51 U.S.C. § 60101 — Definitions

Page 147 TITLE 51—NATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SPACE PROGRAMS § 60101 Subtitle VI—Earth Observations CHAPTER 601—LAND REMOTE SENSING POLICY SUBCHAPTER I—GENERAL Sec. 60101. Definitions. SUBCHAPTER II—LANDSAT 60111. Landsat Program Management. 60112. Transfer of Landsat 6 program responsibil- ities. 60113. Data policy for Landsat 7. SUBCHAPTER III—LICENSING OF PRIVATE REMOTE SENSING SPACE SYSTEMS 60121. General licensing authority. 60122. Conditions for operation. 60123. Administrative authority of Secretary. 60124. Regulatory authority of Secretary. 60125. Agency activities. 60126. Annual reports. SUBCHAPTER IV—RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND DEMONSTRATION 60131. Continued Federal research and development. 60132. Availability of federally gathered unenhanced data. 60133. Technology demonstration program. 60134. Preference for private sector land remote sensing system. SUBCHAPTER V—GENERAL PROVISIONS 60141. Nondiscriminatory data availability. 60142. Archiving of data. 60143. Nonreproduction. 60144. Reimbursement for assistance. 60145. Acquisition of equipment. 60146. Radio frequency allocation. 60147. Consultation. 60148. Enforcement. SUBCHAPTER VI—PROHIBITION OF COMMERCIALIZATION OF WEATHER SATELLITES 60161. Prohibition. 60162. Future considerations. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2015—Pub. L. 114–90, title II, § 201(b), Nov. 25, 2015, 129 Stat. 719, added item 60126. SUBCHAPTER I—GENERAL § 60101. Definitions In this chapter: (1) COST OF FULFILLING USER REQUESTS.—The term ‘‘cost of fulfilling user requests’’ means the incremental costs associated with pro- viding product generation, reproduction, and distribution of unenhanced data in response to user requests and shall not include any acqui- sition, amortization, or depreciation of capital assets originally paid for by the United States Government or other costs not specifically at- tributable to fulfilling user requests. (2) DATA CONTINUITY.—The term ‘‘data con- tinuity’’ means the continued acquisition and availability of unenhanced data which are, from the point of view of the user— (A) sufficiently consistent (in terms of ac- quisition geometry, coverage characteris- tics, and spectral characteristics) with pre- vious Landsat data to allow comparisons for global and regional change detection and characterization; and (B) compatible with such data and with methods used to receive and process such data. (3) DATA PREPROCESSING.—The term ‘‘data preprocessing’’— (A) may include— (i) rectification of system and sensor dis- tortions in land remote sensing data as it is received directly from the satellite in preparation for delivery to a user; (ii) registration of such data with respect to features of the Earth; and (iii) calibration of spectral response with respect to such data; but (B) does not include conclusions, manipu- lations, or calculations derived from such data, or a combination of such data with other data. (4) LAND REMOTE SENSING.—The term ‘‘land remote sensing’’ means the collection of data which can be processed into imagery of surface features of the Earth from an unclassified sat- ellite or satellites, other than an operational United States Government weather satellite. (5) LANDSAT PROGRAM MANAGEMENT.—The term ‘‘Landsat Program Management’’ means the integrated program management struc- ture— (A) established by, and responsible to, the Administrator and the Secretary of Defense pursuant to section 60111(a) of this title; and (B) consisting of appropriate officers and employees of the Administration, the De- partment of Defense, and any other United States Government agencies the President designates as responsible for the Landsat program. (6) LANDSAT SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Landsat system’’ means Landsats 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and any follow-on land remote sensing system op- erated and owned by the United States Gov- ernment, along with any related ground equip- ment, systems, and facilities owned by the United States Government. (7) LANDSAT 6 CONTRACTOR.—The term ‘‘Landsat 6 contractor’’ means the private sec- tor entity which was awarded the contract for spacecraft construction, operations, and data marketing rights for the Landsat 6 spacecraft. (8) LANDSAT 7.—The term ‘‘Landsat 7’’ means the follow-on satellite to Landsat 6. (9) NATIONAL SATELLITE LAND REMOTE SENS- ING DATA ARCHIVE.—The term ‘‘National Sat- ellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive’’ means the archive established by the Sec- retary of the Interior pursuant to the archival responsibilities defined in section 60142 of this title. (10) NONCOMMERCIAL PURPOSES.—The term ‘‘noncommercial purposes’’ means activities undertaken by individuals or entities on the condition, upon receipt of unenhanced data, that— (A) such data shall not be used in connec- tion with any bid for a commercial contract, development of a commercial product, or any other non-United States Government ac- Page 148 TITLE 51—NATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SPACE PROGRAMS § 60101 tivity that is expected, or has the potential, to be profitmaking; (B) the results of such activities are dis- closed in a timely and complete fashion in the open technical literature or other meth- od of public release, except when such disclo- sure by the United States Government or its contractors would adversely affect the na- tional security or foreign policy of the United States or violate a provision of law or regulation; and (C) such data shall not be distributed in competition with unenhanced data provided by the Landsat 6 contractor. (11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Commerce. (12) UNENHANCED DATA.—The term ‘‘unenhanced data’’ means land remote sens- ing signals or imagery products that are un- processed or subject only to data preprocessing. (13) UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AND ITS AF- FILIATED USERS.