[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 126 (Tuesday, October 1, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H6904-H6907]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REMOTE SENSING APPLICATIONS ACT OF 2002

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 2426) to encourage the development and integrated use by 
the public and private sectors of remote sensing and other geospatial 
information, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2426

       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 ``Remote Sensing Applications 
     Act of 2002''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds that--
       (1) although urban land use planning, growth management, 
     and other functions of State, local, regional, and tribal 
     agencies are rightfully within their jurisdiction, the 
     Federal Government can and should play an important role in 
     the development and demonstration of innovative techniques to 
     improve comprehensive land use planning and growth 
     management;
       (2) the United States is making a major investment in 
     acquiring remote sensing and other geospatial information 
     from both governmental and commercial sources;
       (3) while much of the data is being acquired for scientific 
     and national security purposes, it also can have important 
     applications to help meet societal goals;
       (4) it has already been demonstrated that Landsat data and 
     other earth observation data can be of enormous assistance to 
     Federal, State, local, regional, and tribal agencies for 
     urban land use planning, coastal zone management, natural and 
     cultural resource management, and disaster monitoring;
       (5) remote sensing, coupled with the emergence of 
     geographic information systems and satellite-based 
     positioning information, offers the capability of developing 
     important new applications of integrated sets of geospatial 
     information to address societal needs;
       (6) the full range of applications of remote sensing and 
     other forms of geospatial information to meeting public 
     sector requirements has not been adequately explored or 
     exploited;
       (7) the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992, 
     Presidential Decision Directive 23 of 1994, and the 
     Commercial Space Act of 1998 all support and promote the 
     development of United States commercial remote sensing 
     capabilities;
       (8) many State, local, regional, tribal, and Federal 
     agencies are unaware of the utility of remote sensing and 
     other geospatial information for meeting their needs, even 
     when research has demonstrated the potential applications of 
     that information;
       (9) remote sensing and other geospatial information can be 
     particularly useful to State, local, regional, and tribal 
     agencies in the area of urban planning, especially in their 
     efforts to plan for and manage the impacts of growth, 
     development, and sprawl, as well as in environmental impact 
     and disaster relief planning and management;
       (10) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in 
     coordination with other agencies, can play a unique role in 
     demonstrating how data acquired for scientific purposes, when 
     combined with other data sources and processing capabilities, 
     can be applied to assist State, local, regional, and tribal 
     agencies and the private sector in decisionmaking in such 
     areas as agriculture, weather forecasting, and forest 
     management; and
       (11) in addition, the National Aeronautics and Space 
     Administration, in conjunction with other agencies, can play 
     a unique role

[[Page H6905]]

     in stimulating the development of the remote sensing and 
     other geospatial information sector through pilot projects to 
     demonstrate the value of integrating governmental and 
     commercial remote sensing data with geographic information 
     systems and satellite-based positioning data to provide 
     useful applications products.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act--
       (1) the term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of 
     the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
       (2) the term ``geospatial information'' means knowledge of 
     the nature and distribution of physical and cultural features 
     on the landscape based on analysis of data from airborne or 
     spaceborne platforms or other types and sources of data; and
       (3) the term ``institution of higher education'' has the 
     meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the Higher 
     Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).

     SEC. 4. PILOT PROJECTS TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC SECTOR 
                   APPLICATIONS.

