BLM Nevada 2018 Commercial Filming Location Fee Schedule
In Reply Refer To:
2920 (NV933) P
United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Nevada State Office
1340 Financial Boulevard
Reno, Nevada 89502-7147
www.blm.gov/nv
September 22, 2017
Instruction Memorandum No. NV-2017- 036
Expires: 09/30/2020
To: Field Offices and District Managers, Nevada
Attention: Land Law Examiners, Realty Specialists, and Recreation Specialists
From: Acting State Director
Subject: BLM Nevada 2018 Commercial Filming Location Fee Schedule
Program Area: Lands and Realty
Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) transmits the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Nevada Calendar Year (CY 2018 Location Fee Schedule for Commercial Filming and Still Photography (Attachment 1). All BLM Nevada field offices must use the new Location Fee Schedule when issuing commercial filming and still photography permits.
Policy/Action: BLM Nevada will adjust the Location Fee Schedule annually based on the previous year's change in the unadjusted Consumer Price Index-Urban (CPI-U). The regulations at 43 CFR 5.8(a), require a reasonable location fee that provides a fair return to the United States.
Timeframe: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) is effective October 1, 2017.
Background: On December 14, 2000, the National Park Service (NPS) published a notice in the Federal Register (65 FR 78186) requesting public comments on a proposed land-use fee schedule for commercial filming and still photography.
Shortly after the public comment period closed, the Department of Interior (DOI) decided to develop a regulation establishing a single land-use fee schedule for commercial filming and still photography for all DOI agencies. The DOI created a task force to develop the fee schedule that included personnel from the BLM, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the NPS. Representatives from the DOI's Office of the Solicitor and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) also served on the task force. To enhance consistency in the management of federal lands, the DOI and the USFS both anticipated that the USFS would adopt the same land-use fee schedule for commercial filming and still photography.
The task force used the proposed NPS land-use fee schedule as a starting point for the Departmental fee schedule for commercial filming and still photography and considered the comments received on the NPS proposed fee schedule. Task force members requested information from state, local, and tribal land management agencies and privately owned cultural institutions about land-use fees they charge for commercial filming and still photography. A task force member attended the Association of Film Commissioners International Location "Expo'' to discuss with state and local film commissioners the land use fees they charge for commercial filming and still photography. A task force member also spoke with representatives of the film and photography industry about their experience with land use fees.
The task force developed separate land-use fee schedules for commercial filming and still photography permits. The task force modified the NPS proposed land-use fee schedule to establish different fee categories for each schedule based on the number of people engaging in commercial filming or still photography at a specific site and, in the case of the category for one to two people, the amount and type of equipment used.
A DOI economist conducted cost-benefit and Unfunded Mandates Act analyses and a Regulatory Flexibility Act analysis of the NPS proposed fee schedule that the task force used in creating the proposed fee schedules (78 Federal Register 52209, August 22, 2013).
The land-use fee schedule would be adjusted annually using the July 12-month, unadjusted Consumer Price Index-Urban, which measures the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for the 12-month period ending July 31 each year. Changes to the fee schedule would be rounded to the nearest dollar.
No annual adjustment to the fee schedule would exceed five percent. When the annual change to the CPI-U results in an annual adjustment of more than five percent, we would add the portion of the adjustment exceeding five percent to the following year's schedule.
Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: This IM establishes the location fee amounts that will be charged by Nevada BLM, providing a fair return to the United States for the use of federal lands as required in regulations 43 CFR 5.8(a).
Coordination: This IM was developed using the Proposed USDA/DOI Land-Use Fee Schedule for Commercial Filming and Photography (78 Federal Register 52209, August 22, 2013) noted in the background section above.
Contact: If you have any questions concerning the content of this IM, please contact Perry B. Wickham, Realty Specialist, at (775) 861-6429 or via email at pwickham@blm.gov.
Signed by:
Marci L. Todd
Acting State Director
Attachment
1- CY 2018 Nevada Location Fee Schedule for Commercial Filming and Still Photography