Appendix B. FGDC Structure and Membership — Federal Geographic Data Committee

The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) operates under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A–16 (revised August 2002). The circular incorporates Executive Order 12906 and reaffirms the FGDC’s role to provide leadership for the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and coordinate the development, use, sharing, and dissemination of the Nation’s geospatial data. The effective use of geospatial information requires close coordination among the many agencies involved in its development.

The FGDC is an organized structure of Federal geospatial professionals and constituents that provide executive, managerial, and advisory direction and oversight for geospatial decisions and initiatives across the Federal Government. In accordance with OMB Circular A–16, the FGDC is chaired by the Secretary of the Interior, and the OMB Deputy Director for Management serves as Vice Chair.

FGDC Structure

The FGDC is governed by a Steering Committee that sets the FGDC’s high-level strategic direction. The Executive Committee, which is a subset of the Steering Committee, provides advice and guidance to the Chair and the Vice Chair.

The National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) is a Federal advisory committee that provides advice and recommendations on Federal and national geospatial programs. The FGDC Coordination Group conducts the FGDC’s day-to-day business. The FGDC Office of the Secretariat, which is located at the U.S. Geological Survey headquarters in Reston, Virginia, provides strategic support and management for FGDC committees, components, and initiatives.

The FGDC infrastructure also includes committees, agency-led working groups and subcommittees, Geospatial Line of Business Work Groups, and collaborating partners that represent State, Tribal, and local governments, as well as industry and academic and professional groups. All participants initiate and (or) support the following activities that are crucial to expanding the NSDI and addressing national priorities:

Providing advice and leadership in applying geospatial capabilities to address national priorities and Presidential initiatives.
Developing and establishing the National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse on the Internet.
Developing and implementing standards.
Creating a national digital geospatial data framework. The framework covers seven fundamental geographic themes (cadastral, elevation, geodetic control, governmental units, hydrography, orthoimagery, and transportation) and is used in concert with many other mission-specific data resources.
Promoting collaborative relationships for sharing geospatial data among non-Federal partners.
Developing policies and processes to better harmonize collective action.

Chart showing the structure of the Federal Geographic Data Committee.

Steering Committee

The FGDC is governed by the Steering Committee, which is the policy-level interagency group whose central focus is to provide executive leadership for the coordination of Federal geospatial activities between, among, and within agencies. The Committee does this by establishing policy and providing guidance and direction to the member agencies. The Steering Committee is responsible for overseeing Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A–16 related activities and for the implementation of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure. The FGDC Chair and Vice Chair lead the Committee, which is made up of senior agency officials for geospatial information and includes representatives from Federal organizations, including the Executive Office of the President, the Federal Executive Departments, and independent Federal agencies.

A subset of the Steering Committee, the Executive Committee provides advice and guidance to the FGDC Chair and the Vice Chair on major Federal geospatial priorities and initiatives. The FGDC Chair and Vice Chair lead this committee, which includes representatives from the OMB and the seven Federal agencies that have the largest investments in geospatial technologies. The Executive Committee makes recommendations to the Steering Committee and provides a focal point for coordination with the National Geospatial Advisory Committee.

2010 Steering Committee Members
Chair, U.S. Department of the Interior	www.doi.gov	Ken Salazar
Acting Vice Chair, Office of Management and Budget	www.omb.gov	Michael Howell
Federal Communications Commission	www.fcc.gov	Julius Knapp
General Services Administration	www.gsa.gov	Diane Herdt*
Library of Congress	www.loc.gov	John Hébert
National Academy of Sciences	www.nas.edu	vacant
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	www.nasa.gov	Adrian Gardner*
National Archives and Records Administration	www.archives.gov	Michael Kurtz*
National Capital Planning Commission	www.ncpc.gov	vacant
National Science Foundation	www.nsf.gov	vacant*
Office of Personnel Management	www.opm.gov	Janet L. Barnes*
Small Business Administration	www.sba.gov	Deborah Anderson*
Smithsonian Institution	www.si.edu	vacant*
Social Security Administration	www.socialsecurity.gov	Linda Maxfield*
Tennessee Valley Authority	www.tva.gov	Roy Teal*
U.S. Agency for International Development	www.usaid.gov	vacant*
U.S. Army Corp of Engineers	www.usace.army.mil	James Dalton
U.S. Department of Agriculture	www.usda.gov	Stephen Lowe*
U.S. Department of Commerce	www.commerce.gov	Joseph Klimavicz*
U.S. Department of Defense	www.defenselink.mil	Steven Wallach*
U.S. Department of Education	www.ed.gov	Stuart Kerachsky*
U.S. Department of Energy	www.doe.gov	William Turnbull*
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services	www.dhhs.gov	John Teeter*
U.S. Department of Homeland Security	www.dhs.gov	Daniel Cotter*
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development	www.hud.gov	Raphael Bostic*
U.S. Department of the Interior	www.doi.gov	Karen Siderelis*
U.S. Department of Justice	www.usdoj.gov	Harrell Watkins*
U.S. Department of Labor	www.dol.gov	vacant*
U.S. Department of State	www.state.gov	Janice Fedak*
U.S. Department of the Treasury	www.treasury.gov	Gayle Bracy*
U.S. Department of Transportation	www.dot.gov	Steven Dillingham*
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs	www.va.gov	Mark Gorenflo*
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	www.epa.gov	Jerry Johnston*
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission	www.nrc.gov	Darren Ash*

