I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1578
To promote and coordinate global change research, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 2, 2003
Mr. UDALL of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Science, and in addition to the Committees on the 
Budget, and International Relations, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To promote and coordinate global change research, 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 ‘‘Global Change Re-
search and Data Management Act of 2003’’.
TITLE I—GLOBAL CHANGE 
RESEARCH 
SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following 
findings: 
(1) Industrial, agricultural, and other human 
activities, coupled with an expanding world popu-
lation, are contributing to processes of global change 
that are significantly altering the Earth habitat. 
(2) Such human-induced changes, in conjunc-
tion with natural fluctuations, may lead to signifi-
cant alterations of world climate patterns. Over the 
next century, these changes could adversely effect 
world agricultural and marine production, coastal 
habitability, biological diversity, human health, glob-
al social and political stability, and global economic 
activity. 
(3) Developments in interdisciplinary Earth 
sciences, global observing systems, and satellite and 
computing technologies make possible significant sci-
entific understanding of global changes and their ef-
fects, and have resulted in the significant expansion 
of environmental data and information. 
(4) Development of effective policies to prevent, 
mitigate, and adapt to global change will rely on im-
provement in scientific understanding of global envi-
ronmental processes and on development of informa-
tion that is of use to decisionmakers at the local, re-
gional, and national levels. 
(5) Although the United States Global Change 
Research Program has made significant contribu-
tions to understanding Earth’s climate and the an-
thropogenic influences on Earth’s climate and its 
ecosystems, that Program has not produced suffi-
cient information to meet the expressed needs of de-
cisionmakers. 
(6) Predictions of future climate conditions for 
specific regions have considerable uncertainty and 
are unlikely to be confirmed in a time period nec-
essary to inform decisions on land, water, and re-
source management. However, improved under-
standing of global change should be used to assist 
decisionmakers in the development of policies to en-
sure that ecological, social, and economic systems 
are resilient under a variety of plausible climate fu-
tures. 
(7) In order to most effectively meet the needs 
of decisionmakers, both the research agenda of the 
United States Global Change Research Program and 
its implementation must be informed by continuous
feedback from documented users of information gen-
erated by the Program. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this title is to provide 
for the continuation and coordination of a comprehensive 
and integrated United States observation and research 
program which will assist the Nation and the world to un-
derstand, assess, predict, and respond to the effects of 
human-induced and natural processes of global change. 
SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this title—
(1) the term ‘‘global change’’ means human-in-
duced or natural changes in the global environment 
(including alterations in climate, land productivity, 
oceans or other water resources, atmospheric chem-
istry, biodiversity, and ecological systems) that may 
alter the capacity of the Earth to sustain life; 
(2) the term ‘‘global change research’’ means 
study, monitoring, assessment, prediction, and infor-
mation management activities to describe and under-
stand—
(A) the interactive physical, chemical, and 
biological processes that regulate the total 
Earth system; 
(B) the unique environment that the Earth 
provides for life;
(C) changes that are occurring in the 
Earth system; and 
(D) the manner in which such system, en-
vironment, and changes are influenced by 
human actions; 
(3) the term ‘‘interagency committee’’ means 
the interagency committee established under section 
103; 
(4) the term ‘‘Plan’’ means the National Global 
Change Research Plan developed under section 105; 
and 
(5) the term ‘‘Program’’ means the United 
States Global Change Research Program established 
under section 104. 
SEC. 103. INTERAGENCY COOPERATION AND COORDINA-
TION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 
an interagency committee to ensure cooperation and co-
ordination of all Federal research activities pertaining to 
processes of global change for the purpose of increasing 
the overall effectiveness and productivity of Federal global 
change research efforts. The interagency committee shall 
include representatives of both agencies conducting global 
change research and agencies with authority over re-
sources likely to be affected by global change.
