S. 2829 would reauthorize programs administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Maritime Administration (MARAD). The act would require those agencies to establish certain personnel-related policies, particularly to prevent sexual harassment and assault within those agencies and related institutions, and make a variety of other changes to federal policies and regulations related to maritime programs and related activities. Assuming appropriation of the authorized and estimated amounts, CBO estimates that implementing S. 2829 would cost $944 million over the 2017-2021 period.
Enacting the legislation would affect direct spending and revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. CBO estimates, however, that any such effects would be insignificant in any given year. CBO estimates that enacting S. 2829 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
S. 2829 would impose intergovernmental and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). CBO estimates that the costs of those mandates would fall below the annual thresholds established in UMRA for intergovernmental and private-sector mandates ($77 million and $154 million in 2016, respectively, adjusted annually for inflation).