*Designated senior agency official for geospatial information.
Note: Executive Committee members are in bold.

Coordination Group

The FGDC Coordination Group provides advice on the day-to-day business of the FGDC to facilitate interagency coordination and implementation of the NSDI at the operational level. The Coordination Group oversees and provides the functional leadership for the FGDC subcommittees and working groups, as well as the Geospatial Line of Business Work Groups. The Coordination Group is co-chaired by the Executive Director of the FGDC Office of the Secretariat and an elected Federal member of the Coordination Group. Non-Federal collaborating partners participate in most of the Coordination Group meetings and participate in subcommittees and working groups.

2010 Coordination Group Members
Co-Chair, FGDC Office of the Secretariat	Ivan DeLoatch
Co-Chair, U.S. Department of Defense, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency	William Mullen
Federal Communications Commission	Donald Draper Campbell
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission	Susan Tseng
General Services Administration	Autumn Foard
General Services Administration, Office of Governmentwide Policy, Office of Real Property Management	Sandra Downie
Library of Congress	Colleen Cahill
National Academy of Sciences	vacant
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	vacant
National Archives and Records Administration	Brett Abrams
National Capital Planning Commission	Shane Dettman
National Science Foundation	Clifford Jacobs
Office of Management and Budget	Adrienne Walker
Office of Personnel Management	vacant
Small Business Administration	Trisha Christian
Smithsonian Institution	vacant
Social Security Administration	David Timmons
Tennessee Valley Authority	Charles Smart
U.S. Agency for International Development	vacant
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency	Shirley Hall
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service	Marisa Capriotti
U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service	Elizabeth Kanalley
U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Coastal Services Center	Tony LaVoi
U.S. Department of Commerce, National Geodetic Survey	Juliana Blackwell
U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau	Randy Fusaro
U.S. Department of Defense, OSD Defense Installations Spatial Data Infrastructure Office	David LaBranche
U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Army Corps of Engeneers	Nancy Blyler
U.S. Department of Education	Tai Phan
U.S. Department of Energy	David Morehouse
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services	Carl Kinkade
U.S. Department of Homeland Security	Jeffrey Booth
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development	Jon Sperling
U.S. Department of the Interior	Robert Pierce
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management	Don Buhler
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management	Douglas Vandegraft
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service	Joe Gregson
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service	vacant
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey	Jean Parcher
U.S. Department of Justice	vacant
U.S. Department of Labor	Edward Hugler
U.S. Department of State	Ray Milefsky
U.S. Department of the Treasury	Elaine Boston
U.S. Department of Transportation	Mark Bradford
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs	Pheakdey Lim
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	Wendy Blake-Coleman
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission	Stuart Reider

FGDC Office of the Secretariat

The FGDC Office of the Secretariat staff provides support for the FGDC and performs the following tasks:

Serves as Managing Partner for the Geospatial Line of Business electronic government (E-Gov) initiative on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy.
Serves as the designated Federal official for the FGDC National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC).
Provides staff support for the FGDC Chair, Vice Chair, and their designees.
Initiates, participates, and (or) leads FGDC committees, subcommittees, and working groups.
Drafts policies and procedures for consideration and approval by the Coordination Group, the Steering Committee, and the Executive Committee.
Provides support to the NGAC.
Provides project management support for FGDC initiatives.
Administers the FGDC standards program.
Administers the NSDI Cooperative Agreements Program.
Administers the FGDC International Spatial Data Infrastructure program.
Manages the NSDI training and outreach program.
Maintains the FGDC Web site.
Manages all administrative requirements associated with scheduling and conducting meetings.
Undertakes staff analyses, technical development, and other activities on behalf of the Coordination Group.

