H. R. 709
One Hundred Fifth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven
An Act
To reauthorize and amend the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Geologic Mapping
Reauthorization Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) in enacting the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992
(43 U.S.C. 31a et seq.), Congress found, among other things,
that—
(A) during the 2 decades preceding enactment of that
Act, the production of geologic maps had been drastically
curtailed;
(B) geologic maps are the primary data base for
virtually all applied and basic earth-science investigations;
(C) Federal agencies, State and local governments, pri-
vate industry, and the general public depend on the
information provided by geologic maps to determine the
extent of potential environmental damage before embarking
on projects that could lead to preventable, costly environ-
mental problems or litigation;
(D) the lack of proper geologic maps has led to the
poor design of such structures as dams and waste-disposal
facilities;
(E) geologic maps have proven indispensable in the
search for needed fossil fuel and mineral resources; and
(F) a comprehensive nationwide program of geologic
mapping is required in order to systematically build the
Nation’s geologic-map data base at a pace that responds
to increasing demand;
(2) the geologic mapping program called for by that Act
has not been fully implemented; and
(3) it is time for this important program to be fully imple-
mented.
SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION AND AMENDMENT.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the National Geologic Mapping
Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31b) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘As used in this Act:’’ and inserting ‘‘In
this Act:’’;
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(2) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5) as
paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (7), respectively;
(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
‘‘(2) ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘Association’ means the
Association of American State Geologists.’’;
(4) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as redesignated by
paragraph (2) of this subsection) the following new paragraph:
‘‘(6) STATE.—The term ‘State’ includes the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Common-
wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa,
Guam, and the Virgin Islands.’’; and
(5) in each paragraph that does not have a heading, by
inserting a heading, in the same style as the heading in para-
graph (2), as added by paragraph (3), the text of which is
comprised of the term defined in the paragraph.
(b) GEOLOGIC MAPPING PROGRAM.—Section 4 of the National
Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31c) is amended—
(1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a national coopera-
tive geologic mapping program between the United States
Geological Survey and the State geological surveys, acting
through the Association.
‘‘(2) DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, AND
ADMINISTRATION.—The
cooperative geologic mapping program shall be—
‘‘(A) designed and administered to achieve the objec-
tives set forth in subsection (c);
‘‘(B) developed in consultation with the advisory
committee; and
‘‘(C) administered through the Survey.’’;
(2) in subsection (b)—
(A) in the subsection heading by striking ‘‘USGS’’ and
inserting ‘‘THE SURVEY’’;
(B) in paragraph (1)—
(i) by single-indenting the paragraph, double-
indenting the subparagraphs, and triple-indenting the
clauses;
(ii) by inserting ‘‘LEAD
AGENCY.—’’ before ‘‘The
Survey’’;
(iii) in subparagraph (A)—
(I) 
by 
striking 
‘‘Committee 
on 
Natural
Resources’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘Committee 
on
Resources’’; and
(II) by striking ‘‘date of enactment of this Act’’
and inserting ‘‘date of enactment of the National
Geologic Mapping Reauthorization Act of 1997’’;
(iv) in subparagraph (B)—
(I) by striking ‘‘State geological surveys’’ and
inserting ‘‘Association’’; and
(II) by striking ‘‘date of enactment of this Act’’
and inserting ‘‘date of enactment of the National
Geologic Mapping Reauthorization Act of 1997’’;
and
(v) in subparagraph (C)—
(I) by striking ‘‘date of enactment of this Act’’
and inserting ‘‘date of enactment of the National
Geologic Mapping Reauthorization Act of 1997’’;
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(c) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Section 5 of the National Geologic
Mapping Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31d) is amended—
(1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be established a 10-member
geologic mapping advisory committee to advise the Director
on planning and implementation of the geologic mapping
program.
‘‘(2) MEMBERS EX OFFICIO.—Federal agency members shall
include the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency or a designee, the Secretary of Energy or a designee,
the Secretary of Agriculture or a designee, and the Assistant
to the President for Science and Technology or a designee.
