Appendix A

Legislative Request

COAST GUARD AUTHORIZATION ACT 2018, SECTION 812

1. IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall seek to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act under which the Academy shall prepare an assessment of available unmanned, autonomous, or remotely controlled maritime domain awareness technologies for use by the Coast Guard.
2. ASSESSMENT.—The assessment shall—
   1. describe the potential limitations of current and emerging unmanned technologies used in the maritime domain for—
      1. ocean observation;
      2. vessel monitoring and identification;
      3. weather observation;
      4. to the extent practicable for consideration by the Academy, intelligence gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance; and
      5. communications;
   2. examine how technologies described in paragraph (1) can help prioritize Federal investment by examining;
      1. affordability, including acquisition, operations, and maintenance;
      2. reliability;
      3. versatility;

2. 2. 4. efficiency; and
      5. estimated service life and persistence of effort; and
   3. analyze whether the use of new and emerging maritime domain awareness technologies can be used to—
      1. carry out Coast Guard missions at lower costs;
      2. expand the scope and range of Coast Guard maritime domain awareness;
      3. allow the Coast Guard to more efficiently and effectively allocate Coast Guard vessels, aircraft, and personnel; and
      4. identify adjustments that would be necessary in Coast Guard policies, procedures, and protocols to incorporate unmanned technologies to enhance efficiency.
3. REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year after entering into an arrangement with the Secretary under subsection (a), the National Academy of Sciences shall submit the assessment prepared under this section to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure and Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
4. USE OF INFORMATION.—In formulating costs pursuant to subsection (b), the National Academy of Sciences may utilize information from other Coast Guard reports, assessments, or analyses regarding existing Coast Guard manpower requirements or other reports, assessments, or analyses for the acquisition of unmanned, autonomous, or remotely controlled technologies by the Federal Government.