S.C.R. 1

1

RESOLUTION PETITIONING UNITED
2 STATES GOVERNMENT TO RELEASE
3 CERTAIN SATELLITE DATA
4 2000 GENERAL SESSION
5 STATE OF UTAH
6 Sponsor: David H. Steele
7 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE LEGISLATURE AND THE GOVERNOR URGING
8 PUBLIC ACCESS TO HIGH RESOLUTION SATELLITE DATA.
9 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
10 WHEREAS, the United States government, through its many agencies such as the National
11 Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and
12 several defense and national security entities has successfully launched and operationalized
13 remote-sensing satellites, which represents the culmination of hundreds of millions of dollars of
14 public investment;
15 WHEREAS, the high resolution data, less than ten meters, to be collected from these
16 platforms have potentially broad applicability to state and local government information
17 requirements;
18 WHEREAS, similar type data is now available from foreign countries such as France,
19 India, and Russia;
20 WHEREAS, the United States government does not allow state and local governments and
21 the public access to comparable United States data as a standard product, reasonably priced, via
22 a single order;
23 WHEREAS, overall national policy is to make such data affordable and encourage its use;
24 and
25 WHEREAS, the state of Utah believes that the United States government satellite mapping
26 programs should be operated in such a way as to maximize the accessability, affordability, and
27 usability of its data products to state and local agencies:

28 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that all of the United State's government
29 satellite mapping entities provide easily-usable, high-resolution mapping data comparable to that
30 available from other countries to customers in state and local agencies and the public. Specifically,
31 the state of Utah requests all types of satellite media data be available as standard products in
32 electronic format with the electronic management program necessary to manipulate the data, at
33 reasonable prices, requested via a single order, and provided in standard turnaround times.




Legislative Review Note
as of 11-17-99 12:44 PM

A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel

Committee Note

The Public Utilities and Technology Interim Committee recommended this bill.