[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 147 (Tuesday, September 13, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E922-E923]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          COST ESTIMATE FOR H.R. 5641, THE SPEED RECOVERY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PETER A. DeFAZIO

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 13, 2022

  Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record the cost estimate 
prepared by the Congressional Budget Office for H.R. 5641, the SPEED 
Recovery Act. The cost estimate was not available at the time of the 
Committee report filing.

                                                    U.S. Congress,


                                  Congressional Budget Office,

                                  Washington, DC, August 22, 2022.
     Hon. Gary Peters,
     Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
         Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
     prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 5641, the SPEED 
     Recovery Act.
       If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
     pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jon Sperl.
           Sincerely,
                                                Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                         Director.
       Enclosure.

             H.R. 5641, SPEED Recovery Act--August 3, 2022

                  [By Fiscal Year, Millions of Dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         2022      2022-2027   2022-2032
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Direct Spending (Outlays)...........          0           0           0
Revenues............................          0           0           0
Increase or Decrease (-) in the               0           0           0
 Deficit............................
Spending Subject to Appropriation             0           1           *
 (Outlays)..........................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* = not estimated.

     Mandate Effects:
       Statutory pay-as-you-go procedures apply? No.
       Increases on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 
     10-year periods beginning in 2033? No.
       Contains intergovernmental mandate? No.
       Contains private-sector mandate? No.
       H.R. 5641 would codify a final rule issued by the Federal 
     Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in August 2022 that allows 
     more disaster relief projects to qualify as small projects 
     and thus be approved for federal assistance under a 
     simplified review process. That rule increased the upper 
     monetary threshold for small projects from $139,800 to $1 
     million. Projects under the threshold are approved for 
     assistance based on estimated costs rather than on the actual 
     costs of projects and are typically approved for assistance 
     more quickly.
       Because H.R. 5641 would codify an existing regulation, CBO 
     estimates that enacting the provision related to a higher 
     threshold for small projects would not affect the budget, 
     relative to current law.
       In addition, within three years of enactment, H.R. 5641 
     would require the inspector

[[Page E923]]

     general of the Department of Homeland Security to audit 
     projects that have received assistance under the higher 
     threshold for the simplified review process to determine 
     whether there has been waste or abuse. Using information from 
     FEMA and the Government Accountability Office about the cost 
     of similar audits, CBO estimates that implementing that 
     requirement would cost about $1 million over the 2022-2027 
     period. Any spending would be subject to the availability of 
     appropriated funds.
       The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jon Sperl. The 
     estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director 
     of Budget Analysis.

                          ____________________