Description:
H.R. 3979 would authorize the appropriation of $2 million a year over the 2018-2022 period for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to carry out volunteer programs and community partnerships at national wildlife refuges. Under those programs, volunteers assist USFWS personnel in conducting recreation activities, restoring habitats, and performing administrative and maintenance work at national wildlife refuges. In 2017, those programs received appropriations of roughly $8 million.
CBO assumes that the legislation will be enacted early in calendar year 2018 and that the authorized amounts will be appropriated for each fiscal year. As based on historical spending patterns, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $10 million over the 2018-2022 period. The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 300 (natural resources and environment).
Enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3979 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
H.R. 3979 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
