Archive
Title: Executive Order
12906: Coordinating Geographic Data Access
Author: The White House
Date:
April 11, 1994

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
April 11, 1994

EXECUTIVE ORDER 12906

COORDINATING GEOGRAPHIC DATA ACQUISITION AND ACCESS: THE NATIONAL SPATIAL
DATA INFRASTRUCTURE

Geographic information is critical to promote economic development, improve our
stewardship of natural resources, and protect the environment. Modern technology
now permits improved acquisition, distribution, and utilization of geographic
(or geospatial) data and mapping. The National Performance Review has
recommended that the executive branch develop, in cooperation with State, local,
and tribal governments, and the private sector, a coordinated National Spatial
Data Infrastructure to support public and private sector applications of
geospatial data in such areas as transportation, community development,
agriculture, emergency response, environmental management, and information
technology.

NOW, THEREFORE, by the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of America; and to implement the
recommendations of the National Performance Review; to advance the goals of the
National Information Infrastructure; and to avoid wasteful duplication of effort
and promote effective and economical management of resources by Federal, State,
local, and tribal governments, it is ordered as follows:

Section 1. Definitions.
(a) "National Spatial Data Infrastructure"
("NSDI") means the technology, policies, standards, and human resources
necessary to acquire, process, store, distribute, and improve utilization of
geospatial data.

(b) "Geospatial data" means information that identifies the geographic
location and characteristics of natural or constructed features and boundaries
on the earth. This information may be derived from, among other things, remote
sensing, mapping, and surveying technologies. Statistical data may be included
in this definition at the discretion of the collecting agency.

(c) The "National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse" means a distributed network
of geospatial data producers, managers, and users linked electronically.

Sec. 2. Executive Branch Leadership for Development of the Coordinated
National Spatial Data Infrastructure.
(a) The Federal Geographic Data
Committee ("FGDC"), established by the Office of Management and Budget ("OMB")
Circular No. A-16 ("Coordination of Surveying, Mapping, and Related Spatial Data
Activities") and chaired by the Secretary of the Department of the Interior
("Secretary") or the Secretary's designee, shall coordinate the Federal
Government's development of the NSDI.

(b) Each member agency shall ensure that its representative on the FGDC holds
a policy-level position.

(c) Executive branch departments and agencies ("agencies") that have an
interest in the development of the NSDI are encouraged to join the FGDC.

(d) This Executive order is intended to strengthen and enhance the general
policies described in OMB Circular No. A-16. Each agency shall meet its
respective responsibilities under OMB Circular No. A- 16.

(e) The FGDC shall seek to involve State, local, and tribal governments in
the development and implementation of the initiatives contained in this order.
The FGDC shall utilize the expertise of academia, the private sector,
professional societies, and others as necessary to aid in the development and
implementation of the objectives of this order.

Sec. 3. Development of a National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse.
(a)
Establishing a National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse. The Secretary, through
the FGDC, and in consultation with, as appropriate, State, local, and tribal
governments and other affected parties, shall take steps within 6 months of the
date of this order, to establish an electronic National Geospatial Data
Clearinghouse ("Clearinghouse") for the NSDI. The Clearinghouse shall be
compatible with the National Information Infrastructure to enable integration
with that effort.

(b) Standardized Documentation of Data. Beginning 9 months from the date of
this order, each agency shall document all new geospatial data it collects or
produces, either directly or indirectly, using the standard under development by
the FGDC, and make that standardized documentation electronically accessible to
the Clearinghouse network. Within 1 year of the date of this order, agencies
shall adopt a schedule, developed in consultation with the FGDC, for
documenting, to the extent practicable, geospatial data previously collected or
produced, either directly or indirectly, and making that data documentation
electronically accessible to the Clearinghouse network.

(c) Public Access to Geospatial Data. Within 1 year of the date of this
order, each agency shall adopt a plan, in consultation with the FGDC,
establishing procedures to make geospatial data available to the public, to the
extent permitted by law, current policies, and relevant OMB circulars, including
OMB Circular No. A- 130 ("Management of Federal Information Resources") and any
implementing bulletins.

