Description:
As ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on July 30, 2014
H.R. 5026 would prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from permanently modifying or significantly altering the way certain programs within the National Fish Hatchery System would be carried out relative to how they were being carried out as of November 1, 2013. Under H.R. 5026, for a 10-year period following enactment of the bill, any changes to those programs would require express authorization from the Congress. In CBO’s view, that directive would effectively authorize sufficient appropriations to continue operating the National Fish Hatchery System in the same way it was operated near the start of fiscal year 2014.
Based on information provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $203 million over the 2015-2019 period. Enacting H.R. 5026 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
H.R. 5026 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.