Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
The bill amends existing NOAA personnel provisions in subtitle C of the NDAA FY2017 to strengthen prevention, reporting, investigation, and transparency for sexual harassment and sexual assault involving NOAA employees, commissioned officers, and covered personnel. Key changes require expanded data collection and annual reporting (including synopses and disciplinary actions), create limited exceptions to victim anonymity, require updates to restricted-reporting mechanisms, mandate vessel-related reporting to the Coast Guard for certain mariner incidents, expand definitions to explicitly include fisheries and protected-species observers, and bar certain sexual offenders from service in the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps.
Progressives emphasize victim protections and transparency benefits
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a substantive statutory package that clearly targets sexual harassment and assault policies and procedures for NOAA personnel.
The bill amends existing NOAA personnel provisions in subtitle C of the NDAA FY2017 to strengthen prevention, reporting, investigation, and transparency for sexual harassment and sexual assault involving NOAA employees, commissioned officers, and covered personnel.
Key changes require expanded data collection and annual reporting (including synopses and disciplinary actions), create limited exceptions to victim anonymity, require updates to restricted-reporting mechanisms, mandate vessel-related reporting to the Coast Guard for certain mariner incidents, expand definitions to explicitly include fisheries and protected-species observers, and bar certain sexual offenders from service in the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps.
Focused administrative fixes on sexual misconduct with modest costs increase prospects; potential privacy and industry pushback are the main risks.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a substantive statutory package that clearly targets sexual harassment and assault policies and procedures for NOAA personnel. It provides detailed amendments, definitions, reporting requirements, and administrative reporting paths while integrating tightly with existing law.
Progressives emphasize victim protections and transparency benefits
These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.
Progressives emphasize victim protections and transparency benefits
Likely supportive overall because the bill increases accountability, transparency, and protections for victims, and explicitly covers observers and other covered personnel.
The restricted-reporting updates and anonymity exceptions are seen as victim-centered improvements if implemented with strong confidentiality safeguards.
Generally favorable but pragmatic: the bill improves reporting, clarity, and accountability while raising manageable administrative burdens.
Support is conditional on clear privacy safeguards, funded implementation, and avoidance of unintended procedural consequences.
Mixed to somewhat opposed: supports stronger protections for victims and barring convicted offenders, but is concerned about additional federal reporting mandates, operational burdens on vessel operators, privacy and due-process implications, and potential federal overreach into private-sector activities.
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Still ahead
Still ahead
Still ahead
Focused administrative fixes on sexual misconduct with modest costs increase prospects; potential privacy and industry pushback are the main risks.
The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.
Progressives emphasize victim protections and transparency benefits
Focused administrative fixes on sexual misconduct with modest costs increase prospects; potential privacy and industry pushback are the mai…
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a substantive statutory package that clearly targets sexual harassment and assault policies and procedures for NOAA personnel. It provides detailed amendments, def…
Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.