Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025, Subtitle C--"Matters Involving Uncrewed Systems"

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Proposed
• Most recent activity date: 2025-03-06

Risk subdomain coverage

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• AI system security vulnerabilities
• Overreliance and unsafe use
• Governance failure
• Lack of capability or robustness

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document has minimal coverage of AI risk domains, with limited focus on governance structures (6.5) and system safety considerations (7.3). The document primarily addresses maritime autonomous systems governance rather than AI-specific risks, with brief mentions of safety, security, and operational reliability concerns.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Trade, Transportation & Utilities
• Scientific Research & Development Services
• Public Administration (excl. National Security)

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Professional & Technical Services
• Educational Services
• National Security

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

The document primarily governs the Trade, Transportation and Utilities sector (maritime transportation and operations) and Public Administration excluding National Security (Coast Guard regulatory functions). It also has minimal coverage of Scientific Research and Development Services through NOAA's oceanographic research activities.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding federal statute enacted by the United States Congress with mandatory obligations, enforcement mechanisms, and legal authority vested in federal agencies including the Coast Guard and NOAA.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: The document is a Congressional Act ('Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025') enacted by the United States Congress, which has constitutional authority to create federal legislation.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor, AI_Deployer
• Entities: Coast Guard; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); operators of small uncrewed maritime systems; vessel operators; port districts and terminal operators
• Summary: The Act primarily targets federal agencies (Coast Guard and NOAA) that operate and regulate autonomous maritime systems, as well as private entities that operate uncrewed maritime systems in U.S. territorial waters.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating; Commandant of the Coast Guard; Assistant Administrator of the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations of NOAA
• Summary: The Secretary and Commandant are given explicit authority to establish committees, develop regulations, create training programs, and maintain oversight of autonomous maritime systems operations.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: National Advisory Committee on Autonomous Maritime Systems; Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; Commandant of the Coast Guard
• Summary: The Act establishes an advisory committee to monitor and advise on autonomous systems regulation, and requires regular reporting and briefings to Congressional committees for oversight purposes.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Plan and Design
• Collect and Process Data
• Verify and Validate
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document addresses multiple lifecycle stages with primary focus on Deploy and Operate and Monitor stages. It establishes governance structures for deployment of autonomous maritime systems and requires ongoing monitoring, reporting, and training. There is also coverage of Plan and Design through the advisory committee's role in regulation development.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

• AI Systems

Technical Scope Summary

The document focuses on autonomous and uncrewed systems rather than AI specifically. It mentions autonomous systems, uncrewed systems, and references to artificial intelligence and machine learning tools as enablers for data systems. No explicit definitions of AI models, systems, or specific AI categories are provided.