       (a) In General.--The Administrator shall establish a 
     program of grants for competitively awarded pilot projects to 
     explore the integrated use of sources of remote sensing and 
     other geospatial information to address State, local, 
     regional, and tribal agency needs.
       (b) Preferred Projects.--In awarding grants under this 
     section, the Administrator shall give preference to projects 
     that--
       (1) make use of existing public or commercial data sets;
       (2) integrate multiple sources of geospatial information, 
     such as geographic information system data, satellite-
     provided positioning data, and remotely sensed data, in 
     innovative ways;
       (3) include funds or in-kind contributions from non-Federal 
     sources;
       (4) involve the participation of commercial entities that 
     process raw or lightly processed data, often merging that 
     data with other geospatial information, to create data 
     products that have significant value added to the original 
     data; and
       (5) taken together demonstrate as diverse a set of public 
     sector applications as possible.
       (c) Opportunities.--In carrying out this section, the 
     Administrator shall seek opportunities to assist--
       (1) in the development of commercial applications 
     potentially available from the remote sensing industry; and
       (2) State, local, regional, and tribal agencies in applying 
     remote sensing and other geospatial information technologies 
     for growth management.
       (d) Duration.--Assistance for a pilot project under 
     subsection (a) shall be provided for a period not to exceed 3 
     years.
       (e) Report.--Each recipient of a grant under subsection (a) 
     shall transmit a report to the Administrator on the results 
     of the pilot project within 180 days of the completion of 
     that project.
       (f) Workshop.--Each recipient of a grant under subsection 
     (a) shall, not later than 180 days after the completion of 
     the pilot project, conduct at least one workshop for 
     potential users to disseminate the lessons learned from the 
     pilot project as widely as feasible.
       (g) Regulations.--The Administrator shall issue regulations 
     establishing application, selection, and implementation 
     procedures for pilot projects, and guidelines for reports and 
     workshops required by this section.

     SEC. 5. PROGRAM EVALUATION.

       (a) Advisory Committee.--The Administrator shall establish 
     an advisory committee, consisting of individuals with 
     appropriate expertise in State, local, regional, and tribal 
     agencies, the university research community, and the remote 
     sensing and other geospatial information industry, to monitor 
     the program established under section 4. The advisory 
     committee shall consult with the Federal Geographic Data 
     Committee and other appropriate industry representatives and 
     organizations. Notwithstanding section 14 of the Federal 
     Advisory Committee Act, the advisory committee established 
     under this subsection shall remain in effect until the 
     termination of the program under section 4.
       (b) Effectiveness Evaluation.--Not later than December 31, 
     2006, the Administrator shall transmit to the Congress an 
     evaluation of the effectiveness of the program established 
     under section 4 in exploring and promoting the integrated use 
     of sources of remote sensing and other geospatial information 
     to address State, local, regional, and tribal agency needs. 
     Such evaluation shall have been conducted by an independent 
     entity.

     SEC. 6. DATA AVAILABILITY.

       The Administrator shall ensure that the results of each of 
     the pilot projects completed under section 4 shall be 
     retrievable through an electronic, Internet-accessible 
     database.

     SEC. 7. EDUCATION.

       The Administrator shall establish an educational outreach 
     program to increase awareness at institutions of higher 
     education and State, local, regional, and tribal agencies of 
     the potential applications of remote sensing and other 
     geospatial information.

     SEC. 8. COST SENSITIVITY STUDY.

       The Administrator shall conduct a study of the effect of 
     remote sensing imagery costs on potential State, local, 
     regional, and tribal agency applications. The study shall 
     identify applications that are likely to be most affected by 
     reductions in the cost of remote sensing imagery. Not later 
     than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
     Administrator shall transmit to the Congress the results of 
     the study conducted under this section.

     SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
     Administrator $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2003 
     through 2007 to carry out this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Rohrabacher) and the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. 
Udall) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher).


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 2426.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  First of all, I congratulate the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Udall) 
for having this bill come to the floor and the hard work that he has 
put into this bill. He has been a tremendous inspiration to us in 
working for high technology and a great environment at the same time. 
This bill, I think, exemplifies that type of attitude and commitment. 
So I congratulate him first and foremost for the great work he has done 
that has manifested itself in this bill.
  I support H.R. 2426, the Remote Sensing Applications Act of 2002. 
This bill provides incentives to make federally funded remote sensing 
data accessible and useful to address current needs in local 
communities. This has been a great concern of mine for several years. 
Since getting to Congress, I have always talked about getting down-to-
earth benefits for the taxpayer from satellite data. So I am very 
pleased to support this legislation that will result in benefits for a 
broad range of users.
  This bill establishes a pilot program to enable the development of 
creative ideas for applying remote sensing toward societal needs. These 
applications will benefit all who depend on or work in the areas of 
agriculture, urban planning, environmental management, weather 
forecasting, resource management and disaster relief, just to name a 
few. I would suggest that perhaps we could add to that list, and I hope 
with his leadership to work with him on this, see a way that we can use 
satellite sensing to help discover sources of pollution in the ocean 
which plague the coastal areas of California where I happen to 
represent.
  I have always strongly supported the use of satellite remote sensing 
data to address current problems in our society, with tangible 
benefits, of course, to the taxpayers who are paying for these 
satellites in the first place.
  This bill is not another big government program with no end, however. 
Yes, we are providing a service, but instead we are doing so in a very 
responsible way. Instead, it is a limited 3-year pilot program to jump-
start projects that will benefit thousands, maybe millions of citizens. 
These projects will be competitively selected with preference given to 
those that partner with non-Federal sources of support. These projects 
will be evaluated for their effectiveness with the results made 
available to everyone through the Internet. Successful ideas will spur 
private industry to develop more and more useful applications for 
remote sensing with direct benefits, of course, to the citizens of the 
United States and to the world.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2426 as a remarkably forward-
thinking piece of legislation. Again, I would like to mention to the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Udall), I know that there was an older 
Udall that was here when I first came here. This is a bill in keeping 
with that fine tradition that he left in this body.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as the author of this legislation, I obviously support 
passage

