President, Association of American State Geologists

Jonathan D. Arthur, Ph.D., P.G.

President, Association of American State Geologists

State Geologist of Florida

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES

NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE

UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 17, 2014

Thank you Chairman Lamborn, Ranking member Holt, members of the subcommittee, and bill sponsor Congressman Benishek. I appreciate this opportunity to provide testimony in support of H.R. 5066, reauthorization of the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program Act. I serve as the State Geologist of Florida and as president of the Association of American State Geologists (AASG). Today I am testifying on behalf of AASG. Our association commends your efforts to strengthen our nation’s capacity to address the challenges related to energy and critical mineral resources.

AASG strongly supports restoration, preservation and accessibility of geological and geophysical data. We acknowledge and support the role of the US Geological Survey in administering this program. We are grateful that the Act supports important Federal-State partnerships, through 100% matching, to achieve mutually beneficial goals. We acknowledge that local, state and tribal agencies and our federal partners, such as the Departments of Interior, Energy, Homeland Security and EPA, as well as the private sector, rely on this data for purposes of water, mineral and energy discoveries and assessments; hazard mitigation, and protection of human health and the environment.

Bottom line – this data is important.

Examples of the data at risk include rock and sediment samples, fossils, paper logs, aerial photos, and maps, which are often in poor states of preservation and access, and in danger of permanent loss. In 2002, the National Academy of Sciences report, titled “Geoscience Data and Collections – National Resources in Peril,” made the case for the premise of this Act. Many of this nation’s geological data repositories, most of which are maintained by State Geological Surveys, are now at or near their storage capacity. Expansion of these facilities requires significant capital costs.

Per the Act, annual authorization is $30 million; however, appropriation has been on the order of three percent. Over the last five years, average annual funding of roughly $27,000 per state has been awarded to an average of 25 states.

While capital improvements are not possible with these modest appropriation levels, small data rescue projects have been accomplished by State Geological Surveys, enhancing accessibility, discoverability and usability of the data. For example, funds from the Act supported digital archiving of historic mine maps in California, which are used to mitigate public safety hazards posed by abandoned mines. Florida digitally converted more than 7000 geophysical logs, thereby protecting the data and providing digital access to information about state’s deepest wells for use in groundwater and energy assessments.

The economic and societal importance of geological and geophysical data cannot be overstated. Kansas used 50-year-old drill cores in its sample repository to help determine the cause of fatal gas explosions and recommend solutions. Michigan received a mining company donation of 4000 core boxes and fortunately had sufficient staff and space to archive the materials for future use. Reinspection of the samples led to discovery of a potash deposit valued at $65 billion.

New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware used data from their respective collections to cooperate on a study of the Potomac Aquifer, which serves these states as a principal underground source of drinking water.

In 2008, reinspection of rock chips from a dry oil test well in southern Texas led to discovery of the Eagle Ford Shale play: a $25 billion economic impact in a 20 county area supporting more than 47,000 jobs. The sample had likely not been inspected since the 1950s. Similar stories exist in states such as Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, where frequent use of geophysical logs and samples has led to rapid and efficient development of significant oil and gas plays.

Data underpins everything we do as geoscientists. We must protect it and we must make it accessible. This will be a heavy lift and will take time and resources. The AASG urges the subcommittee to consider extending the re-authorization to 2025.

Thank you, again, for this opportunity.