Remote Sensing Applications Act of 2004

        [Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1292 Reported in House (RH)]

Union Calendar No. 243
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 1292

[Report No. 108-423]

To encourage the development and integrated use by the public and
private sectors of remote sensing and other geospatial information, and
for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 13, 2003

Mr. Udall of Colorado (for himself and Mr. Pickering) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science

February 18, 2004

Additional sponsors: Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Boehlert, Ms. Jackson-Lee of
Texas, and Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania

February 18, 2004

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March
13, 2003]

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To encourage the development and integrated use by the public and
private sectors of remote sensing and other geospatial information, and
for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Remote Sensing Applications Act of
2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds that--
(1) although urban land use planning, growth management,
and other functions of State, local, regional, and tribal
agencies are rightfully within their jurisdiction, the Federal
Government can and should play an important role in the
development and demonstration of innovative techniques to
improve comprehensive land use planning and growth management;
(2) the United States is making a major investment in
acquiring remote sensing and other geospatial information from
both governmental and commercial sources;
(3) while much of the data is being acquired for scientific
and national security purposes, it also can have important
applications to help meet societal goals;
(4) it has already been demonstrated that Landsat data and
other earth observation data can be of enormous assistance to
Federal, State, local, regional, and tribal agencies for urban
land use planning, coastal zone management, natural and
cultural resource management, and disaster monitoring;
(5) remote sensing, coupled with the emergence of
geographic information systems and satellite-based positioning
information, offers the capability of developing important new
applications of integrated sets of geospatial information to
address societal needs;
(6) the full range of applications of remote sensing and
other forms of geospatial information to meeting public sector
requirements has not been adequately explored or exploited;
(7) the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992,
Presidential Decision Directive 23 of 1994, and the Commercial
Space Act of 1998 all support and promote the development of
United States commercial remote sensing capabilities;
(8) many State, local, regional, tribal, and Federal
agencies are unaware of the utility of remote sensing and other
geospatial information for meeting their needs, even when
research has demonstrated the potential applications of that
information;
(9) even when aware of the utility of remote sensing and
geospatial technologies in the area of wildland fire management
to detect and monitor a wildland fire in real-time from the
early stages of fire growth, many State, local, regional, and
tribal agencies are hampered by a lack of overall strategy guiding
interagency management of resources and technology, according to a
September 2003 Government Accounting Office report;
(10) remote sensing and other geospatial information,
especially when used in a coordinated approach, can be
particularly useful to State, local, regional, and tribal
agencies in the area of urban planning, especially in their
efforts to plan for and manage the impacts of growth,
development, and sprawl, as well as in wildland fire management
and environmental impact and disaster relief planning and
management;
(11) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in
coordination with other agencies, can play a unique role in
demonstrating how data acquired for scientific purposes, when
combined with other data sources and processing capabilities,
can be applied to assist State, local, regional, and tribal
agencies and the private sector in decisionmaking in such areas
as agriculture, weather forecasting, and forest management; and
(12) in addition, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, in conjunction with other agencies, can play a
unique role in stimulating the development of the remote
sensing and other geospatial information sector through pilot
projects to demonstrate the value of integrating governmental
and commercial remote sensing data with geographic information
systems and satellite-based positioning data to provide useful
applications products.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act--
(1) the term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
(2) the term ``geospatial information'' means knowledge of
the nature and distribution of physical and cultural features
on the landscape based on analysis of data from airborne or
spaceborne platforms or other types and sources of data; and
(3) the term ``institution of higher education'' has the
meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).

SEC. 4. PILOT PROJECTS TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC SECTOR APPLICATIONS.

(a) In General.--The Administrator shall establish a program of
grants for competitively awarded pilot projects to explore the
integrated use of sources of remote sensing and other geospatial
information to address State, local, regional, and tribal agency needs.
(b) Preferred Projects.--In awarding grants under this section, the
Administrator shall give preference to projects that--
(1) make use of existing public or commercial data sets;
(2) integrate multiple sources of geospatial information,
such as geographic information system data, satellite-provided
positioning data, and remotely sensed data, in innovative ways;
(3) include funds or in-kind contributions from non-Federal
sources;
(4) involve the participation of commercial entities that
process raw or lightly processed data, often merging that data
with other geospatial information, to create data products that
have significant value added to the original data; and
(5) taken together demonstrate as diverse a set of public
sector applications as possible.
(c) Opportunities.--In carrying out this section, the Administrator
shall seek opportunities to assist--
(1) in the development of commercial applications
potentially available from the remote sensing industry;
(2) State, local, regional, and tribal agencies in applying
remote sensing and other geospatial information technologies
for growth management; and
(3) State, local, regional, and tribal agencies in
obtaining and utilizing satellite, aviation, and sensor
capabilities for wildland fire detection, analysis, and
observation.
(d) Duration.--Assistance for a pilot project under subsection (a)
shall be provided for a period not to exceed 3 years.
(e) Report.--Each recipient of a grant under subsection (a) shall
transmit a report to the Administrator on the results of the pilot
project within 180 days of the completion of that project.
(f) Workshop.--Each recipient of a grant under subsection (a)
shall, not later than 180 days after the completion of the pilot
project, conduct at least one workshop for potential users to
disseminate the lessons learned from the pilot project as widely as
feasible.
(g) Regulations.--The Administrator shall issue regulations
establishing application, selection, and implementation procedures for
pilot projects, and guidelines for reports and workshops required by
this section.

SEC. 5. PROGRAM EVALUATION.

(a) Advisory Committee.--The Administrator shall establish an
advisory committee, consisting of individuals with appropriate
expertise in State, local, regional, and tribal agencies, the
university research community, and the remote sensing and other
geospatial information industry, to monitor the program established
under section 4. The advisory committee shall consult with the Federal
Geographic Data Committee and other appropriate industry
representatives and organizations. Notwithstanding section 14 of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act, the advisory committee established
under this subsection shall remain in effect until the termination of
the program under section 4.
(b) Effectiveness Evaluation.--Not later than December 31, 2008,
the Administrator shall transmit to the Congress an evaluation of the
effectiveness of the program established under section 4 in exploring
and promoting the integrated use of sources of remote sensing and other
geospatial information to address State, local, regional, and tribal
agency needs. Such evaluation shall have been conducted by an
independent entity.

SEC. 6. DATA AVAILABILITY.

The Administrator shall ensure that the results of each of the
pilot projects completed under section 4 shall be retrievable through
an electronic, Internet-accessible database.

SEC. 7. EDUCATION.

The Administrator shall establish an educational outreach program
to increase awareness at institutions of higher education and State,
local, regional, and tribal agencies of the potential applications of
remote sensing and other geospatial information.

SEC. 8. COST SENSITIVITY STUDY.

The Administrator shall conduct a study of the effect of remote
sensing imagery costs on potential State, local, regional, and tribal
agency applications. The study shall identify applications that are
likely to be most affected by reductions in the cost of remote sensing
imagery. Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Administrator shall transmit to the Congress the results of
the study conducted under this section.

SEC. 9. REPORT.

Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall submit to
Congress a report on how agencies are implementing the recommendations
contained in the September 2003 General Accounting Office report
entitled ``Geospatial Information: Technologies Hold Promise for
Wildland Fire Management, but Challenges Remain''.

SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator
$15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2009 to carry out
this Act.

Union Calendar No. 243

108th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 1292

[Report No. 108-423]

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To encourage the development and integrated use by the public and
private sectors of remote sensing and other geospatial information, and
for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

February 18, 2004

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed