The bill’s effect on offsetting receipts would depend on the outcome of formal appraisals of the federal and private properties that would be conducted after enactment. Those appraisals would determine the relative values of the properties affected by the exchange, including the value of mineral deposits that underlie the federal land. If the value of the federal land were to exceed the value of the company land, Resolution Copper could pay the government a lump sum equal to the difference in property values in the year or two following enactment. That payment might be significant; however, because there are no publicly available estimates regarding the quantity of copper underlying the federal land, the CBO has no basis for estimating the value of that land relative to the value of the company land. Therefore, we cannot determine whether the company would make a payment or estimate the size of any such payment.
