AASG Spring Liaison 2014Meeting Notes

Monday, March 17, 2014Note – Most of the meetings scheduled for this day were cancelled due to snow.

U.S. Geological SurveyNote – Larry Meinert, David Applegate, and Bill Leith (all USGS) met with us at the Cosmos Club on Monday morning.

Larry Meinert, USGS Minerals Program – See Larry’s handout

The U.S. is falling behind the rest of the world in minerals research and mapping. USGS Minerals Program budget shrank from 2011-2013 but is up a bit this year to $45.9 million.

Larry outlined his five main priorities:1. Minerals information and materials flow2. Critical minerals3. Mineral resources of Alaska4. Mineral resources of the Mid-continent Rift5. Hyperspectral imaging and geophysical surveys

Some changing priorities:Finishing up Assessments of Undiscovered Resources. About the current focus on minerals and the environment – While we need a better understanding of environmental issues to support decision making about minerals, the Minerals Program should be focusing on mineral resources.

The USGS Minerals Program will be releasing some interesting maps from their national soil-sampling project in about a month. Hopefully Larry Meinert, USGS Minerals Program Manager, will inform the state geologists about the pending release, including reference to already released data from the project. The maps will have some attraction to the press, and state geologists should be prepared to discuss the implications of various geochemical anomalies. Larry explained that the USGS won’t release embargoed versions of their reports before giving a press release, but they may give you enough heads up to be prepared. They analyzed 3 samples of soil (upper 5 cm; A-horizon composite; and C-horizon) for 45 elements, a few minerals, and three pathogens (anthrax, plague, and rabbit fever) at 4,860 sites in the lower 48. Larry showed us the Pb maps for the upper 5 cm samples, which mostly show the residues from leaded gasoline use in the populous eastern US, and for the C-horizon, which show some local bedrock anomalies. In Nevada, there are a couple of curious Pb anomalies in the C-horizon data, one in the far northeastern corner of the state. The maps will be of interest for environmental baselines and perhaps mineral exploration.

David Applegate and Bill Leith, USGS Hazards Program Induced seismicity is an issue with oil and gas development, enhanced geothermal systems, and

perhaps carbon storage, as liquid CO2. Whereas most microseismicity and felt earthquakes

associated with oil and gas development have been related to injection of large volumes of produced water, last week in Ohio there was a M3 that the USGS is sure was associated with a hydraulic fracturing job, only perhaps the fourth such felt earthquake associated with a frac job.

The USGS is working on the impacts of induced seismicity on the NEHRP seismic hazard maps used in building codes. So far, the largest earthquake associated with an oil-field waste-water-disposal well was a M5.6 in Oklahoma not long ago. When asked if there was a scientific case for an upper limit, Bill Leith said no; there is debate about whether a M7 in Kazakhstan was induced by gas production and about whether a M8 in China was induced by filling a reservoir.

The USGS is also seeking data to better understand the conditions that induce felt earthquakes. This could involve data on daily volumes and pressures from frac jobs and produced fluids injection, cumulative volumes, states of stress, geology/neotectonics, and perhaps density and viscosity of injected fluids.

American Geosciences Institute AGI will be changing their domain name (email notification of change received today, April, 3,

2014) to Americangeosciences.org. This follows their name change in 2012 from the American Geological Institute to the American Geosciences Institute. Their website has a new look as well.

AGI has created the Center for Geoscience Education & Public Understanding. Its website (geocntr.org) has links to several resources, including a clearing house of exercises and classroom activities from various member societies, state geological surveys, and federal agencies.

The Center’s website also added a Critical Issues program to address issues of critical importance to geoscientists and policy makers. From the site: “The Critical Issues program supports well-informed public and individual decision making by providing relevant geoscience information to decision makers at all levels, from federal to regional, state, local, and individual. The program serves as a hub for the exchange of ideas, inquiries, and geoscience information between decision makers and the geosciences community.” A recent survey conducted by AGI can be found under this link, and shows which issues are the most critical for various demographics.

