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H.R. 1554, Elkhorn Ranch and White River National Forest Conveyance Act of 2015 1 (December 7, 2015)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo2657 and id is 1 raw text is: 




                  CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
                             COST   ESTIMATE

                                                                December  7, 2015



                                  H.R.   1554
      Elkhorn   Ranch   and  White  River  National  Forest  Conveyance
                                  Act  of 2015

    As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
                              on November  19, 2015


H.R. 1554 would require the Forest Service to convey 148 acres of federal lands in
Colorado to a private entity. Under the act, the federal government would retain the right to
collect rent and royalty payments from an existing oil and gas lease on those lands;
however, if that lease expires, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) would not be
allowed to offer the parcel for lease. Because CBO expects that enacting the legislation
could reduce offsetting receipts, which are treated as reductions in direct spending, from
bonus bids over the next 10 years, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, we estimate
that net bonus bids from the affected parcel would total less than $500,000 over that period.
Enacting the legislation would not affect revenues.

CBO  estimates that enacting the legislation would not increase net direct spending or
on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2026.

In 2012, BLM issued a federal oil and gas lease on a portion of the affected lands. If the
firm holding that lease takes certain steps to begin producing oil and gas before the lease is
set to expire in 2022, the firm would retain the lease until production ended. Under current
law and under the act, the federal government would collect rent and any royalties
generated from oil and gas produced on that lease, and 49 percent of those proceeds would
be paid to the state of Colorado. In that case, enacting the legislation would have no effect
on direct spending.

If the lease expires in 2022, BLM could offer the parcel for lease after that date under
current law. However, the agency could not offer the affected parcel for lease under the act.
Because CBO  has no basis for determining how the relevant parties would respond if the
lease were allowed to expire, our estimate reflects a point within a range of possible
outcomes. Based on the amount paid for the lease in 2012 ($335,000), CBO estimates that
enacting the legislation would reduce receipts by less than $500,000 over the 2022-2025
period.

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