House panel mulls funding for USGS mapping program as reauthorization looms

Republicans and Democrats on the House Natural Resources energy and mineral resources subcommittee last week praised the work of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earth Mapping Resources Initiative and debated potential funding changes as they weigh the program’s reauthorization. Earth MRI, according to the USGS website , produces “high-quality data needed to understand our Nation's geology, find new critical and other mineral resources, and inform decisions about how the Nation will meet its evolving needs.” The effort was kicked off by USGS in 2019, codified via the Energy Act of 2020 and authorized in 2021 by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which provided the program with $320 million in funding from fiscal years 2022 through 2026. Its authorization expires at the end of this fiscal year. Since its inception, Earth MRI has more than quadrupled the area of the country mapped at a sufficient level of detail to allow for the identification of potential mineral resources, said Colin Williams, mineral resources program coordinator at USGS, during a June 25 subcommittee hearing . Reauthorization was ardently backed by the panel’s chair, Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN). “We must modernize mapping of our nation’s surface and subsurface if we wish to secure America's supply chains and reduce our dangerous overreliance on foreign adversaries,” he said during the hearing. “The Earth MRI program helps us solve our dependency problem by providing valuable data that helps shape our understanding of the critical mineral potential across our great nation, as well as informing decisions about land use, resource management, hazard assessment, and our infrastructure.” With funding set to expire, “Congress faces important decisions about the future of the program,” added ranking member Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ). “The question will be whether we will continue to build on the successful investment or allow progress to stall, just as the benefits are becoming increasingly apparent.” Earth MRI receives about $74 million annually between annual appropriations and IIJA funding, according to Ansari. The program would receive just $16 million through appropriations, she said, amounting to a $58 million drop in its funding next year absent congressional action. Williams sidestepped a question from Ansari about how such a decrease would impact the mapping program. “Earth MRI, fortunately, is a very scalable program,” he said. The IIJA funding allowed the program to quickly scale up, he said, and USGS will “do our best effort, whatever funding level we end up with.” Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO) asked Williams how Earth MRI officials would adapt if the budget were halved or doubled. If doubled, Williams replied, it would be able to “collect approximately twice as much data.” “But one of the things we found with the supplemental funding through the IIJA and our ability to diversify the program for things like mine waste, for things like airborne electromagnetic survey and others, is those are tremendously valuable,” he said. “And as much as possible, even if the budget were to shrink, we would try to hang on to some, perhaps all of that more diverse portfolio because we see the value of all those different things.” Citing a study by the Association of American State Geologists, Williams claimed that the economic value of geologic mapping -- a core function of Earth MRI -- is “at least five to seven times, and perhaps as much as 35 times, the investment in mapping itself. And we believe from the experience in other countries that have invested in what they refer to as pre-competitive data like Earth MRI, countries like Australia, Canada, they see similar payback from geophysical surveys and other data collection efforts.” “Up to the 35 times the benefit,” Stauber replied. “Wow, impressive.” In its authorization of Earth MRI, IIJA instructed USGS to complete by 2031 “an initial comprehensive national modern surface and subsurface mapping and data integration effort” that prioritizes critical minerals. According to Williams, USGS “will have about 50 percent of the areas for which there is identified potential for critical minerals done by the end of this year, but of course that leaves the other 50 percent.” If the program can continue at its current pace and funding level, Williams said, it will be able to meet the IIJA deadline. Meanwhile, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and John Hickenlooper (D-CO) this week introduced a bill to reauthorize Earth MRI for five years “at funding levels similar to those provided under IIJA,” they said in a statement . It also would “expand the program to include natural hydrogen, an emerging domestic energy resource that is attracting growing scientific and commercial interest.” “Since the program's launch, mineral exploration spending in Alaska has more than doubled,” Murkowski said in the statement. “Understanding the resources beneath our feet is integral as we work to secure our domestic energy production and supply chains. Reauthorizing this program and now accounting for modern mapping technologies is one of the best investments we can make to build on the foundational work already underway and ensure the U.S. remains competitive in developing the resources needed for our energy future.” Hickenlooper, a former geologist, cited “urgent economic and national security challenges” in backing the bill, adding in the statement that the U.S. must “continue funding critical minerals research and exploration, all while investing in the geologists of tomorrow.” -- Brett Fortnam ( bfortnam@iwpnews.com ) and Dan Dupont ( ddupont@iwpnews.com )