[[Page H6906]]

of the bill. I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Rohrabacher) for his kind words and also his support. I also wanted to 
thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Boehlert), the chairman of the 
Committee on Science, and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall), the 
ranking member, for making it possible for the House to consider the 
bill today.
  I introduced the Remote Sensing Applications Act in June 2001 to 
address a real problem we have in Colorado, the problem of excess 
growth and sprawl. My goal was to point to a way to utilize the 
resources of the Federal Government to help foster wise community 
planning and management at the local level. As a member of the House 
Committee on Science and the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, it 
made sense to me to look for ways to help communities grow in a smarter 
way through the use of technology.
  One new space-age tool, and the gentleman from California was talking 
about it, is the use of satellites to provide images of the Earth's 
surface. We now have the technology, using geospatial data from 
satellites, that can produce very accurate maps that show information 
about vegetation, wildlife habitat, flood plains, transportation 
corridors, soil types and many other things. By giving State and local 
governments and communities greater access to geospatial data from 
commercial sources and Federal agencies such as NASA, I believe that 
the Federal Government can help bring valuable and powerful 
informational planning resources to the table.
  H.R. 2426 would facilitate this transfer of information. The bill 
would establish in NASA a program of grants for competitively awarded 
pilot projects. The purpose of the grants would be to explore the 
integrated use of sources of remote sensing and other geospatial 
information to address State, local, regional and tribal agency needs. 
This legislation would build on and complement an applications program 
that NASA's Office of Earth Science announced last year.
  State and local governments and communities can use this geospatial 
data in a wide variety of applications, in such areas as urban land use 
planning, coastal zone management and erosion control, transportation 
corridors, environmental planning, and agricultural and forest 
management.
  One potential application that has garnered much attention since the 
tragic events of last September 11 is the use of geospatial technology 
to bolster our homeland security.

