Calendar Years 2021 - 2025 Right-of-Way Rental Schedule Re-Assignment of County Zones

United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Grand Junction, Colorado 81506
https://www.blm.gov

November 10, 2020

In Reply Refer To:
2800/2880 (HQ-300) P

EMS TRANSMISSION 11/13/2021
Instruction Memorandum No. 2021-005
Expires:  09/30/2023

To:                  All Field Office Officials

From:              Assistant Director, Energy, Minerals and Realty Management

Subject:           Calendar Years 2021 - 2025 Right-of-Way Rental Schedule Re-Assignment of County Zones

Program Area:  Right-of-Way (ROW) Management.

Purpose:  This Instruction Memorandum (IM) implements rental schedule zone re-assignments for calculating bills related to Linear Rights-of-Way (ROW), as well as Solar and Wind development authorizations.

Administrative or Mission Related:  Mission.

Policy/Action:  Pursuant to 43 CFR Subpart 2806, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Field Offices are required to calculate linear, solar, and wind rental for the 2021 ‑ 2025 Calendar Year (CY) period using the county zone re-assignment information in the attached documents, unless special situations warrant an alternate rental valuation methodology.  Alternative rental valuations must be reviewed and approved for agency use through consultation with the Department of the Interior’s Appraisal and Valuation Services Office.

Prior to generating annual rental bills, offices are to review the Unpaid Bill Report located on the BLM’s internal Collections and Billing System (CBS) web site.  The report contains ROW authorizations that have unpaid rent, late payment fees, or administrative fees.  Any unpaid bills appearing in the Unpaid Bill Report should be resolved prior to, or in conjunction with, annual billing.

BLM staff are reminded to utilize the agency’s official billing system, Lands and Realty Authorization Module (LRAM), to create all ROW bills which includes annual bills and cost-recovery courtesy statements.  The BLM State Director has discretion to waive or reduce a holder’s rent payment if they determine that paying the full rent would cause the holder undue hardship and it is in the public interest to waive or reduce the rent.

Timeframe:  Effective November 10, 2020.

Budget Impact:  There is no budget impact.

Background:  The BLM applies the appropriate Per Acre Rent Schedule to calculate rent for linear right-of-way authorizations, as well as solar and wind right-of-way development grants and leases, regardless of the granting authority.  Counties (or other geographical areas) are re-assigned to an appropriate zone at 5-year intervals pursuant to 43 CFR § 2806.21.  The underlying basis for the adjustment was the 2017 Census of Agriculture released on April 11, 2019, by the United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).  Additionally, a five-year update to megawatt (MW) capacity fee is provided pursuant to 43 CFR §§ 2806.52(b)(3) and 2806.62(b)(3).  The underlying basis for the adjustment was the 5-calendar-year average of the annual weighted average wholesale prices per Megawatt hour (MWh) for the major trading hubs serving the 11 western States of the continental United States

Manual/Handbook Sections Affected:  This IM transmits national policy that will be incorporated into BLM Manuals MS-2800 and MS-2880 during the next revision.

Coordination:  This IM was coordinated with the Office of the Solicitor, Appraisal and Valuation Services Office, National Renewable Energy Coordination Office, Division of Lands, Realty and Cadastral Survey, the National Operations Center, and the U.S. Forest Service.

Contact:  If you have any questions concerning the content of this IM, please contact me at 970-256-4944, or your staff may contact Stephen Fusilier, Branch Chief, Rights-of-Way and Renewable Energy, at 202-309-3209 (sfusilie@blm.gov), or Jeremy Bluma, Renewable Energy Program Lead, at 208-789-6014 (jbluma@blm.gov).

Signed by:                                                                   Authenticated by:
Nicholas E. Douglas                                                   Robert M. Williams
Assistant Director                                                       Division of Regulatory Affairs,(HQ-630)
Energy, Minerals, and Realty Management

6 Attachments

     1 - Linear Rent Schedule Zone Re-Assignments (74 pp)
     2 - 2016-2025 Linear Rent Schedule (1 p)
     3 - Wind & Solar Rent Schedule Zone Re-Assignments (22 pp)
     4 - 2016-2025 Wind Acreage Rent Schedule (1 p)
     5 - 2016-2025 Solar Acreage Rent Schedule (1 p)
     6 - 2016-2025 MW Rate Fee Schedule (1 p)