2010 Secretariat Staff
Executive Director	Ivan DeLoatch
Deputy Executive Director	Kenneth Shaffer
Senior Policy Advisor	John Mahoney
Program Analyst	Carol Greenough
Program Assistant	Vanessa Hardnett
Program Analyst	Arista Salimi Maher
Senior Technology Advisor	Douglas Nebert
FGDC Interagency Liaison	vacant
Framework and Cooperating States Coordinator	Milo Robinson
Metadata Coordinator	Sharon Shin
Standards Coordinator	Julie Binder-Maitra
Training and Education/Tribal Liaison Coordinator	vacant
NSDI CAP Coordinator	Brigitta Urban-Mathieux
Program Analyst Geospatial Line of Business	Roxanne Lamb
Senior Program Analyst	vacant
Webmaster	Vaishal Sheth
Volunteer (International Coordination)	Alan Stevens
Visiting Scientist Global Spatial Data Infrastructure	Wonkug Baek
Student Assistant	Steven Hak

National Geospatial Advisory Committee

The National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) was established under the Federal Advisory Committee Act and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Interior. It is an advisory body that provides advice and recommendations on Federal geospatial policy and management issues and a forum to convey views representative of partners in the geospatial community. NGAC membership includes representatives from 28 Government and nongovernmental organizations. The committee holds public forums to discuss geospatial activities and solicits input from State, Tribal, regional, and local governments, academic institutions, and the private sector.

National Geospatial Advisory Committee Mission Statement

The mission of the NGAC is to provide strategies for the creation, management, and dissemination of cohesive geospatial data, information, and knowledge to enable commercial, academic, and nonprofit organizations and all levels of government to more effectively—

Empower and serve the public
Protect the homeland
Foster economic growth
Advance science
Manage the Nation’s resources
Govern the Nation
Prepare for and respond to emergencies

2010 National Geospatial Advisory Committee Members
Anne Hale Miglarese, Chair	Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
Steven Wallach, Vice Chair	National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
Sean Ahearn	Hunter College–City University of New York
Robert Austin	City of Tampa, Florida
Sophia Beym	State of New Mexico
Timothy Bull Bennett	North Dakota Association of Tribal Colleges
Allen Carroll	National Geographic Society
Richard Clark	State of Montana
David Cowen	University of South Carolina
Jack Dangermond	Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.
David DiSera	EMA, Inc.
Dennis Goreham	National States Geographic Information Council
Kass Green	Kass Green and Associates
Randy Johnson	Hennepin County, Minnesota
Randall L. Johnson	Metropolitan Council, St. Paul, Minnesota
Jerry Johnston	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Barney Krucoff	District of Columbia
Timothy Loewenstein	Buffalo County, Nebraska
Xavier Lopez	Oracle USA
Kimberly Nelson	Microsoft Corp.
Matthew O’Connell	GeoEye, Inc.
Jay Parrish	State of Pennsylvania
Jack Pellicci	Intergraph Corp.
Cynthia Salas	CenterPoint Energy
David Schell	Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.
Eugene Schiller	Southwest Florida Water Management District
Christopher Tucker	Yale House Ventures

Note: Ivan DeLoatch, Executive Director, Federal Geographic Data Committee, is the NGAC Designated Federal Official.

Thematic Subcommittees

Office of Management and Budget Circular A–16 identifies 34 data themes of national significance and assigns responsibility for each of the themes to one or more Federal agencies. FGDC thematic subcommittees are established for nine of these data themes.

Federal agencies lead and have responsibility for the thematic subcommittees; each subcommittee focuses on a particular NSDI spatial data theme. Lead agency responsibilities and new data themes may be added or altered by FGDC recommendation and OMB concurrence.

Definitions of the nine active thematic subcommittees appear in the chart below.