(b) FUNCTIONS
OF
THE
INTERAGENCY
COM-
MITTEE.—The interagency committee shall—
(1) serve as the forum for developing the Plan 
and for overseeing its implementation; 
(2) serve as the forum for developing the vul-
nerability assessment under section 107; 
(3) ensure cooperation among Federal agencies 
with respect to global change research activities;
(4) work with academic, State, industry, and 
other groups conducting global change research, to 
provide for periodic public and peer review of the 
Program; 
(5) cooperate with the Secretary of State in—
(A) providing representation at inter-
national meetings and conferences on global 
change research in which the United States 
participates; and 
(B) coordinating the Federal activities of 
the United States with programs of other na-
tions and with international global change re-
search activities; 
(6) work with appropriate Federal, State, re-
gional, and local authorities to ensure that the Pro-
gram is designed to produce information needed to 
develop policies to reduce the vulnerability of the
United States and other regions to global change; 
and 
(7) identify additional decisionmaking groups 
that may use information generated through the 
Program. 
SEC. 104. UNITED STATES GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH 
PROGRAM. 
The President shall establish an interagency United 
States Global Change Research Program to improve un-
derstanding of global change, to respond to the informa-
tion needs of communities and decisionmakers, and to pro-
vide periodic assessments of the vulnerability of the United 
States and other regions to global change. The Program 
shall be implemented in accordance with the Plan. 
SEC. 105. NATIONAL GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH PLAN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall develop a Na-
tional Global Change Research Plan for implementation 
of the Program. The Plan shall contain recommendations 
for global change research. The President shall submit the 
Plan to the Congress within 1 year after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, and shall submit a revised Plan at least 
once every 4 years thereafter. In the development of each 
Plan, the President shall conduct a formal assessment 
process to determine the needs of appropriate Federal, 
State, regional, and local authorities and other interested
parties regarding the types of information needed by them 
in developing policies to reduce society’s vulnerability to 
global change and shall utilize these assessments in devel-
oping the Plan. 
(b) CONTENTS OF THE PLAN.—The Plan shall—
(1) establish, for the 10-year period beginning 
in the year the Plan is submitted, the goals and pri-
orities for Federal global change research which 
most effectively advance scientific understanding of 
global change and provide information of use to 
Federal, State, regional, and local authorities in the 
development of policies relating to global change; 
(2) describe specific activities, including efforts 
to determine user information needs, research activi-
ties, data collection and data analysis requirements, 
assessment of model predictability, participation in 
international research efforts, and information man-
agement, required to achieve such goals and prior-
ities; 
(3) identify relevant programs and activities of 
the Federal agencies that contribute to the Program 
directly and indirectly; 
(4) set forth the role of each Federal agency in 
implementing the Plan;
(5) consider and utilize, as appropriate, reports 
and studies conducted by Federal agencies, the Na-
tional Research Council, or other entities; 
(6) make recommendations for the coordination 
of the global change research activities of the United 
States with such activities of other nations and 
international organizations, including—
(A) a description of the extent and nature 
of international cooperative activities; 
(B) bilateral and multilateral efforts to 
provide worldwide access to scientific data and 
information; and 
(C) improving participation by developing 
nations in international global change research 
and environmental data collection; 
(7) detail budget requirements for Federal glob-
al change research activities to be conducted under 
the Plan; 
(8) catalog the type of information identified by 
appropriate Federal, State, regional, and local deci-
sionmakers needed to develop policies to reduce soci-
ety’s vulnerability to global change and indicate how 
the planned research will meet these decisionmakers’ 
information needs; and
(9) identify the observing systems currently em-
ployed in collecting data relevant to global change 
research and prioritize additional observation sys-
tems that may be needed to ensure adequate data 
collection and monitoring of global change. 
(c) RESEARCH ELEMENTS.—The Plan shall include 
at a minimum the following research elements: 
(1) Global measurements, establishing world-
wide to regional scale observations prioritized to un-
derstand global change and to meet the information 
needs of decisionmakers on all relevant spatial and 
time scales. 
(2) Information on economic and demographic 
trends that contribute to changes in the Earth sys-
tem and that influence society’s vulnerability to 
global change. 
