Title 43Public LandsRelease 119-73

§31e Geologic mapping program 5-year plan

Title 43 › Chapter CHAPTER 2— - UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY › § 31e

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary, through the Director, must make a 5-year plan for the geologic mapping program with advice and review from the advisory committee. The plan must set overall priorities and explain how the program will be run. The plan must say that the Survey will lead national management and balance Federal and State needs. It must explain the responsibilities of State geological surveys and how their needs will be included. It must give ways to pick short- and long-term priorities for three parts of the program — Federal (guided by Federal mission needs, major scientific problems needing maps, and shared Federal‑State projects), State (intrastate needs and needs shared with neighboring States), and education (driven by Federal and State mission needs). The plan must include rules for map standards so maps are consistent and can be checked for quality, and a way to track published and ongoing mapping work nationwide to help planning, share information, and avoid duplicate work.

Full Legal Text

Title 43, §31e

Public Lands — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary, acting through the Director, shall, with the advice and review of the advisory committee, prepare a 5-year plan for the geologic mapping program.
(b)The 5-year plan shall identify—
(1)overall priorities for the geologic mapping program; and
(2)implementation of the overall management structure and operation of the geologic mapping program, including—
(A)the role of the Survey in the capacity of overall management lead, including the responsibility for developing the national geologic mapping program that meets Federal needs while fostering State needs;
(B)the responsibilities of the State geological surveys, with emphasis on mechanisms that incorporate the needs, missions, capabilities, and requirements of the State geological surveys, into the nationwide geologic mapping program;
(C)mechanisms for identifying short- and long-term priorities for each component of the geologic mapping program, including—
(i)for the Federal component, a priority-setting mechanism that responds to—
(I)Federal mission requirements for geologic map information;
(II)critical scientific problems that require geologic maps for their resolution; and
(III)shared Federal and State needs for geologic maps, in which joint Federal-State geologic mapping projects are in the national interest;
(ii)for the State component, a priority-setting mechanism that responds to—
(I)specific intrastate needs for geologic map information; and
(II)interstate needs shared by adjacent States that have common requirements; and
(iii)for the education component, a priority-setting mechanism that responds to requirements for geologic map information that are dictated by Federal and State mission requirements;
(D)a mechanism for adopting scientific and technical mapping standards for preparing and publishing general- and special-purpose geologic maps to—
(i)ensure uniformity of cartographic and scientific conventions; and
(ii)provide a basis for assessing the comparability and quality of map products; and
(E)a mechanism for monitoring the inventory of published and current mapping investigations nationwide to facilitate planning and information exchange and to avoid redundancy.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 31e, Pub. L. 102–285, § 6, May 18, 1992, 106 Stat. 170; Pub. L. 105–36, § 3(d), Aug. 5, 1997, 111 Stat. 1110, provided for the preparation of a geologic mapping program implementation plan, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 106–148, § 6, Dec. 9, 1999, 113 Stat. 1722.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

43 U.S.C. § 31e

Title 43Public Lands

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73