PRINTER'S NO. 4486
No. 882 Session of 2004
INTRODUCED BY McILHINNEY AND THOMAS, OCTOBER 6, 2004
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, OCTOBER 6, 2004
A RESOLUTION
1 Encouraging the Governor and the State Geospatial Technologies
2 Director to engage in strategic planning of geospatial
3 technologies.
4 WHEREAS, Geospatial technologies are a growing and
5 significant part of Pennsylvania's economy; and
6 WHEREAS, Geospatial technologies include computer software,
7 satellite imagery, global positioning systems, geographic
8 information systems (GIS) and other technologies used to create,
9 maintain, display and analyze geospatial information; and
10 WHEREAS, Geospatial technologies help manage critical assets
11 and identify and describe street addresses, political, school
12 district and zoning boundaries, natural and environmental
13 resources, transportation networks, infrastructure, census data,
14 centers of economic activity and other data that are critical to
15 the health, safety, homeland security, emergency management,
16 economic vitality, environmental management and quality of life
17 in this Commonwealth; and
18 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania's local governments are the primary
1 sources of critical data about building locations, street
2 addresses, infrastructure, roadways, land use, real estate and
3 jurisdictional boundaries as well as other information
4 supporting key functions of local government such as planning,
5 emergency services, property taxation, road and other utility
6 maintenance and voter registration; and
7 WHEREAS, Public and private utilities that manage public
8 infrastructure, such as telephone, water, gas and electric, are
9 critical sources of geospatial data; and
10 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania's colleges and universities are
11 important sources of geospatial technologies and data and
12 conduct geospatial analysis and research that contribute to the
13 health, safety and welfare of this Commonwealth; and
14 WHEREAS, The geospatial technology business sector represents
15 a growing part of the Commonwealth's new economy and is an
16 essential service provider to all levels of government; and
17 WHEREAS, Coordination and partnerships between the public and
18 private sectors have the synergistic result of stimulating
19 Pennsylvania's geospatial technology business sector while
20 enhancing governmental effectiveness; and
21 WHEREAS, The Governor recently created the Bureau of
22 Geospatial Technologies to foster and coordinate interoperable
23 geospatial technologies, data standards and data sharing among
24 State agencies and between and among levels of government; and
25 WHEREAS, When fully implemented, the Pennsylvania Map (PAMAP)
26 will be a modern, accurate, multipurpose geospatial initiative
27 about this Commonwealth, coordinated and maintained by a
28 partnership among the Federal partners, State agencies and
29 counties; and
30 WHEREAS, PAMAP requires uniform data sharing standards so
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1 that essential map data can be collected once by the appropriate
2 level of government and used many times by all levels of
3 government and by business, academia and individual citizens;
4 and
5 WHEREAS, Coordinated Federal, State and local initiatives
6 such as PAMAP improve geospatial planning and coordination among
7 and between the Federal Government, State agencies and counties,
8 facilitate data sharing, reduce redundant data collection
9 efforts and encourage a common vision to guide investment; and
10 WHEREAS, No State-level office in Pennsylvania is responsible
11 for comprehensive archiving and preservation of local government
12 boundary records, cataloging the location of monuments and other
13 boundary markers, maintaining official boundary maps and
14 identifying gaps, errors and inconsistencies in State, county
15 and local boundaries, making the creation of an official
16 boundary layer accurate enough for PAMAP impossible; and
17 WHEREAS, Individual State agencies and local governments
18 differ greatly in their expenditures on personnel, computer and
19 data resources and in their capabilities; and
20 WHEREAS, It is essential that all State and local governments
21 have a minimum level of managerial, technical and financial
22 capabilities in geospatial technologies; and
23 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania State agencies and local governments
24 currently have difficulty creating and sustaining programs
25 capable of supporting a Statewide PAMAP program due to
26 restrictions on funding, training of personnel and computer
27 infrastructure; and
28 WHEREAS, The State Geospatial Technologies Director and State
29 agencies assist local governments to defray the costs of
30 maintaining their geospatial capabilities and data by providing
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1 aerial photography and other geospatial data to the counties in
2 exchange for county data; and
3 WHEREAS, Conflicting and incompatible Federal, State and
4 local geospatial data requirements and standards create
5 potential data gaps, duplication and inaccuracies which reduce
6 data quality and foster inconsistent or incomplete data, thereby
7 hampering efforts to address many critical issues; and
8 WHEREAS, The State Geospatial Technologies Director works
9 with Federal, State and local governments and other stakeholders
10 to limit and reduce duplication, gaps and inconsistencies in
11 data coverage by developing and implementing the Pennsylvania
12 Geospatial Data Sharing Standards (PGDSS) that enable data
13 sharing within and between levels of government; and
14 WHEREAS, The overall financial impact of Federal geospatial
15 technology requirements and their embedded technology
16 investments on State government and the financial impact of the
17 combined Federal and State geospatial technology requirements on
