S. 4708 would require foreign vessels to receive consent from the United States government before conducting maritime research in U. S. waters. The bill also would require the Department of State, assisted by the intelligence community and the Department of Homeland Security, to implement a process to review applications for such consent. Chinese, Iranian, North Korean, and Russian vessels would be prohibited from conducting such research. Finally, the bill would require the Department of State to submit two reports on Arctic matters to the Congress.
The Department of State has a process and an online portal for researchers to request prior approval from the United States government to conduct maritime research in U.S. waters. Under current policy, the intelligence community supports the Department of State’s efforts to regulate and authorize marine scientific research. Thus, CBO expects that satisfying the prior-approval requirements of S. 4708 would not significantly increase the workload of federal agencies.
On the basis of similar reporting requirements, CBO estimates the cost to issue reports under the bill would be less than $500,000 over the 2026-2036 period; any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is David Rafferty. The estimate was reviewed by Christina Hawley Anthony, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
