[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 100 (Wednesday, July 18, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7873-S7874]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        COST ESTIMATE ON S. 1021

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, on July 12, the Committee on Foreign 
Relations reported S. 1021, a bill to re-authorize the Tropical Forest 
Conservation Act of 1998 through fiscal year 2004. At the time the bill 
was reported, the cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office 
was not available.
  I ask unanimous consent that the CBO estimate be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

        CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE, JULY 16, 2001

S. 1021: A Bill To Reauthorize the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 
                     1998 Through Fiscal Year 2004

 [As reported by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on July 12, 
                                 2001]


                                SUMMARY

       S. 1021 would extend the Tropical Forest Conservation Act 
     for three years through 2004 and would authorize the 
     appropriation of $225 million for the cost of implementing 
     the act over that period. Assuming the appropriation of the 
     authorized amounts, CBO estimates that implementing the bill 
     would cost $221 million over the 2002-2006 period. Because S. 
     1021 would not affect direct spending or receipts, pay-as-
     you-go procedures would not apply.
       The Tropical Forest Conservation Act authorizes the 
     Secretary of State to negotiate agreements with eligible 
     countries to create local funds administered by local boards 
     with the authority to make grants to preserve, maintain, and 
     restore tropical forests. The local funds receive a stream of 
     payments generated by modifying the terms of outstanding 
     development assistance or food-aid debt owed to the United 
     States. The debt modifications include authority to reduce 
     and to restructure debt, to swap the debt, or to sell the 
     debt back to an eligible country in ways that will generate 
     income for the local funds. The amounts authorized by S. 1021 
     would be used to cover the cost, as defined by the Federal 
     Credit Reform Act, of modifying the debt.
       S. 1021 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
     mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 
     (UMRA) and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or 
     tribal governments.


                ESTIMATED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

       The estimated budgetary impact of S. 1021 is shown in the 
     following table. The costs of

[[Page S7874]]

     this legislation fall within budget function 150 
     (international affairs).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                               -----------------------------------------
                                 2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2006
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
 
Spending Under Current Law for
 Debt Reduction of Developing
 Countries with Tropical
 Forests:
    Budget Authority\1\.......     13      0      0      0      0      0
    Estimated Outlays.........      6     13      0      0      0      0
Proposed Changes:
    Authorization Level.......      0     50     75    100      0      0
    Estimated Outlays.........      0     13     36     69     64     39
Spending Under S. 1021 for
 Debt Reduction of Developing
 Countries with Tropical
 Forests:
    Authorization Level\1\....     13     50     75    100      0      0
    Estimated Outlays.........      6     26     36     69     64     39
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The 2001 level is the amount appropriated for that year for the cost
  of implementing the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998.

                           BASIS OF ESTIMATE

       CBO assumes that the authorized amounts would be 
     appropriated by the start of each fiscal year and that 
     outlays would follow historical spending patterns.
       Pay-As-You-Go Considerations: None.


              INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND PRIVATE-SECTOR IMPACT

       S. 1021 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
     mandates as defined in UMRA and would not affect the budgets 
     of state, local, or tribal governments.


                         PREVIOUS CBO ESTIMATE

       On June 21, 2001, CBO prepared an estimate for H.R. 2131, a 
     bill to reauthorize the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 
     1998 through fiscal year 2004, and for other purposes, as 
     ordered reported by the House Committee on International 
     Relations. The amounts authorized and the estimated cost of 
     implementing that bill and S. 1021 are the same.
       Estimate Prepared By: Federal Costs: Joseph C. Whitehill 
     (226-2840); Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: 
     Elyse Goldman (225-3220); and Impact on the Private Sector: 
     Lauren Marks (226-2940).
       Estimate Approved By: Robert A. Sunshine, Assistant 
     Director for Budget Analysis.

                          ____________________