Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Data Preservation and Infrastructure
Geologic Data Preservation and Archiving
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Data Preservation and Archiving
On November 15, 2021, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (PL-117-58), making a once-in-a-generation investment in the Nation’s infrastructure and economic competitiveness. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is advancing scientific innovation through a $510.7 million investment in the USGS, with a significant portion going to preserve the Nation’s geologic history.
What is our Geologic History and Why Should We Preserve It?
The geologic history of the United States is revealed through the samples taken and data collected from a variety of sources, including industry, academia and state and federal government agencies like state geological surveys and the USGS. These samples and data are not just important to answer the original questions that led people to collect them. They also have the potential to shed light on future questions for generations to come.
Our geoscientific collections enable us to follow the history and progression of understanding of the geology that makes up the United States. The rock layers that lie beneath us form and shape our country, providing us with natural resources like minerals and groundwater; affect what we can build and where; and even pose hazards, such as earthquakes, landslides, and volcanoes.
How Does the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Preserve Our Geologic History?
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests a total of $23.7 million of investments in the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program that the USGS can make available to state geological surveys, as well as funding for projects to USGS and other DOI bureaus to preserve geological and geophysical data and samples relevant to characterizing critical mineral resources.
In addition, this funding can and will be used to create physical and digital infrastructure to properly store the data and samples. This infrastructure can be physical, such as buildings where samples are stored, and digital, such as databases and web portals. Not only will the infrastructure secure the long-term storage of the samples from exposure to pests, climate/humidity, and other destructive elements for generations to come, it will also enable better access to the data and samples for everyone who has need of them.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding is also enabling national archiving projects that will allow better, more uniform access to the geologic samples and data that the State Geological Surveys and other partners of the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program are safeguarding.
National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program
Apply for a Grant
ReSciColl-Registry of Scientific Collections
USGS to Award $11 Million in FY2023 for Data Preservation
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Data Preservation and Archiving
On November 15, 2021, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (PL-117-58), making a once-in-a-generation investment in the Nation’s infrastructure and economic competitiveness. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is advancing scientific innovation through a $510.7 million investment in the USGS, with a significant portion going to preserve the Nation’s geologic history.
What is our Geologic History and Why Should We Preserve It?
The geologic history of the United States is revealed through the samples taken and data collected from a variety of sources, including industry, academia and state and federal government agencies like state geological surveys and the USGS. These samples and data are not just important to answer the original questions that led people to collect them. They also have the potential to shed light on future questions for generations to come.
Our geoscientific collections enable us to follow the history and progression of understanding of the geology that makes up the United States. The rock layers that lie beneath us form and shape our country, providing us with natural resources like minerals and groundwater; affect what we can build and where; and even pose hazards, such as earthquakes, landslides, and volcanoes.
How Does the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Preserve Our Geologic History?
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests a total of $23.7 million of investments in the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program that the USGS can make available to state geological surveys, as well as funding for projects to USGS and other DOI bureaus to preserve geological and geophysical data and samples relevant to characterizing critical mineral resources.
In addition, this funding can and will be used to create physical and digital infrastructure to properly store the data and samples. This infrastructure can be physical, such as buildings where samples are stored, and digital, such as databases and web portals. Not only will the infrastructure secure the long-term storage of the samples from exposure to pests, climate/humidity, and other destructive elements for generations to come, it will also enable better access to the data and samples for everyone who has need of them.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding is also enabling national archiving projects that will allow better, more uniform access to the geologic samples and data that the State Geological Surveys and other partners of the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program are safeguarding.