Under the Endangered Species Act, individual people can petition the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to list or remove a species. In such cases, H.R. 6345 would require USFWS and NOAA to solicit information from officials in the states and counties where the species is found. The bill also would require USFWS or NOAA to notify state and local officials about proposed rules under the Endangered Species Act and to submit certain public comments to those officials.
CBO expects that implementing the new requirements would result in a small increase in the agencies’ workload. Based on the costs of similar tasks, CBO estimates that those costs would be less than $500,000 over the 2019-2023 period; such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
H.R. 6345 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6345 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.
H.R. 6345 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