(3) Development of indicators and baseline 
databases to document global change, including 
changes in species distribution and behavior, extent 
of glaciations, and changes in sea level. 
(4) Studies of historical changes in the Earth 
system, using evidence from the geological and fossil 
record.
(5) Assessments of predictability using quan-
titative models of the Earth system to simulate glob-
al and regional environmental processes and trends. 
(6) Focused research initiatives to understand 
the nature of and interaction among physical, chem-
ical, biological, and social processes related to global 
change. 
(7) Focused research initiatives to determine 
and then meet the information needs of appropriate 
Federal, State, and regional decisionmakers. 
(d) INFORMATION MANAGEMENT.—The Plan shall 
incorporate, to the extent practicable, the recommenda-
tions relating to data acquisition, management, and 
archiving made by the interagency climate and other glob-
al change data management working group established 
under section 203. 
(e) NATIONAL ACADEMY
OF SCIENCES EVALUA-
TION.—The President shall enter into an agreement with 
the National Academy of Sciences under which the Acad-
emy shall—
(1) evaluate the scientific content of the Plan; 
and 
(2) recommend priorities for future global 
change research.
(f) NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION EVALUA-
TION.—The President shall seek to enter into an agree-
ment with the National Governors Association Center for 
Best Practices under which that Center shall—
(1) evaluate the utility to State, local, and re-
gional decisionmakers of each Plan and of the antici-
pated and actual information outputs of the Pro-
gram for development of policies to reduce vulner-
ability to global change; and 
(2) recommend priorities for future global 
change research. 
(g) PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION.—In developing the 
Plan, the President shall consult with academic, State, in-
dustry, and environmental groups and representatives. 
Not later than 90 days before the President submits the 
Plan, or any revision thereof, to the Congress, a summary 
of the proposed Plan shall be published in the Federal 
Register for a public comment period of not less than 60 
days. 
SEC. 106. BUDGET COORDINATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall provide gen-
eral guidance to each Federal agency participating in the 
Program with respect to the preparation of requests for 
appropriations for activities related to the Program.
(b) CONSIDERATION IN PRESIDENT’S BUDGET.—The 
President shall identify in each annual budget request sub-
mitted to the Congress under section 1105 of title 31, 
United States Code, those items in each agency’s annual 
budget which are elements of the Program. 
SEC. 107. VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT. 
Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 
and at least once every 4 years thereafter, the President 
shall submit to the Congress an assessment which—
(1) integrates, evaluates, and interprets the 
findings of the Program and discusses the scientific 
uncertainties associated with such findings; 
(2) based on indicators and baselines developed 
under section 105(c)(3), as well as other measure-
ments, analyzes changes to the natural environment, 
land and water resources, and biological diversity 
in—
(A) major geographic regions of the United 
States; and 
(B) other continents; 
(3) analyzes the effects of global change, includ-
ing the changes described in paragraph (2), on agri-
culture, energy production and use, transportation, 
human health and welfare, and human social and 
economic systems, including providing information
about the differential impacts on specific geographic 
regions within the United States, on people of dif-
ferent income levels within those regions, and for 
rural and urban areas within those regions; 
(4) analyzes the vulnerability of different geo-
graphic regions of the world to global change, in-
cluding analyses of the implications of global change 
for international assistance, population displacement, 
and national security; and 
(5) analyzes the adoption rates of policies and 
technologies available to reduce the vulnerability of 
society to global change with an evaluation of the 
market and policy barriers suppressing their adop-
tion in the United States. 
SEC. 108. POLICY ASSESSMENT. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, and at least once every 3 years thereafter, 
the President shall submit to the Congress a policy assess-
ment which—
(1) documents current policy options being uti-
lized by Federal, State, and local governments to 
mitigate or adapt to the effects of global change; 
(2) evaluates the realized and anticipated effec-
tiveness of those current policy options in addressing 
global change; and
(3) identifies and evaluates additional policy op-
tions for mitigating or adapting to the effects of 
global change. 
