H.R. 1618, Precision Agriculture Satellite Connectivity Act

H.R. 1618 would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to review its rules concerning fixed, mobile, and earth exploration satellite service and recommend changes that would promote precision agriculture. The bill would require the FCC to report to the Congress on that review and any associated recommendations within 15 months of enactment.

Using information from the FCC, CBO expects that it would need five part-time employees, at an average cost of $195,000 per person to review the relevant rules and report to the Congress. On that basis, CBO estimates that it would cost the agency $1 million over the 2025-2030 period to implement the bill. However, because the FCC is authorized to collect fees each year sufficient to offset the appropriated costs of its regulatory activities, CBO estimates that the net cost to the FCC would be negligible, assuming appropriation actions consistent with that authority.

If the FCC increased fees to offset the costs associated with implementing the bill, H.R. 1618 would increase the cost of an existing mandate on private entities required to pay those fees. CBO estimates that the incremental cost of that mandate would be small and fall below the annual threshold established in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) for private-sector mandates ($203 million in 2025, adjusted annually for inflation).

H.R. 1618 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA.

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Zunara Naeem (for federal costs) and Rachel Austin (for mandates). The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.