II 

Calendar No. 695 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1078 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 19, 2009 

Mr. JOHNSON (for himself and Mr. VOINOVICH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

DECEMBER 14, 2010 

Reported by Mr. ROCKEFELLER, with an amendment 

[Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘AmericaView 

3 Geospatial Imagery Mapping Program Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds that— 

6 (1) when Federal geospatial imagery is avail7 able in a cost-effective and timely manner, State and 

8 local governments and educational institutions are 

9 able to develop new scientific, educational, and prac10 tical applications for the data and to adopt new tools 

11 for applied research, education, and training, as evi12 denced by— 

13 (A) the success of the United States Geo14 logical Survey (referred to in this Act as the 

15 ‘‘USGS’’) cooperative pilot projects OhioView 

16 and Gateway to the Earth; and 

17 (B) the 35 member StateView programs 

18 cooperating in the AmericaView program; 

19 (2) increased access to geospatial imagery for 

20 research and educational purposes, made available 

21 through the USGS and from State-level archives 

22 linked to StateView program support, benefits user 

23 communities that have traditionally struggled to af24 ford the data because it enables— 

25 (A) educators to train— 


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1 (i) students at institutions of higher 

2 education for technology careers in remote 

3 sensing; and 

4 (ii) teachers for use of remote sensing 

5 data to enhance student learning in ele6 mentary and secondary education; 

7 (B) historically black colleges and univer8 sities to partner with StateView program uni9 versities to enhance learning and training op10 portunities for students; and 

11 (C) Native Americans to provide training 

12 and education regarding— 

13 (i) the use and application of remote 

14 sensing data for Native American students; 

15 and 

16 (ii) developing satellite-based applica17 tions for managing reservation resources; 

18 (3) institutions of higher education and State 

19 and local government agencies use geospatial im20 agery to support practical mapping and monitoring 

21 purposes, including— 

22 (A) monitoring the health of Federal and 

23 State land and forests; 

24 (B) understanding ecosystems and pre25 dicting ecosystem change; 


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1 (C) mapping hydrologic systems and as2 sessing water quality; 

3 (D) monitoring crop productivity, assessing 

4 damage, and predicting crop yield; 

5 (E) assisting with transportation and land6 use planning in the urban areas of the United 

7 States; 

8 (F) predicting and assisting with the man9 agement of human and wildlife disease out10 breaks; and 

11 (G) mapping natural hazards and assess12 ing risk; and 

13 (4) the AmericaView program is uniquely posi14 tioned to help each State develop applications and 

15 skills necessary— 

16 (A) to effectively apply geospatial imagery 

17 for multiple State-focused mapping purposes; 

18 and 

19 (B) to expand the use and benefits of 

20 geospatial imagery for research and operational 

21 purposes within each State. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 

24 (1) AMERICAVIEW.—The term ‘‘AmericaView’’ 

25 means the national nonprofit collaboration of 


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1 StateView program participants cooperating with the 

2 USGS to achieve the purposes of the AmericaView 

3 program. 

4 (2) AMERICAVIEW PROGRAM.—The term 

5 ‘‘AmericaView program’’ means the national remote 

6 sensing education, outreach, and research program 

7 of the USGS established under section 4(a), com8 prised of— 

9 (A) the AmericaView project; and 

10 (B) AmericaView. 

11 (3) AMERICAVIEW PROJECT.—The term 

12 ‘‘AmericaView project’’ means the USGS data ar13 chive, development, maintenance, and product dis14 tribution program conducted at the Earth Resources 

15 Observation and Science (EROS) Data Center. 

16 (4) EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—The term 

17 ‘‘educational institution’’ means— 

18 (A) any public or private elementary or 

19 secondary school, vocational school, correspond20 ence school, business school, institution of high21 er education (including a junior college or 

22 teachers’ college), normal school, professional 

23 school, or scientific or technical institution; and 

24 (B) any other institution that provides an 

25 educational program. 


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1 (5) GEOSPATIAL IMAGERY.—The term 

2 ‘‘geospatial imagery’’ means all information acquired 

3 from above the surface of the Earth by satellite or 

4 airplane. 

