Commercial Remote Sensing Amendment Act of 2023

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 290) to provide for transparent licensing of commercial remote sensing systems, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 290, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 290, the Commercial Remote Sensing Amendment Act.

I introduced this bipartisan legislation last Congress and that measure passed the House by a voice vote. I reintroduced the same bill this year, along with my colleague, the ranking member, Ms. Lofgren. It updates the reporting requirements for NOAA's Office of Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs so that Congress can monitor how regulations are impacting the growth and improvement of the commercial remote sensing industry.

Remote sensing uses data collected from satellites to produce images of the Earth. It has become a critical resource for fields like agriculture, finance, trade, and energy.

For instance, imagery and data from commercial remote sensing allows us to improve crop production by helping farmers more efficiently apply water and fertilizer. It informs future commodity prices by actively monitoring weather and crop health.

Commercial remote sensing also improves our ability to prepare for and respond to natural disasters by informing flood plain mapping, tornado tracking, and drought monitoring, topics that are very important to my constituents in Oklahoma.

It can also be helpful in humanitarian relief efforts and monitoring treaty compliance, among other applications.

As you can see, commercial remote sensing provides us with critical information for many important applications. This technology is constantly evolving, and the industry is seeing tremendous growth.

To effectively support and manage remote sensing activities, it is critical that Congress receives timely and comprehensive reports so we can evaluate the state of the industry and how regulations are affecting this growth.

The Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015 established a reporting requirement from the Department of Commerce on the status of commercial remote sensing licensing and regulation. This requirement expired in 2020.

H.R. 290 will reinstate that reporting requirement and keep Congress informed of agency actions, their impact on licensees, and the state of the commercial remote sensing industry. These reports to Congress will give us the information we need to ensure that the U.S. remains the global leader in this important field.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 290 is a no-nonsense, bipartisan bill that will help ensure that the U.S. remains the global leader in the commercial remote sensing industry.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Lofgren for joining me in advancing this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, as I have said previously, commercial remote sensing provides us with critical information related to a number of fields, like agriculture, finance, trade, energy, and more. This, in turn, allows us to be better stewards of our resources.

H.R. 290, the Commercial Remote Sensing Amendment Act will help us ensure that Congress receives the updates necessary to monitor industrial regulations. By updating these reporting requirements, we can ensure that the U.S. remains the global leader in an important field.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I thank the ranking member for her help in this effort.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 290-- the Commercial Remote Sensing Amendment Act of 2023.

This bill would provide for transparent licensing of commercial remote sensing systems and renews the requirement that the Department of Commerce send an annual report to Congress on the status of commercial remote sensing applications.

Commercial remote sensing systems can be used to improve operations in a variety of industries.

Remote sensing is crucial for agricultural production, weather forecasting, and emergency response efforts.

The Aeronautical Survey Program (ASP), the Coastal Mapping Program (CMP), and emergency response efforts all benefit from the ocean data that has been collected by using remote sensing systems.

This data enables the provision of a regularly updated national coastline for marine navigation, establishing territorial limits, and managing coastal resources.

Cities like Houston that are close to coastlines and experience frequent flooding and hurricanes greatly benefit from commercial remote sensing systems.

A study done by the Texas State Climatologist Office at Texas A&M University warned that Texans should brace themselves for more extreme weather in the coming years.

The study found that, as a direct consequence of climate change, Texas should expect the severity of hurricanes and flooding to increase through the year 2036.

In recent years, Texans have experienced the devastating effects of climate change.

On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas, just north of the city of Corpus Christi, as a category 4 storm.

Hurricane Harvey dropped 21 trillion gallons of intense rainfall on Texas and Louisiana, most of it on the Houston Metroplex.

The volume of water that fell on Houston and other affected areas of Texas and Louisiana could fill more than 24,000 Astrodomes or supply the water for Niagara Falls for 15 days.

Hurricane Harvey caused damage to more than 204,000 homes of which 99 thousand were in Harris County.

With commercial remote sensing systems, scientists would have been able to monitor the storm prior to landfall and would have been able to collect information and data from inaccessible areas.

Remote sensing systems provide warnings to locals and prepare them for storms, saving lives and managing potential risks.

The information gathered by these remote sensing systems, such as elevation data, is utilized to create management plans for the restoration, monitoring, and maintenance of the environment and the planet.

Over the last 50 years, the number of disasters has increased by a factor of five worldwide.

With the increase in climate disasters, lawmakers need to protect the American public by passing legislation that would manage risks and save lives.

I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation that can save lives as we navigate our everchanging climate.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today also in support of H.R. 290, the Commercial Remote Sensing Amendment Act of 2023.

I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of this legislation, along with the chairman, and I am pleased to serve as ranking member of the committee, a new assignment for me.

It was all the way back in 1992 when Congress authorized the Secretary of Commerce to license and regulate commercial remote sensing space systems.

Commercial remote sensing is now a vibrant and growing industry. As the chairman has said, data and imagery from commercial remote sensing satellites are used widely in agriculture, disaster monitoring, energy, mapping, and national security applications. In fact, commercial remote sensing has been an important information source for fighting the devastating Western wildland fires, including those in my home State of California.

Companies from around the world are launching commercial remote sensing systems and selling the data. According to the Satellite Industries Association, globally, these services reached an estimated $2.7 billion in revenue in 2021.

Congress needs to ensure that the United States remains at the cutting edge of this industry and that is why it is important that we have the transparency and insight we need to oversee the licensing and regulation of private remote sensing systems.

In order to accomplish this, the Commercial Remote Sensing Amendment Act modifies the timeline for completing licenses to conform with updated regulations. It requires additional details on licensing information to be included in reports to Congress, and it extends a sunset clause for the annual report on commercial remote sensing licenses until 2030.

As the chairman has mentioned, an identical version of this bill passed this House on suspension during the 117th Congress, and I am pleased that Chairman Lucas and I can kick off our work this session by continuing the Science, Space, and Technology Committee's strong tradition of bipartisan work and our track record with this good bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers.

Mr. Speaker, I hope that we all support this good bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.