173 IBLA 049 Black Rock City LLC - About the Office of Hearings ...

IBLA 2006-230complaining that BRC has argued that BLM has “been inefficient in controlling locallaw enforcement costs for the Burning Man event.” In a Memorandum datedApril 12, 2006, the Regional Solicitor, Pacific Southwest Region, found legal supportfor the stipulation and noted that “if BRC is required to directly pay for local lawenforcement coverage, then BRC will be able to monitor and control such costs byworking directly with local law enforcement officials.” Apr. 12, 2006, RegionalSolicitor’s Memorandum at 1. 4ANALYSISOur holding is quite narrow and so we begin by explaining what we do notdecide. Our ruling is dependent on no particular factual finding regarding either thegeneral law-abiding nature of the festival participants or the justification for BLM’srising law enforcement costs. Both positions are warranted. BRC documents the lownumber of drug arrest incidents at the Burning Man festival by contrast with thesame factor at rock concerts and motorcycle gatherings in or near American cities.Harrison Report at 7. BLM documents the increased risk and liability that theBurning Man festival poses for all law enforcement agencies associated with it, andthe related increase in costs and manpower needs. See also Coalition for the HighRock/Black Rock Emigrant Trail National Conservation Area, 147 IBLA 92, 199 (1998)(demand by appellants that BLM guarantee “sufficient law enforcement staffing” forBurning Man events).Likewise, we do not analyze BLM’s contentions, Answer at 4-10, that theFLREA’s fee provisions authorize BLM to collect, in total, an amount in fees whichexceeds the Government’s costs of administering the permit. BRC does not challengethe fixed-rate SRP fee for the 2006-2010 permits, nor is it seeking a refund ofamounts paid in excess of Government expenses.BRC’s appeal is limited to a challenge to BLM’s authority to require, inaddition to the fixed-rate fee for the event, which it does not contest, what BRCclaims is a cost recovery fee for the same event. BRC’s discussion of the relationshipbetween event costs and fee collection comes from its contention that the FLREAgenerally requires fees to be associated with actual Government costs and that BLM’simposing a burden to reimburse over $66,000 in law enforcement costs that theDepartment is authorized by law to make to the County, in addition to the fixed-ratepppd fee, reduces the association between the fixed-rate fee and the Government’sexpenses for the Burning Man event. Whatever BRC’s opinions about the fix-rate feerelative to the Government’s actual costs, our understanding of its appeal is that itchallenges________________________4 Considering BLM’s contentions regarding the inevitability of cost hikes due toliability and the sheer size of the Black Rock City population, it is unclear whetherany expectation that BRC can reduce costs is realistic.173 IBLA 56