The federal government has recognized the need to organize and coordinate the collection and management of geospatial data since at least 1990. In that year, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) revised Circular A-16—which provides guidance regarding coordination of federal surveying, mapping, and related spatial data activities—to establish the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and to promote the coordinated use, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial data nationwide. OMB Circular A-16 also called for the development of a national resource for digital spatial information to enable the sharing and transfer of spatial data between users and producers, linked by criteria and standards. Executive Order 12906, issued in 1994, strengthened and enhanced Circular A-16 and specified that the FGDC shall coordinate development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). Historically, the federal government has been a primary provider of authoritative geospatial information; however, the federal government has shifted, with some important exceptions, to consuming rather than providing geospatial information from a variety of sources. As a result, the federal government's role also has shifted toward coordinating and managing geospatial data and facilitating partnerships among the producers and consumers of geospatial information in government, the private sector, and academia. There are long-standing challenges to coordinating how geospatial data are acquired and used at the local, state, and federal levels—avoiding duplicative data sets, for example—and in collaboration with the private sector. Past Congresses have recognized these challenges. For example, the 108 th Congress explored issues of cost, duplication of effort, and coordination of geospatial information in a series of hearings. Bills introduced in previous Congresses would have addressed aspects of the geospatial enterprise, but none were enacted. Until enactment of the Geospatial Data Act of 2018, the executive branch had led nearly all efforts to better coordinate and share geospatial data within the federal government. In the 114 th Congress, Senator Orrin Hatch introduced S. 740 , the Geospatial Data Act of 2015, a bill that essentially would have codified Circular A-16 and provided Congress with additional capabilities to oversee the federal geospatial enterprise, among other authorities. Representative Bruce Westerman subsequently introduced companion legislation, H.R. 6294 . Congress did not act on either bill. In the 115 th Congress, Senator Hatch introduced S. 1253 , the Geospatial Data Act of 2017, on May 25, 2017; Representative Westerman introduced companion legislation, H.R. 3522 , on July 27, 2017. Later that year, on November 15, Senator Hatch introduced a slightly different version of the bill, S. 2128 ; Representative Westerman introduced the House version, H.R. 4395 , on the same day. Several other versions of the bill were circulated without formal introduction in 2018. In September 2018, another version of the bill, the Geospatial Data Act of 2018 (GDA), was included in H.R. 302 , the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, as Subtitle F of Title VII. On October 3, 2018, Congress passed the bill. On October 5, 2018, President Trump signed it into law as P.L. 115-254 . This report provides a summary and analysis of each section of the GDA. It also discusses possible implications of the new law and issues for Congress. The GDA codifies aspects of Circular A-16, authorizing many of the circular's existing components and modifying or expanding upon other aspects. The GDA continues the Federal Geographic Data Committee and supports the goal of creating a National Spatial Data Infrastructure. It also adds several congressional oversight components; for example, it adds a requirement for annual performance reporting from each of the covered agencies to the FGDC, and it requires a summary and evaluation by the FGDC of each agency in fulfilling the responsibilities listed in the GDA. The annual summaries and evaluations must be made available to the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC), and the law directs the FGDC to respond to comments from the NGAC. Further, it requires the FGDC to make available to Congress, not less than every two years, a report summarizing and evaluating agency performance, comments from the NGAC, responses to those comments, and responses to comments from the covered agencies themselves. The following is a brief summary and analysis of each section of the GDA, referencing section numbers as enumerated in the enacted bill under Subtitle F-Geospatial Data, Title VII, of P.L. 115-254 , the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. The GDA provisions are in Sections 751-759 of Title VII of P.L. 115-254 . The short title of the subtitle is the Geospatial Data Act of 2018. Section 751 includes a Findings provision with three components: 1. Open and publicly available data is essential to the successful operation of the GeoPlatform (discussed below in " Section 758. GeoPlatform "). 2. The private sector is invaluable, for the purposes of acquiring and producing geospatial data and data services, to carrying out the missions of the federal departments and agencies, and in contributing to the U.S. economy. 3. Congress has for two decades passed legislation promoting greater access and use of federal information and data, which has had multiple positive effects on businesses, the economy, scientific research, and other aspects of the nation. Section 752 defines 14 terms used in the GDA. Many of these terms are included and explained or defined in Circular A-16, but some are not, such as the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) , GeoPlatform , intelligence community , and covered agency . Under the GDA, a covered agency is an executive department, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 101, that collects, produces, acquires, maintains, distributes, uses, or preserves geospatial data on paper or in electronic form to fulfill the agency's mission, either directly or through a relationship with another organization, including a state, local government, Indian tribe, institution of higher education, business partner or contractor of the federal government, and the public. In addition to the executive departments included in 5 U.S.C. 101, the GDA also counts the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency as covered agencies. Section 752 excludes the Department of Defense (including 30 components and agencies performing national missions) or any element of the intelligence community from its definition of the term covered agency . OMB Circular A-16 includes definitions for additional terms in its Appendix D and other locations; however, the GDA expands upon some of those terms, such as the definition for geospatial data . In OMB Circular A-16, geospatial data are "information that identifies the geographic location and characteristics of natural or constructed features and boundaries on the Earth." The GDA is more descriptive: [Geospatial data] (A) means information that is tied to a location on the Earth, including by identifying the geographic location and characteristics of natural or constructed features and boundaries on the Earth, and that is generally represented in vector datasets by points, lines, polygons, or other complex geographic features or phenomena; (B) may be derived from, among other things, remote sensing, mapping, and surveying technologies; (C) includes images and raster datasets, aerial photographs, and other forms of geospatial data or datasets in digitized or non-digitized form. Also, the GDA describes which types of data and activities are not included under the definition of geospatial data. For example, geospatial activities of an Indian tribe are not included under the definition if they are not, in whole or in part, carried out using federal funds, as determined by the tribal government. Classified national security-related geospatial data activities of the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy are not included. Intelligence geospatial data activities, as determined by the Director of National Intelligence, are excluded. The GDA also excludes geospatial data and activities under 10 U.S.C. 22, or Section 110 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3045). Some of the other terms defined in Circular A-16 are changed or expanded in the GDA. For example, in the GDA, data theme is defined and explained as NGDA data theme . The shift reflects a name change under this section and points to a fuller description in Section 756 of the GDA (see " Section 756. NGDA Data Themes "). The GDA codifies the continuation of an existing federal interagency committee, the FGDC, established under Circular A-16. The FGDC is the primary entity for developing, implementing, and reviewing the policies, practices, and standards relating to geospatial data according to the guidelines and requirements under Circular A-16, including implementation of the NSDI (see " Section 755. National Spatial Data Infrastructure "). The GDA codifies duties and responsibilities of the FGDC that are described in Circular A-16. Those duties include FGDC being the lead entity for development and management of the NSDI, among others. The GDA mandates that the Secretary of the Interior and the Director of OMB shall serve as chairperson and vice chairperson of the committee, respectively. This provision codifies the roles for chairperson and vice chairperson under the current FGDC leadership. The GDA requires that the head of each covered agency and the Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) designate a representative of their respective agencies to serve as a member of the FGDC.