[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 140 (Tuesday, July 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 44059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-15770]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Notice of Findings Regarding Commercial Availability of Non-U.S.
Satellite Imagery With Respect to Israel
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Section 1064, Public Law 104-201 (the 1997 Defense
Authorization Act)--referred to as the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment--requires
that ``[a] department or agency of the United States may issue a
license for the collection or dissemination by a non-Federal entity of
satellite imagery with respect to Israel only if such imagery is no
more detailed or precise than satellite imagery of Israel that is
available from commercial sources.'' Pursuant to this law, the
Department of Commerce makes findings as to the level of detail or
precision of satellite imagery of Israel available from commercial
sources. The Department has found that satellite imagery of Israel is
readily and consistently available from non-U.S. commercial sources at
a resolution of 0.4 meters Ground Sample Distance (m GSD). The
Department has therefore changed the existing resolution limit of 2.0 m
GSD to 0.4 m GSD.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: All licenses issued by the Commercial Remote
Sensing Regulatory Affairs Office (CRSRA) include a standard condition
implementing the requirements of the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment. This
Notice formally specifies the resolution available from commercial
sources of the State of Israel for that purpose, such that this license
condition now prohibits the dissemination of satellite imagery over
Israel at a resolution finer than 0.4 m GSD; this condition does not
distinguish between new and archived data. Note that other conditions
in CRSRA licenses, as well as other U.S. law and regulations, may still
be applicable.
To determine what imagery is ``available from commercial sources,''
the Department looks to what ``level of imagery resolution [is] readily
and consistently available in sufficient quantities from non-U.S.
sources.'' Licensing of Private Land Remote-Sensing Space Systems, 71
FR 24474, 24479 (Apr. 25, 2006). A recent review found that there are
an increasing number of non-U.S. space-based remote sensing systems
that produce sub-2 m images. Many of these systems make such imagery
over Israel available on commercial terms, and images can be purchased
directly from non-U.S. operators, non-U.S. resellers, and resellers
within the U.S. An analysis of imagery samples, which were provided as
representative of images available over Israel, found that distributors
of sub-2 m images of Israel are accurately advertising the resolutions
of their products. The finest resolution product analyzed had a
resolution of 0.4 m GSD. The Department concluded that images of Israel
at 0.4 m GSD are readily and consistently available from multiple
commercial sources.
There are currently very few non-U.S. commercial sources that are
or will soon be capturing imagery at lower than the revised 0.4 m
resolution limit; this imagery was not found to be readily or
consistently available.
The Department of Commerce will routinely review this finding as
additional information is made available and invites the public to
voluntarily provide evidence of availability of commercial imagery over
Israel at a finer resolution than 0.4 m GSD. Any future finding by the
Department will be documented in a subsequent notice in the Federal
Register.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tahara Dawkins, Commercial Remote
Sensing Regulatory Affairs Office, NOAA Satellite and Information
Services, 1335 East-West Highway, Suite G-101, Silver Spring, Maryland
20910; telephone (301) 713-3385, email [email protected].
Tahara Dawkins,
Director, Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2020-15770 Filed 7-17-20; 11:15 am]
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