Union Calendar No. 13

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 709

[Report No. 105–17]

A BILL

To reauthorize and amend the National Geologic

Mapping Act of 1992, and for other purposes.

MARCH 11, 1997

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 13

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 709

[Report No. 105–17]

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

MARCH 11, 1997

Additional sponsors: Mr. YOUNG of Alaska and Mr. CALVERT

MARCH 11, 1997

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 February 12, 1997]

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Geologic Map3 ping Reauthorization Act of 1997’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) in enacting the National Geologic Mapping

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

8 among other things, that—

9 (A) during the 2 decades preceding enact10 ment of that Act, the production of geologic maps

11 had been drastically curtailed;

12 (B) geologic maps are the primary data

13 base for virtually all applied and basic earth14 science investigations;

15 (C) Federal agencies, State and local gov16 ernments, private industry, and the general pub17 lic depend on the information provided by geo18 logic maps to determine the extent of potential

19 environmental damage before embarking on

20 projects that could lead to preventable, costly en21 vironmental problems or litigation;

22 (D) the lack of proper geologic maps has led

23 to the poor design of such structures as dams

24 and waste-disposal facilities;
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1 (E) geologic maps have proven indispen2 sable in the search for needed fossil fuel and

3 mineral resources; and

4 (F) a comprehensive nationwide program of

5 geologic mapping is required in order to system6 atically build the Nation’s geologic-map data

7 base at a pace that responds to increasing de8 mand;

9 (2) the geologic mapping program called for by

10 that Act has not been fully implemented; and

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

12 fully implemented.

13 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION AND AMENDMENT.

14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the National Geologic

15 Mapping Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31b) is amended—

16 (1) by striking ‘‘As used in this Act:’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘In this Act:’’;

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

19 and (5) as paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (7), respec20 tively;

21 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the follow22 ing:

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

24 means the Association of American State Geologists.’’;
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1 (4) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as redesig2 nated by paragraph (2) of this subsection) the follow3 ing new paragraph:

4 ‘‘(6) STATE.—The term ‘State’ includes the Dis5 trict of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,

6 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,

7 American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.’’;

8 and

9 (5) in each paragraph that does not have a head10 ing, by inserting a heading, in the same style as the

11 heading in paragraph (2), as added by paragraph

12 (3), the text of which is comprised of the term defined

13 in the paragraph.

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

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

16 is amended—

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

18 following:

19 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a na21 tional cooperative geologic mapping program between

22 the United States Geological Survey and the State ge23 ological surveys, acting through the Association.
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1 ‘‘(2) DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, AND ADMINISTRA2 TION.—The cooperative geologic mapping program

3 shall be—

4 ‘‘(A) designed and administered to achieve

5 the objectives set forth in subsection (c);

6 ‘‘(B) developed in consultation with the ad7 visory committee; and

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

9 (2) in subsection (b)—

10 (A) in the subsection heading by striking

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

12 (B) in paragraph (1)—

13 (i) by single-indenting the paragraph,

14 double-indenting the subparagraphs, and

15 triple indenting the clauses;

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

17 before ‘‘The Survey’’;

18 (iii) in subparagraph (A)—

19 (I) by striking ‘‘Committee on

20 Natural Resources’’ and inserting

21 ‘‘Committee on Resources’’; and

22 (II) by striking ‘‘date of enact23 ment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘date

24 of enactment of the National Geologic
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1 Mapping Reauthorization Act of

2 1997’’;

3 (iv) in subparagraph (B)—

4 (I) by striking ‘‘State geological

5 surveys’’ and inserting ‘‘Association’’;

6 and

7 (II) by striking ‘‘date of enact8 ment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘date

9 of enactment of the National Geologic

10 Mapping Reauthorization Act of

11 1997’’; and

12 (v) in subparagraph (C)—

13 (I) by striking ‘‘date of enactment

14 of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘date of en15 actment of the National Geologic Map16 ping Reauthorization Act of 1997’’;

17 (II) by striking ‘‘Committee on

18 Natural Resources’’ and inserting

19 ‘‘Committee on Resources’’;

20 (III) in clauses (i) and (ii) by in21 serting ‘‘and the Association’’ after

22 ‘‘the Survey’’;

23 (IV) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end

24 of clause (ii); and
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1 (V) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end

2 of clause (iii) and all that follows

3 through the end of the subparagraph

4 and inserting a period;

5 (C) in paragraph (2)—

6 (i) by inserting ‘‘RESPONSIBILITIES OF

7 THE SECRETARY.—’’ before ‘‘In addition

8 to’’; and

9 (ii) in subparagraph (A) by striking

10 ‘‘State geological surveys’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘Association’’; and

12 (D) by single-indenting the paragraph and

13 double-indenting the subparagraphs;

14 (3) in subsection (c)—

15 (A) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘interpre16 tive’’ and inserting ‘‘interpretative’’; and

17 (B) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘aware18 ness for’’ and inserting ‘‘awareness of’’; and

19 (4) in subsection (d)—

20 (A) in paragraph (1) by inserting ‘‘FED21 ERAL COMPONENT.—’’ before ‘‘A Federal’’;

22 (B) in paragraph (2)—

23 (i) by inserting ‘‘SUPPORT COMPO24 NENT.—’’ before ‘‘A geologic’’; and
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1 (ii) by striking subparagraph (D) and

2 inserting the following:

