Description:
As ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on July 24, 2013
H.R. 1394 would require the Secretary of the Interior, every four years, to prepare an onshore energy production strategy for developing resources owned by the federal government. The bill also would require the Secretary to develop a national programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for all onshore energy resources owned by the federal government. Based on information provided by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would cost $15 million over the 2014-2018 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. Enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
As part of the onshore energy production strategy, the Secretary would be directed to establish production objectives for oil, natural gas, coal, oil shale, and certain other minerals, as well as energy from wind, solar, biomass, hydropower, and geothermal resources. Based on information provided by the Department of the Interior about the cost of similar reports, CBO estimates that developing the initial four-year strategy and commencing work on the subsequent strategy would cost $7 million over the 2014-2018 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.
Based on information provided by BLM regarding the cost of similar analyses, CBO estimates that completing the PEIS would cost $8 million over the 2014-2015 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. Based on information from affected agencies, CBO expects that, while those agencies would continue to conduct site-specific environmental impact statements, they would use information obtained during preparation of the PEIS leading to a small savings when agencies prepare future environmental impact statements.
H.R. 1394 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
