18 U.S.C. § 4047 — Prison impact assessments

(a) A Judicial or Executive Branch legislative submission that could increase or decrease the number of people in federal penal institutions must include a prison-impact statement as subsection (b) describes. (b) In consultation with the Sentencing Commission and the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the Attorney General must prepare and provide assessments under subsection (c) and respond to congressional requests about a pending measure or matter that might affect the number of defendants processed through the federal criminal-justice system. An assessment on pending legislation must be supplied within 21 days after a request. It must include: (1) projected effects on prison, probation, and post-prison-supervision populations; (2) estimated effects of those population changes on federal spending, including construction and operation of correctional facilities for the current fiscal year and the next 5 fiscal years; (3) analysis of other significant factors affecting the measure’s cost and its effect on criminal-justice components; and (4) the methods and assumptions used. (c) By March 1 each year, the Attorney General must send Congress an assessment showing the combined effect of all relevant legal changes that took effect during the prior calendar year.