Description:
S. 3533 would direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to participate in the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System (NVEWS) by providing additional modeling and observations on the effects of volcanic eruptions on atmospheric and ocean chemistry. S. 3533 would require NOAA to publish a plan within 180 days of enactment for integrating its observations and models into the NVEWS and to meet other requirements over a five-year period. For this estimate, CBO assumes that the bill will be enacted by the end of calendar year 2022. NVEWS is authorized through fiscal year 2023; the bill would not change that date. Because NOAA would have six months to complete its plan, CBO expects that the agency could not participate in NVEWS until late in fiscal year 2023, shortly before the system’s authorization will expire. Using information from the agency, CBO estimates that it would cost NOAA less than $500,000 in 2023 to create and publish the integration plan. If NVEWS were subsequently authorized beyond 2023, CBO expects that implementing the bill’s requirements would increase NOAA’s costs by between $5 million and $10 million over the 2024-2027 period. Any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
