1.Short title; table of
contents
(a)This Act may be cited
as the Cabin Fee Act of
2011
.
(b)The table of contents of 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
authorization and authorize mean the issuance of a
special use permit for the use and occupancy of National Forest System land 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 that—
(A)is authorized for private use and
occupancy; and
(B)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; and
(B)a trust, heir, or
assign of a person described in subparagraph (A).
(4)The term cabin
transfer fee means a fee that is paid to the United States on the
transfer of a cabin between private parties for money or other consideration
that results in the issuance of a new permit.
(5)The term cabin user
fee means an annual fee paid to the United States by a cabin owner in
accordance with an authorization for the use and occupancy of a cabin.
(6)The term current appraisal cycle
means the completion of Forest Service review and acceptance of—
(A)initial typical
lot appraisals; or
(B)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, as adjusted under section 3(c).
(8)The term lot means a parcel of
National Forest System land on which a person is authorized to build, use,
occupy, and maintain a cabin.
(9)National Forest
System landThe term
National Forest System land means National Forest System land
derived from the public domain.
(10)Recreation
residence programThe term Recreation Residence
Program means the Recreation Residence Program established under the
last paragraph under the heading Forest service
in the
Act of March 4, 1915 (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 feesCabin owners shall pay an annual cabin user fee
established by the Secretary in accordance with this section.
(b)
(1)The Secretary shall establish initial cabin
user fees in accordance with this subsection.
(2)Assignment to
value tiersOn 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 considerations:
(A)Before assigning
the lots to tiers, all appraised lot values shall be adjusted, or normalized,
for price changes occurring after the appraisal, in accordance with the
National Association of Homebuilders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity
Index.
(B)Second appraisal
values that are not rejected 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 contained in the table set forth in
paragraph (3).
(E)Data from
incomplete appraisals may not be used to establish the fee tiers under this
subsection.
(F)Until assigned to
a tier under this subsection, the Secretary shall assess an interim fee for
permitted cabin lots (including lots with incomplete appraisals), which shall
be an amount equal to the lesser of—
(i)$4,500; or
(ii)the amount of
the current cabin user fee, increased by 25 percent.
(3)Amount of
initial cabin user feesThe initial cabin user fees, based on the
assignments under paragraph (2), are as follows:
Fee TierApproximate Percent of Permits
NationallyFee
Amount
Tier 1 8 percent$500
Tier 212 percent$1,000
Tier 3 12 percent$1,500
Tier 4 14 percent$2,000
Tier 514 percent$2,500
Tier 6 14 percent$3,000
Tier 711 percent$3,500
Tier 8 8 percent$4,000
Tier 9 7 percent$4,500.
(4)Deadline for
completion of current appraisal cycleNot later than 3 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete the current appraisal
cycle.
(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)Annual
Adjustments of cabin user fee
(1)Subject to paragraph
(2), 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 assess an
annual adjustment to cabin user fees.
(2)Notwithstanding paragraph (1), cabin user
fees established under this section shall be increased by not more than 25
percent in an annual adjustment under paragraph (a).
(d)Effect of
destruction, substantial damage, or loss of access
(1)The Secretary shall
reduce the cabin user fee to $100 per year for a cabin if—
(A)the cabin is destroyed or suffers
substantial damage in an amount that is greater than 50 percent of replacement
cost of the cabin; or
(B)access to the cabin is significantly
impaired, whether by catastrophic events, natural causes, or governmental
actions, which results in the cabin being rendered unsafe or unable to be
occupied.
(2)The reduced fee under
paragraph (1) shall be in effect until the later of—
(A)the last day of the year in which the
destruction or impairment occurs; or
(B)the date on which 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 cabin owner transferring the cabin 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.
(b)As a condition of the issuance by the
Secretary of a new authorization for the use and occupancy of the cabin, the
cabin owner transferring the cabin shall pay 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 percent of consideration in excess of
$250,000 up to $500,000
$500,000.01 and
above$1,000 plus 5 percent of consideration in excess of
$250,000 up to $500,000 plus 10 percent of consideration in excess of
$500,000.
(c)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 set forth in the
table contained in subsection (b).
5.Right of appeal
and judicial review
(a)
(1)Notwithstanding any
action of a cabin owner to exercise rights in accordance with section 6, the
Secretary shall by regulation grant to the cabin owner the right to an
administrative appeal of the determination of a new cabin user fee, fee tier,
cabin transfer fee, or whether or not to reduce a cabin user fee under section
3(d).
(2)An appeal under paragraph
(1) shall be pursuant to the appeal process provided under subpart C of part
251 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor
regulation).
(b)
(1)A cabin owner that
contests a final decision of the Secretary under this Act may bring a civil
action in United States district court.
(2)The venue for an action brought before the
United States district court under this subsection shall be in the Federal
judicial district in which the cabin is located or the permit holder
resides.
(3)Nothing in this Act
precludes a person from seeking mediation for an action under this Act.
6.
(a)Nothing 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.Not later than December 31, 2012, the
Secretary shall issue regulations to carry out this Act.