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 in-
dustry; 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 com-
pletion of that project. 
(f) WORKSHOP.—Each recipient of a grant under sub-
section (a) shall, not later than 180 days after the comple-
tion 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 reg-
ulations establishing application, selection, and implemen-
tation procedures for pilot projects, and guidelines for re-
ports and workshops required by this section. 
SEC. 313. PROGRAM EVALUATION. 
(a) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The Administrator shall 
establish an advisory committee, consisting of individuals 
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 section 312. The 
advisory committee shall consult with the Federal Geo-
graphic Data Committee and other appropriate industry 
representatives and organizations. Notwithstanding section 
14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the advisory 
committee established under this subsection shall remain in 
effect until the termination of the program under section 
312. 
(b) EFFECTIVENESS EVALUATION.—Not later than De-
cember 31, 2009, the Administrator shall transmit to the 
Congress an evaluation of the effectiveness of the program 
established under section 312 in exploring and promoting 
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 con-
ducted by an independent entity. 
SEC. 314. DATA AVAILABILITY. 
The Administrator shall ensure that the results of each 
of the pilot projects completed under section 312 shall be 
retrievable through an electronic, Internet-accessible data-
base. 
SEC. 315. EDUCATION. 
The Administrator shall establish an educational out-
reach program to increase awareness at institutions of high-
er education and State, local, regional, and tribal agencies 
of the potential applications of remote sensing and other 
geospatial information. 
Subtitle C—George E. Brown, Jr. 
Near-Earth Object Survey 
SEC. 321. GEORGE E. BROWN, JR. NEAR-EARTH OBJECT SUR-
VEY. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 
‘‘George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey Act’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following 
findings: 
(1) Near-Earth objects pose a serious and cred-
ible threat to humankind, as many scientists believe 
that a major asteroid or comet was responsible for the
mass extinction of the majority of the Earth’s species, 
including the dinosaurs, nearly 65,000,000 years ago. 
(2) Similar objects have struck the Earth or 
passed through the Earth’s atmosphere several times 
in the Earth’s history and pose a similar threat in 
the future. 
(3) Several such near-Earth objects have only 
been discovered within days of the objects’ closest ap-
proach to Earth, and recent discoveries of such large 
objects indicate that many large near-Earth objects 
remain undiscovered. 
(4) The efforts taken to date by NASA for detect-
ing and characterizing the hazards of near-Earth ob-
jects are not sufficient to fully determine the threat 
posed by such objects to cause widespread destruction 
and loss of life. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section the 
term ‘‘near-Earth object’’ means an asteroid or comet with 
a perihelion distance of less that 1.3 Astronomical Units 
from the Sun. 
(d) NEAR-EARTH OBJECT SURVEY.—
(1) SURVEY PROGRAM.—The Administrator shall 
plan, develop, and implement a Near-Earth Object 
Survey program to detect, track, catalogue, and char-
acterize the physical characteristics of near-Earth ob-
jects equal to or greater than 100 meters in diameter 
in order to assess the threat of such near-Earth objects 
to the Earth. It shall be the goal of the Survey pro-
gram to achieve 90 percent completion of its near-
Earth object catalogue (based on statistically pre-
dicted populations of near-Earth objects) within 15 
years after the date of enactment of this Act. 
(2) AMENDMENTS.—Section 102 of the National 
Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2451) 
is amended—
(A) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub-
section (h); 
(B) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(g) The Congress declares that the general welfare and 
security of the United States require that the unique com-
petence of the National Aeronautics and Space Administra-
tion be directed to detecting, tracking, cataloguing, and 
characterizing near-Earth asteroids and comets in order to 
provide warning and mitigation of the potential hazard of 
such near-Earth objects to the Earth.’’; and 
(C) in subsection (h), as so redesignated by 
subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, by striking 
‘‘and (f)’’ and inserting ‘‘(f), and (g)’’.
(3) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator shall 
transmit to the Congress, not later than February 28 
of each of the next 5 years beginning after the date 
of enactment of this Act, a report that provides the 
following: 
(A) A summary of all activities taken pur-
suant to paragraph (1) for the previous fiscal 
year. 
(B) A summary of expenditures for all ac-
tivities pursuant to paragraph (1) for the pre-
vious fiscal year. 
(4) INITIAL REPORT.—The Administrator shall 
transmit to Congress not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act an initial report that 
provides the following: 
(A) An analysis of possible alternatives that 
NASA may employ to carry out the Survey pro-
gram, including ground-based and space-based 
alternatives with technical descriptions. 
(B) A recommended option and proposed 
budget to carry out the Survey program pursu-
ant to the recommended option. 
(C) An analysis of possible alternatives that 
NASA could employ to divert an object on a like-
ly collision course with Earth.