In addition to AGI’s sponsorship of a Congressional Science Fellow, AGI plans to sponsor a Geoscience Communication Fellow, modelled after successful programs sponsored by similar associations and institutes. This program will emphasizes working with journalists and promoting and others who communicate geoscience information to the public.

Ann Benbow left AGI to become the Executive Director of the Archeological Institute of America. Ann was formerly the Director of Education at AGI, and had garnered much success in funding from NSF and the private sector for AGI’s educational initiatives. AGI is currently undergoing a search for her replacement.

Earth Magazine, which was revised from the former Geotimes, will now be published bi-monthly as it is suffering the fate of other types of print media, which has been a decrease in hardcopy subscriptions because of the ease of access of electronic versions on pads and smartphones. AGI will now favor an electronic format, where news can be delivered more timely and responsive to earth-science related news and events.

AGI is considering performing custom searches for specific topics using Georef and other associated networks and databases. This might be beneficial to small consulting firms, etc., that may find it more economical to have the search conducted by a literature database management entity such as AGI for a fee rather than using their valuable staff time (and billable

hours) to conduct exhaustive literature searches. Costs are being researched, but may be in the $250 range.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Department of the Interior – Water and ScienceMet with Anne Castle, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science; Lori Caramanian, Deputy Assistant Secretary; William Lukas; Tom Isay.

Earthquake early warning systems - Anne Castle recently visited Cal Tech to observe the prototype of the state’s earthquake early warning system. In CA, because earthquakes happen so close to where people live, the warning system will not be like Japan’s, where residents receive an actual warning and have a few minutes to take action. In CA, people will feel the earthquake essentially when it happens so the warning system is focused on shutting down things that need to be shut down.

3DEP – AASG strongly supports national program. Current Interior budget has $24 million for acquisition with state partners; President’s proposed budget adds $5 million. Delaware is a good test case; state is using Hurricane Sandy supplemental appropriation to get Level 2 LiDAR statewide. Interior has an effort underway to do all of Alaska.

Induced Seismicity – Recent events in OK, TX, KS resulted in USGS press releases that surprised state surveys. Need to coordinate federal press releases with state surveys or at least give a heads-up in advance. $$ in President’s budget to continue studies.

National Groundwater Monitoring – U.S. is behind on getting basic groundwater data. President’s budget has $$ for a national network but it appears to have been diverted from university-based water science centers. A national cooperative grant program with state cost sharing would be good. For the upcoming National Groundwater Summit in Denver, David Wunsch invited Anne Castle to have lunch with core subcommittee members and she accepted.

STATEMAP and FEDMAP – STATEMAP, with its annual deadlines, is much more productive and efficient in producing maps; more maps per dollar and on-time delivery.

Action items: David Wunsch will send a letter to Anne Castle supporting a cooperative national groundwater

monitoring program. AASG should strongly support Suzette Kimball’s nomination to be USGS Director. AASG should support federal investment in earthquake early warning system research. AASG should support federal funding for induced seismicity studies.

Geological Society of AmericaMet with Kasey White. Kasey, the Geological Society of America’s director for public policy in DC, is the lead organizer of the USGS Coalition, of which AASG is a part.

ACTION ITEM: AASG should identify a representative (best to be the President, President-Elect, or Vice President or a willing State Geologist who is close enough to DC to occasionally make it to meetings in person) to work with the USGS Coalition in planning its strategies; then communicate who this person is to Kasey White at GSA; Kasey should then include that person in the Coalition’s strategy discussions.

It would be helpful to have the Coalition include statements of the value of engaging experts outside the USGS (from academia, state governmental agencies, and the private sector) through external grants programs in its discussions with USGS, DOI, and OMB and in its testimony regarding the USGS budget. STATEMAP, EDMAP, and NEHRP grants are good examples of how successful this approach has been.

Hazards Town Hall Meetings – involvement of state surveys critical, and GSA gets this. 2015 GSA conference in Buffalo may have 1-day visit to Washington DC to liaise with

delegations, will be looking for state geologist involvement with this. Fracking paper up on the website, will review comments every 6 months. Induced seismicity is becoming an issue.