SEC. 109. ANNUAL REPORT. 
Each year at the time of submission to the Congress 
of the President’s budget request, the President shall sub-
mit to the Congress a report on the activities conducted 
pursuant to this title, including—
(1) a summary of the achievements of the Pro-
gram during the period covered by the report; 
(2) an analysis of the progress made toward 
achieving the goals of the Plan; and 
(3) a list of the State, local, and regional deci-
sionmakers identified as potential users of the infor-
mation generated through the Program and a de-
scription of the consultations with this community 
coordinated through the work of the interagency 
committee. 
SEC. 110. RELATION TO OTHER AUTHORITIES. 
The President shall ensure that relevant research ac-
tivities of the National Climate Program, established by 
the National Climate Program Act (15 U.S.C. 2901 et 
seq.), are considered in developing national global change 
research efforts.
SEC. 111. REPEAL. 
The Global Change Research Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C. 
2921 et seq.) is repealed. 
TITLE II—CLIMATE AND OTHER 
GLOBAL CHANGE DATA MAN-
AGEMENT 
SEC. 201. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following 
findings: 
(1) Federal agencies have a primary mission to 
manage and archive climate and other global change 
data obtained through their research, development, 
or operational activities. 
(2) Maintenance of climate and global change 
data records is essential to present and future stud-
ies of the Earth’s atmosphere, biogeochemical cycles, 
and climate.
(3) Federal capabilities for the management 
and archiving of these data have not kept pace with 
advances in satellite and other observational tech-
nologies that have vastly expanded the type and 
amount of information that can be collected. 
(4) Proposals and plans for expansion of global 
observing networks should include plans for the 
management of data to be collected and budgets re-
flecting the cost of support for management and 
archiving of data. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are to es-
tablish climate and other global change data management 
and archiving as Federal agency missions, and to establish 
Federal policies for managing and archiving climate and 
other global change data. 
SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this title—
(1) the term ‘‘metadata’’ means information de-
scribing the content, quality, condition, and other 
characteristics of climate and other global change 
data, compiled, to the maximum extent possible, con-
sistent with the requirements of the ‘‘Content Stand-
ard for Digital Geospatial Metadata’’ (FGDC–STD–
001–1998) issued by the Federal Geographic Data 
Committee, or any successor standard approved by 
the working group; and 
(2) the term ‘‘working group’’ means the inter-
agency climate and other global change data man-
agement working group established under section 
203.
SEC. 203. INTERAGENCY CLIMATE AND OTHER GLOBAL 
CHANGE 
DATA 
MANAGEMENT 
WORKING 
GROUP. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 
an interagency climate and other global change data man-
agement working group to make recommendations for co-
ordinating Federal climate and other global change data 
management and archiving activities. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The working group shall include 
the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration, the Administrator of the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration, the Secretary of Energy, 
the Secretary of Defense, the Director of the National 
Science Foundation, the Director of the United States Ge-
ological Survey, the Archivist of the United States, the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 
the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, or their des-
ignees, and representatives of any other Federal agencies 
the President considers appropriate. 
(c) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the working group shall transmit 
a report to the Congress containing the elements described 
in subsection (d). Not later than 3 years after the initial 
report under this subsection, and not later than once every 
4 years subsequent to that, the working group shall trans-
mit reports updating the previous report. In preparing re-
ports under this subsection, the working group shall con-
sult with expected users of the data collected and archived 
by the Program. 
