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S. 245, Indian Tribal Energy Development and Self-Determination Act Amendments of 2017 1 (May 3, 2017)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo3472 and id is 1 raw text is: 


                  CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
                             COST ESTIMATE

                                                                    May  3, 2017



                                    S. 245
     Indian  Tribal  Energy  Development and Self-Determination Act
                            Amendments of 2017

  As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on February 8, 2017


S. 245 would make various amendments to existing federal energy programs on tribal
lands. Under current law, a tribe may enter into a tribal energy resource agreement
(TERA)  with the federal government to allow the tribe to complete and manage business
agreements with third parties for such purposes as rights-of-way for energy projects and
oil and gas leases. Under a TERA a tribe manages activities that would otherwise be
carried out by the Department of the Interior (DOI). S. 245 would allow that under most
circumstances a TERA application would automatically be approved 270 days after
submission to DOI. Under the bill, DOI also would be required to pay a tribe operating
under a TERA  agreement for carrying out management activities. CBO estimates that
implementing that provision would have no net effect on the federal budget because any
amounts paid to tribes would have been spent by DOI to conduct the same work.

Under the bill, the Department of Energy would collaborate with the national laboratories
to provide technical assistance to tribal governments. The bill would establish a pilot
program for tribes to use nonmarketable timber from neighboring federal lands for energy
development. Based on information from the department, CBO estimates that
implementing those provisions would cost $1 million; such spending would be subject to
the availability of appropriations.

Enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go
procedures do not apply. CBO estimates that enacting S. 245 would not increase net
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods
beginning in 2028.

S. 245 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates  Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal
governments. Tribes would benefit from greater flexibility and assistance authorized by
the bill for energy development. Any costs to tribes would be incurred voluntarily as a
condition of assistance or of participating in a voluntary federal program.

The CBO  staff contact for this estimate is Aurora Swanson (for federal costs) and
Rachel Austin (for intergovernmental mandates). The estimate was approved by
H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

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