(a) You must pay in advance a rent BLM establishes based on sound business management principles and, as far as practical and feasible, using comparable commercial practices. Rent does not include processing or monitoring fees and rent is not offset by such fees. BLM may exempt, waive, or reduce rent for a grant under §§ 2806.14 and 2806.15 of this subpart.

(b) If BLM issued your grant on or before October 21, 1976, under then existing statutory authority, upon request, BLM will conduct an informal hearing before a proposed rent increase becomes effective. This applies to rent increases due to a BLM-initiated change in the rent or from initially being put on a rent schedule. You are not entitled to a hearing on annual adjustments once you are on a rent schedule.

(c) You must pay rent for your grant or lease using the per-acre rent schedule for linear right-of-way grants (see § 2806.20) unless a separate rent schedule is established for your use, such as for communication sites per § 2806.30 or solar and wind energy development per § 2806.50. The BLM may also determine that these schedules do not apply to your right-of-way pursuant to § 2806.70.

(a) BLM will charge rent beginning on the first day of the month following the effective date of the grant through the last day of the month when the grant terminates. Example: If a grant became effective on January 10 and terminated on September 16, the rental period would be February 1 through September 30, or 8 months.

(b) BLM will set or adjust the annual billing periods to coincide with the calendar year by prorating the rent based on 12 months.

(c) If you disagree with the rent that BLM charges, you may appeal the decision under § 2801.10 of this part.

(a) You must pay rent for the initial rental period before the BLM issues you a grant or lease.

(1) If your grant or lease is effective on:

(i) January 1 through September 30 and qualifies for annual payments, your initial rent bill is pro-rated to include only the remaining full months in the initial year; or

(ii) October 1 through December 31 and qualifies for annual payments, your initial rent bill is pro-rated to include the remaining full months in the initial year plus the next full year.

(2) If your grant or lease allows for multiyear payments, such as a short-term grant issued for energy site-specific testing, you may request that your initial rent bill be for the full term instead of the initial rent bill periods provided under paragraph (a)(1)(i) or (ii) of this section.

(b) You must make all rent payments for rights-of-way according to the payment plan described in § 2806.24.

(c) After the first rental payment, all rent is due on January 1 of the first year of each succeeding rental period for the term of your grant.

(d) You must make all rental payments as instructed by us or as provided for by Secretarial order or legislative authority.

(a) If the BLM does not receive the rent or fee payment required in subpart 2806 within 15 calendar days after the payment was due under § 2806.12, we will charge you a late payment fee of $25 or 10 percent of the amount you owe, whichever is greater, per authorization.

(b) If BLM does not receive your rent payment and late payment fee within 30 calendar days after rent was due, BLM may collect other administrative fees provided by statute.

(c) If BLM does not receive your rent, late payment fee, and any administrative fees within 90 calendar days after the rent was due, BLM may terminate your grant under § 2807.17 of this part and you may not remove any facility or equipment without BLM's written permission (see § 2807.19 of this part). The rent due, late payment fees, and any administrative fees remain a debt that you owe to the United States.

(d) If you pay the rent, late payment fee, and any administrative fees after BLM has terminated the grant, BLM does not automatically reinstate the grant. You must file a new application with BLM. BLM will consider the history of your failure to timely pay rent in deciding whether to issue you a new grant.

(e) Subject to applicable laws and regulations, the BLM will retroactively bill for uncollected or under-collected rent, fees, and late payments.

(f) You may appeal any adverse decision BLM takes against your grant under § 2801.10 of this part.

(g) We will not approve any further activities associated with your right-of-way until we receive any outstanding payments that are due.

(h) You must pay rent even if you have not been sent or received a courtesy bill.

(a)You do not have to pay rent for your use if:

(1) BLM issues the grant under a statute which does not allow BLM to charge rent;

(2) You are a Federal, state, or local government or its agent or instrumentality, unless you are:

(i) Using the facility, system, space, or any part of the right-of-way area for commercial purposes; or

(ii) A municipal utility or cooperative whose principal source of revenue is customer charges;

(3) You have been granted an exemption under a statute providing for such; or

(4) Electric or telephone facilities constructed on the right-of-way were financed in whole or in part, or eligible for financing, under the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, as amended (REA) (7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) or are extensions of such facilities. You do not need to have sought financing from the Rural Utilities Service to qualify for this exemption. The BLM may require you to document the facility's eligibility for REA financing.

(b) The exemptions in this section do not apply if you are in trespass.

