IB
Union Calendar No. 13
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 709
[Report No. 105–17]
To reauthorize and amend the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 12, 1997
Mrs. CUBIN (for herself and Mr. GIBBONS) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Resources
MARCH 11, 1997
Additional sponsors: Mr. YOUNG of Alaska and Mr. CALVERT
MARCH 11, 1997
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 12, 1997]
A BILL
To reauthorize and amend the National Geologic Mapping
Act of 1992, 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 ‘‘National Geologic Map-
ping 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 enact-
ment 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 gov-
ernments, private industry, and the general pub-
lic depend on the information provided by geo-
logic maps to determine the extent of potential
environmental damage before embarking on
projects that could lead to preventable, costly en-
vironmental 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 indispen-
sable in the search for needed fossil fuel and
mineral resources; and
(F) a comprehensive nationwide program of
geologic mapping is required in order to system-
atically build the Nation’s geologic-map data
base at a pace that responds to increasing de-
mand;
(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 implemented.
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 insert-
ing ‘‘In this Act:’’;
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), (4),
and (5) as paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (7), respec-
tively;
(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the follow-
ing:
‘‘(2) 
ASSOCIATION.—The 
term 
‘Association’
means the Association of American State Geologists.’’;
(4) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as redesig-
nated by paragraph (2) of this subsection) the follow-
ing new paragraph:
‘‘(6) STATE.—The term ‘State’ includes the Dis-
trict of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.’’;
and
(5) in each paragraph that does not have a head-
ing, by inserting a heading, in the same style as the
heading in paragraph (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 na-
tional cooperative geologic mapping program between
the United States Geological Survey and the State ge-
ological surveys, acting through the Association.
‘‘(2) DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, AND ADMINISTRA-
TION.—The cooperative geologic mapping program
shall be—
‘‘(A) designed and administered to achieve
the objectives set forth in subsection (c);
‘‘(B) developed in consultation with the ad-
visory 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 enact-
ment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘date
of enactment of the National Geologic