H.R. 9394 would direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to plan and conduct a nationwide exercise on preventing and responding to an act of agroterrorism. Agroterrorism is an act of terrorism that targets domestic agriculture and food infrastructure that is critical to the United States. The exercise would involve coordination with private-sector food operators and intergovernmental entities at the federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial levels. The legislation also would require DHS to report to the Congress on its findings and its legislative recommendations resulting from the exercise.
CBO assumes that DHS would conduct this exercise as part of similar exercises that DHS intends to carry out as permitted under current law. On that basis, and using the cost of similar exercises carried out by the department, CBO estimates that it would cost $1 million over the 2026-2031 period to implement H.R. 9394. CBO expects that the additional reporting costs for DHS would be insignificant. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
The CBO staff contact for this cost estimate is Zunara Naeem. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