(a) BLM may waive or reduce your rent payment, even to zero in appropriate circumstances. BLM may require you to submit information to support a finding that your grant qualifies for a waiver or a reduction of rent.

(b) A BLM State Director may, on a case-by-case basis, evaluate and approve any requests for waiver or reduction in the annual rent for grants if you show the BLM that:

(1) You are a non-profit organization, corporation, or association which is not controlled by, or is not a subsidiary of, a profit making corporation or business enterprise and the facility or project will provide a benefit or special service to the general public or to a program of the Secretary;

(2) You provide without charge, or at reduced rates, a valuable benefit to the public at large or to the programs of the Secretary of the Interior;

(3) Your grant describes your intended use of new and existing routes to access your right-of-way (see § 2805.11(b)). This paragraph does not apply to oil and gas leases issued under part 3100 of this chapter;

(4) Your grant involves a cost share road or a reciprocal right-of-way agreement not subject to subpart 2812 of this chapter. In these cases, the BLM will determine the rent based on the proportion of use; or

(5) Paying the full rent will cause you undue hardship and it is in the public interest to waive or reduce your rent. In your request for a waiver or rental reduction you must include a suggested alternative rental payment plan or timeframe within which you anticipate resuming full rental payments. The BLM may also require you to submit specific financial and technical data or other information that corrects or modifies the statement of financial capability required by § 2804.12(a)(5) of this part.

To expedite the processing of your grant application, BLM may estimate rent payments and collect that amount before it issues the grant. The amount may change once BLM determines the actual rent of the right-of-way. BLM will credit any rental overpayment, and you are liable for any underpayment. This section does not apply to rent payments made under a rent schedule in this part.

(a) Except as described in § 2806.26 of this chapter, the BLM will use the Per Acre Rent Schedule (see paragraph (c) of this section) to calculate rent for all linear right-of-way authorizations, regardless of the granting authority (FLPMA, MLA, and their predecessors). Counties (or other geographical areas) are assigned to an appropriate zone in accordance with § 2806.21. The BLM will adjust the per acre rent values in the schedule annually in accordance with § 2806.22(a), and it will revise the schedule at the end of each 10-year period in accordance with § 2806.22(b).

(b) The annual per acre rent for all types of linear right-of-way facilities is the product of 4 factors: The per acre zone value multiplied by the encumbrance factor multiplied by the rate of return multiplied by the annual adjustment factor (see § 2806.22(a)).

(c) You may obtain a copy of the current Per Acre Rent Schedule from any BLM state, district, or field office or by writing the address found under § 2804.14(c) of this part. We also post the current rent schedule at http://www.blm.gov.

Counties (or other geographical areas) are assigned to a County Zone Number and Per Acre Zone Value based upon 80 percent of their average per acre land and building value published in the Census of Agriculture (Census) by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The initial assignment of counties to the zones will cover years 2006 through 2010 of the Per Acre Rent Schedule and is based upon data contained in the most recent NASS Census (2002). Subsequent re-assignments of counties will occur every 5 years (in 2011 based upon 2007 NASS Census data, in 2016 based upon 2012 NASS Census data, and so forth) following the publication of the NASS Census.

(a) Each calendar year the BLM will adjust the per acre rent values in § 2806.20 for all types of linear right-of-way facilities in each zone based on the average annual change in the IPD-GDP for the 10-year period immediately preceding the year that the NASS Census data becomes available. For example, the average annual change in the IPD-GDP from 1994 to 2003 (the 10-year period immediately preceding the year (2004) that the 2002 National Agricultural Statistics Service Census data became available) was 1.9 percent. This annual adjustment factor is applied to years 2006 through 2015 of the Per Acre Rent Schedule. Likewise, the average annual change in the IPD-GDP from 2004 to 2013 (the 10-year period immediately preceding the year (2014) when the 2012 NASS Census data will become available) will be applied to years 2016 through 2025 of the Per Acre Rent Schedule.

(b) The BLM will review the NASS Census data from the 2012 NASS Census, and each subsequent 10-year period, and as appropriate, revise the number of county zones and the per acre zone values. Any revision must include 100 percent of the number of counties and listed geographical areas for all states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and must reasonably reflect the increases or decreases in the average per acre land and building values contained in the NASS Census.

(a) Except as provided by §§ 2806.25 and 2806.26, the BLM calculates your rent by multiplying the rent per acre for the appropriate county (or other geographical area) zone from the current schedule by the number of acres (as rounded up to the nearest tenth of an acre) in the right-of-way area that fall in each zone and multiplying the result by the number of years in the rental payment period (the length of time for which the holder is paying rent).

