[House Report 109-113]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
109th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 109-113
======================================================================
NATIONAL GEOLOGIC MAPPING REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005
_______
June 8, 2005.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2362]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 2362) to reauthorize and amend the National Geologic
Mapping Act of 1992, having considered the same, report
favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill
do pass.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of H.R. 2362 is to reauthorize and amend the
National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992.
Background and Need for Legislation
The Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 established the National
Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program. This program was designed
to foster cooperation and coordination between the United
States Geological Survey and the State Geological Surveys in
generating modern detailed digitized geologic maps in a cost
effective and efficient manner.
Geologic maps provide important information needed for
identifying energy, mineral and water resources, and geologic
and environmental hazards such as active faults and seismic
areas, unstable ground subject to landslides, swelling soils,
floodplains and abandoned mined lands. Understanding the sub-
surface geology and soil profiles can facilitate better
planning for septic systems in rural areas, water treatment
facilities, road construction and maintenance, home
construction and other infrastructure.
More than 7,500 new geologic maps have been produced
through this cooperative program. To date 49 states and Puerto
Rico have participated in this program, producing high quality
digital that cover approximately 25% of the U.S. Monies
expended in this program reap significant benefits. An economic
analysis of the impact of Kentucky's geologic mapping program
showed the economic return to the State was at a minimum 25
times the cost of the program. Kentucky is the only state that
has been completely mapped.
Committee Action
H.R. 2362 was introduced on May 16, 2005, by Congressman
Jim Gibbons (R-NV). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Resources. On May 18, 2005, the Full Resources Committee met to
consider the bill. No amendments were offered and the bill was
ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by
unanimous consent.
Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations
are reflected in the body of this report.
Constitutional Authority Statement
Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.
Compliance With House Rule XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to reauthorize and amend the National
Geologic Mapping Act of 1992.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:
H.R. 2362--National Geologic Mapping Reauthorization Act of 2005
Summary: H.R. 2362 would reauthorize the national geologic
mapping program and extend current deadlines for plans,
reports, and other requirements established by the National
Geologic Mapping Act of 1992. The bill would authorize
appropriations for the program at the existing 2005 authorized
level of $64 million for each of fiscal years 2006 through
2010. (Under current law, authorizations of appropriations for
the program will expire at the end of fiscal year 2005.) The
geologic mapping program is carried out jointly by the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) and state geological authorities.
Under this program, federal and state geologists are developing
a comprehensive geological map of the United States and a
related database of environmental and scientific information.
Assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, CBO
estimates that carrying out the 1992 act, as amended by H.R.
2362, would cost $21 million in fiscal year 2006 and $255
million over the 2006-2010 period. (We estimate that an
additional $65 million would be spent after 2010.) Enacting
this bill would have no effect on revenues or direct spending.
H.R. 2362 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal
governments.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary impact of H.R. 2362 is shown in the following table.
The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 300
(natural resources and environment). For this estimate, CBO
assumes that the entire amounts authorized for the mapping
program will be appropriated for each fiscal year. Estimated
outlays are based on historical spending patterns for this
program.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
-----------------------------------------------
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Spending Under Current Law for the National Geologic Mapping
Program:
Authorization level \1\..................................... 25 0 0 0 0 0
Estimated Outlays........................................... 25 2 0 0 0 0
Proposed Changes:
Authorization level......................................... 0 64 64 64 64 64
Estimated Outlays........................................... 0 21 42 64 64 64
Spending Under H.R. 4010 for the National Geologic Mapping
Program:
Authorization level \1\..................................... 25 64 64 64 64 64
Estimated Outlays........................................... 25 23 42 64 64 64
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The 2005 level is the amount appropriated to the USGS for that year under the National Geologic Mapping Act
of 1992.
Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 2362
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or
tribal governments.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Deborah Reis. Impact
on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Marjorie Miller.
Impact on the Private Sector: Craig Cammarata.
Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
Compliance With Public Law 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
NATIONAL GEOLOGIC MAPPING ACT OF 1992
* * * * * * *
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds and declares that--
[(1) during the past 2 decades, the production of
geologic maps has been drastically curtailed;]
(1) although significant progress has been made in
the production of geologic maps since the establishment
of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program in
1992, no modern, digital, geologic map exists for
approximately 75 percent of the Nation;
(2) geologic maps are the primary data base for
virtually all applied and basic earth-science
investigations, including--
(A) * * *
* * * * * * *
(C) land use evaluation and planning for
homeland and environmental protection;
* * * * * * *
(E) [predicting] identifying volcanic
hazards;
* * * * * * *
(I) siting of critical facilities; [and]
(J) recreation and public awareness; and
[(J)] (K) basic earth-science research;
* * * * * * *
(9) advances in digital technology and geographical
information system science have made geologic map
databases increasingly [important] available as
decision support tools for land and resource
management; and
* * * * * * *
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to expedite the
production of a geologic-map data base for the Nation, to be
located within the United States Geological Survey, which can
be applied to land-use management, assessment, and utilization,
conservation of natural resources, groundwater management, and
environmental [protection] management.
* * * * * * *
SEC. 4. GEOLOGIC MAPPING PROGRAM.
(a) * * *
* * * * * * *
(b) Responsibilities of the Survey.--
(1) Lead agency.--The Survey shall be the lead
Federal agency responsible for planning, developing
national priorities and standards for, coordinating,
and managing the geologic mapping program. In carrying
out this paragraph, the Secretary, acting through the
Director, shall--
(A) develop a 5-year strategic plan for the
geologic mapping program in accordance with
section 6, which plan shall be submitted to the
Committee on Resources of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources of the Senate [not later than
1 year after the date of the enactment of the
National Geologic Mapping Reauthorization Act
of 1999;] not later than one year after the
date of the enactment of the National Geologic
Mapping Reauthorization Act of 2005;
(B) appoint, with the advice and consultation
of the Association, the advisory committee [not
later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of the National Geologic Mapping
Reauthorization Act of 1999 in accordance] not
later than one year after the date of the
enactment of the National Geologic Mapping
Reauthorization Act of 2005 in accordance with
section 5; and
(C) [not later than 3 years after the date of
the enactment of the National Geologic Mapping
Reauthorization Act of 1999, and biennially
thereafter, submit] submit biennially a report
to the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the United States Senate and to
the Committee on Resources of the House of
Representatives identifying--
(i) * * *
* * * * * * *
(c) Program Objectives.--The objectives of the geologic
mapping program shall include--
(1) * * *
(2) development of a complementary national
[geophysical-map data base, geochemical-map data base,
and a] geochronologic and paleontologic data base that
[provide] provides value-added descriptive and
interpretative information to the geologic-map data
base;
* * * * * * *
(d) Program Components.--
(1) Federal component.--
(A) * * *
(B) Mapping priorities.--For the Federal
component, mapping priorities--
(i) * * *
(ii) shall be based on--
(I) national requirements for
geologic map information in
areas of multiple-issue need or
areas of compelling single-
issue need; [and]
(II) national requirements
for geologic map information in
areas where mapping is required
to solve critical earth science
problems[.]; and
(III) the needs of Department
of the Interior land management
agencies.
* * * * * * *
SEC. 5. ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) * * *
(2) Members ex officio.--Federal agency members shall
include the [Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency or a designee] Secretary of the
Interior or a designee from a land management agency of
the Department of the Interior, the Secretary of Energy
or a designee, and the Secretary of Agriculture or a
designee[, and the Assistant to the President for
Science and Technology or a designee].
(3) Appointed members.--[Not later than 1 year after
the date of the enactment of the National Geologic
Mapping Reauthorization Act of 1999, in consultation]
In consultation with the Association, the Secretary
shall appoint to the advisory committee two
representatives from the Survey (including the [Chief
Geologist, as Chairman] Associate Director for Geology,
as Chair), two representatives from the State
geological surveys, one representative from academia,
and [one representative from the private sector] two
representatives from the private sector.
* * * * * * *
SEC. 7. NATIONAL GEOLOGIC MAP DATABASE.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--The Survey shall establish a
national [geologic map] geologic-map database.
(2) Function.--The database shall serve as a national
catalog and archive, distributed through links to
Federal and State geologic map holdings, that includes
information on how to obtain--
(A) all maps developed [under the Federal
component and the education component] with
funding provided under the national cooperative
geologic mapping program authorized by section
4(a);
* * * * * * *
SEC. 8. BIENNIAL REPORT.
[Not later 3 years after the date of the enactment of the
National Geologic Mapping Reauthorization Act of 1999 and
biennially] Not later than 3 years after the date of the
enactment of the National Geologic Mapping Reauthorization Act
of 2005 and biennially thereafter, the Secretary shall submit
to the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate
a report that--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
[(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this Act--
[(1) $28,000,000 for fiscal year 1999;
[(2) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2000;
[(3) $37,000,000 for fiscal year 2001;
[(4) $43,000,000 for fiscal year 2002;
[(5) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2003;
[(6) $57,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; and
[(7) $64,000,000 for fiscal year 2005.]
(a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this Act $64,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006
through 2010.
(b) Allocation of Appropriations.--Of any amounts
appropriated for any fiscal year in excess of the amount
appropriated for fiscal year [2000] 2005--
(1) [48] 50 percent shall be available for the State
component; and
(2) [2] 4 percent shall be available for the
education component.
* * * * * * *