September
2003 Government Affairs Update
Legislation that affects you. Now
that Congress is back from summer break, it’s probably a good time to look at
some legislation still being considered that affects you.
H.R. 670 --- Flood Loss
Mitigation Act of 2003.
We discussed this bill at our Phoenix conference. Among other things, it requires the FEMA Director to determine for each fiscal year
the portion of amounts in the National Flood Insurance Fund attributable to
savings from certain mitigation activities and purchases, which shall be
available for those activities and purchases in that fiscal year. It allows the
Director, after determining that 75 percent of such existing qualified
repetitive loss structures have been provided mitigation that sufficiently
reduces the risk of losses from flooding or have been purchased, to use up to
75 percent of the amount reserved for such activities and purchases for the
costs of mapping activities.
At
the conference, it was decided that Laurence Socci would get clarification of
what the section in the bill relating to “the costs of mapping activities”
meant. Socci contacted the staff of Representative Richard Baker, the sponsor
of the bill for clarification and was told that the mapping activities depends
on the individual situation and mapping activities could be different in
different situations. It appears that they have not worked out specifically
what the term means. It was referred to the Subcommittee on Housing and
Community Opportunity, and currently has no cosponsors.
H.R.
1292 --- Remote Sensing Applications Act of 2003. This bill is probably
better suited for organizations such as MAPPS, however, it is being included it
involves a use of geospatial information and may affect ACSM members at some
point.
The
bill directs the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration to: (1) establish a program of grants for pilot projects to
explore the integrated use of sources of remote sensing and other geospatial
information to address State, local, regional, and tribal agency needs; (2)
establish an advisory committee to monitor the program; (3) transmit to
Congress an independent evaluation of program effectiveness; and (4) ensure
that project results are retrievable through an Internet-accessible database.
It also requires the Administrator to seek opportunities to assist: (1) in the
development of commercial applications potentially available from the remote
sensing industry; and (2) State, local, regional, and tribal agencies in
applying remote sensing and geospatial information technologies for growth
management.
The
last action on the bill was March 13, 2003 when the bill was referred to the
House Committee on Science.
S. 1230 --- To provide for additional responsibilities
for the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Homeland Security
relating to geospatial information. This bill is
similar to the amendment to the Homeland Security bill, which Senator Allard
introduced last year and did not make to the final bill. The bill directs the Chief Information Officer of the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish and carry out a program to
provide for the efficient use of geospatial information, which shall include:
(1) providing such geospatial information as may be necessary to implement the
critical infrastructure protection programs; (2) providing leadership in
meeting the requirements of, and populating the databases used by, those
responsible for planning, prevention, mitigation, assessment and response to
emergencies, critical infrastructure and other DHS functions; and (3) assuring
interoperability and preventing unnecessary duplication of geospatial
information among all users.
Included
among the Chief Information Officer's responsibilities: (1) managing DHS
geospatial information needs and activities; (2) establishing standards to
assure the interoperability of geospatial information pertaining to homeland
security among all users of such information within DHS, other agencies, State
and local government, and the private sector; (3) coordinating with and
providing liaison to the Federal Geographic Data Committee and carrying out
DHS's responsibilities pursuant to Office of Management and Budget Circular
A-16 and Executive Order 12906; (4) providing grants to fund data creation and
to execute information sharing agreements with State, local, and tribal
governments; and (5) ensuring that DHS utilizes available commercial geospatial
data and services by awarding contracts to entities in the private sector.
Currently,
there is a Geospatial Information Officer in place under the Chief Information
Officer at DHS who is handling many of the duties proposed in this bill.
However, those duties are now being done voluntarily; if the legislation is
passed the CIO will be legislatively required to carry out the duties.
Outsourcing Loses in the
House of Representatives.
An
anti-outsourcing, anti-competition amendment to the FY04 Treasury,
Transportation
Appropriations bill, H.R. 2989, offered by Representative Chris Van Hollen
(D-MD)was added to the bill during House consideration of H.R. 2989. The
amendment, pushed by federal employee unions, forbids the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) from using fiscal 2004 funds to implement the revised OMB Circular A-76 revisions governing
competitions between federal and private workers and return to older rules that
the White House says are too cumbersome. The amendment passed 220 to 198. The Senate takes up the bill next and there
will be a fight to take the language out of the final bill.
Federal Prison Industry
Legislation Gets Pulled.
H.R.
1829, the Federal Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act of 2003 has
been pulled from the list of bills up for consideration recently and further
debate on the bill has been postponed indefinitely. The action was taken at the
personal direction of Majority Leader Tom DeLay. It is believed that the
Majority Leader took this action because the bill was not supported by Prison
Fellowship Ministries, a group which DeLay gives great weight, especially relating
to inmate rehabilitation matters. The FPI Competition in Contracting Coalition,
of which ACSM is a member, has been asked to write letters to Rep. DeLay asking
him to put the bill back on the calendar.
USGS Coalition --- Moving
Forward, Slowly!
Finally,
the USGS Coalition, of which ACSM is a member, is ready to make its first
appearance on Capitol Hill. After months of planning, a website, www.usgscoalition.org, and a
descriptive “one-pager”, coalition members will begin meeting with Members of
Congress to introduce the coalition to them. The purpose of the coalition is to
gain support for USGS in Congress by showing its value in various disciplines.
COFPAES
COFPAES
will host the fall JAECFC meeting on November 6 at AIA. Gerald Yakowenko, PE,
Contract Administrator Group, Federal Highway Administration will speak at the
meeting.
ACSM Makes Congressional
Record.
On
September 9, ACSM received an honor, of sorts, by being mentioned by
Congressman Tom Davis on the House floor near the end of the Van Hollen
amendment debate. The context of our mention is important because Rep. Davis,
the Chairman of the Government Reform Committee specifically listed American
Congress on Surveying and Mapping along with a few other groups as having a
stake in the debate. It’s nice to know that we are important enough to a Member
as powerful as Davis that he mentions ACSM on the House floor, when he could
have mentioned any number of groups.
Wisconsin Surveyor Running
for Senate.
The
2004 elections may bring one of our own to the U.S. Senate. Robert Welch, a
Republican State Senator from the 14th District of Wisconsin (and
also a licensed surveyor) is challenging Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold for
his Senatorial seat.
Laurence
Socci spoke with Bob Welch recently and found out some very interesting facts.
First, he still practices when he can, doing survey jobs here and there.
Secondly, he is familiar with issues such as the Federal Prison Industry issue
and outsourcing competition, he is with us on both issues. Finally, while a
Senator in Wisconsin, he introduced the successful Wisconsin Land Information
Program.
We
are trying to arrange for Bob to join us at the October conference so that our
leaders and members will have a chance to personally meet him.
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS LINKS AND
INFORMATION
Federal Government Resources on the Web:
United States Senate - http://www.senate.gov
U.S. House of Representatives (House Web Server) - http://www.house.gov
Status of Legislation (Library of Congress) - http://thomas.loc.gov
Who is my Representative in Congress? - http://www.vote-smart.org
Email Your Member of Congress Today! http://www.MrSmith.com
Official U.S. Executive Branch Web Sites:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/executive/fed.html
The White House - http://www.whitehouse.gov