Description:
Under current law, the Coast Guard (USCG) operates several centers of expertise, often under agreements with educational institutions, to provide technical assistance on a range of issues related to maritime safety. H.R. 6206 would direct the Coast Guard to establish a new center to promote the use of new maritime technologies related to activities including surveillance and monitoring, search and rescue, emergency response, and law enforcement. Using information from the USCG, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 6206 would not significantly affect the federal budget. Because the USCG’s existing Research and Development Center is already pursuing activities similar to those that the proposed center would perform, CBO expects that any increases in the agency’s costs—which would be subject to appropriation—would not exceed $500,000 in any year (In 2018 the USCG allocated about $5 million in appropriated funds to those similar efforts.) Enacting H.R. 6206 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6206 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029. H.R. 6206 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
