Policy Issue Briefing to NSGIC

Jeff Lovin, CP, PS Woolpert

MAPPS PresidentOctober 6, 2009

• MAPPS has an effective and influential government relations program in Washington, DC that seeks to advance policies that benefit private geospatial firms, the geospatial community at large (including NSGIC), and the nation as a whole

WHY MAPPS?

• Aviation Bill– GAO is studying inconsistencies in Flight Service

District Offices’ (FSDO’s) “ramp check” inspections of aerial survey aircraft modifications

– MAPPS-Disney in negotiations on airspace restrictions over Disney properties in Orlando and Anaheim; MAPPS led the effort to get a “waiver” process for access to DC area air space for aerial survey flights

– Seeking language in the bill to provide private sector equal access to airspace for the use of UAVs

• Highway Bill– MAPPS is seeking the establishment of a

Geospatial Management Office in USDOT, similar to what did in DHS after 9-11.• Coordination• Strategic Investment (NSDI, IFTN, etc.)• Create innovative public-private partnerships between

state DOTs in highway program and private geospatial firms, as recommended in TRB report

• Parcels/Land Inventory– MAPPS Cadastre Task Force Chair Susan Marlow

testified before House Financial Services Subcommittee on September 17• National parcel data could have served as an early

warning system to the mortgage crisis• Transparency in TARP spending (geo-enabled

visualization)• Amend HMDA to collect data at parcel, rather than

Census Tract level• Review Title 13 restrictions on address data in Census

• Earlier this year, Congress enacted Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 , included the Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration Act (§ 12201-12208 of Public Law 111-11)– Law creates an IOCM structure, but not a data collection program– MAPPS is participating in NOAA workshop in November on

implementation of the new IOCM law• MAPPS is seeking legislation to create a data collection

program, as called for in the “Digital Coast” initiative and the NRC Report, A Geospatial Framework for the Coastal Zone: National Needs for Coastal Mapping

• Digital Coast– Prioritization of requirements– Annual chart inventory assessment– Data standards– Collection of shoreline delineation, imagery, land

use/land cover mapping, benthic habitat, topo, bathy, aquatic vegetation

– Geodetic framework– Consistent national definition of shoreline

• Governance– MAPPS led the effort to get July 23 oversight

hearing in House Natural Resources Subcommittee (with jurisdiction over USGS/FGDC) on Federal Geospatial Data Management• Hearing resulted in full Committee Chairman Rahall (D-

WV) sending letter to ARRA Board on use of Census address data for Broadband mapping requirements• MAPPS staff now working with Subcommittee staff on

possible follow-up legislation

• What do these issues all have in common?– Mortgage Crisis– Health Care Reform– Climate Change– Highways, Public Works, Infrastructure– Cap and Trade– Smart Energy Grid– Universal Broadband – Managing Federal Real Property Assets– Providing for Emergency Preparedness and Response and

Homeland Security

• They all –– Are on the Congressional agenda– Require the NSDI– Lack a NSDI provision in these billsAnd the data to effectively implement these bills

does not currently exist in any comprehensive, accessible form

• That’s where MAPPS and NSGIC (and others) can work together

• Some Upcoming MAPPS Events to Note:– MAPPS-ASPRS, San Antonio, TX, November 16-19MAPPS WorkshopsQBS for Geospatial Services - Ms. June Wohlbach,

U.S. Army Corps of EngineersLicensing of Photogrammetrists and Other

Geospatial Practitioners - Mike Ritchie & John Palatiello

– MAPPS-NSGIC, Annapolis, MD, March 8-10Including Joint Day on Capitol Hill Visiting Congress

• One Final Note:– PA-MAPPS, the first MAPPS state chapter, is the

lead organization in forming a coalition to promote implementation of the “Geospatial Coordination Strategic Plan for Pennsylvania” and establishment of a Pennsylvania Statewide Geospatial Coordination Council.

Thank You & Questions