IB 

Union Calendar No. 175 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2489 

[Report No. 111–309] 

To authorize a comprehensive national cooperative geospatial imagery mapping program through the United States Geological Survey, to promote 

use of the program for education, workforce training and development, 

and applied research, and to support Federal, State, tribal, and local 

government programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2009 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN (for herself and Mr. LATOURETTE) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

OCTOBER 21, 2009 

Additional sponsor: Mr. SARBANES

OCTOBER 21, 2009 

Reported with amendments, 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 May 19, 2009] 


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A BILL 

To authorize a comprehensive national cooperative geospatial 

imagery mapping program through the United States 

Geological Survey, to promote use of the program for 

education, workforce training and development, and applied research, and to support Federal, State, tribal, 

and local government programs. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Land Remote 

5 Sensing Outreach Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means the 

9 National Land Remote Sensing Outreach Program es10 tablished in section 3. 

11 (2) EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—The term 

12 ‘‘educational institution’’ means any public or pri13 vate elementary or secondary school, or any institu14 tion of vocational, professional, or higher education 

15 (including a junior college or teachers’ college). 

16 (3) GEOSPATIAL IMAGERY.—The term 

17 ‘‘geospatial imagery’’— 

18 (A) means satellite land remote sensing 

19 image data registered to map or other spatial co20 ordinates derived from features on the ground; 

21 and 

22 (B) includes a wide range of graphical 

23 products that convey information about natural 

24 phenomena and human activities occurring on 

25 Earth’s surface. 


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1 (4) IMAGE DATA.—The term ‘‘image data’’ 

2 means the raw, unprocessed form of data captured 

3 from a sensing instrument. 

4 (5) LAND REMOTE SENSING.—The term ‘‘land 

5 remote sensing’’ means image data of land, coastal 

6 areas, or islands and reefs acquired from above the 

7 surface of the Earth by instruments on satellite plat8 forms. 

9 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 the Secretary of the Interior. 

11 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

12 (A) each of the several States of the United 

13 States; 

14 (B) the District of Columbia; 

15 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

16 (D) Guam; 

17 (E) American Samoa; 

18 (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 

19 Mariana Islands; and 

20 (G) the United States Virgin Islands. 

21 (8) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ has 

22 the same meaning given that term in section 4(e) of 

23 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist24 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)). 


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1 SEC. 3. NATIONAL LAND REMOTE SENSING OUTREACH PRO2 GRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish and 

4 maintain a national land remote sensing outreach program 

5 within the U.S. Geological Survey to advance the avail6 ability, timely distribution, and widespread use of 

7 geospatial imagery for education, research, assessment, and 

8 monitoring purposes in each State and the lands of an In9 dian tribe. 

10 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program are— 

11 (1) to increase accessibility to, and expand the 

12 use of, remote sensing data in a standard, easy-to-use 

13 format by Federal, State, local, and tribal govern14 ments, communities, educational institutions, and the 

15 commercial sector; and 

16 (2) to assist each participating State and Indian 

17 tribe in establishing the cooperative infrastructure 

18 necessary to increase access to geospatial imagery for 

19 research and educational purposes. 

20 (c) ACTIVITIES.— 

21 (1) NATIONAL LAND REMOTE SENSING OUT22 REACH PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall— 

23 (A) support geospatial imagery sharing, ap24 plied research, and educational programs of each 

25 participating State and Indian tribe; 


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1 (B) identify new geospatial imagery needs 

2 and infrastructure; 

3 (C) share and cooperate in the development 

4 of geospatial imagery applications, education, 

5 and training infrastructure in each partici6 pating State and the lands of an Indian tribe; 

7 (D) cooperate with participating States and 

8 Indian tribes to encourage the expansion of 

9 geospatial imagery mapping courses taught at 

10 appropriate educational institutions; 

11 (E) encourage expansion of geospatial im12 agery research at appropriate educational insti13 tutions; 

14 (F) encourage expansion of the knowledge 

15 and use of geospatial imagery products in the 

16 workforce through outreach programs, workshops, 

17 and other training opportunities; 

18 (G) encourage participating States and In19 dian tribes to build partnerships with local gov20 ernments to identify unique research and devel21 opment needs and geospatial imagery applica22 tion pilot programs; 

23 (H) promote cooperation and sharing of ex24 pertise regarding geospatial imagery applicaVerDate Nov 24 2008 20:47 Oct 21, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2489.RH H2489

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1 tions among participating States and Indian 

2 tribes; and 

3 (I) provide a mechanism to enable the 

4 States and Indian tribes to transfer geospatial 

5 imagery and applications to the U.S. Geological 

6 Survey as appropriate. 

7 (2) GRANTS.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is author9 ized to provide grants to qualified educational 

10 institutions, or to State, local, and tribal govern11 ments, or to consortia of these entities, on a com12 petitive basis to— 

13 (i) advance the interest of the Federal 

14 Government in promoting the use of im15 agery by educational institutions, States, 

16 localities, and Indian tribes; and 

17 (ii) achieve the purposes of the Pro18 gram described in section 3(b). 

19 (B) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

20 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of 

21 the cost of each program for which a grant 

22 is made under this Act may not exceed 75 

23 percent of the total cost of the program. 


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1 (ii) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION.—In 

2 providing the non-Federal contribution re3 quired under this paragraph, a grantee— 

4 (I) shall provide for such share 

5 through a payment in cash or in kind, 

6 fairly evaluated, including facilities, 

7 equipment, technology, or services; and 

8 (II) may provide for such share 

9 through State sources or local sources, 

10 including private funds or donated 

11 services. 

12 (iii) WAIVER.—The Secretary may 

13 waive the requirements of subparagraph 

14 (B), in whole or in part, with respect to 

15 any program if the Secretary determines 

16 that the grantee has made a good faith ef17 fort to obtain the non-Federal contribution 

18 at the local level but is unable to do so. 

19 (3) FEDERAL PARTNER ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es21 tablish and maintain a committee to advise the 

22 Director of the U.S. Geological Survey regarding 

23 the Program. 

24 (B) MEMBERSHIP AND APPOINTMENT.—The 

25 advisory committee under subparagraph (A) 


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1 shall be chaired by the U.S. Geological Survey 

2 and composed of such representatives of Federal 

3 and State agencies, tribal governments, and edu4 cational institutions as the Secretary may des5 ignate. 

6 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec8 retary $10,000,000 to carry out this Act for each of fiscal 

9 years 2010 through 2019. 

10 SEC. 5. SUNSET DATE. 

11 This Act is repealed on the date that is 10 years after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to authorize 

a national cooperative geospatial imagery program 

through the United States Geological Survey to promote 

use of remote sensing data.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 175 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2489 

[Report No. 111–309] 

A BILL 

To authorize a comprehensive national cooperative 

ment programs. support Federal, State, tribal, and local governand development, and applied research, and to of the program for education, workforce training United States Geological Survey, to promote use geospatial imagery mapping program through the 

OCTOBER 21, 2009 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Nov 24 2008 20:47 Oct 21, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H2489.RH H2489

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