Thematic Subcommittees by Lead Agency and Definition
Cadastral*	DOI BLM	The geographic extent of past, current, and future right, title, and interest in real property; the framework to support the description of that geographic extent. Geographic extent includes survey and description frameworks.
Cultural and Demographic Statistics	DOC USCB	Geospatially referenced data that describe the characteristics of people: nature of structures in which they live and work; economic and other activities they pursue; facilities they use to support their health, recreational, and other needs; environmental consequences of their presence; boundaries, names, and numeric codes of geographic entities used to report information collected.
Geodetic Control*	DOC NOAA	Common reference system for establishing coordinates for all geographic data. All NSDI framework data and users’ applications data require geodetic control to register spatial data accurately. The National Spatial Reference System is the fundamental geodetic control for the United States.
Geologic	DOI USGS	Geologic mapping information and related geoscience spatial data that can contribute to a national geologic map database pursuant to Public Law 106–148.
Marine and Coastal Spatial Data	DOC NOAA	Marine spatial data are data that exist seaward to the extent of U.S. jurisdiction. Coastal spatial data are data that exist within the coastal waters and the adjacent shorelands, strongly influenced by each other and in proximity to the shorelines of the several coastal states, and includes transitional and intertidal areas, salt marshes, wetlands, and beaches.
Spatial Water Data (Advisory Committee on Water Information)*	Co-leaders: DOI USGS and USDA NRCS	Includes information about streams, lakes, reservoirs, groundwater, estuaries, coastal areas, marine environments precipitation and other hydrometeorological information related to water resources management, and other aquatic habitats such as wetlands.
Transportation*	DOT BTS	Used to model geographic locations, interconnectedness, and characteristics of transportation systems in the United States; includes physical and nonphysical components representing all modes of travel that enable movement of goods and people between locations.
Vegetation	USDA Forest Service	Collection of plants or plant communities with distinguishable characteristics that occupy an area of interest. Existing vegetation covers or is visible at or above land or water surface and does not include abiotic factors that tend to describe potential vegetation.
Wetlands	DOI FWS	Describes lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface, or the land is covered by shallow water part of the year. Also includes related deepwater and riparian habitats.

* Indicates framework theme.
Note: Abbreviations are defined in the glossary in Appendix D.

FGDC Working Groups

FGDC working groups crosscut the subcommittees and focus on infrastructure issues common to or supporting many of the NSDI data themes. In fiscal year 2010 the Homeland Security Working Group was retired. Descriptions of the working groups are listed in the chart below.

FGDC Working Groups by Lead Agency and Description
Technology and Architecture	FGDC	The primary objective of the Technology and Architecture Working Group is to develop requirements and recommendations for the Federal Enterprise Architecture to better organize the use of geospatial technology and data across the Federal enterprise. The working group also supports the Geospatial LoB architecture and technology-focused tasks.
Users/Historical Data	NARA	The Users/Historical Data Working Group promotes awareness among Federal agencies of the historical dimension to geospatial data to facilitate the long-term retention, storage, and accessibility of selected historically valuable geospatial data. In addition, the group is exploring becoming a general users group, for which historical data would be one subactivity.
Homeland Security	DHS	The Homeland Security Working Group ensures that the NSDI supports the preparation for, prevention of, protection against, response to, and recovery from threats to the Nation’s population centers and critical infrastructures; these threats may be of terrorist, criminal, accidental, or natural origin.
Metadata	FGDC	The Metadata Working Group promotes and coordinates geospatial metadata activities among FGDC member agencies in support of the NSDI. The Metadata Working Group promotes awareness among FGDC member agencies of the metadata dimension to geospatial data; facilitates the evolution and revision of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata; and establishes a mechanism for the coordination, development, use, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial metadata among FGDC member agencies.
Standards	FGDC	The FGDC Standards Working Group actively promotes and coordinates FGDC standards activities. The Standards Working Group provides guidance on FGDC standards policy and procedures, facilitates coordination between subcommittees having overlapping standards activities, and reviews and makes recommendations on the approval of standards proposals, draft standards for public review, and draft standards for FGDC endorsement.

Note: Abbreviations are defined in the glossary in Appendix D.