(d) CONTENTS.—The reports and updates required 
under subsection (c) shall—
(1) include recommendations for the establish-
ment, maintenance, and accessibility of a catalog 
identifying all available climate and other global 
change data sets; 
(2) identify climate and other global change 
data collections in danger of being lost and rec-
ommend actions to prevent such loss; 
(3) identify gaps in climate and other global 
change data and recommend actions to fill those 
gaps; 
(4) identify effective and compatible procedures 
for climate and other global change data collection, 
management, and retention and make recommenda-
tions for ensuring their use by Federal agencies and 
other appropriate entities; 
(5) develop and propose a coordinated strategy 
for funding and allocating responsibilities among 
Federal agencies for climate and other global change 
data collection, management, and retention;
(6) make recommendations for ensuring that 
particular attention is paid to the collection, man-
agement, and archiving of metadata; 
(7) make recommendations for ensuring a uni-
fied and coordinated Federal capital investment 
strategy with respect to climate and other global 
change data collection, management, and archiving; 
(8) evaluate the data record from each observ-
ing system and make recommendations to ensure 
that delivered data are free from time-dependent bi-
ases and random errors before they are transferred 
to long-term archives; and 
(9) evaluate optimal design of observation sys-
tem components to ensure a cost-effective, adequate 
set of observations detecting and tracking global 
change. 
TITLE III—INTERNATIONAL CO-
OPERATION 
IN 
GLOBAL 
CHANGE RESEARCH 
SEC. 301. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following 
findings: 
(1) Pooling of international resources and sci-
entific capabilities will be essential to a successful 
international global change program.
(2) While international scientific planning is al-
ready underway, there is currently no comprehensive 
intergovernmental mechanism for planning, coordi-
nating, or implementing research to understand 
global change and to mitigate possible adverse ef-
fects.
(3) An international global change research 
program will be important in building future con-
sensus on methods for reducing global environmental 
degradation. 
(4) The United States, as a world leader in en-
vironmental and Earth sciences, should help provide 
leadership in developing and implementing an inter-
national global change research program. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are to—
(1) promote international, intergovernmental 
cooperation on global change research; 
(2) involve scientists and policymakers from de-
veloping nations in such cooperative global change 
research programs; and 
(3) promote international efforts to provide 
technical and other assistance to developing nations 
which will facilitate improvements in their domestic 
standard of living while minimizing damage to the 
global or regional environment.
SEC. 302. INTERNATIONAL DISCUSSIONS. 
(a) GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH.—The President 
shall direct the Secretary of State to initiate discussions 
with other nations leading toward international protocols 
and other agreements to coordinate global change research 
activities. Such discussions should include the following 
issues: 
(1) Allocation of costs in global change research 
programs, especially with respect to major capital 
projects. 
(2) Coordination of global change research 
plans with those developed by international organiza-
tions such as the International Council on Scientific 
Unions, the World Meteorological Organization, and 
the United Nations Environment Program. 
(3) Establishment of global change research 
centers and training programs for scientists, espe-
cially those from developing nations. 
(4) Development of innovative methods for 
management of international global change research, 
including the use of new or existing intergovern-
mental organizations for the coordination or funding 
of global change research. 
(5) Establishment of international offices to 
disseminate information useful in identifying, pre-
venting, mitigating, or adapting to the possible ef-
fects of global change. 
(b) ENERGY RESEARCH.—The President shall direct 
the Secretary of State (in cooperation with the Secretary 
of Energy, the Secretary of Commerce, the United States 
Trade Representative, and other appropriate Federal 
agents) to initiate discussions with other nations leading 
toward an international research protocol for cooperation 
on the development of energy technologies which have 
minimally adverse effects on the environment. Such dis-
cussions should include the following issues: 
(1) Creation of an international cooperative 
program to fund research related to energy effi-
ciency and conservation, solar and other renewable 
energy sources, and passively safe and diversion-re-
sistant nuclear reactors. 
(2) Creation of an international cooperative 
program to develop low-cost energy technologies 
which are appropriate to the environmental, eco-
nomic, and social needs of developing nations. 
(3) Exchange of information concerning envi-
ronmentally safe energy technologies and practices, 
including those described in paragraphs (1) and (2).
SEC. 303. GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH INFORMATION OF-
FICE. 
The President shall establish an Office of Global 
Change Research Information to disseminate to foreign 
governments, businesses, and institutions, as well as the 
citizens of foreign countries, scientific research and other 
information available in the United States which would be 
useful in preventing, mitigating, or adapting to the effects 
of global change.
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