[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 156 (Monday, October 26, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H11742-H11744]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               NATIONAL LAND REMOTE SENSING OUTREACH ACT

  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (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, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2489

       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 ``National Land Remote Sensing 
     Outreach Act''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the National Land 
     Remote Sensing Outreach Program established in section 3.
       (2) Educational institution.--The term ``educational 
     institution'' means any public or private elementary or 
     secondary school, or any institution of vocational, 
     professional, or higher education (including a junior college 
     or teachers' college).
       (3) Geospatial imagery.--The term ``geospatial imagery''--
       (A) means satellite land remote sensing image data 
     registered to map or other spatial coordinates derived from 
     features on the ground; and
       (B) includes a wide range of graphical products that convey 
     information about natural phenomena and human activities 
     occurring on Earth's surface.
       (4) Image data.--The term ``image data'' means the raw, 
     unprocessed form of data captured from a sensing instrument.
       (5) Land remote sensing.--The term ``land remote sensing'' 
     means image data of land, coastal areas, or islands and reefs 
     acquired from above the surface of the Earth by instruments 
     on satellite platforms.
       (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (7) 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.
       (8) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the same 
     meaning given that term in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-
     Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
     450b(e)).

     SEC. 3. NATIONAL LAND REMOTE SENSING OUTREACH PROGRAM.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish and maintain 
     a national land remote sensing outreach program within the 
     U.S. Geological Survey to advance the availability, timely 
     distribution, and widespread use of geospatial imagery for 
     education, research, assessment, and monitoring purposes in 
     each State and the lands of an Indian tribe.
       (b) Purposes.--The purposes of the program are--

[[Page H11743]]

       (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 participating State and Indian tribe in 
     establishing the cooperative infrastructure necessary to 
     increase access to geospatial imagery for research and 
     educational purposes.
       (c) Activities.--
       (1) National land remote sensing outreach program.--The 
     Secretary shall--
       (A) support geospatial imagery sharing, applied research, 
     and educational programs of each participating State and 
     Indian tribe;
       (B) identify new geospatial imagery needs and 
     infrastructure;
       (C) share and cooperate in the development of geospatial 
     imagery applications, education, and training infrastructure 
     in each participating State and the lands of an Indian tribe;
       (D) cooperate with participating States and Indian tribes 
     to encourage the expansion of geospatial imagery mapping 
     courses taught at appropriate educational institutions;
       (E) encourage expansion of geospatial imagery research at 
     appropriate educational institutions;
       (F) encourage expansion of the knowledge and use of 
     geospatial imagery products in the workforce through outreach 
     programs, workshops, and other training opportunities;
       (G) encourage participating States and Indian tribes to 
     build partnerships with local governments to identify unique 
     research and development needs and geospatial imagery 
     application pilot programs;
       (H) promote cooperation and sharing of expertise regarding 
     geospatial imagery applications among participating States 
     and Indian tribes; and
       (I) provide a mechanism to enable the States and Indian 
     tribes to transfer geospatial imagery and applications to the 
     U.S. Geological Survey as appropriate.
       (2) Grants.--
       (A) In general.--The Secretary is authorized to provide 
     grants to qualified educational institutions, or to State, 
     local, and tribal governments, or to consortia of these 
     entities, on a competitive basis to--
       (i) advance the interest of the Federal Government in 
     promoting the use of imagery by educational institutions, 
     States, localities, and Indian tribes; and
       (ii) achieve the purposes of the Program described in 
     section 3(b).
       (B) Matching funds.--
       (i) In general.--The Federal share of the cost of each 
     program for which a grant is made under this Act may not 
     exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the program.
       (ii) Non-federal contribution.--In providing the non-
     Federal contribution required under this paragraph, a 
     grantee--

       (I) shall provide for such share through a payment in cash 
     or in kind, fairly evaluated, including facilities, 
     equipment, technology, or services; and
       (II) may provide for such share through State sources or 
     local sources, including private funds or donated services.

       (iii) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the requirements of 
     subparagraph (B), in whole or in part, with respect to any 
     program if the Secretary determines that the grantee has made 
     a good faith effort to obtain the non-Federal contribution at 
     the local level but is unable to do so.
       (3) Federal partner advisory committee.--
       (A) In general.--The Secretary shall establish and maintain 
     a committee to advise the Director of the U.S. Geological 
     Survey regarding the Program.
       (B) Membership and appointment.--The advisory committee 
     under subparagraph (A) shall be chaired by the U.S. 
     Geological Survey and composed of such representatives of 
     Federal and State agencies, tribal governments, and 
     educational institutions as the Secretary may designate.

     SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 
     $10,000,000 to carry out this Act for each of fiscal years 
     2010 through 2019.

     SEC. 5. SUNSET DATE.

       This Act is repealed on the date that is 10 years after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Guam (Ms. Bordallo) and the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Guam.


