43 U.S.C. § 31c — Geologic mapping program

(a) Establishment: (1) In general: This section creates a national cooperative geologic mapping program. It's a partnership between the United States Geological Survey and the state geological surveys, who act together through the Association of American State Geologists. (2) Design, development, and administration: The program must be designed and run to meet the objectives listed in subsection (c). It must be developed with input from the advisory committee. And the Survey is the one that actually administers it. (b) Responsibilities of the Survey: (1) Lead agency: The Survey is the lead federal agency for the program. It's responsible for planning the program, setting national priorities and standards, coordinating it, and managing it. To carry this out, the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director, must do three things. First, write a 5-year strategic plan under section 31e of this title, and send it to the House Committee on Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources within one year of March 12, 2019. Second, appoint the advisory committee — with input from the Association — within that same one-year deadline, following the rules in section 31d of this title. Third, send those same two committees a report every two years that explains: how the Survey and the Association are coordinating the program; how they set goals, mapping priorities, and target dates; and how long-term staffing plans affect how well the program works. (2) Responsibilities of the Secretary: Beyond that, the Secretary — through the Director — must also work, as quickly as practical, to develop the geologic-map database, together with the Association, other federal and state agencies, and public, private, and academic partners; and to develop maps and mapping techniques that meet the objectives in subsection (c). (c) Program objectives: The geologic mapping program has four objectives. (1) Build a picture of the nation's geologic framework, using maps made at scales that fit the geology and how the maps will be used, and add those maps to the national geologic-map database. (2) Build a companion database of geologic ages and fossil records that adds useful detail to the geologic-map database. (3) Use mapping techniques that keep costs down while still gathering, producing, translating, and sharing geologic-map information — and making that information more useful to the public. (4) Build public awareness of how geologic-map information helps solve national land-use issues. (d) Program components: The program is made up of four parts. (1) Federal component: This part aims to map the geologic framework of areas that matter most to the country's economy, society, environment, or science. The 5-year plan under section 31e of this title will describe the mapping priorities, which must be based on: national needs for map information in high-priority areas, national needs in areas needed to solve critical earth-science problems, and the needs of Interior Department land-management agencies. This part also includes interdisciplinary studies that add value to the mapping, such as: building the national geologic map database created by section 31f of this title; studying cost-effective digital methods for gathering, compiling, analyzing, mapping, and sharing geologic data; paleontologic, geochronologic (age-dating), and isotopic studies that help date and explain geologic map units; geophysical studies that help map the physical shape and 3-D layout of geologic materials and structures; and geochemical studies that describe what geologic map units are made of. Whatever these studies find gets added to national databases. (2) State component: This part aims to map the geologic framework of areas that matter most to individual states. State panels — representing a wide range of map users — set the priorities here, based on statewide needs for map information in high-priority areas and areas needed to solve critical earth-science problems. A national panel, which includes Survey representatives, then combines these state priorities with the federal priorities from paragraph (1). Neither the Survey nor the states receiving state-component grants may spend more than 15.25 percent of the federal funds on indirect costs, servicing, or program management in any year. The federal government's share of state-component costs can't be more than 50 percent in any year. (3) Education component: This part trains people to make geologic maps. Its goals are to support broad training in mapping and field analysis through field studies, and to help colleges build academic programs that teach students the basics of geologic mapping and field analysis. It can include research projects, as long as they're tied to the federal and state components and respond to those components' mapping priorities. The same 15.25 percent cap on indirect costs applies here, and so does the same 50 percent cap on the federal government's share of the cost. (4) Abandoned mine land and mine waste component: This part aims to map the geologic framework of abandoned mine land and other land holding mine waste. Priority goes to land where several critical minerals and metals are likely present, rather than land with just one type of mineral resource. ("Critical mineral" here has the meaning given in section 1606(a) of title 30.)