BRUNSWICK (AP) – A search-and-rescue helicopter stationed at Brunswick Naval Air Station is scheduled to be decommissioned in July, but it could stay on as part of a spending bill in Washington.

A provision tied to the Defense Department’s spending authorization bill would keep the department from eliminating rescue capabilities from any base.

, including Brunswick, unless it can show that another agency can provide the same services.

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, introduced the provision. She said the helicopter unit is important to Maine’s coastline and mariners.

“The presence of those units dramatically reduces the potential for the unnecessary loss of life off our coast and must be protected by any means available,” Snowe said. “This provision does just that.”

BNAS spokesman John James said the Navy hopes to reduce costs by getting out of the search-and-rescue business.

He said Air National Guard helicopters in Bangor can handle land rescues, while Coast Guard helicopters based on Cape Cod can perform missions off Maine’s coast.