(b) If the BLM has not previously used the rent schedule to calculate your rent, we may do so after giving you reasonable written notice.

(a) Term grants. For linear grants, except those issued in perpetuity, you must make either nonrefundable annual payments or a nonrefundable payment for more than 1 year, as follows:

(1) One-time payments. You may pay in advance the total rent amount for the entire term of the grant or any remaining years.

(2) Multiple payments. If you choose not to make a one-time payment, you must pay according to one of the following methods:

(i) Payments by individuals. If your annual rent is $100 or less, you must pay at 10-year intervals, not to exceed the term of the grant. If your annual rent is greater than $100, you may pay annually or at 10-year intervals, not to exceed the term of the grant. For example, if you have a grant with a remaining term of 30 years, you may pay in advance for 10 years, 20 years, or 30 years, but not any other multi-year period.

(ii) Payments by all others. If your annual rent is $500 or less, you must pay rent at 10-year intervals, not to exceed the term of the grant. If your annual rent is greater than $500, you may pay annually or at 10-year intervals, not to exceed the term of the grant.

(b) Perpetual grants. For linear grants issued in perpetuity (except as noted in §§ 2806.25 and 2806.26), you must make either nonrefundable annual payments or a nonrefundable payment for more than 1 year, as follows:

(1) Payments by individuals. If your annual rent is $100 or less, you must pay at 10-year intervals, not to exceed 30 years. If your annual rent is greater than $100, you may pay annually or at 10-year intervals, not to exceed 30 years.

(2) Payments by all others. If your annual rent is $500 or less, you must pay rent at 10-year intervals, not to exceed 30 years. If your annual rent is greater than $500, you may pay annually or at 10-year intervals, not to exceed 30 years.

(c) Proration of payments. The BLM prorates the first year rental amount based on the number of months left in the calendar year after the effective date of the grant. If your grant requires, or you chose a 10-year payment term, or multiples thereof, the initial rent bill consists of the remaining partial year plus the next 10 years, or multiple thereof.

(a) One-time payment option for existing perpetual grants. If you have a perpetual grant and the land your grant encumbers is being transferred out of Federal ownership, you may choose to make a one-time rental payment. The BLM will determine the one-time payment for a perpetual grant by dividing the current annual rent for the subject property by an overall capitalization rate calculated from market data, where the overall capitalization rate is the difference between a market yield rate and a percent annual rent increase as described in the formula in paragraphs (a)(1), (2), and (3) of this section. The formula for this calculation is: One-time Rental Payment = Annual Rent/ (Y−CR), where:

(b) One-time payment for grants converted to perpetual grants under § 2807.15(b). If the land your grant encumbers is being transferred out of Federal ownership, and you request a conversion of your grant to a perpetual right-of-way grant, you must make a one-time rental payment in accordance with § 2806.25(a).

(c) In paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, the annual rent is determined from the Per Acre Rent Schedule (see § 2806.20(c)) as updated under § 2806.22. However, the per acre zone value and zone number used in this annual rental determination will be based on the per acre land value from acceptable market information or the appraisal report, if any, for the land transfer action and not the county average per acre land and building value from the NASS Census. You may also submit an appraisal report on your own initiative in accordance with paragraph (d) of this section.

(d) When no acceptable market information is available and no appraisal report has been completed for the land transfer action or when the BLM requests it, you must:

(1) Prepare an appraisal report using Federal appraisal standards, at your expense, that explains how you estimated the land value per acre, the rate of return, and the encumbrance factor; and

(2) Submit the appraisal report for consideration by the BLM State Director with jurisdiction over the lands encumbered by your authorization.

(a) The BLM will use the appraisal report for the land transfer action (i.e., direct or indirect land sales, land exchanges, and other land disposal actions) and other acceptable market information to determine the one-time rental payment for a perpetual easement issued under § 2807.15(b).

(b) When no acceptable market information is available and no appraisal report has been completed for the land transfer action or when the BLM requests it, you must prepare an appraisal report as required under § 2806.25(d). You may also submit an appraisal report on your own initiative in accordance with § 2806.25(d).