3 ‘‘(D) geochronologic and isotopic investiga4 tions that—

5 ‘‘(i) provide radiometric age dates for

6 geologic-map units; and

7 ‘‘(ii) fingerprint the geothermometry,

8 geobarometry, and alteration history of geo9 logic-map units,

10 which investigations shall be contributed to a na11 tional geochronologic data base;’’;

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

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

14 (D) by striking paragraph (4) and insert15 ing the following:

16 ‘‘(4) EDUCATION COMPONENT.—A geologic map17 ping education component—

18 ‘‘(A) the objectives of which shall be—

19 ‘‘(i) to develop the academic programs

20 that teach earth-science students the fun21 damental principles of geologic mapping

22 and field analysis; and

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

24 geologic mapping and field analysis through

25 support of field studies;
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1 ‘‘(B) investigations under which shall be in2 tegrated with the other mapping components of

3 the geologic mapping program and shall respond

4 to priorities identified for those components; and

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

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

7 basis.’’.

8 (c) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Section 5 of the National

9 Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31d) is amend10 ed—

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

12 following:

13 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

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

15 10-member geologic mapping advisory committee to

16 advise the Director on planning and implementation

17 of the geologic mapping program.

18 ‘‘(2) MEMBERS EX OFFICIO.—Federal agency

19 members shall include the Administrator of the Envi20 ronmental Protection Agency or a designee, the Sec21 retary of Energy or a designee, the Secretary of Agri22 culture or a designee, and the Assistant to the Presi23 dent for Science and Technology or a designee.
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1 ‘‘(3) APPOINTED MEMBERS.—Not later than 90

2 days after the date of enactment of the National Geo3 logic Mapping Reauthorization Act of 1997, in con4 sultation with the Association, the Secretary shall ap5 point to the advisory committee 2 representatives

6 from the Survey (including the Chief Geologist, as

7 Chairman), 2 representatives from the State geologi8 cal surveys, 1 representative from academia, and 1

9 representative from the private sector.’’; and

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

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

12 (d) GEOLOGIC MAPPING PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION

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

14 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31e) is amended—

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

16 after ‘‘national’’;

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

18 the following:

19 ‘‘(C) for the State geologic mapping compo20 nent, a priority-setting mechanism that responds

21 to—

22 ‘‘(i) specific intrastate needs for geo23 logic-map information; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) interstate needs shared by adja2 cent entities that have common require3 ments; and’’;

4 (3) by striking paragraphs (4) and (5) and in5 serting the following:

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

7 technical mapping standards for preparing and pub8 lishing general-purpose and special-purpose geologic

9 maps to—

10 ‘‘(A) ensure uniformity of cartographic and

11 scientific conventions; and

12 ‘‘(B) provide a basis for judgment as to the

13 comparability and quality of map products;

14 and’’; and

15 (4) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para16 graph (5).

17 (e) NATIONAL GEOLOGIC-MAP DATA BASE.—Section 7

18 of the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C.

19 31f) is amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting

20 the following:

21 ‘‘(b) STANDARDIZATION.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Geologic maps contributed to

23 the national archives shall have format, symbols, and

24 technical attributes that adhere to standards so that

25 archival information can be accessed, exchanged, and
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1 compared efficiently and accurately, as required by

2 Executive Order 12906 (59 Fed. Reg. 17,671 (1994)),

3 which established the National Spatial Data Infra4 structure.

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

6 that contribute geologic maps to the national archives

7 shall develop the standards described in paragraph

8 (1) in cooperation with the Federal Geographic Data

9 Committee, which is charged with standards develop10 ment and other data coordination activities as de11 scribed in Office of Management and Budget revised

12 Circular A–16.’’.

13 (f) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 8 of the National Geo14 logic Mapping Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31g) is amended in

15 the first sentence—

16 (1) by striking ‘‘Committee on Natural Re17 sources’’ and inserting ‘‘Committee on Resources’’;

18 and

19 (2) by striking ‘‘program, and describing and

20 evaluating progress’’ and inserting ‘‘program and de21 scribing and evaluating the progress’’.

22 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 9

23 of the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C.

24 31h) is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro3 priated to carry out the national cooperative geologic map4 ping program under this Act—

5 ‘‘(1) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 1998;

6 ‘‘(2) $28,000,000 for fiscal year 1999; and

7 ‘‘(3) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2000.

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

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

10 are appropriated under subsection (a) for any fiscal

11 year up to the amount that is equal to the amount

12 appropriated to carry out the national cooperative

13 geologic mapping program for fiscal year 1996—

14 ‘‘(A) not less than 20 percent shall be allo15 cated to State mapping activities; and

16 ‘‘(B) not less than 2 percent shall be allo17 cated to educational mapping activities.

18 ‘‘(2) INCREASED APPROPRIATIONS.—Of the

19 amount of funds that are appropriated under sub20 section (a) for any fiscal year up to the amount that

21 exceeds the amount appropriated to carry out the na22 tional cooperative geologic mapping program for fis23 cal year 1996—

24 ‘‘(A) for fiscal year 1998—
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1 ‘‘(i) 75 percent shall be allocated for

2 Federal mapping and support mapping ac3 tivities;

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

5 State mapping activities; and

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

7 educational mapping activities;

8 ‘‘(B) for fiscal year 1999—

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

10 Federal mapping and support mapping ac11 tivities;

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

13 State mapping activities; and

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

15 educational mapping activities; and

16 ‘‘(C) for fiscal year 2000—

17 ‘‘(i) 73 percent shall be allocated for

18 Federal mapping and support mapping ac19 tivities;

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

21 State mapping activities; and

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

23 educational mapping activities.’’.