PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 4486 PRINTER'S NO. 4555
No. 882 Session of 2004
INTRODUCED BY McILHINNEY AND THOMAS, OCTOBER 6, 2004
AS RE-REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, OCTOBER 19, 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
1 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania's local governments are the primary
2 sources of critical data about building locations, street
3 addresses, infrastructure, roadways, land use, real estate and
4 jurisdictional boundaries as well as other information
5 supporting key functions of local government such as planning,
6 emergency services, property taxation, road and other utility
7 maintenance and voter registration; and
8 WHEREAS, Public and private utilities that manage public
9 infrastructure, such as telephone, water, gas and electric, are
10 critical sources of geospatial data; and
11 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania's colleges and universities are
12 important sources of geospatial technologies and data and
13 conduct geospatial analysis and research that contribute to the
14 health, safety and welfare of this Commonwealth; and
15 WHEREAS, The geospatial technology business sector represents
16 a growing part of the Commonwealth's new economy and is an
17 essential service provider to all levels of government; and
18 WHEREAS, Coordination and partnerships between the public and
19 private sectors have the synergistic result of stimulating
20 Pennsylvania's geospatial technology business sector while
21 enhancing governmental effectiveness; and
22 WHEREAS, The Governor recently created the Bureau of
23 Geospatial Technologies to foster and coordinate interoperable
24 geospatial technologies, data standards and data sharing among
25 State agencies and between and among levels of government; and
26 WHEREAS, When fully implemented, the Pennsylvania Map (PAMAP)
27 will be a modern, accurate, multipurpose geospatial initiative
28 about this Commonwealth, coordinated and maintained by a
29 partnership among the Federal partners, State agencies and
30 counties; and
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1 WHEREAS, PAMAP requires uniform data sharing standards so
2 that essential map data can be collected once by the appropriate
3 level of government and used many times by all levels of
4 government and by business, academia and individual citizens;
5 and
6 WHEREAS, Coordinated Federal, State and local initiatives
7 such as PAMAP improve geospatial planning and coordination among
8 and between the Federal Government, State agencies and counties,
9 facilitate data sharing, reduce redundant data collection
10 efforts and encourage a common vision to guide investment; and
11 WHEREAS, No State-level office in Pennsylvania is responsible
12 for comprehensive archiving and preservation of local government
13 boundary records, cataloging the location of monuments and other
14 boundary markers, maintaining official boundary maps and
15 identifying gaps, errors and inconsistencies in State, county
16 and local boundaries, making the creation of an official
17 boundary layer accurate enough for PAMAP impossible; and
18 WHEREAS, Individual State agencies and local governments
19 differ greatly in their expenditures on personnel, computer and
20 data resources and in their capabilities; and
21 WHEREAS, It is essential that all State and local governments
22 have a minimum level of managerial, technical and financial
23 capabilities in geospatial technologies; and
24 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania State agencies and local governments
25 currently have difficulty creating and sustaining programs
26 capable of supporting a Statewide PAMAP program due to
27 restrictions on funding, training of personnel and computer
28 infrastructure; and
29 WHEREAS, The State Geospatial Technologies Director and State
30 agencies assist local governments to defray the costs of
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1 maintaining their geospatial capabilities and data by providing
2 aerial photography and other geospatial data to the counties in
3 exchange for county data; and
4 WHEREAS, Conflicting and incompatible Federal, State and
5 local geospatial data requirements and standards create
6 potential data gaps, duplication and inaccuracies which reduce
7 data quality and foster inconsistent or incomplete data, thereby
8 hampering efforts to address many critical issues; and
9 WHEREAS, The State Geospatial Technologies Director works
10 with Federal, State and local governments and other stakeholders
11 to limit and reduce duplication, gaps and inconsistencies in
12 data coverage by developing and implementing the Pennsylvania
13 Geospatial Data Sharing Standards (PGDSS) that enable data
14 sharing within and between levels of government; and
15 WHEREAS, The overall financial impact of Federal geospatial
16 technology requirements and their embedded technology
17 investments on State government and the financial impact of the
18 combined Federal and State geospatial technology requirements on
19 local governments are unknown; and
20 WHEREAS, Opportunities exist to leverage Federal and
21 Commonwealth funds to support mandated mapping requirements on
22 local governments; therefore be it
23 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives support efforts
24 to ensure that interoperable geospatial technologies and data
25 exist among and between Federal, State, local governments,
26 regional entities, authorities, public schools, colleges and
27 universities and business interests in this Commonwealth and
28 recognize the State's historic role in providing sustained