Geospatial Line of Business Work Groups

The Geospatial Line of Business (Geospatial LoB) Work Groups were developed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to support the electronic government (E-Gov) initiative. The OMB has assigned responsibility for these work groups to the FGDC. The Geospatial LoB Work Groups focus on cross-agency geospatial issues related to geospatial policy, business requirements, and business management processes. Each work group has work plans that are updated and approved annually through the Coordination Group and the Steering Committee. Descriptions of the active work groups are listed in the chart below.

Geospatial Line of Business Work Groups by Lead Agency and Description
Common Services	EPA	The Common Services Work Group is responsible for evaluating and expanding Governmentwide and intergovernmental procurement opportunities related to geospatial services and data sharing.
Geo-Enabled Business	FGDC	The purpose of the Geo-Enabled Business Work Group is to demonstrate and communicate the value of geospatial approaches to business processes and agency mission functions, especially to audiences that have had limited experience with geo-enabled decision support.
Grants and Contracts	FGDC	The Grants and Contracts Work Group is responsible for developing and implementing common grants and cooperative agreements and contract language requirements for geospatial data, products, and services to better leverage geospatial data produced by Federal partners. The overall goal of the Grants and Contracts Work Group is to capture, for the greater benefit of the geospatial community and agency program managers, the large amount of geospatial information produced with Federal funding.
Lifecycle Management	EPA	The Lifecycle Management Work Group (or Lifecycle Work Group) is responsible for evaluating existing geospatial data lifecycle management frameworks and, based on these assessments, developing standard terminologies and processes for the geospatial data lifecycle. This group proposed actions affecting OMB Circular A–16 and governance in the geospatial community.
Technology and Architecture	FGDC	The primary objective of the Technology and Architecture Work Group is to develop requirements and recommendations for the Federal Enterprise Architecture to better organize the use of geospatial technology and data across the Federal enterprise. The work group also supports the FGDC’s working group technical and architecture tasks.

Note: Abbreviations are defined in the glossary in Appendix D.

Collaborating Partners

The FGDC solicits the involvement of public interest groups who participate within the committee structure to ensure that their needs are included in the developing NSDI. These collaborating partners include State, Tribal, and local governments; academic institutions; and a broad array of private sector geographic, statistical, demographic, and other business information providers and users. NSDI strives to build upon local data wherever possible.

Collaborating partnerships are open to public, private, and nonprofit organizations whose missions are complementary to the mission of the FGDC. Organizations interested in becoming partners are invited to send a written request to the FGDC Chair. Current non-Federal collaborating partners include the organizations listed below.

Collaborating Partners and Descriptions
American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM)	A nonprofit educational organization that advances the sciences of surveying and mapping and related fields to further the welfare of those who use and make maps.
Association of American Geographers (AAG)	A scientific and educational society whose members share interests in the theory, methods, and practice of geography and geographic education.
Cartographic Users Advisory Council (CUAC)	An organization of representatives from national and regional library organizations who are dedicated to cartographic interests.
Geospatial Information and Technology Association (GITA)	A nonprofit educational association serving the global geospatial community.
International City/County Management Association (ICMA)	A professional and educational organization for chief appointed managers, administrators, and assistants in cities, towns, counties, and regional entities throughout the world.
National Association of Counties (NACo)	A national association representing U.S. counties. The association advances issues with a unified voice before the Federal Government, improves the public's understanding of county government, assists counties in finding and sharing innovative solutions through education and research, and provides value-added services to save counties and taxpayers money.
National Association of Regional Councils (NARC)	An association of regional councils, councils of governments, regional planning and development agencies, and metropolitan planning organizations that advocates for regional cooperation to address a variety of community opportunities and issues.
National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO)	An organization that represents State CIOs and information resource executives and managers from the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 6 U.S. territories.
National League of Cities (NLC)	A national organization whose mission is to strengthen and promote cities as centers of opportunity, leadership, and governance.
National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC)	A national organization that provides a unified voice on geographic information and technology issues, advocates State interests, and supports its membership in their statewide initiatives.
Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.^® (OGC)	A nonprofit, international, voluntary consensus standards organization of more than 365 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities; leads the development of standards for geospatial and location-based services.
University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS)	A nonprofit organization of more than 50 universities and other research institutions.
Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA)	A multidisciplinary educational association for geospatial professionals around the world.
Western Governors' Association (WGA)	A nonpartisan association of 22 U.S. Governors established to address important policy and governance issues in the West, advance the role of the Western States in the Federal system, and strengthen the social and economic fabric of the region.

Appendix B