[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 153 (Monday, December 16, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2150-E2151]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      COST ESTIMATE FOR H.R. 5319

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES V. HANSEN

                                of utah

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 16, 2002

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I request that the attached cost estimate 
for H.R. 5319 be submitted for the Record under General Leave.

                                                    U.S. Congress,


                                  Congressional Budget Office,

                                 Washington, DC, October 16, 2002.
     Hon. James V. Hansen,
     Chairman, Committee on Resources, House of Representatives, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
     prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 5319, the 
     Healthy Forests and Wildfire Risk Reduction Act of 2002.
       If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
     pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Deborah 
     Reis and Megan Carroll.
           Sincerely,
                                                Barry B. Anderson,
                                   (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
       Enclosure.
     H.R. 5319--Healthy Forests and Wildfire Risk Reduction Act of 
         2002
       Summary: H.R. 5319 would establish procedures to be 
     followed by the Department of the Interior and the Department 
     of Agriculture in carrying out certain hazardous fuels 
     reduction projects. These are projects undertaken to reduce 
     the risks from catastrophic wildfires through controlled 
     burning or other methods. The bill also would authorize the 
     appropriation of whatever amounts are necessary to implement 
     the bill's new procedures and to plan and conduct the 
     projects to reduce wildfire risks.
       Assuming appropriation of the amounts necessary to carry 
     out the hazardous fuels reduction program, CBO estimates that 
     implementing the bill would cost about $80 million in fiscal 
     year 2003 and nearly $1.3 billion over the 2003-2007 period. 
     Enacting this legislation could reduce offsetting receipts (a 
     credit against direct spending), but CBO estimates that any 
     such changes would be less than $500,000 a year.
       The bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
     mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 
     (UMRA) and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal 
     governments.
       Major provisions: H.R. 5319 would authorize expedited 
     procedures for planning and conducting projects to reduce the 
     risk of wildfires on certain high-priority federal lands 
     managed by the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land 
     Management (BLM). These procedures, which would limit some 
     environmental assessment requirements and shorten 
     administrative and judicial appeals, would apply to projects 
     necessary to reduce risks to human life, property, water 
     supplies, and wildlife. The expedited procedures authorized 
     by the legislation would expire after September 30, 2005.
       The legislation also would authorize the Forest Service and 
     BLM to carry out the hazardous fuels reduction projects by 
     entering into stewardship contracts or other agreements 
     similar to those currently used by the Forest Service. The 
     two agencies would be allowed to enter into a total of 41 new 
     multiyear contracts through September 30, 2005.
       Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated 
     budgetary impact of H.R. 5319 is shown in the following 
     table. The costs of this legislation fall within budget 
     function 300 (natural resources and environment).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         By fiscal year, in millions of
                                                   dollars--
                                      ----------------------------------
                                        2003   2004   2005   2006   2007
------------------------------------------------------------------------
              CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
 
Hazardous fuels reduction projects:
 \1\
    Estimated authorization level....    410    420    430    450    460
    Estimated outlays................     80    170    250    340    430
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ In 2002, $395 million was appropriated for similar activities.

       Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that H.R. 
     5319 will be enacted early

[[Page E2151]]

     in fiscal year 2003 and that the amounts estimated to be 
     necessary to carry out the hazardous fuels reduction program 
     are appropriated for each fiscal year. The estimated costs 
     are based on the amounts appropriated to the Forest Service 
     and BLM for similar activities in 2002, including adjustments 
     for anticipated inflation. (No appropriations have yet been 
     enacted for this purpose in 2003.) Outlays are estimated on 
     the basis of historical spending patterns for this activity.
       Section 11 of the bill would expand and extend the 
     authority provided for a pilot stewardship contract program 
     in Public Law 105-277, the Department of the Interior and 
     Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999. Under the new 
     authority, both agencies could contract out hazardous fuels 
     reduction projects and reduce payments to their contractors 
     by the value of timber and other vegetation that a contractor 
     retained. Because the new contracts could apply to lands that 
     may otherwise have been the subject of future timber sales, 
     offsetting receipts could be reduced by the value of removed 
     vegetation that otherwise would have been sold. CBO estimates 
     that the effect on such receipts would be less than $500,000 
     a year because most of the projects authorized by the bill 
     would not be conducted on commercially valuable timberlands 
     anyway.
       Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 5319 
     contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
     defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or 
     tribal governments.
       Estimate prepared by: Federal costs: Deborah Reis and Megan 
     Carroll; Impact on state, local, and tribal governments: 
     Marjorie Miller; Impact on the private sector: Lauren Marks.
       Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant 
     Director for Budget Analysis.