—The term ‘‘United States Government and its affiliated users’’ means— (A) United States Government agencies; (B) researchers involved with the United States Global Change Research Program and its international counterpart programs; and (C) other researchers and international en- tities that have signed with the United States Government a cooperative agreement involving the use of Landsat data for non- commercial purposes. (Pub. L. 111–314, § 3, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3409.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 60101 .......... 15 U.S.C. 5602. Pub. L. 102–555, § 3, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 4164. The definition of ‘‘Administrator’’ in section 3 of the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–555, 106 Stat. 4164) is omitted as unnecessary be- cause of the definition added by section 10101 of title 51. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries FINDINGS Pub. L. 102–555, § 2, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 4163, pro- vided that: ‘‘The Congress finds and declares the fol- lowing: ‘‘(1) The continuous collection and utilization of land remote sensing data from space are of major benefit in studying and understanding human im- pacts on the global environment, in managing the Earth’s natural resources, in carrying out national security functions, and in planning and conducting many other activities of scientific, economic, and so- cial importance. ‘‘(2) The Federal Government’s Landsat system es- tablished the United States as the world leader in land remote sensing technology. ‘‘(3) The national interest of the United States lies in maintaining international leadership in satellite land remote sensing and in broadly promoting the beneficial use of remote sensing data. ‘‘(4) The cost of Landsat data has impeded the use of such data for scientific purposes, such as for global environmental change research, as well as for other public sector applications. ‘‘(5) Given the importance of the Landsat program to the United States, urgent actions, including expe- dited procurement procedures, are required to ensure data continuity. ‘‘(6) Full commercialization of the Landsat pro- gram cannot be achieved within the foreseeable fu- ture, and thus should not serve as the near-term goal of national policy on land remote sensing; however, commercialization of land remote sensing should re- main a long-term goal of United States policy. ‘‘(7) Despite the success and importance of the Landsat system, funding and organizational uncer- tainties over the past several years have placed its future in doubt and have jeopardized United States leadership in land remote sensing. ‘‘(8) Recognizing the importance of the Landsat program in helping to meet national and commercial objectives, the President approved, on February 11, 1992, a National Space Policy Directive which was de- veloped by the National Space Council and commits the United States to ensuring the continuity of Landsat coverage into the 21st century. ‘‘(9) Because Landsat data are particularly impor- tant for national security purposes and global envi- ronmental change research, management responsibil- ities for the program should be transferred from the Department of Commerce to an integrated program management involving the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administra- tion. ‘‘(10) Regardless of management responsibilities for the Landsat program, the Nation’s broad civilian, na- tional security, commercial, and foreign policy inter- ests in remote sensing will best be served by ensuring that Landsat remains an unclassified program that operates according to the principles of open skies and nondiscriminatory access. ‘‘(11) Technological advances aimed at reducing the size and weight of satellite systems hold the poten- tial for dramatic reductions in the cost, and substan- tial improvements in the capabilities, of future land remote sensing systems, but such technological ad- vances have not been demonstrated for land remote sensing and therefore cannot be relied upon as the sole means of achieving data continuity for the Landsat program. ‘‘(12) A technology demonstration program involv- ing advanced remote sensing technologies could serve a vital role in determining the design of a follow-on spacecraft to Landsat 7, while also helping to deter- mine whether such a spacecraft should be funded by the United States Government, by the private sector, or by an international consortium. ‘‘(13) To maximize the value of the Landsat pro- gram to the American public, unenhanced Landsat 4 through 6 data should be made available, at a min- imum, to United States Government agencies, to global environmental change researchers, and to other researchers who are financially supported by the United States Government, at the cost of ful- filling user requests, and unenhanced Landsat 7 data should be made available to all users at the cost of fulfilling user requests. ‘‘(14) To stimulate development of the commercial market for unenhanced data and value-added serv- ices, the United States Government should adopt a data policy for Landsat 7 which allows competition within the private sector for distribution of unenhanced data and value-added services. ‘‘(15) Development of the remote sensing market and the provision of commercial value-added services based on remote sensing data should remain exclu- sively the function of the private sector. ‘‘(16) It is in the best interest of the United States to maintain a permanent, comprehensive Govern- ment archive of global Landsat and other land re- mote sensing data for long-term monitoring and study of the changing global environment.’’ [For definition of terms used in section 2 of Pub. L. 102–555, set out above, see section 3 of Pub. L. 102–555, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 4164, which was classified to former section 5602 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade, and was repealed and reenacted as this section by Pub. L. 111–314, §§ 3, 6, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3328, 3444.] Page 149 TITLE 51—NATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SPACE PROGRAMS § 60111 1 See References in Text note below. SUBCHAPTER II—LANDSAT § 60111. Landsat Program Management (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator and the Secretary of Defense shall be responsible for management of the Landsat program. Such re- sponsibility shall be carried out by establishing an integrated program management structure for the Landsat system. (b) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The Administrator, the Secretary of Defense, and any other United States Government official the President des- ignates as responsible for part of the Landsat program shall establish, through a management plan, the roles, responsibilities, and funding ex- pectations for the Landsat program of the ap- propriate United States Government agencies. The management plan shall— (1) specify that the fundamental goal of the Landsat Program Management is the con- tinuity of unenhanced Landsat data through the acquisition and operation of a Landsat 7 satellite as quickly as practicable which is, at a minimum, functionally equivalent to the Landsat 6 satellite, with the addition of a tracking and data relay satellite communica- tions capability; (2) include a baseline funding profile that— (A) is mutually acceptable to the Adminis- tration and the Department of Defense for the period covering the development and op- eration of Landsat 7; and (B) provides for total funding responsi- bility of the Administration and the Depart- ment of Defense, respectively, to be approxi- mately equal to the funding responsibility of the other as spread across the development and operational life of Landsat 7; (3) specify that any improvements over the Landsat 6 functional equivalent capability for Landsat 7 will be funded by a specific spon- soring agency or agencies, in a manner agreed to by the Landsat Program Management, if the required funding exceeds the baseline funding profile required by paragraph (2), and that additional improvements will be sought only if the improvements will not jeopardize data continuity; and (4) provide for a technology demonstration program whose objective shall be the dem- onstration of advanced land remote sensing technologies that may potentially yield a sys- tem which is less expensive to build and oper- ate, and more responsive to data users, than is the current Landsat system. (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Landsat Program Management shall be responsible for— (1) Landsat 7 procurement, launch, and oper- ations; (2) ensuring that the operation of the Landsat system is responsive to the broad in- terests of the civilian, national security, com- mercial, and foreign users of the Landsat sys- tem; (3) ensuring that all unenhanced Landsat data remain unclassified and that, except as provided in subsections (a) and (b) of section 60146 of this title, no restrictions are placed on the availability of unenhanced data; (4) ensuring that land remote sensing data of high priority locations will be acquired by the Landsat 7 system as required to meet the needs of the United States Global Change Re- search Program, as established in the Global Change Research Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C. 2921 et seq.), and to meet the needs of national secu- rity users; (5) Landsat data responsibilities pursuant to this chapter; (6) oversight of Landsat contracts entered into under sections 102 1 and 103 1 of the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–555, 106 Stat. 4168); (7) coordination of a technology demonstra- tion program pursuant to section 60133 of this title; and (8) ensuring that copies of data acquired by the Landsat system are provided to the Na- tional Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive. (d) AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT.—The Landsat Program Management may, subject to appro- priations and only under the existing contract authority of the United States Government agencies that compose the Landsat Program Management, enter into contracts with the pri- vate sector for services such as satellite oper- ations and data preprocessing. (e) LANDSAT ADVISORY PROCESS.— (1) ADVICE AND COMMENTS.—The Landsat Program Management shall seek impartial ad- vice and comments regarding the status, effec- tiveness, and operation of the Landsat system, using existing advisory committees and other appropriate mechanisms. Such advice shall be sought from individuals who represent— (A) a broad range of perspectives on basic and applied science and operational needs with respect to land remote sensing data; (B) the full spectrum of users of Landsat data, including representatives from United States Government agencies, State and local government agencies, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, value-added compa- nies, the agricultural, mineral extraction, and other user industries, and the public; and (C) a broad diversity of age groups, sexes, and races. (2) REPORTS.—The Landsat Program Man- agement shall prepare and submit biennially a report to Congress which— (A) reports the public comments received pursuant to paragraph (1); and (B) includes— (i) a response to the public comments re- ceived pursuant to paragraph (1); (ii) information on the volume of use, by category, of data from the Landsat sys- tem; and (iii) any recommendations for policy or programmatic changes to improve the utility and operation of the Landsat sys- tem. (Pub. L. 111–314, § 3, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3411.)