Sponsors (4)
The bill improves fog forecasting and safety for mariners and coastal communities and advances forecasting technology, but does so at a cost to taxpayers and private operators and may cause temporary operational disruptions and uneven benefits across regions.
Vessel operators and maritime workers will receive more accurate fog forecasts and advisories, improving navigation safety and reducing the risk of collisions and accidents.
Ports and coastal businesses (including small businesses) will be able to reduce economic losses from fog-related delays by using improved forecasts and decision-support services tied to advisories.
Coastal communities — including tribal and rural residents — will get earlier warnings and clearer risk communication, enabling better evacuation, preparedness, and operational decisions.
Taxpayers may face increased federal spending to deploy new sensors, platforms, and satellite data or see NOAA resources reallocated to implement the program.
Transportation workers and coastal businesses could experience more conservative operational restrictions (delays or temporary closures) driven by improved advisories, disrupting shipping and local economies despite safety benefits.
Commercial operators (data vendors, vessel owners, and other private providers) may incur costs to provide or host observations and to integrate decision-support services into operations.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires NOAA to run a project to improve coastal marine fog observations, forecasting, advisories, and decision-support using federal and commercial sensors and stakeholder engagement.
Introduced June 4, 2025 by Brian Babin · Last progress June 4, 2025
Requires the NOAA Administrator to run a project to improve forecasts and warnings for coastal marine fog. The project must expand marine observations (including federal platforms and commercially acquired sensors), improve fog modeling and geographic resolution, strengthen communication of fog advisories and decision support, engage stakeholders and tribes, and deliver a project plan with resources and timelines within one year of enactment.