                              {time}  2145

  Emergency management has always been an important responsibility of 
State and local governments; but in the aftermath of the terrorist 
attacks, the scope of this responsibility has broadened. Geospatial 
technology can help States and localities identify the location, 
nature, and scope of potential vulnerabilities and the impact of 
potential hazards, as well as how to respond to events and recover from 
them.
  Certainly, it is important that we continue to add to our database of 
available geospatial information. More information is always better 
than less, but we have to also make sure that we have maximum use of 
the information that we already have at hand, and that is the need that 
this bill would address.
  State and local officials are becoming more familiar with the uses of 
geospatial technology for various planning purposes. However, there is 
a need for Federal agencies such as NASA, which has been pioneering the 
use of satellite remote sensing technologies, to work with State and 
local organizations to demonstrate how remote sensing and other 
geospatial data can offer a cost-effective planning and assessment 
tool.
  I am pleased that there is broad bipartisan cosponsorship of the bill 
and that it has earned the endorsement of a number of important 
national organizations. The supporters of H.R. 2426 understand the 
importance of targeting geospatial information at the places where it 
will have the greatest impact, that being local and regional levels. 
This act can help begin to bridge the gap between established and 
emerging technology solutions and the problems and challenges that 
State and local communities face regarding growth management, homeland 
security, forest fire management, and other issues.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe this bill will be welcomed by States and 
localities nationwide, and I urge its adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Smith).
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, my compliments to my colleagues, 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) and the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Udall), on moving this ahead. My colleagues talk very 
calmly about what can be a useful tool in so many areas. From my 
experiences in agriculture, I have learned that we now have the remote 
sensing capability that we are really not using to predict insect 
infestation, to predict how the yields are going to accommodate the 
demand for food in this world. So with useful information of satellites 
and assisted land set help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and 
our university of systems, so many things that we can do to make sure 
that we can plan ahead for such things as drought or insects or low 
production in certain parts of the world so we can accommodate 
increased production in other areas.
  So I commend my colleagues for moving this bill ahead; I hope we will 
pass and, more than that, I hope we will eventually have the kind of 
funding so that we can maximize the use of these tools and techniques.
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers. I would just 
close by again congratulating my colleague, the gentleman from Colorado 
(Mr. Udall); and I would like to thank him for the many hours of hard 
work he has put in to getting the bill to the floor like this. In this 
Congress, during this wartime has not been an easy thing. He has put in 
a lot of time and effort, and he is to be commended for it.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 
2426, the Remote Sensing Applications Act. This good common sense 
legislation will not cost much, but will enable us to extract huge 
benefits from programs that already exist.
  Geospatial satellite data is expensive. Usually when groups present 
in the Science Committee with communications or surveillance needs, we 
immediately start talking about hundreds of millions, or even billions 
of dollars in potential funding. However, once those satellites are 
successfully deployed, the data they collect and transmit back is 
invaluable. It just makes sense that we milk every bit of useful 
information out of that data, and get it to the American people who pay 
for it. H.R. 2426 will do just that.
  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the world leader 
in space and satellite technology, and commercial space entities in the 
U.S. are driving an exciting and growing international sector of space-
based industry. From the networks of satellites produced by these 
groups stream a wealth of data, that needs to be put to work. Countless 
groups are already lining up to start taking advantage of it. For 
example, the American Planning Association endorses the Remote Sensing 
Applications Act, because it will enable them to visualize changes in 
patters of urban development, and to plan emergency procedures 
accordingly. Environmental groups and ecologists are excited because 
they may be able to access the best images available to follow changes 
in our coastlines and our forests. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce 
supports this bill, because possibilities for the commercial use of 
geospatial data are nearly limitless. Legislation like this will most-
likely lead to a new generation of consumer products--maps, weather 
information, land-management systems, etcetera--that will improve the 
lives of Americans.
  H.R. 2426 will bring about these great changes by establishing a 
program of grants to fund pilot projects meant to bridge the gap 
between remote sensing technology, and the needs of the public. 
Project-proposals would be reviewed and funded on a competitive basis. 
To ensure that the pilot projects would be fruitful, the Administrator 
would give preference to projects that make use of existing data sets, 
integrate data in innovative ways, involve collaborations with and 
contributions from non-federal sources, and demonstrate good potential 
for future public sector applications. I have long felt that 
collaborations with NASA could be of great use in increasing homeland 
security by improving our nation's cyber- and satellite-security. In 
that same spirit, H.R. 2426 takes advantage of the great technology and 
expertise at NASA, and uses it to the betterment of the nation.

[[Page H6907]]

  The bill would authorize $15 million for each of fiscal years 2002 
through 2006. This is a bargain considering the potential benefits of 
the program. I strongly support H.R. 2426, The Remote Sensing 
Application Act.
  Mr. BOEHLERT. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following correspondence:

                                         House of Representatives,


                                         Committee on Science,

                                Washington, DC September 30, 2002.
     The Hon. J. Dennis Hastert,
     Office of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Washington, 
         DC.
       Dear Speaker Hastert: I am writing to inform you that the 
     Committee on Science has discharged from further 
     consideration H.R. 2426, the ``Remote Sensing Applications 
     Act of 2002.'' H.R. 2426 was referred to this Committee on 
     June 28, 2001.
           Sincerely,
                                             Sherwood L. Boehlert,
                                                         Chairman.

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Grucci). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2426, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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