H.R. 847 would direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to conduct outreach on privacy-enhancing technologies and would require the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support related research. The bill also would direct the Office of Science and Technology Policy to report to the Congress on research in privacy-enhancing technologies and related policy recommendations.
Based on the costs of similar activities, CBO estimates that NIST would need three employees at an average annual cost of $175,000 annually to conduct the outreach. In recent years, the NSF has awarded between $20 million and $40 million annually in grants to support research on privacy-enhancing technologies. On that basis, CBO estimates that any additional costs incurred by the NSF under H.R. 847 would not be significant. In addition, CBO estimates that cost of the required report would be insignificant. In total, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 847 would cost $2 million over the 2022-2026 period; such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
