SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) when Federal geospatial imagery is avail-
able in a cost-effective and timely manner, State and 
local governments and educational institutions are 
able to develop new scientific, educational, and prac-
tical applications for the data and to adopt new tools 
for applied research, education, and training, as evi-
denced by— 
(A) the success of the United States Geo-
logical Survey (referred to in this Act as the 
‘‘USGS’’) cooperative pilot projects OhioView 
and Gateway to the Earth; and 
(B) the 35 member StateView programs 
cooperating in the AmericaView program; 
(2) increased access to geospatial imagery for 
research and educational purposes, made available 
through the USGS and from State-level archives 
linked to StateView program support, benefits user 
communities that have traditionally struggled to af-
ford the data because it enables— 
(A) educators to train— 
(i) students at institutions of higher 
education for technology careers in remote 
sensing; and 
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(ii) teachers for use of remote sensing 
data to enhance student learning in ele-
mentary and secondary education; 
(B) historically black colleges and univer-
sities to partner with StateView program uni-
versities to enhance learning and training op-
portunities for students; and 
(C) Native Americans to provide training 
and education regarding— 
(i) the use and application of remote 
sensing data for Native American students; 
and 
(ii) developing satellite-based applica-
tions for managing reservation resources; 
(3) institutions of higher education and State 
and local government agencies use geospatial im-
agery to support practical mapping and monitoring 
purposes, including— 
(A) monitoring the health of Federal and 
State land and forests; 
(B) understanding ecosystems and pre-
dicting ecosystem change; 
(C) mapping hydrologic systems and as-
sessing water quality; 
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(D) monitoring crop productivity, assessing 
damage, and predicting crop yield; 
(E) assisting with transportation and land- 
use planning in the urban areas of the United 
States; 
(F) predicting and assisting with the man-
agement of human and wildlife disease out-
breaks; and 
(G) mapping natural hazards and assess-
ing risk; and 
(4) the AmericaView program is uniquely posi-
tioned to help each State develop applications and 
skills necessary— 
(A) to effectively apply geospatial imagery 
for multiple State-focused mapping purposes; 
and 
(B) to expand the use and benefits of 
geospatial imagery for research and operational 
purposes within each State. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) AMERICAVIEW.—The term ‘‘AmericaView’’ 
means the national nonprofit collaboration of 
StateView program participants cooperating with the 
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USGS to achieve the purposes of the AmericaView 
program. 
(2) 
AMERICAVIEW
PROGRAM.—The 
term 
‘‘AmericaView program’’ means the national remote 
sensing education, outreach, and research program 
of the USGS established under section 4(a), com-
prised of— 
(A) the AmericaView project; and 
(B) AmericaView. 
(3) 
AMERICAVIEW
PROJECT.—The 
term 
‘‘AmericaView project’’ means the USGS data ar-
chive, development, maintenance, and product dis-
tribution program conducted at the Earth Resources 
Observation and Science (EROS) Data Center. 
(4) EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTION.—The term 
‘‘educational institution’’ means— 
(A) any public or private elementary or 
secondary school, vocational school, correspond-
ence school, business school, institution of high-
er education (including a junior college or 
teachers’ college), normal school, professional 
school, or scientific or technical institution; and 
(B) any other institution that provides an 
educational program. 
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(5) 
GEOSPATIAL
IMAGERY.—The 
term 
‘‘geospatial imagery’’ means all information acquired 
from above the surface of the Earth by satellite or 
airplane. 
(6) NATIONAL
SPATIAL
DATA
INFRASTRUC-
TURE.—The term ‘‘national spatial data infrastruc-
ture’’ means the technology, policies, standards, and 
human resources necessary to acquire, process, 
store, distribute, and improve use of geospatial data 
for the United States established by Executive Order 
12906 (59 Fed. Reg. 17671 (April 13, 1994)). 
(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di-
rector of the USGS. 
(8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 
(A) each of the several States of the 
United States; 
(B) the District of Columbia; 
(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 
(D) Guam; 
(E) American Samoa; 
(F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands; and 
(G) the United States Virgin Islands. 
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(9) 
STATEVIEW
PROGRAM.—The 
term 
‘‘StateView program’’ means the AmericaView pro-
gram of an individual State, comprised of edu-
cational institutions and State and local govern-
ments. 
SEC. 4. AMERICAVIEW PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish and 
maintain a national remote sensing education, outreach, 
and research program within the USGS to advance the 
availability, timely distribution, and widespread use of 
geospatial imagery for education, research, assessment, 
and monitoring purposes in each State. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the AmericaView 
program are— 
(1) to increase accessibility to, and expand the 
use of, remote sensing data in a standard, easy-to- 
use format by Federal, State, local, and tribal gov-
ernments, communities, educational institutions, and 
the commercial sector; and 
(2) to assist each StateView program in estab-
lishing the cooperative infrastructure necessary to 
increase access to geospatial imagery for research 
and educational purposes. 
(c) ACTIVITIES.— 
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(D) to expand geospatial imagery mapping 
research at research educational institutions; 
(E) to expand the knowledge and use of 
geospatial imagery and map products in the 
current workforce through outreach programs, 
workshops, and other training opportunities; 
(F) to build partnerships with local govern-
ments to identify unique research and develop-
ment needs and geospatial imagery mapping 
pilot projects; 
(G) to promote cooperation and sharing of 
expertise regarding geospatial imagery among 
participating States and within each partici-
pating State; and 
(H) to enable the States to provide 
geospatial imagery to the USGS. 
(3) GRANTS.—The Secretary annually shall 
provide grants to sustain and develop StateView pro-
grams. 
(4) 
FEDERAL
PARTNER
ADVISORY
COM-
MITTEE.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
maintain an advisory committee to advise the 
Director 
of 
the 
USGS 
regarding 
the 
AmericaView program. 
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(B) MEMBERSHIP
AND
APPOINTMENT.— 
The advisory committee under subparagraph 
(A) shall be composed of— 
(i) at least 1 representative of each 
of— 
(I) AmericaView; 
(II) the USGS; and 
(III) the Department of Agri-
culture; and 
(ii) representatives of such other 
agencies as the Secretary may designate. 
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act 
for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014. 
Æ 
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