‘‘(3) APPOINTED MEMBERS.—Not later than 90 days after
the date of enactment of the National Geologic Mapping
Reauthorization Act of 1997, in consultation with the Associa-
tion, the Secretary shall appoint to the advisory committee
two representatives from the Survey (including the Chief Geolo-
gist, as Chairman), two representatives from the State
geological surveys, one representative from academia, and one
representative from the private sector.’’; and
(2) in subsection (b)(3) by striking ‘‘and State’’ and inserting
‘‘, State, and university’’.
(d) GEOLOGIC MAPPING PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—
Section 6 of the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C.
31e) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1) by inserting ‘‘cooperative’’ after
‘‘national’’;
(2) by striking paragraph (3)(C) and inserting the following:
‘‘(C) for the State geologic mapping component, a
priority-setting mechanism that responds to—
‘‘(i) specific intrastate needs for geologic-map
information; and
‘‘(ii) interstate needs shared by adjacent entities
that have common requirements; and’’;
(3) by striking paragraphs (4) and (5) and inserting the
following:
‘‘(4) a mechanism for adopting scientific and technical
mapping standards for preparing and publishing general-
purpose and special-purpose geologic maps to—
‘‘(A) ensure uniformity of cartographic and scientific
conventions; and
‘‘(B) provide a basis for judgment as to the comparabil-
ity and quality of map products; and’’; and
(4) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (5).
(e) NATIONAL GEOLOGIC-MAP DATA BASE.—Section 7 of the
National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31f ) is amended
by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
‘‘(b) STANDARDIZATION.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Geologic maps contributed to the
national archives shall have format, symbols, and technical
attributes that adhere to standards so that archival information
can be accessed, exchanged, and compared efficiently and
accurately, as required by Executive Order 12906 (59 Fed.
Reg. 17,671 (1994)), which established the National Spatial
Data Infrastructure.
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‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS.—Entities that contribute
geologic maps to the national archives shall develop the stand-
ards described in paragraph (1) in cooperation with the Federal
Geographic Data Committee, which is charged with standards
development and other data coordination activities as described
in Office of Management and Budget revised Circular A–16.’’.
(f) ANNUAL
REPORT.—Section 8 of the National Geologic
Mapping Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31g) is amended in the first
sentence—
(1) by striking ‘‘Committee on Natural Resources’’ and
inserting ‘‘Committee on Resources’’; and
(2) by striking ‘‘program, and describing and evaluating
progress’’ and inserting ‘‘program and describing and evaluating
the progress’’.
(g) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 9 of the
National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 31h) is amended
to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appropriated
to carry out the national cooperative geologic mapping program
under this Act—
‘‘(1) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 1998;
‘‘(2) $28,000,000 for fiscal year 1999; and
‘‘(3) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2000.
‘‘(b) ALLOCATION OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount of funds that are appro-
priated under subsection (a) for any fiscal year up to the amount
that is equal to the amount appropriated to carry out the
national cooperative geologic mapping program for fiscal year
1996—
‘‘(A) not less than 20 percent shall be allocated to
State mapping activities; and
‘‘(B) not less than 2 percent shall be allocated to
educational mapping activities.
‘‘(2) INCREASED APPROPRIATIONS.—Of the amount of funds
that are appropriated under subsection (a) for any fiscal year
up to the amount that exceeds the amount appropriated to
carry out the national cooperative geologic mapping program
for fiscal year 1996—
‘‘(A) for fiscal year 1998—
‘‘(i) 75 percent shall be allocated for Federal
mapping and support mapping activities;
‘‘(ii) 23 percent shall be allocated for State mapping
activities; and
‘‘(iii) 2 percent shall be allocated for educational
mapping activities;
‘‘(B) for fiscal year 1999—
‘‘(i) 74 percent shall be allocated for Federal
mapping and support mapping activities;
‘‘(ii) 24 percent shall be allocated for State mapping
activities; and
‘‘(iii) 2 percent shall be allocated for educational
mapping activities; and
‘‘(C) for fiscal year 2000—
‘‘(i) 73 percent shall be allocated for Federal
mapping and support mapping activities;
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‘‘(ii) 25 percent shall be allocated for State mapping
activities; and
‘‘(iii) 2 percent shall be allocated for educational
mapping activities.’’.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.