from the public domain on which a person is
authorized to build, use, occupy, and maintain a cabin.
(9)National Forest
System landThe term
National Forest System land is limited to National Forest System
land derived from the public domain.
(10)Recreation
residence programThe term Recreation Residence
Program means the Recreation Residence Program established pursuant to
the last paragraph under the heading Forest service
in the Act of March 4, 1915
(38 Stat. 1101, chapter 144; 16 U.S.C. 497).
(11)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through
the Chief of the Forest Service.
(12)The term typical lot means a cabin lot, or group
of cabin lots, in a tract that is selected for use in an appraisal as being
representative of, and that has similar value characteristics as, other lots or
groups of lots within the tract.
3.
(a)Payment of cabin
user feesA cabin user fee shall be paid annually by the cabin
owner.
(b)
(1)The Secretary shall establish initial cabin
user fees in the manner required by this subsection.
(2)Assignment to
value tiersUpon completion
of the current appraisal cycle, as required by paragraph (4), the Secretary
shall assign each permitted lot on National Forest System land to 1 of 9 tiers
based on the following:
(A)All appraised lot
values shall be adjusted, or normalized, for price changes from its date of
value according to the national NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index
prior to tier assignment.
(B)Second appraisal
values approved by the Forest Service shall supersede initial lot appraisal
values for the normalization and ranking process under subparagraph (A).
(C)The tiers shall be
established, on a national basis, according to relative lot value, with lots
having the lowest adjusted appraised value assigned to Tier 1 and lots having
the highest adjusted appraised value assigned to Tier 9.
(D)The number of lots
(by percentage) assigned to each tier is specified in the table contained in
paragraph (3).
(E)Data from
incomplete appraisals may not be used to establish the fee tiers.
(F)Until assigned to
a tier, permitted cabin lots, including lots with incomplete appraisals, are
assigned an interim fee of $4,500 or their current annual fee, indexed in
accordance with subsection (d), whichever is less.
(3)Table of initial
cabin user feesThe initial cabin user fees, based on the
assignments made by the Secretary under paragraph (2) are as follows:
Fee TierApproximate Percent of Permits
NationallyFee
Amount
Tier 1not to exceed 8%$500
Tier 2not to exceed 12%$1,000
Tier 3not to exceed 12%$1,500
Tier 4not to exceed 14%$2,000
Tier 5at least 14%$2,500
Tier 6not to exceed 14%$3,000
Tier 7not to exceed 12%$3,500
Tier 8not to exceed 8%$4,000
Tier 9not to exceed 6%$4,500.
(4)Deadline for
completion of current appraisal cycleThe Secretary shall complete the current
appraisal cycle within three years after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
(5)The initial cabin user
fees required by this subsection shall take effect beginning with the first
calendar year beginning after the completion of the current appraisal
cycle.
(c)Overpayments or
underpaymentsIf, upon
assignment to a tier under subsection (b), the Secretary determines that the
fee charged to a cabin owner during the preceding 3 years resulted in an
overpayment or underpayment of the fee due under the tier system totaling more
than $500, the fee for the next three years shall be adjusted, if such a fee
adjustment is requested by the Secretary or by the affected cabin owner, as
necessary to correct the overpayment or underpayment.
(d)Annual
Adjustments of cabin user feeThe Secretary shall use changes in the
Implicit Price Deflator for the Gross Domestic Product published by the Bureau
of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce, applied on a 5-year rolling
average, to determine and apply an annual adjustment to cabin user fees.
(e)Effect of
destruction, substantial damage, or loss of accessIf
a cabin is destroyed or suffers substantial damage amounting to greater than 50
percent of replacement cost, or if access to a cabin is significantly impaired,
whether by catastrophic events, natural causes or governmental actions, such
that the cabin is rendered unsafe or unable to be occupied as a result, the
Secretary shall reduce the cabin user fee for the affected lot to $100 per
year. This fee shall be in effect for the remainder of the year in which the
destruction occurs and until such time as the cabin may be lawfully reoccupied
and normal access has been restored.
4.
(a)Payment of cabin
transfer feesIn conjunction
with the transfer of ownership of any cabin and the issuance of a new permit,
the transferor shall file with the Secretary a sworn statement declaring the
amount of money or other value received, if any, for the transfer of the cabin.
As a condition of the issuance by the Secretary of a new authorization for the
use and occupancy of the cabin, the transferor shall pay, or cause to be paid,
to the Secretary a cabin transfer fee in an amount determined as
follows:
Consideration Received by TransferTransfer Fee
Amount
$0 to $250,000$1,000
$250,000.01 to
$500,000.00$1,000 plus 5% of consideration in excess of $250,000
up to $500,000
$500,000.01 and
above$1,000 plus 5% of consideration in excess of $250,000
up to $500,000 plus 10% of consideration in excess of $500,000.
(b)The
Secretary shall use changes in the Implicit Price Deflator for the Gross
Domestic Product published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department
of Commerce, applied on a 5-year rolling average, to determine and apply an
annual adjustment to the cabin transfer fee threshold amounts ($250,000.01 and
$500,000.01) set forth in the table contained in subsection (a).
5.Right of appeal
and judicial review
(a)Notwithstanding any
action of a cabin owner to exercise rights in accordance with section 6, the
Secretary shall by regulation grant the cabin owner the right to an
administrative appeal of the determination of a new cabin user fee, fee tier,
transfer fee, or whether or not to reduce a cabin user fee under section 3(e).
Such appeal shall be pursuant to the appeal process provided under subpart C
(Appeal of Decisions Relating to Occupancy and Use of National Forest System
Lands) of part 251 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations (section 251.80 et
seq.).
(b)A cabin owner that
contests a final decision of the Secretary under this Act may bring a civil
action in United States district court. The venue for actions brought before
the United States District Court shall be in the United States Judicial
District where the cabin is located or the permit holder resides. Nothing in
this Act precludes the parties from seeking mediation.
6.Consistency with
other law and rights
(a)Consistency with
rights of the United StatesNothing in this Act limits or
restricts any right, title, or interest of the United States in or to any land
or resource.
(b)In determining a cabin user fee in the State of Alaska,
the Secretary shall not establish or impose a cabin user fee or a condition
affecting a cabin user fee that is inconsistent with 1303(d) of the Alaska
National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3193(d)).
7.The Secretary shall promulgate regulations
to carry out this Act not later than December 31, 2012.