Description:
H.R. 1921 would authorize each agency that sits on the National Science and Technology Council’s interagency working group on ocean acidification to conduct prize competitions to stimulate innovation and increase the ability to understand, research, and monitor ocean acidification and its impacts. Agencies that participate on the working group include the Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, and United States Geological Survey. Based on the median amount of prize money offered for other federal competitions in 2016 and accounting for inflation and the administrative costs associated with reviewing entries, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1921 would cost about $1 million over the 2019-2024 period. Such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. Most agencies are authorized to accept monetary gifts from state and local governments and private entities to supplement appropriated funds for prize payments; thus, enacting H.R. 1921 could increase the collection and spending of such gifts by those agencies. The receipt and spending of such gifts are recorded in the budget as direct spending. Because any additional gifts received under the bill for prize completions would probably be spent soon thereafter, CBO estimates that the net effect on direct spending would be negligible.
