H.R. 2630 would direct the Department of the Interior (DOI) to convey, upon request, up to 5,935 acres of federal land to La Paz County, Arizona. The county would be required to pay the estimated fair-market value for the affected lands, which would be used by commercial entities to produce solar energy.
Based on the value of similar lands in La Paz County, CBO estimates that the county would pay DOI between $700 and $1,000 per acre to acquire those lands or about $5 million in total. Those payments would be recorded as reductions in direct spending. CBO expects that the payment and land conveyance would occur within the 2019-2028 period.
Because enacting H.R. 2630 would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2630 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.
H.R. 2630 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
On January 23, 2018, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 2630, the La Paz County Land Conveyance Act, as ordered reported by the House Committee on National Resources on November 30, 2017. The House Committee version of the legislation directed the sale of more acreage over a longer time period than would be the case for the Senate Committee version. The CBO cost estimates reflect those differences. CBO estimates that enacting the House Committee version of the legislation would reduce direct spending by $3 million over the 10 year period.
