[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 161 (Monday, December 15, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S12717]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                ASIAN ELEPHANT CONSERVATION ACT OF 1997

 Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, on November 7, 1997, the Committee 
on Environment and Public Works filed a report (S. Rept. 105-142) to 
accompany S. 1287, a bill to assist in the conservation of Asian 
elephants by supporting and providing financial resources for the 
conservation programs of nations within the range of Asian elephants 
and projects of persons with demonstrated expertise in the conservation 
of Asian elephants. The bill is known as the Asian Elephant 
Conservation Act of 1997. The bill was placed on the Senate Calendar.
  An identical companion bill, H.R. 1787, subsequently was passed by 
the Senate on November 8, 1997.
  Under the Senate rules, a cost estimate prepared by the Congressional 
Budget Office must be submitted with the filed report. Because the cost 
estimate was not available when the report was filed I ask that the 
letter from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, received 
on November 21, 1997, be printed in the Record.
  The letter follows:

                                                    U.S. Congress,


                                  Congressional Budget Office,

                                Washington, DC, November 21, 1997.
     Hon. John H. Chafee,
     Chairman, Committee on Environment and Public Works, U.S. 
         Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
     prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1287, the Asian 
     Elephant Conservation Act of 1997.
       If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
     pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah 
     Reis.
           Sincerely,
                                        June E. O'Neill, Director.
       Enclosure.


               congressional budget office cost estimate

     S. 1287.--Asian Elephant Conservation Act of 1997
       Summary: S. 1287 would establish a new fund to support the 
     conservation of Asian elephants. The bill would direct the 
     Secretary of the Interior to use amounts in the new fund to 
     finance eligible conservation efforts, which may include 
     specific projects such as research and education as well as 
     ongoing activities such as law enforcement. For this purpose, 
     S. 1287 would authorize appropriations to the fund of $5 
     million for each of fiscal years 1998 through 2002. Also, the 
     Secretary would be authorized to accept and use donated funds 
     without further appropriation.
       Assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, CBO 
     estimates that implementing S. 1287 would result in 
     additional discretionary spending of about $10 million over 
     the 1998-2002 period (with the remainder of the authorized 
     $25 million estimated to be spent after 2002). The 
     legislation would affect direct spending and receipts by 
     allowing the Secretary to accept and spend donations; 
     therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply. Any such 
     transactions, however, would involve minor, offsetting 
     amounts. S. 1287 contains no intergovernmental or private-
     sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
     Act of 1995 (UMRA) and would have no impact on the budgets of 
     state, local, or tribal governments.
       Estimated Cost to the Federal Government: For purposes of 
     this estimate, CBO assumes that the entire amounts authorized 
     by S. 1287 will be appropriated for each of fiscal years 1998 
     through 2002. Outlay estimates are based on obligation 
     patterns for similar programs, which indicate that the rate 
     of spending over the first few years of the new program would 
     be slow. The estimated budgetary impact of S. 1287 is shown 
     in the following table.

                    SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION                   
                [By fiscal year, in millions of dollars]                
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1998   1999   2000   2001   2002
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authorization level..................      5      5      5      5      5
Estimated outlays....................  (\1\)      1      2      3     4 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Less than $500,000.                                                 

       The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 
     300 (natural resources and environment). Spending for the 
     conservation of Asian elephants would constitute a new 
     program in the federal budget; that is, there is no spending 
     for this activity under current law.
       Enacting S. 1287 also would affect both receipts and direct 
     spending by authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to 
     accept and use donations. CBO estimates that this provision 
     would increase federal receipts by less than $500,000 
     annually once the conservation program has been established. 
     Because these receipts would be offset by additional direct 
     spending, the net impact of this provision on the federal 
     budget would be negligible in each year.
       Pay-as-You-Go Considerations: The Balanced Budget and 
     Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 specifies pay-as-you-go 
     procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or 
     receipts. Although enacting S. 1287 would affect both 
     receipts and direct spending, CBO estimates that the amounts 
     involved would be less than $500,000 annually.
       Intergovernmental and Private-Sector Impact: S. 1287 
     contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
     defined in UMRA and would have no impact on the budgets of 
     state, local, or tribal governments.
       Previous CBO Estimate: On September 17, 1997, CBO prepared 
     an estimate for H.R. 1787, a similar bill ordered reported by 
     the House Committee on Resources on September 10, 1997. The 
     two estimates are identical.
       Estimate Prepared by: Deborah Reis.
       Estimate Approved by: James R. Horney for Paul N. Van de 
     Water, Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                          ____________________