29 guidance and resources in mapping; and be it further
30 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives support the
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1 private sector working with the public sector to fund and
2 develop a robust geospatial infrastructure and expanding
3 economic base; and be it further
4 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives support the
5 assignment of responsibility to a new or existing State-level
6 office that would serve as the official steward of political
7 boundaries for the Commonwealth and work in collaboration with
8 local governments to develop and maintain an archive of official
9 documents and survey records that would define State, local and
10 other official boundaries; catalog existing boundary markers and
11 monuments; maintain a seamless digital database of State, local
12 and other official boundaries; and identify cases where the
13 locations of local boundaries are unknown, inconsistent or
14 otherwise inaccurate; and be it further
15 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives support the
16 development of programs and initiatives to minimize duplication
17 of effort and maximize cooperation and sharing of geospatial
18 data within and among levels of government; and be it further
19 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourage the
20 Governor and the State Geospatial Technologies Director to
21 establish collaborative technical working groups, including
22 interagency, intergovernmental and other stakeholder groups not
23 under the Governor's jurisdiction, to improve the
24 interoperability of this Commonwealth's geospatial technologies
25 and to minimize duplication and maximize sharing of geospatial
26 data collected and maintained by State-level entities; and be it
27 further
28 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourage the
29 Governor and the State Geospatial Technologies Director to
30 establish a governance mechanism to develop policy and oversee
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1 strategic planning for geospatial technology interoperability
2 and data sharing, including, but not limited to, PAMAP, that
3 involves an equitable partnership among Federal agencies, State
4 entities, including those not under the Governor's jurisdiction,
5 and the Commonwealth's local governments and authorities; and be
6 it further
7 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives strongly
8 encourage and expect Federal agencies to collaborate and
9 coordinate with the State Geospatial Technologies Director for
10 all geospatial initiatives, including data collection, imagery
11 and elevation data product development or projects being
12 conducted within or across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to
13 openly share with the Commonwealth all geospatial data products
14 created with tax dollars and to communicate with the State
15 Geospatial Technologies Director prior to starting any projects
16 or initiatives in this Commonwealth that will involve data
17 exchange with State agencies or local governments; and be it
18 further
19 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourage local
20 governments and agencies to support PAMAP and PGDSS in order to
21 enhance interoperability of their geospatial technologies and
22 compatibility of their geospatial data; and be it further
23 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourage the
24 Governor, the State Geospatial Technologies Director, the United
25 States Geological Survey and Pennsylvania's local governments to
26 collaborate in PAMAP, administered through the Department of
27 Conservation and Natural Resources' Bureau of Topographic and
28 Geologic Survey as part of the National Mapping Program of the
29 Federal Government, as a critical and sustainable means of
30 achieving geospatial technology interoperability and geospatial
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1 data sharing within and across levels of government; and be it
2 further
3 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
4 the Governor, the Governor's Cabinet, the Joint State Government
5 Commission, the Local Government Commission, the Pennsylvania
6 Congressional Delegation, the Pennsylvania Commission on
7 Sentencing, the County Commissioners Association of
8 Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania State Association of Township
9 Supervisors, the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, the
10 Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, the Association
11 of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania, the
12 State-related universities, the Pennsylvania State System of
13 Higher Education, the University of Pennsylvania, the
14 Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges, the Pennsylvania
15 Mapping and Geographic Information Consortium, the Eastern
16 Technology Council, the Pittsburgh Technology Council, the
17 Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania, the Technology
18 Council of Northeastern Pennsylvania, the League of Cities, <--
19 First Class Townships, PENNSYLVANIA LEAGUE OF CITIES AND <--
20 MUNICIPALITIES, PENNSYLVANIA STATE ASSOCIATION OF TOWNSHIP
21 COMMISSIONERS, PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY OF LAND SURVEYORS,
22 PENNSYLVANIA MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES ASSOCIATION FOR PENNSYLVANIA
23 MUNICIPAL MANAGEMENT, PENNSYLVANIA STATE MAYOR ASSOCIATION, nine
24 regional counterterrorism task forces AND regional planning <--
25 organizations and first class, second class and second class A <--
26 cities.
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