As ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on November 19, 2014
H.R. 1785 would establish approximately 1.5 million acres of land in the state of Washington as the Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area. The bill would direct the Secretary of the Interior to select a local entity to develop a plan to manage lands within the proposed heritage area, subject to the Secretary’s approval. The bill would prohibit the Secretary from providing federal funds to the selected local entity for purposes of managing the proposed area.
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1785 would have a negligible effect on the federal budget. Based on information from the National Park Service and assuming the availability of appropriated funds, CBO estimates that the agency would spend less than $500,000 to review the proposed management plan and carry out other routine activities related to overseeing heritage areas. Enacting H.R. 1785 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
H.R. 1785 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. Any costs to state, local, or tribal entities resulting from designation of the region as a National Heritage Area would be incurred voluntarily.