If you hold a right-of-way for solar or wind energy development, you must pay an annual rent and fee in accordance with this section and subpart. The annual rent and fee is the greater of the acreage rent or the capacity fee that would be due in a given year, and must be paid in advance each year. The acreage rent will be calculated consistent with § 2806.11 and prorated consistent with § 2806.12(a). The capacity fee will vary depending on the project's annual energy generation on public lands and will be calculated consistent with § 2806.52(b). Any underpayment will be billed pursuant to § 2806.13 and any overpayment will be credited pursuant to § 2806.16.

(a) The BLM will adjust your acreage rent and MW capacity fee over the course of your authorization as described in these regulations. For new grants or leases, you may choose either the standard rate adjustment method (see § 2806.52(a)(5) and (b)(3) for grants; see § 2806.54(a)(4) or (c) for leases) or the scheduled rate adjustment method (see § 2806.52(d) for grants; see § 2806.54(d) for leases). Once you select a rate adjustment method, that method will be fixed until you renew your grant or lease (see § 2807.22).

(b) For new grants or leases, if you select the scheduled rate adjustment method you must notify the BLM of your decision in writing. Your decision must be received by the BLM before your grant or lease is issued. If you do not select the scheduled rate adjustment method, the standard rate adjustment method will apply.

(c) If you hold a right-of-way for solar or wind energy development that is in effect prior to July 1, 2024, you may either request that the BLM apply the annual rent and fee set forth in § 2806.52 or use the rate methodology applicable to your authorization immediately prior to this rule. If you wish to use the annual rent and fee set forth in § 2806.52, your request must be received by the BLM before July 1, 2026. The BLM will continue to apply the rate in effect immediately prior to this rule unless it receives your request to use the rate adjustments in this part. A request to change your rate methodology will include your agreement to a re-issuance of the grant or lease with updated Terms and Conditions found under this part, pursuant to § 2807.20(f).

You must pay the greater of either an annual acreage rent or a capacity fee. The acreage rent and capacity fee are determined as follows:

(a) Acreage rent. The BLM will calculate the acreage rent for your grant or lease by multiplying the number of acres of the authorized area (rounded up to the nearest tenth of an acre) by the annual per-acre rate for the year in which the payment is due.

(1) Per-acre rate. The annual per-acre rate for your grant or lease is calculated using the State per-acre value from the solar or wind energy acreage rent schedule, the encumbrance factor, the year of the grant or lease term, and the annual adjustment factor. The calculation for determining the annual per-acre rate is A × B × [(1 + C) ^ D] where:

(i) A is the state per-acre value from the solar or wind energy acreage rent schedule published by the BLM for the year on which your right-of-way grant or lease is issued and is based on the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Survey of Pastureland Rents. The BLM will prepare the rent schedule by averaging the NASS reported pastureland rents for the most recent 5-year period, using only those years for which rent is reported by NASS. The BLM will update the rent schedule every 5 years consistent with the timing of rent adjustments under § 2806.22.

(ii) B is the encumbrance factor, which is 100 percent for solar energy and 5 percent for wind energy;

(iii) C is the annual adjustment factor, which is 3 percent; and,

(iv) D is the year of the grant or lease term, which is the number of years the grant or lease has been authorized. For example, the first year (whether partial or full year) would be 0 and the second year would be 1.

(2) You may obtain a copy of the current solar or wind energy acreage rent schedule from any BLM state, district, or field office or by writing the address found under § 2804.14(c) of this part, Attention: Renewable Energy Coordination Office. The BLM also posts the current solar energy acreage rent schedule at http://www.blm.gov.

(b) Capacity fee. (1) The capacity fee is calculated using the MWh rate or the alternative MWh rate, the MWh rate reduction, the domestic content reduction, the Project Labor Agreement (PLA) reduction, the rate of return, the year of the grant or lease, the annual adjustment factor, and the annual power generated on the right-of-way. You must pay the capacity fee annually, beginning the year in which electricity generation begins or is scheduled to begin in the approved POD, whichever comes first, unless the acreage rent (see paragraph (a) of this section) exceeds the capacity fee in a given year. The calculation for determining the capacity fee is A × B × C × D × [(1 + E) ^F] × G × H where:

(i) A is the MWh rate or the alternative MWh rate. The MWh rate is the annual weighted average wholesale price per MWh for the major trading hubs serving the 11 Western States of the continental United States for the full 5 calendar-year period preceding the year in which your grant or lease was issued, rounded to the nearest dollar increment (see paragraph (7)). An Alternative MWh rate may be approved by the BLM if you have entered into a power purchase agreement, such as with a utility, and that rate is lower than the MWh rate. You must provide proof of the lower rate to the BLM, and if the BLM determines the lower rate is appropriate, the alternative MWh rate will be used in place of the MWh rate.

