H.R. 3062, Promoting Cross-border Energy Infrastructure Act

H.R. 3062 would amend permitting requirements for oil and natural gas pipelines and electric transmission facilities that cross international borders. In particular, the bill would eliminate the requirement for sponsors to obtain Presidential permits. H.R. 3062 would require those sponsors to obtain certificates of crossing instead. Under the bill, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) would issue those certificates for oil and natural gas pipelines, and the Department of Energy (DOE) would issue them for electric transmission facilities. That change would apply to new projects and modifications of certain existing projects as specified in the bill.

CBO expects that implementing H.R. 3062 could streamline the permitting process and as a result accelerate the production of oil and natural gas on federal lands. Because CBO does not expect that the changes under the bill would significantly affect the time needed to construct an international pipeline, CBO estimates that any increases in offsetting receipts from royalty payments (which are recorded in the budget as reductions in direct spending) would total less than $500,000 over the 2025-2035 period.

Based on the cost of similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3062 would increase administrative costs for DOE by less than $500,000 over the 2025-2030 period; any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. Because FERC is authorized to collect fees to recover its costs (which are controlled through annual appropriation acts), CBO estimates that net costs for FERC would be negligible.

If FERC increases their fees to offset the costs of implementing the bill, H.R. 3062 would increase the cost of an existing mandate on public and private entities, such as electric utilities, that are required to pay those fees. CBO estimates that the additional amounts collected would be small and fall well below the thresholds established in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act for intergovernmental and private-sector mandates ($103 million and $206 million in 2025, respectively, adjusted annually for inflation).

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Aaron Krupkin (for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), Willow Latham-Proença (for the Department of Energy), Lilia Ledezma (for federal lands), and Brandon Lever (for mandates). The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.