§ 5611. — Landsat Program Management.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 15USC5611]
TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND TRADE
CHAPTER 82--LAND REMOTE SENSING POLICY
SUBCHAPTER I--LANDSAT
Sec. 5611. Landsat Program Management
(a) Establishment
The Administrator and the Secretary of Defense shall be responsible
for management of the Landsat program. Such responsibility 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 designates as responsible for
part of the Landsat program, shall establish, through a management plan,
the roles, responsibilities, and funding expectations for the Landsat
Program \1\ of the appropriate United States Government agencies. The
management plan shall--
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\1\ So in original. Probably should not be capitalized.
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(1) specify that the fundamental goal of the Landsat Program
Management is the continuity 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 communications capability;
(2) include a baseline funding profile that--
(A) is mutually acceptable to the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration and the Department of Defense for the
period covering the development and operation of Landsat 7; and
(B) provides for total funding responsibility of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department
of Defense, respectively, to be approximately 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
sponsoring 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 demonstration of advanced land remote sensing
technologies that may potentially yield a system which is less
expensive to build and operate, 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 operations;
(2) ensuring that the operation of the Landsat system is
responsive to the broad interests of the civilian, national
security, commercial, and foreign users of the Landsat system;
(3) ensuring that all unenhanced Landsat data remain
unclassified and that, except as provided in section 5656(a) and (b)
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 Research 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 security users;
(5) Landsat data responsibilities pursuant to this chapter;
(6) oversight of Landsat contracts entered into under sections
5612 and 5613 of this title;
(7) coordination of a technology demonstration program, pursuant
to section 5633 of this title; and
(8) ensuring that copies of data acquired by the Landsat system
are provided to the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data
Archive.
(d) Authority to contract
The Landsat Program Management may, subject to appropriations and
only under the existing contract authority of the United States
Government agencies that compose the Landsat Program Management, enter
into contracts with the private sector for services such as, but not
limited to, satellite operations and data preprocessing.
(e) Landsat advisory process
(1) Establishment
The Landsat Program Management shall seek impartial advice and
comments regarding the status, effectiveness, 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 companies, the agricultural, mineral
extraction, and other user industries, and the public, and
(C) a broad diversity of age groups, sexes, and races.
(2) Reports
Within 1 year after October 28, 1992, and biennially thereafter,
the Landsat Program Management shall prepare and submit a report to
the Congress which--
(A) reports the public comments received pursuant to
paragraph (1); and
(B) includes--
(i) a response to the public comments received pursuant
to paragraph (1);
(ii) information on the volume of use, by category, of
data from the Landsat system; and
(iii) any recommendations for policy or programmatic
changes to improve the utility and operation of the Landsat
system.
(Pub. L. 102-555, title I, Sec. 101, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 4166.)
References in Text
The Global Change Research Act of 1990, referred to in subsec.
(c)(4), is Pub. L. 101-606, Nov. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 3096, which is
classified generally to chapter 56A (Sec. 2921 et seq.) of this title.
For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title
note set out under section 2921 of this title and Tables.
Landsat Remote-Sensing Satellite Program
Pub. L. 103-139, title VIII, Sec. 8060, Nov. 11, 1993, 107 Stat.
1453, authorized Department of Defense to develop and procure the
Landsat 7 vehicle, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 103-335, title VIII,
Sec. 8051, Sept. 30, 1994, 108 Stat. 2629. Similar provisions were
contained in the following prior acts:
Pub. L. 102-484, div. A, title II, Sec. 243, Oct. 23, 1992, 106
Stat. 2360, as amended by Pub. L. 103-35, title II, Sec. 202(a)(3), May
31, 1993, 107 Stat. 101.
Pub. L. 102-396, title IX, Sec. 9082A, Oct. 6, 1992, 106 Stat. 1920.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 5602, 5614 of this title.
