H.R. 538 would redesignate the Ocmulgee National Monument in Georgia as the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, authorize the expansion of the newly designated park’s boundaries, and authorize a special resource study of the Ocmulgee River corridor.
The legislation stipulates that the National Park Service (NPS) may acquire approximately 2,100 acres of additional land through a donation, with donated funds, with appropriated amounts, or through a land exchange. Based on recent sale prices of comparable tracts of land in the areas where land would be purchased, and information from the NPS, CBO estimates that the cost to acquire and administer the land would be about $2 million over the 2018-2022 period, assuming the land was acquired with appropriated funds over the next five years. Total costs would depend on the average price per acre which, according to local property sales records, could range from $500 per acre to $1,500 per acre. Based on information from the NPS, CBO estimates that developing the resource study would have an insignificant cost.
Enacting H.R. 538 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 538 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
H.R. 538 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
