S. 93 would reauthorize and expand activities administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency related to research, observation, and control of harmful algal blooms and hypoxia. Harmful blooms occur when colonies of algae grow uncontrollably and become toxic, which also may lead to reduced oxygen (or hypoxia) in the water. The bill would authorize the appropriation of $27.5 million annually from 2026 through 2030 for those purposes, which includes expanding the membership and activities of an existing interagency task force and establishing a new program to create technologies to mitigate and control harmful algal blooms. In 2024, those agencies allocated $40 million for activities to mitigate harmful algal blooms.

The bill also would authorize the appropriation of $2 million each year over the 2026-2030 period to address harmful blooms and hypoxia events that would have a significant detrimental effect on the environment, economy, or public health of a state.

CBO estimates that the bill will be enacted in 2025 and that the authorized amounts will be provided in each year. On that basis and using the spending patterns for similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $130 million over the 2025-2030 period and $17 million after 2030.

The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall within budget function 300 (natural resources and environment).

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