To establish the Open Access Evapotranspiration (OpenET) Data Program.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Open Access Evapotranspiration Data Act (also known as the Evapotranspiration Data Act in its amended version) directs the Secretary of the Interior, through USGS, to establish a program delivering satellite-based evapotranspiration data for water resource management. The program coordinates with NASA, NOAA, USDA, and Bureau of Reclamation, and partners with states, tribes, universities, and private entities. It supports water budgeting, drought management, and groundwater management decisions.
Who Benefits and How
Water managers, agricultural producers, and state/tribal governments benefit from free, publicly available ET data for more efficient water resource management. Federal agencies (Reclamation, USDA) benefit from improved data for their programs. Researchers and universities benefit from program partnerships and data access. The amended version adds an advisory committee giving stakeholders a formal voice.
Who Bears the Burden and How
USGS bears primary responsibility for program establishment, data delivery, coordination with multiple federal agencies, and partnering with non-federal entities. The amended version authorizes $5M-$17M annually (FY2024-2028). The amended version also requires USGS to establish an advisory committee, implement privacy protections, and produce a comprehensive report within 2 years. Private ET data providers may face competitive pressure from the free government data.
Key Provisions
- Establishes OpenET Data Program within USGS for satellite-based ET data delivery (Section 4/3)
- Requires coordination with Reclamation, NASA, NOAA, Agricultural Research Service, and NRCS (Section 4/3)
- Authorizes cooperative agreements with program partners including states, tribes, and universities (Section 4/3)
- Amended version establishes Advisory Committee on ET Data with 11+ members (Section 3)
- Requires privacy protections including data aggregation/de-identification (Section 3)
- Authorizes $5M-$17M annually for FY2024-2028 in amended version (Section 5)
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Establishes the Open Access Evapotranspiration (OpenET) Data Program within USGS to provide satellite-based evapotranspiration data for water resource management, authorizing $23M annually for FY2024-2028 in the original version, or a graduated $5M-$17M in the amended version.
Key Policy Areas
Water Resources, Agriculture, Science and Technology, Environment
Primary Purpose
Establishes the Open Access Evapotranspiration (OpenET) Data Program within USGS to provide satellite-based evapotranspiration data for water resource management, authorizing $23M annually for FY2024-2028 in the original version, or a graduated $5M-$17M in the amended version.
Policy Domains
Open Access Evapotranspiration Data Act
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Water managers and irrigation districts
- Agricultural producers
- State and tribal governments
- Federal water agencies (Reclamation, USDA)
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- USGS
- Federal taxpayers
- Private ET data providers
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedReported by Mr. Manchin, with an amendment and an amendment …
Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself and Mr. Hickenlooper) introduced the …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Congressional oversight committees, USGS, USGS / Secretary of the Interior
USGS faces effects in multiple directions
Positive-direction: Congressional oversight committees
Negative-direction: USGS / Secretary of the Interior
Water managers and irrigation districts, Water users and managers
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the United States Geological Survey
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The process by which water is transferred from land to atmosphere by evaporation from soil/surfaces and transpiration from plants.
The Open Access Evapotranspiration (OpenET) Data Program established under section 4(a).
An institution of higher education, State, Indian Tribe, private sector entity, nongovernmental organization, or other appropriate entity.
Includes institutions of higher education, States, Indian Tribes, private sector entities, NGOs, and irrigation/water/groundwater sustainability districts.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology