S. 216, Save Our Seas 2.0 Amendments Act

S. 216 would authorize annual appropriations for the Marine Debris Program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and would authorize a single-year appropriation for the Marine Debris Foundation. The bill would allow the foundation to match contributions from foreign governments and from tribal and regional organizations. Both the program and the foundation support efforts to remove plastics, discarded fishing gear, and other harmful materials from the marine environment.

CBO assumes that the bill will be enacted in 2025 and that the authorized amounts will be provided in each year. On that basis, and using historical spending patterns, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $77 million over the 2025-2030 period. The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall within budget function 300 (natural resources and environment).

Marine Debris Program

S. 216 would reauthorize the appropriation of $15 million annually from 2025 through 2029 for NOAA to operate the Marine Debris Program. In 2024, NOAA allocated $36 million for the program. CBO estimates that implementing this provision would cost $75 million over the 2025-2030 period.

Marine Debris Foundation

The bill would authorize the appropriation of $2 million in 2025 for the Marine Debris Foundation to match external contributions. An appropriation of $10 million a year was authorized for the foundation to match contributions from private individuals or from state and local governments but that authorization expired at the end of 2024; the Congress has not appropriated any funds for the foundation to date. The bill would allow the foundation to match contributions from foreign governments, tribal governments and organizations, and other regional organizations. CBO estimates that implementing this provision would cost $2 million over the 2025-2030 period.

The foundation is authorized to invest appropriated funds in Treasury securities and to spend any credited interest without further appropriation. The collection and spending of contributions as well as the spending of credited interest are classified in the budget as direct spending. CBO estimates that the net effect on direct spending from the additional contributions to the foundation would be insignificant over the 2025-2035 period because those collections would be spent quickly. CBO also expects that the spending of any interest credited to the foundation would be insignificant.

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Aurora Swanson. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.