(d) Agency Utilization of the Clearinghouse. Within 1 year of the date of
this order, each agency shall adopt internal procedures to ensure that the
agency accesses the Clearinghouse before it expends Federal funds to collect or
produce new geospatial data, to determine whether the information has already
been collected by others, or whether cooperative efforts to obtain the data are
possible.

(e) Funding. The Department of the Interior shall provide funding for the
Clearinghouse to cover the initial prototype testing, standards development, and
monitoring of the performance of the Clearinghouse. Agencies shall continue to
fund their respective programs that collect and produce geospatial data; such
data is then to be made part of the Clearinghouse for wider accessibility.

Sec. 4. Data Standards Activities.
(a) General FGDC Responsibility. The
FGDC shall develop standards for implementing the NSDI, in consultation and
cooperation with State, local, and tribal governments, the private and academic
sectors, and, to the extent feasible, the international community, consistent
with OMB Circular No. A-119 ("Federal Participation in the Development and Use
of Voluntary Standards"), and other applicable law and policies.

(b) Standards for Which Agencies Have Specific Responsibilities. Agencies
assigned responsibilities for data categories by OMB Circular No. A-16 shall
develop, through the FGDC, standards for those data categories, so as to ensure
that the data produced by all agencies are compatible.

(c) Other Standards. The FGDC may from time to time identify and develop,
through its member agencies, and to the extent permitted by law, other standards
necessary to achieve the objectives of this order. The FGDC will promote the use
of such standards and, as appropriate, such standards shall be submitted to the
Department of Commerce for consideration as Federal Information Processing
Standards. Those standards shall apply to geospatial data as defined in section
1 of this order.

(d) Agency Adherence to Standards. Federal agencies collecting or producing
geospatial data, either directly or indirectly (e.g. through grants,
partnerships, or contracts with other entities), shall ensure, prior to
obligating funds for such activities, that data will be collected in a manner
that meets all relevant standards adopted through the FGDC process.

Sec. 5. National Digital Geospatial Data Framework.
In consultation with
State, local, and tribal governments and within 9 months of the date of this
order, the FGDC shall submit a plan and schedule to OMB for completing the
initial implementation of a national digital geospatial data framework
("framework") by January 2000 and for establishing a process of ongoing data
maintenance. The framework shall include geospatial data that are significant,
in the determination of the FGDC, to a broad variety of users within any
geographic area or nationwide. At a minimum, the plan shall address how the
initial transportation, hydrology, and boundary elements of the framework might
be completed by January 1998 in order to support the decennial census of 2000.

Sec. 6. Partnerships for Data Acquisition.
The Secretary, under the
auspices of the FGDC, and within 9 months of the date of this order, shall
develop, to the extent permitted by law, strategies for maximizing cooperative
participatory efforts with State, local, and tribal governments, the private
sector, and other nonfederal organizations to share costs and improve
efficiencies of acquiring geospatial data consistent with this order.

Sec. 7. Scope.
(a) For the purposes of this order, the term "agency"
shall have the same meaning as the term "Executive agency" in 5 U.S.C. 105, and
shall include the military departments and components of the Department of
Defense.

(b) The following activities are exempt from compliance with this order:

national security-related activities of the Department of Defense as
determined by the Secretary of Defense;

national defense-related activities of the Department of Energy as
determined by the Secretary of Energy; and

intelligence activities as determined by the Director of Central
Intelligence.

(c) The NSDI may involve the mapping, charting, and
geodesy activities of the Department of Defense relating to foreign areas, as
determined by the Secretary of Defense.

(d) This order does not impose any requirements on tribal governments.

(e) Nothing in the order shall be construed to contravene the development of
Federal Information Processing Standards and Guidelines adopted and promulgated
under the provisions of section 111(d) of the Federal Property and
Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended by the Computer Security Act of
1987 (Public Law 100-235), or any other United States law, regulation, or
international agreement.

Sec. 8. Judicial Review.
This order is intended only to improve the
internal management of the executive branch and is not intended to, and does
not, create any right to administrative or judicial review, or any other right
or benefit or trust responsibility, substantive or procedural, enforceable by a
party against the United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, its officers
or employees, or any other person.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON

THE WHITE HOUSE,
April 11, 1994.