I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 709

To reauthorize and amend the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 12, 1997

Mrs. CUBIN (for herself and Mr. GIBBONS) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To reauthorize and amend the National Geologic Mapping

Act of 1992, and for other purposes.

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 Geologic

5 Mapping Reauthorization Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) in enacting the National Geologic Mapping

9 Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31a et seq.), Congress

10 found, among other things, that—
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1 (A) during the 2 decades preceding enact2 ment of that Act, the production of geologic

3 maps had been drastically curtailed;

4 (B) geologic maps are the primary data

5 base for virtually all applied and basic earth6 science investigations;

7 (C) Federal agencies, State and local gov8 ernments, private industry, and the general

9 public depend on the information provided by

10 geologic maps to determine the extent of poten11 tial environmental damage before embarking on

12 projects that could lead to preventable, costly

13 environmental problems or litigation;

14 (D) the lack of proper geologic maps has

15 led to the poor design of such structures as

16 dams and waste-disposal facilities;

17 (E) geologic maps have proven indispen18 sable in the search for needed fossil fuel and

19 mineral resources; and

20 (F) a comprehensive nationwide program

21 of geologic mapping is required in order to sys22 tematically build the Nation’s geologic-map

23 data base at a pace that responds to increasing

24 demand;
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1 (2) the geologic mapping program called for by

2 that Act has not been fully implemented; and

3 (3) it is time for this important program to be

4 fully implemented.

5 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION AND AMENDMENT.

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the National Geo7 logic Mapping Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31b) is amended—

8 (1) by striking ‘‘As used in this Act:’’ and in9 serting ‘‘In this Act:’’;

10 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), (4),

11 and (5) as paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (6), respec12 tively;

13 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the follow14 ing:

15 ‘‘(2) ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘Association’

16 means the Association of American State Geolo17 gists.’’; and

18 (4) in each paragraph that does not have a

19 heading, by inserting a heading, in the same style as

20 the heading in paragraph (2), as added by para21 graph (3), the text of which is comprised of the term

22 defined in the paragraph.

23 (b) GEOLOGIC MAPPING PROGRAM.—Section 4 of the

24 National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31c)

25 is amended—
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1 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the

2 following:

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a na5 tional cooperative geologic mapping program be6 tween the United States Geological Survey and the

7 State geological surveys, acting through the Associa8 tion.

9 ‘‘(2) DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, AND ADMINIS10 TRATION.—The cooperative geologic mapping pro11 gram shall be—

12 ‘‘(A) designed and administered to achieve

13 the objectives set forth in subsection (c);

14 ‘‘(B) developed in consultation with the ad15 visory committee; and

16 ‘‘(C) administered through the Survey.’’;

17 (2) in subsection (b)—

18 (A) in the subsection heading by striking

19 ‘‘USGS’’ and inserting ‘‘THE SURVEY’’;

20 (B) in paragraph (1)—

21 (i) by single-indenting the paragraphs,

22 double-indenting the subparagraphs, and

23 triple indenting the clauses;

24 (ii) by inserting ‘‘LEAD AGENCY.—’’

25 before ‘‘The Survey’’;
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1 (iii) in subparagraph (A)—

2 (I) by striking ‘‘Committee on

3 Natural Resources’’ and inserting

4 ‘‘Committee on Resources’’; and

5 (II) by striking ‘‘date of enact6 ment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘date

7 of enactment of the National Geologic

8 Mapping Reauthorization Act of

9 1997’’;

10 (iv) in subparagraph (B)—

11 (I) by striking ‘‘State geological

12 surveys’’ and inserting ‘‘Association’’;

13 and

14 (II) by striking ‘‘date of enact15 ment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘date

16 of enactment of the National Geologic

17 Mapping Reauthorization Act of

18 1997’’; and

19 (v) in subparagraph (C)—

20 (I) by striking ‘‘date of enact21 ment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘date

22 of enactment of the National Geologic

23 Mapping Reauthorization Act of

24 1997’’;
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1 (II) by striking ‘‘Committee on

