[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6970 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6970

 To authorize a comprehensive program of nationwide access to Federal 
   remote sensing data, to promote its use for education, workforce 
  training and development, applied research, and to support Federal, 
             State, tribal, and local government programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 18, 2008

    Mr. Regula (for himself and Ms. Herseth Sandlin) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize a comprehensive program of nationwide access to Federal 
   remote sensing data, to promote its use for education, workforce 
  training and development, applied research, and to support Federal, 
             State, tribal, and local government programs.

    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 ``AmericaView Authorization Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) When Federal remote sensing data is available in a 
        cost-effective and timely manner, State and local governments 
        and educational institutions are able to develop new 
        scientific, educational, and practical applications for the 
        data and to adopt new tools for applied research, education, 
        and training, as evidenced by the success of the United States 
        Geological Survey pilot projects, OhioView and Gateway to 
        Earth.
            (2) Increased access to remote sensing data through State 
        data archives benefits user communities that have traditionally 
        struggled to afford the data as follows:
                    (A) Educators train college students for technology 
                careers in remote sensing and train teachers that 
                remote sensing data can enhance student learning in 
                elementary and secondary education.
                    (B) Historically black colleges and universities 
                partner with StateView universities to enhance learning 
                and training opportunities for its students.
                    (C) Native Americans provide training and education 
                in the use and application of remote sensing data for 
                Native American students and developing satellite-based 
                applications for managing reservation resources.
            (3) Universities and State and local government agencies 
        use remote sensing data to support practical purposes, 
        including--
                    (A) monitoring the health of national lands and 
                forests;
                    (B) monitoring crop progress, assessing damage, and 
                predicting crop yield;
                    (C) assisting with transportation and land-use 
                planning in the urban areas of the Nation;
                    (D) predicting and assisting with the management of 
                human disease outbreaks; and
                    (E) assessing and managing natural disasters.
            (4) The AmericaView program is uniquely positioned to help 
        each State address remote sensing data infrastructure issues 
        and to expand the use and benefits of remote sensing data to 
        each State.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) Americaview program.--The term ``AmericaView program'' 
        means the national AmericaView program of the USGS, comprised 
        of the AmericaView project and AmericaView.
            (2) Americaview project.--The term ``AmericaView project'' 
        means the USGS data archive, development, maintenance, and 
        product distribution program conducted at the EROS Data Center.
            (3) Americaview.--The term ``AmericaView'' means the 
        national nonprofit collaboration of StateView participants 
        cooperating with the EROS Data Center to achieve the purposes 
        of the AmericaView program.
            (4) Educational institution.--The term ``educational 
        institution'' means any public or private elementary or 
        secondary school, vocational school, correspondence school, 
        business school, college (including a junior college and 
        teachers' college) normal school, professional school, 
        university, or scientific or technical institution, or any 
        other institution that furnishes education.
            (5) EROS data center.--The term ``EROS Data Center'' means 
        the data management, systems development, and research field 
        center of the USGS.
            (6) National spatial data infrastructure.--The term 
        ``national spatial data infrastructure'' means the technology, 
        policies, standards, and human resources necessary to acquire, 
        process, store, distribute, and improve utilization of 
        geospatial data for the Nation, established by Executive Order 
        12906, dated April 11, 1994 (``Coordinating Geographic Data 
        Acquisition and Access: The National Spatial Data 
        Infrastructure'').
            (7) Remote sensing data.--The term ``remote sensing data'' 
        means all information acquired from above the surface of the 
        Earth by satellite or airplane.
            (8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, acting through the Director of the USGS.
            (9) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States, 
        the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of 
        the Northern Mariana Islands.
            (10) Stateview.--The term ``StateView'' means the 
        AmericaView program of an individual State, comprised of 
        educational institutions and State and local governments.
            (11) USGS.--The term ``USGS'' means the United States 
        Geological Survey.

SEC. 4. AMERICAVIEW PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall maintain a nationwide program 
to advance the availability, timely distribution, and widespread use of 
remote sensing data and technology in each State.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of the AmericaView program are to--
            (1) increase accessibility and expand the use of remote 
        sensing data in a standard, easy-to-use format to Federal, 
        State, local and tribal governments, communities, educational 
        institutions, and the commercial sector;
            (2) assist each State in establishing the infrastructure 
        necessary to archive and distribute remote sensing data;
            (3) ensure that the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing 
        Data Archive of the USGS and State remote sensing data archives 
        support and comply with other Federal programs related to 
        national data infrastructure, homeland security, and national 
        defense; and
            (4) provide remote sensing data to the national spatial 
        data infrastructure.
    (c) Activities.--
            (1) Americaview project.--The Secretary, through the 
        AmericaView project, shall support the remote sensing data 
        research and educational programs of each State by cooperating 
        with the States to identify new remote sensing data needs and 
        infrastructure and to define, consolidate, and maintain its 
        data requirements.
            (2) Americaview.--The Secretary, through the AmericaView 
        program, shall maintain AmericaView in each State to--
                    (A) share and cooperate in the development of a 
                freely and publicly accessible remote sensing data 
                archive and distribution infrastructure;
                    (B) cooperate with the AmericaView project to 
                develop nationally consistent standards for remote 
                sensing data archives in the State;
                    (C) expand the number of remote sensing data 
                courses taught at educational institutions, and provide 
                training, remote sensing data, and teaching tools to 
                educators;
                    (D) expand remote sensing data research at research 
                educational institutions;
                    (E) expand the knowledge and use of remote sensing 
                data and data products in the current workforce through 
                outreach programs, workshops, and other training 
                opportunities;
                    (F) build partnerships with local governments to 
                identify unique research and development needs and 
                foster remote sensing pilot projects;
                    (G) promote cooperation and sharing of expertise 
                about remote sensing data among the participating State 
                and within each participating State; and
                    (H) enable the States to provide remote sensing 
                data to the EROS Data Center.
            (3) Grants.--The Secretary shall annually award grants to 
        sustain and develop StateView programs.
            (4) Federal partner advisory committee.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall maintain an 
                advisory committee to advise the Director of the USGS 
                about the AmericaView program.
                    (B) Membership and appointment.--The committee 
                shall consist of a representative from AmericaView, the 
                USGS, the Department of Agriculture, and a 
                representative of such other agencies as the Director 
                may designate.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums 
as may be necessary to carry out this Act for each of the fiscal years 
2009 through 2014.
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