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[Some of you have expressed interest in U.S. Government activities related to
the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). Please find below the
executive order from President Clinton on the NSDI.
Michael A. Domaratz, Federal Geographic Data Committee
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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
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For Immediate Release April 11, 1994
EXECUTIVE ORDER
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COORDINATING GEOGRAPHIC DATA ACQUISITION AND ACCESS:
THE NATIONAL SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE
Geographic information is critical to promote economic
development, improve our stewardship of natural resources,
and protect the environment. Modern technology now permits
improved acquisition, distribution, and utilization of
geographic (or geospatial) data and mapping. The National
Performance Review has recommended that the executive branch
develop, in cooperation with State, local, and tribal
governments, and the private sector, a coordinated National
Spatial Data Infrastructure to support public and private sector
applications of geospatial data in such areas as transportation,
community development, agriculture, emergency response,
environmental management, and information technology.
NOW, THEREFORE, by the authority vested in me as President
by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America; and to implement the recommendations of the National
Performance Review; to advance the goals of the National
Information Infrastructure; and to avoid wasteful duplication
of effort and promote effective and economical management of
resources by Federal, State, local, and tribal governments,
it is ordered as follows:
Section 1. Definitions. (a) "National Spatial Data
Infrastructure" ("NSDI") means the technology, policies,
standards, and human resources necessary to acquire, process,
store, distribute, and improve utilization of geospatial data.
(b) "Geospatial data" means information that identifies
the geographic location and characteristics of natural or
constructed features and boundaries on the earth. This
information may be derived from, among other things, remote
sensing, mapping, and surveying technologies. Statistical
data may be included in this definition at the discretion of
the collecting agency.
(c) The "National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse" means a
distributed network of geospatial data producers, managers, and
users linked electronically.
Sec. 2. Executive Branch Leadership for Development of
the Coordinated National Spatial Data Infrastructure. (a) The
Federal Geographic Data Committee ("FGDC"), established by the
Office of Management and Budget ("OMB") Circular No. A-16
("Coordination of Surveying, Mapping, and Related Spatial Data
Activities") and chaired by the Secretary of the Department of
the Interior ("Secretary") or the Secretary's designee, shall
coordinate the Federal Government's development of the NSDI.
(b) Each member agency shall ensure that its
representative on the FGDC holds a policy-level position.
(c) Executive branch departments and agencies ("agencies")
that have an interest in the development of the NSDI are
encouraged to join the FGDC.
(d) This Executive order is intended to strengthen and
enhance the general policies described in OMB Circular No. A-16.
Each agency shall meet its respective responsibilities under OMB
Circular No. A-16.
(e) The FGDC shall seek to involve State, local, and
tribal governments in the development and implementation of
the initiatives contained in this order. The FGDC shall
utilize the expertise of academia, the private sector,
professional societies, and others as necessary to aid in
the development and implementation of the objectives of
this order.
Sec. 3. Development of a National Geospatial Data
Clearinghouse. (a) Establishing a National Geospatial Data
Clearinghouse. The Secretary, through the FGDC, and in
consultation with, as appropriate, State, local, and tribal
governments and other affected parties, shall take steps within
6 months of the date of this order, to establish an electronic
National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse ("Clearinghouse") for the
NSDI. The Clearinghouse shall be compatible with the National
Information Infrastructure to enable integration with that
effort.
(b) Standardized Documentation of Data. Beginning
9 months from the date of this order, each agency shall document
all new geospatial data it collects or produces, either directly
or indirectly, using the standard under development by the
FGDC, and make that standardized documentation electronically
accessible to the Clearinghouse network. Within 1 year of the
date of this order, agencies shall adopt a schedule, developed
in consultation with the FGDC, for documenting, to the extent
practicable, geospatial data previously collected or produced,
either directly or indirectly, and making that data
documentation electronically accessible to the Clearinghouse
network.
(c) Public Access to Geospatial Data. Within 1 year
of the date of this order, each agency shall adopt a plan, in
consultation with the FGDC, establishing procedures to make
geospatial data available to the public, to the extent permitted
by law, current policies, and relevant OMB circulars, including
OMB Circular No. A-130 ("Management of Federal Information
Resources") and any implementing bulletins.