2 Natural Resources’’ and inserting

3 ‘‘Committee on Resources’’;

4 (III) in clauses (i) and (ii) by in5 serting ‘‘and the Association’’ after

6 ‘‘the Survey’’;

7 (IV) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end

8 of clause (ii); and

9 (V) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the

10 end of clause (iii) and all that follows

11 through the end of the subparagraph

12 and inserting a period; and

13 (C) in paragraph (2)—

14 (i) by inserting ‘‘RESPONSIBILITIES

15 OF THE SECRETARY.—’’ before ‘‘In addi16 tion to’’; and

17 (ii) in subparagraph (A) by striking

18 ‘‘State geological surveys’’ and inserting

19 ‘‘Association’’;

20 (3) in subsection (c)—

21 (A) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘interpre22 tive’’ and inserting ‘‘interpretative’’; and

23 (B) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘aware24 ness for’’ and inserting ‘‘awareness of’’; and

25 (4) in subsection (d)—
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1 (A) in paragraph (1) by inserting ‘‘FED2 ERAL COMPONENT.—’’ before ‘‘A Federal’’;

3 (B) in paragraph (2)—

4 (i) by inserting ‘‘SUPPORT COMPO5 NENT.—’’ before ‘‘A geologic’’; and

6 (ii) by striking subparagraph (D) and

7 inserting the following:

8 ‘‘(D) geochronologic and isotopic investiga9 tions that—

10 ‘‘(i) provide radiometric age dates for

11 geologic-map units; and

12 ‘‘(ii) fingerprint the geothermometry,

13 geobarometry, and alteration history of

14 geologic-map units,

15 which investigations shall be contributed to a

16 national geochronologic data base;’’;

17 (C) in paragraph (3) by inserting ‘‘STATE

18 COMPONENT.—’’ before ‘‘A State’’; and

19 (D) by striking paragraph (4) and insert20 ing the following:

21 ‘‘(4) EDUCATION COMPONENT.—A geologic

22 mapping education component—

23 ‘‘(A) the objectives of which shall be—
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1 ‘‘(i) to develop the academic programs

2 that teach earth-science students the fun3 damental principles of geologic mapping

4 and field analysis; and

5 ‘‘(ii) to provide for broad education in

6 geologic mapping and field analysis

7 through support of field studies;

8 ‘‘(B) investigations under which shall be

9 integrated with the other mapping components

10 of the geologic mapping program and shall re11 spond to priorities identified for those compo12 nents; and

13 ‘‘(C) Federal funding for which shall be

14 matched by non-Federal sources on a 1-to-1

15 basis.’’.

16 (c) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Section 5 of the Na17 tional Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31d) is

18 amended—

19 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the

20 following:

21 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be established

23 a 10-member geologic mapping advisory committee

24 to advise the Director on planning and implementa25 tion of the geologic mapping program.
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1 ‘‘(2) MEMBERS EX OFFICIO.—Federal agency

2 members shall include the Administrator of the En3 vironmental Protection Agency or a designee, the

4 Secretary of Energy or a designee, the Secretary of

5 Agriculture or a designee, and the Assistant to the

6 President for Science and Technology or a designee.

7 ‘‘(3) APPOINTED MEMBERS.—Not later than 90

8 days after the date of enactment of the National

9 Geologic Mapping Reauthorization Act of 1997, in

10 consultation with the Association, the Secretary shall

11 appoint to the advisory committee 2 representatives

12 from the Survey (including the Chief Geologist, as

13 Chairman), 2 representatives from the State geologi14 cal surveys, 1 representative from academia, and 1

15 representative from the private sector.’’; and

16 (2) in subsection (b)(3) by striking ‘‘and State’’

17 and inserting ‘‘, State, and university’’.

