Sponsors (8)
The bill secures multi-year funding and clearer governance to strengthen regional coastal observation and forecasting—improving safety and resource management—but does so with funding rigidities, added administrative burdens, and potential implementation and security challenges that could strain programs if not carefully managed.
Regional coastal observing systems and coastal communities get stable, predictable funding: the bill authorizes $56 million annually (2026–2030) and requires each regional system in existence on Jan 1, 2025 receive at least 7.5% of annual appropriations, supporting monitoring, maintenance, and local data services.
Coastal communities, emergency planners, and resource managers will receive more and better-integrated ocean and meteorological observations and clearer regional data-sharing processes, improving storm forecasting, flood warning, navigation safety, and resource management decisions (e.g., HAB response, habitat protection).
State and local emergency planners will get annual, storm-specific evaluations showing how observation data affected forecast accuracy, helping identify data gaps and improve future forecasting and preparedness.
Guaranteed minimum allocations (7.5% per regional system) and the $56M cap could exhaust authorized funds if many systems qualify, and limit NOAA's flexibility to fund national priorities, emergent needs, or new initiatives.
Expanded data-sharing, reporting, and annual evaluation requirements will impose additional administrative, technical, and analytic costs on federal agencies, regional associations, and partners—costs that may come from taxpayers or by diverting existing program funds.
Short-term administrative burden and implementer confusion from terminology changes, redesignations, and the need to update guidance, regulations, and agreements could divert staff time and slow program work during transition.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Updates statute language, adds meteorological observations and regional data-sharing duties, mandates annual post-storm evaluations, and authorizes $56M/year (FY2026–2030) with 7.5% regional floors.
Makes technical and program changes to the federal ocean observation law: it renames the governing body from "Council" to "Committee," expands the program to explicitly include meteorological observations and information, requires new regional data-sharing duties and annual post-storm evaluations, and authorizes $56 million per year for fiscal years 2026–2030 with a required minimum allocation to existing regional coastal observing systems.
Introduced June 18, 2025 by Roger F. Wicker · Last progress June 18, 2025