(1) more than half of all people of the United 
States, 153 million people, currently live on or near 
a coast and an additional 12 million are expected in 
the next decade; 
(2) coastal counties in the United States aver-
age 300 persons per square mile, compared with the 
national average of 98; 
(3) on a typical day, more than 1,540 permits 
for construction of single-family homes are issued in 
coastal counties, combined with other commercial, 
retail, and institutional construction to support this 
population; 
(4) much of the 95,000 miles of United States 
shoreline does not have current, accurate maps and 
geospatial information; 
(5) the lack of current and accurate remote 
sensing and geospatial data on United States coasts, 
harbors, and ports results in an environmental, in-
frastructure, economic, and homeland security vul-
nerability for the Nation; 
(6) the Federal Government can and should 
play an important role in the development and dem-
onstration of innovative remote sensing and other 
geospatial techniques to improve the management of 
the coast of the United States, comprehensive emer-
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gency preparedness and response in the event of a 
tsunami, storm surges, and oil spills as well as for 
homeland security; 
(7) highly accurate, high resolution remote 
sensing and other geospatial data, including ele-
vation data, play an important role in management 
of the coastal zone, including flood prediction capa-
bilities; risk, vulnerability, and hazard assessments; 
emergency response plans; permitting and zoning de-
cisionmaking; and landscape change detection; as 
well as port security and other homeland security 
applications; 
(8) the full range of applications of remote 
sensing and other forms of geospatial information to 
meet national requirements has not been adequately 
explored or exploited; and 
(9) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration, in coordination with other agencies, 
can play a unique role in demonstrating how com-
mercial remote sensing and other private sector 
geospatial capabilities can be applied to assist State, 
local, regional, and tribal agencies in emergency pre-
paredness, emergency response, homeland security, 
infrastructure management, environmental decision-
making, and other applications in such areas as ag-
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riculture, weather forecasting, and forest manage-
ment. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘digital coast’’ means a con-
stituent-driven effort led by the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration to provide an ena-
bling platform that integrates geospatial data, deci-
sion support tools, training, and case studies to ad-
dress coastal and emergency management issues; 
(2) the term ‘‘remote sensing and other 
geospatial’’ mean collecting, storing, retrieving, or 
disseminating graphical or digital data depicting 
natural or man-made physical features, phenomena, 
or boundaries of the Earth and any information re-
lated thereto, including surveys, maps, charts, sat-
ellite and airborne remote sensing data, images, and 
services performed by professionals such as sur-
veyors, photogrammetrists, hydrographers, geode-
sists, cartographers, and other such services; 
(3) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of Commerce, acting through the Director of the 
Coastal Services Center of the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration; and 
(4) the term ‘‘State’’— 
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(A) means a State of the United States in, 
or bordering on, the Atlantic, Pacific, or Arctic 
Ocean, the Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf of Mex-
ico, Long Island Sound, or one or more of the 
Great Lakes; and 
(B) includes Puerto Rico, the United 
States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Common-
wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the 
Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands, Amer-
ican Samoa, and any portion of a State that is 
located within 100 kilometers of the Atlantic or 
Pacific Ocean, the Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf of 
Mexico, or the Great Lakes. 
SEC. 4. COASTAL SERVICES CENTERS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary may establish 
coastal services centers as may be needed to facilitate 
products and services to address the needs of local, State, 
and regional entities involved with coastal and ocean deci-
sionmaking including those State coastal management and 
research reserves benefitting from this Act. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the coastal services 
centers shall be to— 
(1) support the environmental, social, and eco-
nomic well being of the coast by linking people, in-
formation, and technology; 
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(2) collaborate with various branches of the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
other Federal agencies, and nongovernmental enti-
ties to bring data, information, services, and tools to 
the Nation’s coastal and ocean decisionmakers; and 
(3) identify and address region-specific needs 
and increase capabilities to address them at the 
local, State, and regional levels. 
(c) FINANCIAL AGREEMENTS.—To carry out the re-
sponsibilities of this Act, including to provide program 
support to non-Federal entities that participate in imple-
menting this Act, the Secretary may enter into financial 
agreements including, but not limited to, grants, coopera-
tive agreements, interagency agreements, and contracts 
with other Federal, tribal, State and local governmental 
and nongovernmental entities. 
SEC. 5. REMOTE SENSING AND OTHER GEOSPATIAL DATA 
LAYERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The projects carried out by the 
Secretary pursuant to section 4 shall collect and integrate 
other available coastal data with— 
(1) shallow bathymetric data; 
(2) airborne elevation data; 
(3) large-scale land use and land cover maps; 
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