Description:
H.R. 6088 would require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to allow oil and gas producers to perform certain drilling activities on federal lands by obtaining a notification for permit to drill (NPD) in lieu of an application for permit to drill (APD). BLM could approve NPDs without completing the site inspections or environmental reviews that are required for APDs. When submitting an NPD, oil and gas producers would pay a fee that CBO expects would be the same as the fee for an APD. However, unlike with APDs, the agency would not have the same authority to spend those fees. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6088 would reduce direct spending by $125 million over the 2020-2026 period; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. In addition, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $125 million over the 2020-2026 period, subject to appropriation of the necessary amounts. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6088 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029. H.R. 6088 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).
