H.R. 5118 would authorize projects to mitigate the risks of drought and wildfires, including efforts to conserve, desalinate, and recycle water; protect ecosystems and communities; and improve and protect the electric grid.
Section 302 of division A would allow the Forest Service to spend interest earned on unspent collections from forfeitures, judgments, and settlements without further appropriation. CBO estimates that enacting that provision would increase direct spending by $20 million over the 2022‑2032 period.
Section 507 of division B would authorize appropriations to capitalize the Hualapai Water Trust Fund, an interest-bearing fund administered by the Department of the Interior. CBO expects that the parties to the Hualapai Tribe Water Rights Settlement would satisfy the requirements of the settlement agreement by the April 15, 2029, deadline and that the federal government would transfer ownership of the fund, including any credited interest, to the Hualapai Tribe at that time. CBO estimates that the transfer would increase direct spending by $17 million over the 2022-2032 period for interest credited to the fund that would be available to spend without further appropriation. (Because appropriations to capitalize trust funds generally do not identify individual settlements, CBO charges the spending of any credited interest to the authorizing bill).
Division J of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act appropriated amounts for grants to fund water conservation and recycling projects undertaken by nonfederal entities in states where the Bureau of Reclamation operates. Sections 104 and 211 of division B would modify those programs by reducing the nonfederal share of costs for Indian tribes experiencing financial hardship and by raising the ceiling on federal costs for water-recycling projects. CBO estimates that those provisions would increase direct spending by $238 million over the 2022-2032 period. We also estimate an equivalent decrease in direct spending after 2032 because the amounts that would be spent for those programs under the bill would otherwise have been spent after 2032.
H.R. 5118 would impose a private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by requiring electric transmission providers to comply with revised planning requirements to be developed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. CBO estimates that the cost to comply would not exceed the annual threshold for private-sector mandates established in UMRA ($184 million in 2022, adjusted annually for inflation). The bill would not impose intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA.
