As passed by the House of Representatives on December 1, 2014
H.R. 4924 would ratify two settlement agreements among the Hualapai Tribe, the United States, the state of Arizona, and a nonfederal corporation regarding water rights claims. CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would have no significant effect on the federal budget.
Enacting H.R. 4924 would accelerate spending of funds already appropriated for the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program (LCR MSCP); therefore, pay-as- you-go procedures apply. However, because total spending on the program would not change over the next 10 years, CBO estimates those direct spending effects would not be significant. Enacting H.R. 4924 would not affect revenues.
H.R. 4924 would secure certain water rights associated with Planet Ranch in Arizona, which is owned by a nonfederal corporation. With its water rights secured under the legislation, the corporation would be willing to lease a portion of the Planet Ranch’s land and water to the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) for restoring habitat as a part of the LCR MSCP. Under H.R. 4924, CBO expects that the BOR would make a lease payment to the corporation of $8.3 million in fiscal year 2016. Based on information from the BOR, under current law those funds would be spent on alternative leases and restoration activities for the LCR MSCP in the next few years if the corporation chooses not to enter into the lease agreement.
H.R. 4924 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
