H.R. 1820, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to retire coal preference right lease applications for which the Secretary has made an affirmative commercial quantities determination, and for other purposes

H.R. 1820 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide Ark Coal Company (Ark) with bidding credits to acquire federally-owned mineral rights if Ark agrees to relinquish its rights to acquire noncompetitive coal leases on certain federal lands. Bidding credits are assigned a dollar value and can be used in lieu of cash to make certain payments to the federal government. The bill also would authorize the Secretary to make payments to any states where the bidding credits are used. Those payments would equal 50 percent of the total value of the credits expended.

Based on information provided by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and coal industry representatives, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1820 would increase direct spending by $34 million over the 2017-2021 period; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.

CBO estimates that enacting the legislation would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.

H.R. 1820 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.