(d) Agency Utilization of the Clearinghouse. Within
1 year of the date of this order, each agency shall adopt
internal procedures to ensure that the agency accesses the
Clearinghouse before it expends Federal funds to collect
or produce new geospatial data, to determine whether the
information has already been collected by others, or whether
cooperative efforts to obtain the data are possible.
(e) Funding. The Department of the Interior shall
provide funding for the Clearinghouse to cover the initial
prototype testing, standards development, and monitoring of
the performance of the Clearinghouse. Agencies shall continue
to fund their respective programs that collect and produce
geospatial data; such data is then to be made part of the
Clearinghouse for wider accessibility.
Sec. 4. Data Standards Activities. (a) General FGDC
Responsibility. The FGDC shall develop standards for
implementing the NSDI, in consultation and cooperation with
State, local, and tribal governments, the private and academic
sectors, and, to the extent feasible, the international
community, consistent with OMB Circular No. A-119 ("Federal
Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary
Standards"), and other applicable law and policies.
(b) Standards for Which Agencies Have Specific
Responsibilities. Agencies assigned responsibilities for
data categories by OMB Circular No. A-16 shall develop, through
the FGDC, standards for those data categories, so as to ensure
that the data produced by all agencies are compatible.
(c) Other Standards. The FGDC may from time to time
identify and develop, through its member agencies, and to the
extent permitted by law, other standards necessary to achieve
the objectives of this order. The FGDC will promote the use
of such standards and, as appropriate, such standards shall be
submitted to the Department of Commerce for consideration as
Federal Information Processing Standards. Those standards shall
apply to geospatial data as defined in section 1 of this order.
(d) Agency Adherence to Standards. Federal agencies
collecting or producing geospatial data, either directly or
indirectly (e.g. through grants, partnerships, or contracts
with other entities), shall ensure, prior to obligating funds
for such activities, that data will be collected in a manner
that meets all relevant standards adopted through the FGDC
process.
Sec. 5. National Digital Geospatial Data Framework.
In consultation with State, local, and tribal governments
and within 9 months of the date of this order, the FGDC shall
submit a plan and schedule to OMB for completing the initial
implementation of a national digital geospatial data framework
("framework") by January 2000 and for establishing a process
of ongoing data maintenance. The framework shall include
geospatial data that are significant, in the determination
of the FGDC, to a broad variety of users within any geographic
area or nationwide. At a minimum, the plan shall address how
the initial transportation, hydrology, and boundary elements
of the framework might be completed by January 1998 in order
to support the decennial census of 2000.
Sec. 6. Partnerships for Data Acquisition. The Secretary,
under the auspices of the FGDC, and within 9 months of the date
of this order, shall develop, to the extent permitted by law,
strategies for maximizing cooperative participatory efforts with
State, local, and tribal governments, the private sector, and
other nonfederal organizations to share costs and improve
efficiencies of acquiring geospatial data consistent with
this order.
Sec. 7. Scope. (a) For the purposes of this order, the
term "agency" shall have the same meaning as the term "Executive
agency" in 5 U.S.C. 105, and shall include the military
departments and components of the Department of Defense.
(b) The following activities are exempt from compliance
with this order:
(i) national security-related activities of the
Department of Defense as determined by the Secretary
of Defense;
(ii) national defense-related activities of the
Department of Energy as determined by the Secretary
of Energy; and
(iii) intelligence activities as determined by the
Director of Central Intelligence.
(c) The NSDI may involve the mapping, charting, and
geodesy activities of the Department of Defense relating to
foreign areas, as determined by the Secretary of Defense.
(d) This order does not impose any requirements on
tribal governments.
(e) Nothing in the order shall be construed to contravene
the development of Federal Information Processing Standards
and Guidelines adopted and promulgated under the provisions
of section 111(d) of the Federal Property and Administrative
Services Act of 1949, as amended by the Computer Security Act
of 1987 (Public Law 100-235); or any other United States law,
regulation, or international agreement.
Sec. 8. Judicial Review. This order is intended only
to improve the internal management of the executive branch
and is not intended to, and does not, create any right to
administrative or judicial review, or any other right or
benefit or trust responsibility, substantive or procedural,
enforceable by a party against the United States, its agencies
or instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other
person.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE,
April 11, 1994.
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