5 (6) NATIONAL SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUC6 TURE.—The term ‘‘national spatial data infrastruc7 ture’’ means the technology, policies, standards, and 

8 human resources necessary to acquire, process, 

9 store, distribute, and improve use of geospatial data 

10 for the United States established by Executive Order 

11 12906 (59 Fed. Reg. 17671 (April 13, 1994)). 

12 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di14 rector of the USGS. 

15 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

16 (A) each of the several States of the 

17 United States; 

18 (B) the District of Columbia; 

19 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

20 (D) Guam; 

21 (E) American Samoa; 

22 (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 

23 Mariana Islands; and 

24 (G) the United States Virgin Islands. 


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1 (9) STATEVIEW PROGRAM.—The term 

2 ‘‘StateView program’’ means the AmericaView pro3 gram of an individual State, comprised of edu4 cational institutions and State and local govern5 ments. 

6 SEC. 4. AMERICAVIEW PROGRAM. 

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

8 maintain a national remote sensing education, outreach, 

9 and research program within the USGS to advance the 

10 availability, timely distribution, and widespread use of 

11 geospatial imagery for education, research, assessment, 

12 and monitoring purposes in each State. 

13 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the AmericaView 

14 program are— 

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

16 use of, remote sensing data in a standard, easy-to17 use format by Federal, State, local, and tribal gov18 ernments, communities, educational institutions, and 

19 the commercial sector; and 

20 (2) to assist each StateView program in estab21 lishing the cooperative infrastructure necessary to 

22 increase access to geospatial imagery for research 

23 and educational purposes. 

24 (c) ACTIVITIES.— 


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1 (1) AMERICAVIEW PROJECT.—The Secretary, 

2 acting through the AmericaView project, shall sup3 port the geospatial imagery mapping research and 

4 educational programs of each State by cooperating 

5 with States— 

6 (A) to identify new geospatial imagery 

7 mapping needs and infrastructure and to de8 fine, consolidate; and 

9 (B) to maintain the data requirements of 

10 the AmericaView project. 

11 (2) AMERICAVIEW PROGRAM.—The Secretary, 

12 acting through the AmericaView program, shall 

13 maintain AmericaView in each State— 

14 (A) to share and cooperate in the develop15 ment of geospatial imagery mapping applica16 tions, education, and training infrastructure in 

17 each State; 

18 (B) to cooperate with the AmericaView 

19 project to develop nationally consistent stand20 ards for geospatial imagery mapping in each 

21 State; 

22 (C) to expand the number of geospatial im23 agery mapping courses taught at educational 

24 institutions and provide training, remote sens25 ing data, and teaching tools to educators; 


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1 (D) to expand geospatial imagery mapping 

2 research at research educational institutions; 

3 (E) to expand the knowledge and use of 

4 geospatial imagery and map products in the 

5 current workforce through outreach programs, 

6 workshops, and other training opportunities; 

7 (F) to build partnerships with local govern8 ments to identify unique research and develop9 ment needs and geospatial imagery mapping 

10 pilot projects; 

11 (G) to promote cooperation and sharing of 

12 expertise regarding geospatial imagery among 

13 participating States and within each partici14 pating State; and 

15 (H) to enable the States to provide 

16 geospatial imagery to the USGS. 

17 (3) GRANTS.—The Secretary annually shall 

18 provide grants to sustain and develop StateView pro19 grams. 

20 (4) FEDERAL PARTNER ADVISORY COM21 MITTEE.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

23 maintain an advisory committee to advise the 

24 Director of the USGS regarding the 

25 AmericaView program. 


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1 (B) MEMBERSHIP AND APPOINTMENT.— 

2 The advisory committee under subparagraph 

3 (A) shall be composed of— 

4 (i) at least 1 representative of each 

5 of— 

6 (I) AmericaView; 

7 (II) the USGS; and 

8 (III) the Department of Agri9 culture; and 

10 (ii) representatives of such other 

11 agencies as the Secretary may designate. 

12 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec14 retary such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act 

15 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014. 

