IB 
Union Calendar No. 95
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 426
[Report No. 109–157] 
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 
JANUARY 26, 2005
Mr. UDALL of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Science 
JUNE 27, 2005
Additional sponsor: Mr. WALSH
JUNE 27, 2005
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 January 26, 2005] 
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 2005’’. 
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, commercial, 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 devel-
oping important new applications of integrated sets 
of geospatial information to address societal needs; 
(6) the full range of applications of commercial 
and civil 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, the Com-
mercial Space Act of 1998, and the United States 
Commercial Remote Sensing Policy, issued by the 
President on April 25, 2003, all support and promote 
the development of United States commercial 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 informa-
tion 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 relief 
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 ac-
quired 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 sectors through pilot projects 
to demonstrate the value of integrating governmental 
and commercial remote sensing data with geographic 
information systems and satellite-based positioning 
data to provide useful applications products. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Admin-
istrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration; 
(2) the term ‘‘geospatial information’’ means 
knowledge of the nature and distribution of physical 
and cultural features on the landscape based on anal-
ysis of data from airborne or spaceborne platforms or 
other types and sources of data; 
(3) the term ‘‘high resolution’’ means resolution 
better than five meters; and 
(4) 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 commercial data sets, including 
high resolution commercial satellite imagery and de-
rived satellite data products, existing public data sets 
where commercial data sets are not available or ap-
plicable, or the fusion of such data sets; 
(2) integrate multiple sources of geospatial infor-
mation, such as geographic information system data, 
satellite-provided positioning data, and remotely 
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 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. 5. 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 4. The ad-
visory committee shall consult with the Federal Geographic 
Data Committee and other appropriate industry represent-
atives 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 4. 
(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 4 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. 6. DATA AVAILABILITY. 
The Administrator shall ensure that the results of each 
of the pilot projects completed under section 4 shall be re-
trievable through an electronic, Internet-accessible database. 
SEC. 7. 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.
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Admin-
istrator $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006 
through 2010 to carry out this Act.
Union Calendar No. 95
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 426
[Report No. 109–157] 
A BILL 
To encourage the development and integrated use 
by the public and private sectors of remote sens-
ing and other geospatial information, and for 
other purposes. 
JUNE 27, 2005
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed