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U.S. Senators Introduce Bipartisan Geospatial Data Act
United States Senators Orrin Hatch, R-UT, and John Warner, D-VA, have introduced the bipartisan Geospatial Data Act in the U.S. Congress.
In 1994, Executive Order 12906 was issued by President Clinton to direct the development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). Many of the requirements of EO 12906 were never acted on. OMB Circular A-16 also out-lines Federal agency requirements related to the NSDI. It was originally issued in 1953, revised in 1967, revised in 1990, and revised again in 2002. A-16 Supplemental Guidance was also issued in 2010. Federal agencies have failed to implement many of the provisions of OMB A-16 as revised. Congress asked the Government Accountability Office several times in recent years to evaluate Federal agency activities related to the NSDI. The Geospatial Data Act aims to make following improvements to the NSDI:
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Codify the existing Federal guidance documents that created the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and NSDI.
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Provide FGDC with the authority to make other agencies follow the rules.
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Provide Congressional oversight to make FGDC and the other agencies accountable.
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Require reporting that will allow Congress to track progress on the NSDI and find out where the money is really being spent.
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Provide a great deal more ‚clout‘ to National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) and require the FGDC to address NGAC’s concerns – not just dictate what NGAC should work on.
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Require Federal agencies to coordinate and work in partnership with other Federal agencies, agencies of State, tribal, and local governments, institutions of higher education, and the private sector to efficiently and cost-effectively collect, integrate, maintain, disseminate, and preserve geospatial data.
According to Sen. Warner, The federal government is the largest purchaser of geospatial data but some very basic questions about how and where agencies are already investing in this data can’t be answered. Their bill would bring transparency and accountability to the collection of this data and ensure that taxpayer dollars are not being wasted on duplicative efforts.