H.R. 4239, SECURE American Energy Act

H.R. 4239 would amend existing laws regarding energy development on federal lands. Major provisions in the bill would:

• Increase the share of mineral receipts paid to states under the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) if states assumed certain administrative functions related to oil and gas development on federal lands;

• Require the Department of the Interior (DOI) to assess inspection fees for offshore oil and gas leases, thereby changing the budgetary classification of those fees;

• Clarify DOI’s authority to auction oil and gas leases on both the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and the Atlantic OCS;

• Authorize new direct spending of OCS receipts for payments to states and other programs; and

• Authorize DOI to auction leases for developing wind and mineral resources off the coast of certain U.S. territories.

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4239 would reduce net direct spending by $187 million over the 2018-2027 period. In addition, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $186 million over the 2018-2022 period, subject to appropriation of the necessary amounts. Enacting H.R. 4239 would affect direct spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.

CBO cannot determine whether enacting the bill would increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits by more than $2.5 billion in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.

H.R. 4239 would impose an intergovernmental mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by requiring state agencies to send the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) a copy of each state regulation that applies to hydraulic fracturing on federal land as well as a copy of each state regulation that requires disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. Because of the low administrative cost for each state to submit those reports to BLM, CBO estimates that the costs of the mandate would be small and well below the annual threshold established in UMRA for intergovernmental mandates ($78 million in 2017, adjusted for inflation).

The bill contains no private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA.