S. 2206 would authorize the appropriation of $183 million a year through 2020 for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to conduct certain hydrographic activities (the measurement and description of features that affect maritime navigation). The bill also would require NOAA to take actions aimed at reducing sexual harassment within the agency. Finally, the bill would modify personnel policies for the agency’s commissioned officer corps.
Based on information provided by NOAA and assuming appropriation of the authorized and necessary amounts, CBO estimates that implementing S. 2206 would cost $728 million over the 2017-2021 period and $32 million after 2021.
Because enacting the legislation would affect direct spending and revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures apply; however, CBO estimates that any such effects would be insignificant. CBO estimates that enacting the legislation would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
The bill would impose intergovernmental and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). CBO estimates that the aggregate cost of complying with the mandates would fall below the annual thresholds established in UMRA for intergovernmental and private-sector mandates ($77 million and $154 million in 2016, respectively, adjusted annually for inflation).