REQUESTS CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE TO RE-ESTIMATE THE COST OF SURVEY

Washington, Jul 21, 2005 - As a member of the House and Senate conference on energy legislation, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Ocala) has expressed concern with the cost of a provision contained in the Senate bill. "This provision calls for a comprehensive inventory of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and natural gas resources. However, 23 of the 26 areas that would be surveyed are reserved from production and exploration. In addition, I believe the cost of the survey was under-estimated."

Added Stearns, "The U.S. Department of Interior, which would conduct the survey, estimates the cost at $75 million to $125 million per planning area for a total cost of $1.95 billion to $3.25 billion. This is well above the estimate provided to the Senate by the Congressional Budget Office."

In response, Stearns and Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-Tarpon Springs) asked the Congressional Budget Office to "rescore" the cost of this provision in the Senate bill stating, "Given new information that has become available, we believe the old score significantly underestimates the cost of this provision."