I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2426
To encourage the development and integrated use by the public and private
sectors of remote sensing and other geospatial information, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 28, 2001
Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself and Mr. GREENWOOD) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science
A BILL
To encourage the development and integrated use by the
public and private sectors of remote sensing and other
geospatial information, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Remote Sensing Appli-
cations Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) although urban land use planning, growth
management, and other functions of State, local, re-
gional, and tribal agencies are rightfully within their
jurisdiction, the Federal Government can and should
play an important role in the development and dem-
onstration of innovative techniques to improve com-
prehensive land use planning and growth manage-
ment;
(2) the United States is making a major invest-
ment in acquiring remote sensing and other
geospatial information from both governmental and
commercial sources;
(3) while much of the data is being acquired for
scientific and national security purposes, it also can
have important applications to help meet societal
goals;
(4) it has already been demonstrated that
Landsat data and other earth observation data can
be of enormous assistance to Federal, State, local,
regional, and tribal agencies for urban land use
planning, coastal zone management, natural and cul-
tural resource management, and disaster monitoring;
(5) remote sensing, coupled with the emergence
of geographic information systems and satellite-
based positioning information, offers the capability
of developing important new applications of inte-
grated sets of geospatial information to address soci-
etal needs;
(6) the full range of applications of remote
sensing and other forms of geospatial information to
meeting public sector requirements has not been
adequately explored or exploited;
(7) the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of
1992, Presidential Decision Directive 23 of 1994,
and the Commercial Space Act of 1998 all support
and promote the development of United States com-
mercial remote sensing capabilities;
(8) many State, local, regional, tribal, and Fed-
eral agencies are unaware of the utility of remote
sensing and other geospatial information for meeting
their needs, even when research has demonstrated
the potential applications of that information;
(9) remote sensing and other geospatial infor-
mation can be particularly useful to State, local, re-
gional, and tribal agencies in the area of urban plan-
ning, especially in their efforts to plan for and man-
age the impacts of growth, development, and sprawl,
as well as in environmental impact and disaster re-
lief planning and management;
(10) the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration, in coordination with other agencies,
can play a unique role in demonstrating how data
acquired for scientific purposes, when combined with
other data sources and processing capabilities, can
be applied to assist State, local, regional, and tribal
agencies and the private sector in decisionmaking in
such areas as agriculture, weather forecasting, and
forest management; and
(11) in addition, the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, in conjunction with other
agencies, can play a unique role in stimulating the
development of the remote sensing and other
geospatial information sector through pilot projects
to demonstrate the value of integrating govern-
mental and commercial remote sensing data with ge-
ographic information systems and satellite-based po-
sitioning data to provide useful applications prod-
ucts.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad-
ministrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration;
(2) the term ‘‘geospatial information’’ means
knowledge of the nature and distribution of physical
and cultural features on the landscape based on
analysis of data from airborne or spaceborne plat-
forms or other types and sources of data; and
(3) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’
has the meaning given that term in section 101(a)
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1001(a)).
SEC. 4. PILOT PROJECTS TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC SECTOR
APPLICATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish
a program of grants for competitively awarded pilot
projects to explore the integrated use of sources of remote
sensing and other geospatial information to address State,
local, regional, and tribal agency needs.
(b) PREFERRED PROJECTS.—In awarding grants
under this section, the Administrator shall give preference
to projects that—
(1) make use of existing public or commercial
data sets;
(2) integrate multiple sources of geospatial in-
formation, such as geographic information system
data, satellite-provided positioning data, and re-
motely sensed data, in innovative ways;
(3) include funds or in-kind contributions from
non-Federal sources;
(4) involve the participation of commercial enti-
ties that process raw or lightly processed data, often
merging that data with other geospatial information,
to create data products that have significant value
added to the original data; and
(5) taken together demonstrate as diverse a set
of public sector applications as possible.
(c) OPPORTUNITIES.—In carrying out this section,
the Administrator shall seek opportunities to assist—
(1) in the development of commercial applica-
tions potentially available from the remote sensing
industry; and
(2) State, local, regional, and tribal agencies in
applying remote sensing and other geospatial infor-
mation technologies for growth management.
(d) DURATION.—Assistance for a pilot project under
subsection (a) shall be provided for a period not to exceed
3 years.
(e) REPORT.—Each recipient of a grant under sub-
section (a) shall transmit a report to the Administrator
on the results of the pilot project within 180 days of the
completion of that project.
(f) WORKSHOP.—Each recipient of a grant under
subsection (a) shall, not later than 180 days after the com-
pletion of the pilot project, conduct at least one workshop
for potential users to disseminate the lessons learned from
the pilot project as widely as feasible.
(g) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall issue
regulations establishing application, selection, and imple-
mentation procedures for pilot projects, and guidelines for
reports and workshops required by this section.
SEC. 5. PROGRAM EVALUATION.
(a) ADVISORY
COMMITTEE.—The Administrator
shall establish an advisory committee, consisting of indi-
viduals with appropriate expertise in State, local, regional,
and tribal agencies, the university research community,
and the remote sensing and other geospatial information
industry, to monitor the program established under sec-
tion 4. The advisory committee shall consult with the Fed-
eral Geographic Data Committee and other appropriate
industry representatives and organizations. Notwith-
standing section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee
Act, the advisory committee established under this sub-
section shall remain in effect until the termination of the
program under section 4.
(b) EFFECTIVENESS EVALUATION.—Not later than
December 31, 2005, the Administrator shall transmit to
the Congress an evaluation of the effectiveness of the pro-
gram established under section 4 in exploring and pro-
moting the integrated use of sources of remote sensing
and other geospatial information to address State, local,
regional, and tribal agency needs. Such evaluation shall
have been conducted by an independent entity.
SEC. 6. DATA AVAILABILITY.
The Administrator shall ensure that the results of
each of the pilot projects completed under section 4 shall
be retrievable through an electronic, Internet-accessible
database.
SEC. 7. EDUCATION.
The Administrator shall establish an educational out-
reach program to increase awareness at institutions of
higher education and State, local, regional, and tribal
agencies of the potential applications of remote sensing
and other geospatial information.
SEC. 8. COST SENSITIVITY STUDY.
The Administrator shall conduct a study of the effect
of remote sensing imagery costs on potential State, local,
regional, and tribal agency applications. The study shall
identify applications that are likely to be most affected by
reductions in the cost of remote sensing imagery. Not later
than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Administrator shall transmit to the Congress the re-
sults of the study conducted under this section.
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad-
ministrator $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2002
through 2006 to carry out this Act.
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