Communication Site Management
The BLM issued final regulations on November 13, 1995 establishing a rental schedule for communication uses located on public lands. These regulations became effective on December 13, 1995. The United States Forest Service (USFS) published a notice on October 27, 1995 establishing policy and a fee schedule for similar uses located on USFS land. The USFS policy became effective on November 6, 1995. The BLM previously appraised communication uses, while the USFS utilized an outdated formula which considered the amount of capital invested and a percentage of gross receipts to determine an annual rental fee. The new schedule establishes a rental amount based upon the population of the area served and the type of communication use. Nine categories of use and nine population strata are depicted by the schedule. A TV Broadcast use serving the LA Basin (5,000,000 plus population) would be charged $54,234.11 (for CY 2004) while that same use serving Idaho Falls, ID (50,000 to 99,999 population) would be assessed $3,615.61. The rent schedule is adjusted annually based on changes in the CPI-U index. Only facility owners and facility managers are required to have authorizations; tenants and customers who do not own their own building, equipment shelter, tower, or other improvements only need a lease agreement with the facility owner or facility manager to utilize a communication site. Total rent assessed a facility owner or facility manager would be based on the highest valued use in the building plus 25% of scheduled rent for all other communication uses subject to rent.
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