I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1292
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 
MARCH 13, 2003
Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself and Mr. PICKERING) 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 2003’’. 
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, 2007, 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