Description:
H.R. 2156 would establish a national monument on roughly 350 acres of land administered by the Forest Service. The act also would require the agency to submit recommendations to the Congress for a memorial commemorating the victims of the Saint Francis Dam failure and to complete a management plan for the monument. CBO expects that the construction of the memorial and any other structures and improvements would be funded by donations. Using information from the Forest Service regarding the amount of staff time required to carry out the activities required under the act, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2156 would cost less than $130,000 (the estimated cost of one year’s salary and benefits for a mid- to senior-level employee of the Forest Service in Los Angeles County) over the 2019-2023 period; such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. CBO expects that any recurring costs associated with managing any improvements at the memorial would be incurred after 2023. Enacting H.R. 2156 could affect direct spending by increasing donations, which are treated as reductions in direct spending, and the subsequent spending of those funds to construct a memorial; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO estimates that the net effect on direct spending would be negligible. Enacting the legislation would not affect revenues. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2156 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029. H.R. 2156 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. On July 6, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 2156, the Saint Francis Dam Disaster National Memorial Act, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on June 27, 2017. The two versions of the legislation are similar, and CBO’s estimates of their budgetary effects are the same.