18 (d) GEOLOGIC MAPPING PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION

19 PLAN.—Section 6 of the National Geologic Mapping Act

20 of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31e) is amended—

21 (1) in paragraph (1) by inserting ‘‘cooperative’’

22 after ‘‘national’’;

23 (2) by striking paragraph (3)(C) and inserting

24 the following:
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1 ‘‘(C) for the State geologic mapping com2 ponent, a priority-setting mechanism that re3 sponds to—

4 ‘‘(i) specific intrastate needs for geo5 logic-map information; and

6 ‘‘(ii) interstate needs shared by adja7 cent entities that have common require8 ments; and’’;

9 (3) by striking paragraphs (4) and (5) and in10 serting the following:

11 ‘‘(4) a mechanism for adopting scientific and

12 technical mapping standards for preparing and pub13 lishing general-purpose and special-purpose geologic

14 maps to—

15 ‘‘(A) ensure uniformity of cartographic and

16 scientific conventions; and

17 ‘‘(B) provide a basis for judgment as to

18 the comparability and quality of map products;

19 and’’; and

20 (4) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para21 graph (5).

22 (e) NATIONAL GEOLOGIC-MAP DATA BASE.—Section

23 7 of the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (43

24 U.S.C. 31f) is amended by striking subsection (b) and in25 serting the following:
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1 ‘‘(b) STANDARDIZATION.—

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Geologic maps contributed

3 to the national archives shall have format, symbols,

4 and technical attributes that adhere to standards so

5 that archival information can be accessed, ex6 changed, and compared efficiently and accurately, as

7 required by Executive Order 12906 (59 Fed. Reg.

8 17,671 (1994)), which established the National Spa9 tial Data Infrastructure.

10 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS.—Entities

11 that contribute geologic maps to the national ar12 chives shall develop the standards described in para13 graph (1) in cooperation with the Federal Geo14 graphic Data Committee, which is charged with

15 standards development and other data coordination

16 activities as described in Office of Management and

17 Budget revised Circular A–16.’’.

18 (f) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 8 of the National

19 Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31g) is amend20 ed in the first sentence—

21 (1) by striking ‘‘Committee on Natural Re22 sources’’ and inserting ‘‘Committee on Resources’’;

23 and
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘program, and describing and

2 evaluating progress’’ and inserting ‘‘program and

3 describing and evaluating the progress’’.

4 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section

5 9 of the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (43

6 U.S.C. 31h) is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap9 propriated to carry out the national cooperative geologic

10 mapping program under this Act—

11 ‘‘(1) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 1998;

12 ‘‘(2) $28,000,000 for fiscal year 1999; and

13 ‘‘(3) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2000.

14 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount of funds

16 that are appropriated under subsection (a) for any

17 fiscal year up to the amount that is equal to the

18 amount appropriated to carry out the national coop19 erative geologic mapping program for fiscal year

20 1996—

21 ‘‘(A) not less than 20 percent shall be allo22 cated to State mapping activities; and

23 ‘‘(B) not less than 2 percent shall be allo24 cated to educational mapping activities.
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1 ‘‘(2) INCREASED APPROPRIATIONS.—Of the

2 amount of funds that are appropriated under sub3 section (a) for any fiscal year up to the amount that

4 exceeds the amount appropriated to carry out the

5 national cooperative geologic mapping program for

6 fiscal year 1996—

7 ‘‘(A) for fiscal year 1998—

8 ‘‘(i) 75 percent shall be allocated for

9 Federal mapping and support mapping ac10 tivities;

11 ‘‘(ii) 23 percent shall be allocated for

12 State mapping activities; and

13 ‘‘(iii) 2 percent shall be allocated for

14 educational mapping activities;

15 ‘‘(B) for fiscal year 1999—

16 ‘‘(i) 74 percent shall be allocated for

17 Federal mapping and support mapping ac18 tivities;

19 ‘‘(ii) 24 percent shall be allocated for

20 State mapping activities; and

21 ‘‘(iii) 2 percent shall be allocated for

22 educational mapping activities; and

23 ‘‘(C) for fiscal year 2000—
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1 ‘‘(i) 73 percent shall be allocated for

2 Federal mapping and support mapping ac3 tivities;

4 ‘‘(ii) 25 percent shall be allocated for

5 State mapping activities; and

6 ‘‘(iii) 2 percent shall be allocated for

7 educational mapping activities.’’.

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