(ii) B is the MWh rate reduction, which is equal to 80 percent for fee payments due before 2036. Starting 2036, the MWh rate reduction for new authorizations transitions to 20 percent, as follows:

(iii) C is the Domestic Content reduction, which is equal to 1.0 for fee payments when a holder's project does not qualify for the domestic content reduction. C is equal to 0.8 when the holder can demonstrate that a facility qualifies for the domestic content reduction. A facility qualifies for the domestic content reduction if a holder documents that the facility would qualify as “Produced in the United States”, consistent with 2 CFR part 184.

(iv) D is the factor for the Project Labor Agreement reduction, which is equal to 1.0 for fee payments when the holder does not execute a PLA. D is equal to 0.8 if the holder executes a PLA for the construction of the project.

(v) Request for conditional approval: Alternative MWh rate, Domestic Content reduction and PLA reduction. The alternative MWh rate, the Domestic Content reduction and PLA reduction (paragraphs (b)(1)(ii) and (iii) and (iv) of this section) may only be applied if a request for conditional approval is received by the BLM prior to the issuance of a grant or lease. A request for conditional approval must be submitted with sufficient documentation to demonstrate that the development qualifies or may later qualify for the rate reductions. A request for conditional approval is subject to the holder demonstrating, to the satisfaction of the BLM's Authorized Officer, that the development qualifies. If energy generation begins before the holder has demonstrated that the facility qualifies, the BLM will charge the holder the full capacity fee, without the alternative MWh rate, Domestic Content reduction, or PLA reduction. The capacity fee may be updated for subsequent calendar years after the holder demonstrates that the facility qualifies, but the BLM will not refund past payments made before the alternative MWh rate, domestic content reduction, or PLA reduction went into effect.

(2) E is the annual adjustment factor, which is 3 percent.

(3) F is the year of the grant or lease term, which is the number of years the grant or lease has been authorized. For example, the first year (whether partial or full year) would be 0 and the second year would be 1.

(4) G is the rate of return, which is 7 percent.

(5) H is the annual energy generated on the right-of-way and will be provided to the BLM by the grant or leaseholder in an annual certified statement. The BLM will bill to coincide with the start of the calendar year. The first-year payment in advance will be based on estimated energy generation and the BLM will determine final payment for the first year based on actual energy generation. Subsequent payments in advance will be based on the most recent calendar year's actual energy generation reported on the certified statement, unless exception is approved in paragraph (vi) of this section.

(i) The holder must submit the annual certified statement to the BLM before the first year of energy generation begins or is scheduled to begin as approved in the Plan of Development, whichever comes first. Certified annual statements must be submitted to the BLM by October, each year.

(ii) Prior to the start of energy generation, the holder must submit to the BLM in the certified statement the estimated energy generation of the development for the first year.

(iii) Once energy generation has begun, the holder must submit to the BLM in the certified statement the most recent calendar year's actual energy generation of the development.

(iv) The BLM will calculate the capacity fee from the certified statement. For projects that include generation on public and non-public lands, the holder will prorate the total energy generation by the percentage of the right-of-way footprint on public lands relative to the total development area footprint.

(v) If the year's actual energy generation exceeds or is less than the amount of energy generation used to bill for the payment in advance, the holder will be billed, credited, or refunded for the underpayment or overpayments pursuant to §§ 2806.13(e) and 2806.16. In no event will the total payment be less than the annual acreage rent.

(vi) The BLM may approve a request made by a right-of-way holder to provide a new estimate of energy generation to the BLM in the annual certified statement to use for billing the next year's payment in advance if: the right-of-way holder has planned maintenance activities, or other interruptions to energy generation, that would reduce the amount of energy generated by 25 percent or more; or, the right-of-way holder is aware that the energy generation in the subsequent year will exceed the actual energy generation for the previous year by 25 percent or more. See § 2805.12(c)(8)(i) through (iii) for the steps to follow when failing to meet diligent operation requirements.

(vii) If the right-of-way holder underestimates energy generation by 25 percent or more of the actual energy generation or does not provide the BLM with a new estimate when energy production will exceed the previous year's actual production by more than 25 percent, the BLM may assess the holder a late payment fee of 10 percent of the actual generation for each year of underestimation. This section applies unless the BLM has approved a request to provide a new estimate under § 2806.52(b)(5)(vi), and the approved new estimate does not underestimate energy generation by 25 percent or more of actual energy generation or if the holder can provide the BLM with justification consistent with § 2805.12(e).

