Sponsors (19)
The bill funds and mandates creation and public release of a high‑resolution Great Lakes bathymetric map to improve navigation safety and resource management, while imposing several million dollars in federal spending and added implementation burdens on federal and state agencies.
Commercial and recreational mariners (and communities that rely on them) will have safer navigation because NOAA must publicly release completed bathymetric data and integrate it into nautical charts, reducing grounding and collision risks on the Great Lakes.
State agencies, researchers, and the public will gain a complete high‑resolution bathymetric map of the Great Lakes by Dec 31, 2030, improving scientific understanding, habitat management, and natural-resource planning.
The bill provides sustained federal funding ($50 million per year, FY2025–FY2029) to support mapping and coordination, giving states and regional observing systems predictable resources to complete the project.
Taxpayers face up to $250 million in authorized federal spending over five years (plus implementation costs), which could displace other budget priorities or increase fiscal pressure.
NOAA, state agencies, and regional observing systems will face increased administrative workload and potential costs because of mandated coordination, data-integration obligations, and rapid public-release requirements, which could conflict with existing processing or security/privacy rules and cause delays.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires NOAA to produce a high-resolution Great Lakes lakebed map, publish and archive bathymetric data, and authorizes $50M/year for FY2025–FY2029 (available through 2030).
Official title: To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to conduct high-resolution surveying and mapping of the lakebeds of the Great Lakes, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 8, 2025 by Lisa C. McClain · Last progress April 8, 2025
Requires NOAA to lead a coordinated program to survey and produce high-resolution maps of the lakebeds of the Great Lakes, publish the data, and incorporate it into navigation and public products. Authorizes $50 million per year for fiscal years 2025–2029 (with availability through 2030) and sets requirements for coordination, cataloging, archival, and data management while preserving existing mapping procedures under current law.