Description:
As ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on April 25, 2012
H.R. 2621 would establish the Chimney Rock National Monument within the San Juan National Forest in southern Colorado. The legislation would require the Forest Service to complete a management plan for the monument and would withdraw federal lands that make up the monument (about 5,000 acres) from disposal, mining, or mineral leasing.
Based on information provided by the Forest Service, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would not have a significant impact on the federal budget. Enacting H.R. 2621 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
CBO estimates that completing the management plan for Chimney Rock National Monument would cost about $310,000 over the next three years. Currently, the Chimney Rock Archaeological Area is managed by volunteers and the Forest Service and it contains a visitor center and a gravel road to access the area. CBO expects that implementing the legislation could eventually lead to a need for expanded trails and increased interpretive displays. However, CBO estimates that such activities would have an insignificant impact on the federal budget over the next five years. CBO does not expect that, under current law, the affected lands would generate any offsetting receipts from disposal, mining, and mineral leasing activities over the next 10 years. Thus, we estimate that enacting the legislation would not affect direct spending.
H.R. 2621 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
