The grant could provide up to $800,000.
The 102nd Congress recognized that the USGS and the State Geological Surveys needed a coordinated program to prioritize the geologic mapping requirements of the Nation, and to increase production of these geologic maps. The National Geologic Mapping Act (Public Law 102-285) was signed into law in 1992 and created the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP). The Act has been re-authorized four times since then, most recently by the 116th Congress in 2019 (S. 47: John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, sec. 5002).