S. 2016, Chugach Alaska Land Exchange Oil Spill Recovery Act of 2025

S. 2016 would direct the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior to exchange approximately 65,000 acres of federal land in the Chugach Region of Alaska for about 231,000 acres of subsurface estate owned by the Chugach Alaska Corporation (CAC), an Alaska Native regional corporation. The exchange would occur at the request of the CAC, to be completed within one year of enactment, and subject to valid existing rights, reservations, and rights-of-way.

Under current law, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service manage most of the federal land to be conveyed under the bill. Using information from those agencies, CBO estimates that the 65,000 acres of federal land will generate less than $50,000 in fees over the 2026-2036 period, mostly from special-use permits. Those fees are classified as offsetting receipts (that is, they are recorded in the budget as reductions in direct spending) and can be spent without further appropriation. On that basis, CBO estimates that enacting S. 2016 would increase net direct spending by a negligible amount over the 2026-2036 period.

Under current law, the federal government already manages the surface estate of the 231,000 acres of nonfederal land through conservation easements. Following the exchange, BLM would manage the subsurface estate. Using information from that agency, CBO estimates that the annual costs of managing those subsurface rights would be insignificant. CBO estimates that administrative and legal costs to complete the exchange would total $5 million over the 2026-2031 period; most of that cost would be for the survey costs related to the land transfer. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Julia Aman (for the Bureau of Indian Affairs) and Ann E. Futrell (for the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior). The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.