(6) MWh rate schedule. You may obtain a copy of the current MWh rate schedule from any BLM state, district, or field office or by writing the address found under § 2804.14(c) of this part, Attention: Renewable Energy Coordination Office. The BLM also posts the current MWh rate schedule at http://www.blm.gov.

(7) Periodic adjustments. (i) The MWh rate applicable to your right-of-way will be the MWh rate in effect the first year for your grant or lease and will not be updated with subsequent MWh rate schedule adjustments. The MWh rate applicable to your right-of-way will only be updated each year by the annual adjustment factor under paragraph (b)(2) of this section.

(ii) The MWh rate schedule for new grants and leases will be adjusted once every 5 years consistent with the timing of rent adjustments under § 2806.22 of this part and consistent with paragraph (b)(1) of this section.

(8) The general payment provisions for rents described in this subpart, except for § 2806.14(a)(4), also apply to the capacity fee.

(c) Implementation of the acreage rent and capacity fee. The rates for acreage rent and capacity fees apply to all grants and leases issued after the effective date of this rule, and to existing grants and leases if the holder elects to continue paying under the rate setting methodology established at the time of your authorization per § 2806.51(c).

(d) Scheduled rate adjustment. Under the scheduled rate adjustment method (see § 2806.51), the BLM will update your per acre zone rate and MW rate as follows:

(1) The BLM will calculate your payments using the per acre zone rate (see § 2806.52(a)(1)) and MW rate (see § 2806.52(b)(1)) in place when your grant is issued, or for existing grants, the per acre zone rate and MW rate in place prior to December 19, 2016, as adjusted under paragraph (d)(6) of this section;

(2) The per acre zone rate will increase:

(i) Annually, beginning after the first full calendar year plus any initial partial year following issuance of your grant, by the average annual change in the IPD-GDP as described in § 2806.22(b); and

(ii) Every 5 years, beginning after the first 5 calendar years, plus any initial partial year, following issuance of your grant, by 20 percent;

(3) The MW rate will increase by 20 percent every 5 years, beginning after the first 5 years, plus the initial partial year, if any, your grant is in effect;

(4) The BLM will not apply the phase-in to your MW rate under § 2806.52(b)(4) or the reduction under § 2806.52(c);

(5) If the approved POD for your project provides for staged development, the BLM will calculate the MW capacity fee using the MW capacity approved for the current stage plus any previously approved stages, multiplied by the MW rate, as described under this section.

(6) For grants in place prior to January 18, 2017 that select the scheduled rate adjustment method offered under § 2806.51(c), the per acre zone rate and the MW rate in place prior to December 19, 2016 will be adjusted for the first year's payment using the scheduled rate adjustment method as follows:

(i) The per acre zone rate will increase by the average annual change in the IPD-GDP as described in § 2806.22(b) plus 20 percent;

(ii) The MW rate will increase by 20 percent; and

(iii) Subsequent increases will be performed as set forth in paragraphs (d)(2) and (3) of this section from the date of the initial adjustment under this paragraph (d).

Rent for energy storage facilities that are not part of a solar or wind energy development facility will be determined pursuant to the linear rent formula set forth in § 2806.23. The BLM may determine your rent pursuant to § 2806.70 if we determine the linear rent schedule does not apply.

If a solar energy development project includes separate right-of-way authorizations issued for support facilities only (administration building, groundwater wells, construction lay down and staging areas, surface water management and control structures, etc.) or linear right-of-way facilities (pipelines, roads, power lines, etc.), rent is determined using the Per Acre Rent Schedule for linear facilities (see § 2806.20(c)).

(a) Grants for energy site-specific testing. You must pay $100 per year for each meteorological tower or instrumentation facility location. BLM offices with approved small site rental schedules may use those fee structures if the fees in those schedules charge more than $100 per meteorological tower per year. In lieu of annual payments, you may instead pay for the entire term of the grant (3 years or less).

(b) Grants for energy project-area testing. You must pay $2,000 per year or $2 per acre per year for the lands authorized by the grant, whichever is greater. There is no additional rent for the installation of each meteorological tower or instrumentation facility located within the site testing and monitoring project-area.

When we determine that the linear, communication use, solar, or wind energy payment schedules do not apply, we may determine your payment through a process based on comparable commercial practices, appraisals, competitive bids, or other reasonable methods. We will notify you in writing of the payment determination. If you disagree with the payment determination, you may appeal our final determination under § 2801.10.