[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2489 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2489

 To authorize a comprehensive national cooperative geospatial imagery 
mapping program through the United States Geological Survey, to promote 
 use of the program for education, workforce training and development, 
and applied research, and to support Federal, State, tribal, and local 
                          government programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 19, 2009

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize a comprehensive national cooperative geospatial imagery 
mapping program through the United States Geological Survey, to promote 
 use of the program for education, workforce training and development, 
and 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 Geospatial Imagery 
Mapping Program Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) when Federal geospatial imagery 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--
                    (A) the success of the United States Geological 
                Survey (referred to in this Act as the ``USGS'') 
                cooperative pilot projects OhioView and Gateway to the 
                Earth; and
                    (B) the 35 member StateView programs cooperating in 
                the AmericaView program;
            (2) increased access to geospatial imagery for research and 
        educational purposes, made available through the USGS and from 
        State-level archives linked to StateView program support, 
        benefits user communities that have traditionally struggled to 
        afford the data because it enables--
                    (A) educators to train--
                            (i) students at institutions of higher 
                        education for technology careers in remote 
                        sensing; and
                            (ii) teachers for use of remote sensing 
                        data to enhance student learning in elementary 
                        and secondary education;
                    (B) historically black colleges and universities to 
                partner with StateView program universities to enhance 
                learning and training opportunities for students; and
                    (C) Native Americans to provide training and 
                education regarding--
                            (i) the use and application of remote 
                        sensing data for Native American students; and
                            (ii) developing satellite-based 
                        applications for managing reservation 
                        resources;
            (3) institutions of higher education and State and local 
        government agencies use geospatial imagery to support practical 
        mapping and monitoring purposes, including--
                    (A) monitoring the health of Federal and State land 
                and forests;
                    (B) understanding ecosystems and predicting 
                ecosystem change;
                    (C) mapping hydrologic systems and assessing water 
                quality;
                    (D) monitoring crop productivity, assessing damage, 
                and predicting crop yield;
                    (E) assisting with transportation and land-use 
                planning in the urban areas of the United States;
                    (F) predicting and assisting with the management of 
                human and wildlife disease outbreaks; and
                    (G) mapping natural hazards and assessing risk; and
            (4) the AmericaView program is uniquely positioned to help 
        each State develop applications and skills necessary--
                    (A) to effectively apply geospatial imagery for 
                multiple State-focused mapping purposes; and
                    (B) to expand the use and benefits of geospatial 
                imagery for research and operational purposes within 
                each State.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Americaview.--The term ``AmericaView'' means the 
        national nonprofit collaboration of StateView program 
        participants cooperating with the USGS to achieve the purposes 
        of the AmericaView program.
            (2) Americaview program.--The term ``AmericaView program'' 
        means the national remote sensing education, outreach, and 
        research program of the USGS established under section 4(a), 
        comprised of--
                    (A) the AmericaView project; and
                    (B) AmericaView.
            (3) Americaview project.--The term ``AmericaView project'' 
        means the USGS data archive, development, maintenance, and 
        product distribution program conducted at the Earth Resources 
        Observation and Science (EROS) Data Center.
            (4) Educational institution.--The term ``educational 
        institution'' means--
                    (A) any public or private elementary or secondary 
                school, vocational school, correspondence school, 
                business school, institution of higher education 
                (including a junior college or teachers' college), 
                normal school, professional school, or scientific or 
                technical institution; and
                    (B) any other institution that provides an 
                educational program.
            (5) Geospatial imagery.--The term ``geospatial imagery'' 
        means all information acquired from above the surface of the 
        Earth by satellite or airplane.
            (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 use of geospatial data 
        for the United States established by Executive Order 12906 (59 
        Fed. Reg. 17671 (April 13, 1994)).
            (7) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, acting through the Director of the USGS.
            (8) State.--The term ``State'' means--
                    (A) each of the several States of the United 
                States;
                    (B) the District of Columbia;
                    (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;
                    (D) Guam;
                    (E) American Samoa;
                    (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
                Islands; and
                    (G) the United States Virgin Islands.
            (9) Stateview program.--The term ``StateView program'' 
        means the AmericaView program of an individual State, comprised 
        of educational institutions and State and local governments.

SEC. 4. AMERICAVIEW PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish and maintain a 
national remote sensing education, outreach, and research program 
within the USGS to advance the availability, timely distribution, and 
widespread use of geospatial imagery for education, research, 
assessment, and monitoring purposes in each State.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of the AmericaView program are--
            (1) to increase accessibility to, and expand the use of, 
        remote sensing data in a standard, easy-to-use format by 
        Federal, State, local, and tribal governments, communities, 
        educational institutions, and the commercial sector; and
            (2) to assist each StateView program in establishing the 
        cooperative infrastructure necessary to increase access to 
        geospatial imagery for research and educational purposes.
    (c) Activities.--
            (1) Americaview project.--The Secretary, acting through the 
        AmericaView project, shall support the geospatial imagery 
        mapping research and educational programs of each State by 
        cooperating with States--
                    (A) to identify new geospatial imagery mapping 
                needs and infrastructure and to define, consolidate; 
                and
                    (B) to maintain the data requirements of the 
                AmericaView project.
            (2) Americaview program.--The Secretary, acting through the 
        AmericaView program, shall maintain AmericaView in each State--
                    (A) to share and cooperate in the development of 
                geospatial imagery mapping applications, education, and 
                training infrastructure in each State;
                    (B) to cooperate with the AmericaView project to 
                develop nationally consistent standards for geospatial 
                imagery mapping in each State;
                    (C) to expand the number of geospatial imagery 
                mapping courses taught at educational institutions and 
                provide training, remote sensing data, and teaching 
                tools to educators;
                    (D) to expand geospatial imagery mapping research 
                at research educational institutions;
                    (E) to expand the knowledge and use of geospatial 
                imagery and map products in the current workforce 
                through outreach programs, workshops, and other 
                training opportunities;
                    (F) to build partnerships with local governments to 
                identify unique research and development needs and 
                geospatial imagery mapping pilot projects;
                    (G) to promote cooperation and sharing of expertise 
                regarding geospatial imagery among participating States 
                and within each participating State; and
                    (H) to enable the States to provide geospatial 
                imagery to the USGS.
            (3) Grants.--The Secretary annually shall provide 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 
                regarding the AmericaView program.
                    (B) Membership and appointment.--The advisory 
                committee under subparagraph (A) shall be composed of--
                            (i) at least 1 representative of each of--
                                    (I) AmericaView;
                                    (II) the USGS; and
                                    (III) the Department of 
                                Agriculture; and
                            (ii) representatives of such other agencies 
                        as the Secretary may designate.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums 
as are necessary to carry out this Act for each of fiscal years 2010 
through 2014.
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