16 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

17 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘AmericaView Geospatial 

18 Imagery Mapping Program Act’’. 

19 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

20 Congress finds that— 

21 (1) when Federal geospatial imagery is available 

22 in a cost-effective and timely manner, State and local 

23 governments and educational institutions are able to 

24 develop new scientific, educational, and practical ap25 plications for the data and to adopt new tools for apVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:37 Dec 15, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1078.RS S1078

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1 plied research, education, and training, as evidenced 

2 by— 

3 (A) the success of the United States Geologi4 cal Survey (referred to in this Act as the 

5 ‘‘USGS’’) cooperative pilot projects OhioView 

6 and Gateway to the Earth; and 

7 (B) the 35 member StateView programs co8 operating in the AmericaView program; 

9 (2) increased access to geospatial imagery for re10 search and educational purposes, made available 

11 through the USGS and from State-level archives 

12 linked to StateView program support, benefits user 

13 communities that have traditionally struggled to af14 ford the data because it enables— 

15 (A) educators to train— 

16 (i) students at institutions of higher 

17 education for technology careers in remote 

18 sensing; and 

19 (ii) teachers for use of remote sensing 

20 data to enhance student learning in elemen21 tary and secondary education; 

22 (B) historically black colleges and univer23 sities to partner with StateView program univer24 sities to enhance learning and training opportu25 nities for students; and 


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1 (C) Native Americans to provide training 

2 and education regarding— 

3 (i) the use and application of remote 

4 sensing data for Native American students; 

5 and 

6 (ii) developing satellite-based applica7 tions for managing reservation resources; 

8 (3) institutions of higher education and State 

9 and local government agencies use geospatial imagery 

10 to support practical mapping and monitoring pur11 poses, including— 

12 (A) monitoring the health of Federal and 

13 State land and forests; 

14 (B) understanding ecosystems and pre15 dicting ecosystem change; 

16 (C) mapping hydrologic systems and assess17 ing water quality; 

18 (D) monitoring crop productivity, assessing 

19 damage, and predicting crop yield; 

20 (E) assisting with transportation and land21 use planning in the urban areas of the United 

22 States; 

23 (F) predicting and assisting with the man24 agement of human and wildlife disease out25 breaks; and 


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1 (G) mapping natural hazards and assessing 

2 risk; and 

3 (4) the AmericaView program is uniquely posi4 tioned to help each State develop applications and 

5 skills necessary— 

6 (A) to effectively apply geospatial imagery 

7 for multiple State-focused mapping purposes; 

8 and 

9 (B) to expand the use and benefits of 

10 geospatial imagery for research and operational 

11 purposes within each State. 

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

14 (1) AMERICAVIEW.—The term ‘‘AmericaView’’ 

15 means the national nonprofit collaboration of 

16 StateView program participants cooperating with the 

17 USGS to achieve the purposes of the AmericaView 

18 program. 

19 (2) AMERICAVIEW PROGRAM.—The term 

20 ‘‘AmericaView program’’ means the national remote 

21 sensing education, outreach, and research program of 

22 the USGS established under section 4(a), comprised 

23 of— 

24 (A) the AmericaView project; and 

25 (B) AmericaView. 


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1 (3) AMERICAVIEW PROJECT.—The term 

2 ‘‘AmericaView project’’ means the USGS data ar3 chive, development, maintenance, and product dis4 tribution program conducted at the Earth Resources 

5 Observation and Science (EROS) Data Center. 

6 (4) EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—The term 

7 ‘‘educational institution’’ means— 

8 (A) any public or private elementary or sec9 ondary school, vocational school, correspondence 

10 school, business school, institution of higher edu11 cation (including a junior college or teachers’ 

12 college), normal school, professional school, or 

13 scientific or technical institution; and 

14 (B) any other institution that provides an 

15 educational program. 

16 (5) GEOSPATIAL IMAGERY.—The term 

17 ‘‘geospatial imagery’’ means all information acquired 

18 from above the surface of the Earth by satellite or air19 plane. 

