VOLUME 66, NUMBER 10
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND REMOTE SENSING
The New Regulatory
Framework for Commercial Remote Sensing
By Charles Wooldridge
August 30, 2000, passed without much notice or fanfare in Washington,
DC. Most were sighing at the prospect of the end of the August lull
and the flurry that would follow when lawmakers returned to conclude
the session of Congress. August 30, however, marked a significant date
for anyone interested in or affected by the commercial remote sensing
industry. On this date, NOAA’s long-awaited new regulations (15 CFR
Part 960) for licensing of private remote sensing space systems took
effect.
In furtherance of the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992 (the
Act) and the President’s Decision Directive (PDD) of March 10, 1994,
NOAA licenses the operation of private remote sensing space systems.
As a legal matter, the Act embodies adherence to obligations under
the United Nations Outer Space Treaty of 1967. The U.S. Government
(USG), through NOAA, regulates the activities of private remote sensing
space systems since the USG, as a State party to the 1967 Treaty, is
held strictly liable for U.S. private and governmental entities’ activities
in outer space. The Act and the PDD also require that commercial activities
in this domain be conducted consistent with national security and foreign
policy interests.
Beyond the legal imperatives, facilitating increased private sector
activity in remote sensing from space serves other critical policy
goals. The success of commercial remote sensing systems translates
into maintaining an important industrial base, promoting technology
competitiveness and economic security. Remote Sensing companies and
their value-added partners will greatly contribute to the global information
economy and to solving global problems with geospatial information.
Since the first licenses were issued by NOAA almost ten years ago, the industry
has raised significant funds and built strategic partnerships. NOAA has so
far awarded 13 operating licenses with numerous other applications and amendments
under review. Two of the satellites we have licensed are now operational and
we expect several more systems will be launched within a year. In relative
terms, the industry is still young. What can the Federal Government do to foster
the growth and maturity of this industry?
One of the most important actions for the USG is to provide a stable
and predictable regulatory regime. This is fundamental for our companies
to be able to attract needed investment and strategic partners, both
domestic and international. NOAA developed new regulations to incorporate
changes from the Act and the PDD and to reflect the considerable licensing
experience gained by the agency in the intervening years. NOAA approached
this task by holding numerous public meetings on the record with the
regulated community and crafting final regulations with extensive public
input.
A number of key provisions of 15 CFR Part 960 are worth highlighting
here:
Foreign investment and partnerships – NOAA removed specific thresholds
or bright line tests on levels of foreign investment. Agency review
will be focused on control and influence over the operation of the
system. Review criteria and timelines for foreign partnerships covering
such activities as overseas ground stations and data distributorships
are anticipated and outlined in a dedicated section of the regulation.
Review timelines – the licensing process has been streamlined
and timelines tightened in order to make final agency actions on
licensing requests more responsive to commercial timelines. To provide
more clarity and transparency, the Interagency MOU governing procedures
of certain aspects of licensing is included as Appendix 2.
Shutter control – the USG reserves the right to interrupt or limit
normal commercial operations should extraordinary circumstances warrant
it. Appendix 2, while not part of the rulemaking per se, further
explains that decisions involving shutter control will be made only
at the highest level of the Government and such limitations will
be for the smallest area and for the shortest period necessary.
Monitoring and Compliance - reflecting the fact that certain licensed
systems are now operational, details of our monitoring and compliance
program are contained in both the preamble and operative text of
the regulation. In order to develop a practical and effective enforcement
program, the monitoring and compliance requirements, like the regulation
overall, were developed in consultation with the regulated community.
Remote sensing data for public benefit – an important policy goal
of the Act is to promote widespread access and beneficial use of
remote sensing data. The regulations encourage private system operators
to address this national goal and accordingly require applicants
to develop a plan for making data available for non-commercial scientific,
educational or other public benefit purposes. Also in furtherance
of maintaining a permanent, comprehensive national long-term archive
of land remote sensing data for study of the changing global environment,
licensees may be required upon request to provide data to the National
Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive on reasonable cost terms.
The challenge of a rulemaking is to achieve a set of regulations that
successfully balances numerous equities and provides due process to those
affected by the rules. In our case, following a lengthy, comprehensive
deliberative process, we crafted new regulations intended to facilitate
development of the industry, promote widespread access and beneficial
use of remote sensing data, and preserve our other vital national interests.
In terms of due process, upon completion of the public comment period,
we will closely study the viewpoints of all interested parties. We particularly
welcome substantive proposals to improve the regulatory framework to
achieve these goals. For a complete set of the new regulations,
visit www.licensing.NOAA.gov.
Charles Wooldridge
Remote Sensing Licensing Coordinator
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Admin. charles.wooldridge@noaa.gov