18 local governments are unknown; and
19 WHEREAS, Opportunities exist to leverage Federal and
20 Commonwealth funds to support mandated mapping requirements on
21 local governments; therefore be it
22 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives support efforts
23 to ensure that interoperable geospatial technologies and data
24 exist among and between Federal, State, local governments,
25 regional entities, authorities, public schools, colleges and
26 universities and business interests in this Commonwealth and
27 recognize the State's historic role in providing sustained
28 guidance and resources in mapping; and be it further
29 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives support the
30 private sector working with the public sector to fund and
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1 develop a robust geospatial infrastructure and expanding
2 economic base; and be it further
3 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives support the
4 assignment of responsibility to a new or existing State-level
5 office that would serve as the official steward of political
6 boundaries for the Commonwealth and work in collaboration with
7 local governments to develop and maintain an archive of official
8 documents and survey records that would define State, local and
9 other official boundaries; catalog existing boundary markers and
10 monuments; maintain a seamless digital database of State, local
11 and other official boundaries; and identify cases where the
12 locations of local boundaries are unknown, inconsistent or
13 otherwise inaccurate; and be it further
14 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives support the
15 development of programs and initiatives to minimize duplication
16 of effort and maximize cooperation and sharing of geospatial
17 data within and among levels of government; and be it further
18 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourage the
19 Governor and the State Geospatial Technologies Director to
20 establish collaborative technical working groups, including
21 interagency, intergovernmental and other stakeholder groups not
22 under the Governor's jurisdiction, to improve the
23 interoperability of this Commonwealth's geospatial technologies
24 and to minimize duplication and maximize sharing of geospatial
25 data collected and maintained by State-level entities; and be it
26 further
27 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourage the
28 Governor and the State Geospatial Technologies Director to
29 establish a governance mechanism to develop policy and oversee
30 strategic planning for geospatial technology interoperability
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1 and data sharing, including, but not limited to, PAMAP, that
2 involves an equitable partnership among Federal agencies, State
3 entities, including those not under the Governor's jurisdiction,
4 and the Commonwealth's local governments and authorities; and be
5 it further
6 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives strongly
7 encourage and expect Federal agencies to collaborate and
8 coordinate with the State Geospatial Technologies Director for
9 all geospatial initiatives, including data collection, imagery
10 and elevation data product development or projects being
11 conducted within or across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to
12 openly share with the Commonwealth all geospatial data products
13 created with tax dollars and to communicate with the State
14 Geospatial Technologies Director prior to starting any projects
15 or initiatives in this Commonwealth that will involve data
16 exchange with State agencies or local governments; and be it
17 further
18 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourage local
19 governments and agencies to support PAMAP and PGDSS in order to
20 enhance interoperability of their geospatial technologies and
21 compatibility of their geospatial data; and be it further
22 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourage the
23 Governor, the State Geospatial Technologies Director, the United
24 States Geological Survey and Pennsylvania's local governments to
25 collaborate in PAMAP, administered through the Department of
26 Conservation and Natural Resources' Bureau of Topographic and
27 Geologic Survey as part of the National Mapping Program of the
28 Federal Government, as a critical and sustainable means of
29 achieving geospatial technology interoperability and geospatial
30 data sharing within and across levels of government; and be it
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1 further
2 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
3 the Governor, the Governor's Cabinet, the Joint State Government
4 Commission, the Local Government Commission, the Pennsylvania
5 Congressional Delegation, the Pennsylvania Commission on
6 Sentencing, the County Commissioners Association of
7 Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania State Association of Township
8 Supervisors, the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, the
9 Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, the Association
10 of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania, the
11 State-related universities, the Pennsylvania State System of
12 Higher Education, the University of Pennsylvania, the
13 Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges, the Pennsylvania
14 Mapping and Geographic Information Consortium, the Eastern
15 Technology Council, the Pittsburgh Technology Council, the
16 Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania, the Technology
17 Council of Northeastern Pennsylvania, the League of Cities,
18 First Class Townships, nine regional counterterrorism task
19 forces, regional planning organizations and first class, second
20 class and second class A cities.
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