Description:
H.R. 5347 would require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to convey 2,062 acres of federal land to the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARC). Those lands are part of an abandoned copper mine that has been designated as a Superfund site. In 2018, ARC assumed responsibility for cleaning up the affected lands under the oversight of the state of Nevada. Under the bill, ARC would agree not to bring legal action against BLM to obtain funds to cover cleanup costs at the site and to indemnify the federal government against liabilities stemming from the company’s activities at the site. However, CBO has no basis for determining whether the federal government has any legal liability to fund cleanup efforts at the site, whether BLM could be held liable for ARC’s future activities at the site, or whether a legal action would be brought against the federal government within the next 10 years. Because the affected lands contain existing rights-of-way that generate proceeds for the federal government, CBO estimates that conveying those lands would reduce offsetting receipts, which are treated as reductions in direct spending. However, using information provided by BLM, CBO estimates that any such effects would be negligible. Because enacting H.R. 5347 could affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 5347 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029. H.R. 5347 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
