The National Sea Grant College Program is a partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and 33 university-based programs that focuses on studying, conserving, and effectively using U.S. coastal resources. H.R. 2405 would amend the program and would authorize appropriations totaling $631 million over the 2020-2025 period for NOAA to implement that program. The bill would restrict the use of funds allocated to the program’s policy fellowship, reduce the frequency of reports to the Congress, and streamline the process for federal agencies to hire former recipients of a Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship.
Based on historical spending patterns and assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $631 million over the 2020-2029 period. In 2019, NOAA allocated $80 million to the program. The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall within budget function 300 (natural resources and environment).
On May 2, 2019, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 910, the National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act of 2019, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on April 3, 2019. The differences in CBO’s estimated costs for the two pieces of legislation reflect differences in the amounts each bill would authorize to be appropriated.