20 (6) NATIONAL SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUC21 TURE.—The term ‘‘national spatial data infrastruc22 ture’’ means the technology, policies, standards, and 

23 human resources necessary to acquire, process, store, 

24 distribute, and improve use of geospatial data for the 


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1 United States established by Executive Order 12906 

2 (59 Fed. Reg. 17671 (April 13, 1994)). 

3 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di5 rector of the USGS. 

6 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

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

8 States; 

9 (B) the District of Columbia; 

10 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

11 (D) Guam; 

12 (E) American Samoa; 

13 (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 

14 Mariana Islands; and 

15 (G) the United States Virgin Islands. 

16 (9) STATEVIEW PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘StateView 

17 program’’ means the AmericaView program of an in18 dividual State, comprised of educational institutions 

19 and State and local governments. 

20 SEC. 4. AMERICAVIEW PROGRAM. 

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

22 maintain a national remote sensing education, outreach, 

23 and research program within the USGS to advance the 

24 availability, timely distribution, and widespread use of 

25 geospatial imagery for education, research, assessment, and 


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1 monitoring purposes in each State, consistent with the Au2 gust 2007 recommendations of the Future of Land Imaging 

3 Interagency Working Group of the National Science and 

4 Technology Council. 

5 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the AmericaView 

6 program are— 

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

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

9 format by Federal, State, local, and tribal govern10 ments, communities, educational institutions, and the 

11 commercial sector; and 

12 (2) to assist each StateView program in estab13 lishing the cooperative infrastructure necessary to in14 crease access to geospatial imagery for research and 

15 educational purposes. 

16 (c) ACTIVITIES.— 

17 (1) AMERICAVIEW PROJECT.—The Secretary, act18 ing through the AmericaView project, shall support 

19 the geospatial imagery mapping research and edu20 cational programs of each State by cooperating with 

21 States— 

22 (A) to identify new geospatial imagery 

23 mapping needs and infrastructure and to define, 

24 consolidate; and 


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1 (B) to maintain the data requirements of 

2 the AmericaView project. 

3 (2) AMERICAVIEW PROGRAM.—The Secretary, 

4 acting through the AmericaView program, shall 

5 maintain AmericaView in each State— 

6 (A) to share and cooperate in the develop7 ment of geospatial imagery mapping applica8 tions, education, and training infrastructure in 

9 each State; 

10 (B) to cooperate with the AmericaView 

11 project to develop nationally consistent standards 

12 for geospatial imagery mapping in each State; 

13 (C) to expand the number of geospatial im14 agery mapping courses taught at educational in15 stitutions and provide training, remote sensing 

16 data, and teaching tools to educators; 

17 (D) to expand geospatial imagery mapping 

18 research at research educational institutions; 

19 (E) to expand the knowledge and use of 

20 geospatial imagery and map products in the cur21 rent workforce through outreach programs, work22 shops, and other training opportunities; 

23 (F) to build partnerships with local govern24 ments to identify unique research and developVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:37 Dec 15, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1078.RS S1078

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1 ment needs and geospatial imagery mapping 

2 pilot projects; 

3 (G) to promote cooperation and sharing of 

4 expertise regarding geospatial imagery among 

5 participating States and within each partici6 pating State; and 

7 (H) to enable the States to provide 

8 geospatial imagery to the USGS. 

9 (3) GRANTS.—The Secretary annually shall pro10 vide grants to sustain and develop StateView pro11 grams. 

12 (4) FEDERAL PARTNER ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

14 maintain an advisory committee to advise the 

15 Director of the USGS regarding the 

16 AmericaView program. 

17 (B) MEMBERSHIP AND APPOINTMENT.—The 

18 advisory committee under subparagraph (A) 

19 shall be composed of— 

20 (i) at least 1 representative of each 

21 of— 

22 (I) AmericaView; 

23 (II) the USGS; and 

24 (III) the Department of Agri25 culture; and 


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1 (ii) representatives of such other agen2 cies as the Secretary may designate. 

3 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec5 retary such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act for 

6 each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014. 


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Calendar No. 695 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1078 

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 

DECEMBER 14, 2010 

Reported with an amendment 


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