The Federal Land Asset Inventory Reform ("FLAIR") Act, S. 1153, was introduced June 7 by U.S. Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Mike Lee (R-UT).

In a statement describing the bill, Sen. Hatch said, "Everyone knows that the federal government is the nation's largest landowner. In fact, they own more than 60 percent of all the land in Utah. Incredibly, though, no one knows precisely how much the federal government owns because it does not keep an accurate inventory, which can and has led to waste and poor management. This bill will require the government to use existing technology to put an end to this problem through the development of a single, uniform, database that will identify all federal landholdings." Hatch continued, "That will help the federal and state governments know what lands are available for sale and how much energy and other resources are available on those holdings for development. It also will save taxpayer money by eliminating the more than two-score inaccurate, wasteful and duplicative databases the government currently relies on to track its real estate holdings."

An accurate inventory of land owned by the Federal government has been recommended by the Government Accountability Office and the National Academy of Sciences. The FLAIR Act implements these recommendations, as well as calls for an inventory of existing inventories to eliminate duplication and save tax dollars. In testimony before Congress in 2005, then Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton said the Interior Department alone operates more than 100 different property management systems.

MAPPS Executive Director John Palatiello expressed deep appreciation for the leadership of Senators Hatch and Lee. "Mr. Hatch and Mr. Lee have been working with many stakeholders to introduce this important Federal legislation. MAPPS commends Senators Hatch and Lee and looks forward to working with them to enact the FLAIR Act," Palatiello said. Previous introductions of the FLAIR Act have earned the support of organizations including the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) and the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC). "The bill would establish a multi-purpose cadastre or an interoperable parcel based geographic information system. This is a prime example of an opportunity to 'map it once, use it many times'," Palatiello said.

MAPPS members promoted the FLAIR Act in Congress during the association's annual Federal Programs Conference, held March 15-16 in Washington, DC through meetings with members of Congress and staff. In April, Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI) and Rob Bishop (R-UT) introduced the House companion bill, H.R. 1620, and have gained bipartisan co-sponsorship from Representatives Jason Altmire (D-PA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Bruce Braley (D-IA), Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Mike Coffman (R-CO), Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Todd Platts (R-PA).

About MAPPS

Formed in 1982, MAPPS is the only national association exclusively comprised of private firms in the remote sensing, spatial data and geographic information systems field in the United States. The MAPPS membership spans the entire spectrum of the geospatial community, including Member Firms engaged in satellite and airborne remote sensing, surveying, photogrammetry, aerial photography, mobile mapping, LIDAR, building information models (BIM), 3D mapping, hydrography, bathymetry, charting, aerial and satellite image processing, GPS, and GIS data collection and conversion services. MAPPS also includes Associate Member Firms, which are companies that provide hardware, software, products and services to the geospatial profession in the United States and other firms from around the world. Independent Consultant Members are sole proprietors engaged in consulting in or to the geospatial profession, or provides a consulting service of interest to the geospatial profession.

MAPPS provides its 180+ member firms opportunities for networking and developing business-to-business relationships, information sharing, education, public policy advocacy, market growth, and professional development and image enhancement.

For more information on MAPPS, please visit www.MAPPS.org.