                             General Leave

  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Guam?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2489 would authorize a nationwide 
program sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey to help States, 
communities, and universities use satellite imagery for research and 
education.
  I would like to commend the sponsor of this legislation, 
Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, for championing valuable uses 
of satellite imagery and for her work with the minority to improve the 
pending measure.
  So I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2489, which will facilitate 
remote sensing outreach partnerships in all 50 States and territories.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume on H.R. 2489.
  The National Land Remote Sensing Outreach Act builds on a series of 
earmarks directed to the United States Geological Survey for nearly a 
decade. This program originally started out as ``Ohio View'' and has 
since expanded to more than 35 States, with hundreds of active member 
groups. This effort has been successful in increasing access to and 
uses of our Nation's Earth observation satellite assets for education, 
research, hazardous monitoring, and natural resource management.
  This legislation will finally move this program from one funded 
through earmarks without any oversight from Congress to an authorized 
Federal program with increased accountability, oversight, and taxpayer 
protections.
  The final version of this legislation the House will consider today 
includes a number of improvements over the original introduced text. 
Specifically, this bill places a cap on the annual authorization for 
this program. This bill also now has a sunset date and requires a cost 
share from the partners who will work with the U.S. Geological Survey.
  These are responsible, necessary changes. Congress should at all 
times seek to ensure taxpayer protections and oversight of government 
spending.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette).
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. I thank my friend from Alaska for yielding.
  I want to commend our good friend and colleague, Ms. Herseth Sandlin, 
from South Dakota, for her hard work in bringing this bill to the floor 
today. I understand she has been delayed by travel difficulties, but I 
am honored to be the lead Republican on this particular bill.
  I am also pleased to indicate that the lead sponsor in the 110th 
Congress was Ralph Regula, Representative Ralph Regula. It was his 
vision that really started this program as ``Ohio View'' in 1998. It 
began as a pilot program through a partnership between the United 
States Geological Survey and several universities in the State of Ohio.
  Originally called ``Ohio View,'' the program expanded nationwide 
beginning in 2000 and is currently active in 35 States across the 
country. The AmericaView program helps States and territories access 
the Federal Government's nonclassified satellite and airborne imagery. 
It provides remote sensing data to communities in order to manage 
resources, plan for natural disasters, and respond to security threats.
  The National Land Remote Sensing Outreach Act will maintain a 
nationwide AmericaView program and advance the availability of 
distribution and use of remote sensing data in each State. This bill 
will also expand remote sensing education as well as award grants to 
educational institutions and State and local governments to develop 
these programs.
  There is a growing need for geospatial technology professionals, and 
this funding will bring remote sensing into K-12 classrooms across the 
country, strengthening students' science skills.
  The AmericaView program has been valuable to communities across the 
Nation. I believe it is an effective use of taxpayer money.
  Again, I want to thank Congresswoman Herseth Sandlin for introducing 
the bill again this Congress, and I appreciate very much the work of 
the Natural Resources Committee in improving the legislation.
  I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
  Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge support of 
H.R. 2489, the National Land Remote Sensing Outreach Act, bipartisan 
legislation that I introduced with my colleague Steve LaTourette, that 
would authorize a program at the U.S. Geological Survey enhancing the 
use of satellite remote sensing data for research and education.

[[Page H11744]]

  For almost a decade, the USGS has partnered with a nonprofit 
organization called AmericaView to help citizens, researchers, and 
public agencies solve real world problems using satellite imagery. Over 
these years, the USGS has provided satellite data and grants to 
AmericaView. AmericaView, in turn, has supported a network of 
university partners now in a total of 36 states: Alabama, Alaska, 
Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa , 
Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, 
Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New 
York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, 
Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, 
and Wyoming.
  Thanks to this outreach program, a great trove of satellite data and 
information, which is archived at the USGS Earth Resources Observation 
Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is put to work throughout our 
country. Each state program tailors its efforts to each state's needs, 
applying the data for use in a range of useful activities, including 
science education projects, the calculation of drought effects, 
designing irrigation protocols, or planning flood response. In short, 
USGS is enabling an amazing and varied array of remote sensing data 
applications through these ongoing outreach efforts and partnerships.
  Despite receiving appropriations in past fiscal years, the USGS 
geospatial imagery outreach program has never formally been authorized. 
Passing this legislation today will officially authorize the USGS' 
existing outreach activities, helping to boost the program's 
recognition, expand the program to additional states and territories, 
and provide for Congressional direction and oversight.
  The legislation before us today was amended in Committee to reflect 
input from the Department of Interior and colleagues on both sides of 
the aisle, and I'd like to thank the Administration and my colleagues 
for their willingness to work together on this bill. I'd also like to 
recognize the contributions of our former colleague, Representative 
Ralph Regula of Ohio, who introduced this legislation in the previous 
Congress.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2489, the National Land Remote 
Sensing Outreach Act.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I again urge Members to support the bill, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 2489, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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