Description:
H.R. 6511 would authorize the Department of Energy (DOE) to lease certain facilities at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to the private sector, subject to certain conditions. The act would direct DOE to implement a pilot program for leasing storage capacity for up to 200 million barrels of crude oil and authorize the department to use funds appropriated to the Energy Security and Infrastructure Modernization Fund (ESIMF) to make any capital improvements necessary for commercial use. Finally, DOE would be required to charge fees sufficient to fully compensate the government for costs incurred for commercial leasing activities. DOE would be allowed to spend any such proceeds on operating expenses without further appropriation. Assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 6511 would cost about $300 million over the next 10 years; however, such spending would have no net effect on discretionary spending because appropriations from the ESIMF are funded by the sale of oil from the SPR. Given the difference in time between when the sale proceeds are realized and spent, CBO estimates that implementing the act would reduce net outlays by $150 million over the 2019-2023 period and increase outlays by $150 million in the subsequent five-year period. Enacting H.R. 6511 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6511would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029. H.R. 6511 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).