Senate Energy and Natural ResourcesMet with Chuck Kleeschulte (minority staff) Paul Davis, Fellow Megan Brewster, Fellow Brian Hughes (minority staff). From AASG: Buchanan, Gillman, Swenson.

Consider writing a letter directly to Energy Secretary about data preservation reauthorization, get majority member of committee to introduce

Feinstein's staff working on induced seismicity bill, will need to monitor this closely - contact Harsh Desai in her office. This bill may allow compensation, authority with NIST, USGS, NAS

USGS more interested in climate change than data pres.

Might carefully see what OMB says about reauthorization

Natural Resources Conservation ServiceJohn Moore, National Geologist, NRCS; Dave Thackeray, USDA NRCS Conservation Engineering; Thomas Reinsch, NL World Soil Resources; Noller Herbert, Director, NRCS Dam Safety; Pam Thomas, Associate Director, NRCS Soil Programs; Maxine Levin, National Leader for Soil Interpretations, NRCS

Overview by NRCS Soil survey database being restructured to better accommodate use of point data. Point data is

needed for APEX and modeling; NRCS hired four regional modelers. They will first focus on updating the national

characterization of point data; The Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) model was developed for use in whole

farm/small watershed management. The model was constructed to evaluate various land management strategies considering sustainability, erosion (wind, sheet, and channel), economics, water supply and quality, soil quality, plant competition, weather and pests;

Bulk density data in soil surveys need additional work because it is the critical element in all modeling;

Watershed operation doesn’t have any funding; Some watershed protection funding (250 Million) available to rehabilitation of old dams (PL 566

dams). Emergency Watershed Protection program active in Colorado due to recent fires and floods as

well as in areas hit by Sandy. Congress must appropriate funds for EWP and there are about 40 disasters in line for EWP funds.

The future of soils mapping includes making the connection to geologic mapping with products like Web Soil Survey and 3D soil mapping;

The MOU with AASG should be signed within the next few weeks. The agreement will be mailed to Harvey who will arrange for John Parrish to sign.

Maxine mentioned Harvey’s participation at a National Cooperative Soil Survey conference and asked if AASG might want to participate in regional conferences; especially the one that will be help in St. Paul in June, 2014. Harvey will coordinate with Maxine on northeast regional conference;

NRCS asked if soil survey data has been useful in Colorado to predict areas of recent flooding. Karen said that she had not looked at the soil survey data but would do so and let them know.

Action Items Harvey will arrange for AASG signature on MOU; Possible AASG presence at regional National Cooperative Soil Survey Conferences.

House Energy and Minerals – Majority StaffKathy Benedetto – 202.225.9297; kathy.benedetto@mail.gov

Key Points and Issues Discussed: USGS Minerals Program

o We noted how Larry Mienert has provided focused and practical goals and directions for the program such as tracking minerals use and flow, focus on critical mineral resources for US, and developing new analytical techniques for optimizing geochemical analysis

o KB noted that the Minerals Program funding had been redirected to fund Climate Change Centers in the past leaving the program without optimum staff and expertise. She hopes that will improve.

NGGDPP reauthorization bill is being worked on through committee and there is a good chance it will get dropped this year. Possibly championed by Mr. Benishek (MI). The authorization level will not be at $30M though.

o She will be looking for state stories of usefulness of preserved data (similar to the MI phosphate resource story of this year).

Thinks that the DOI Appropriations bill will get hung up due to EPA funding. We discussed whether a Cost Benefit Evaluation of the different programs in NCGMP would be

useful. Hearings coming up in the committee on Earthquake Early Warning Systems (CA and PNW) and

the 50th Anniversary of the Alaska EQ. JR discussed some of the questions being asked about the impact of frac sand mining (e.g.,

concentration of trace elements, silica dust).

We discussed the frustrations of trying to convince leaders, policy makers, and the public that ongoing monitoring of earth systems is vital. How do you sell monitoring?

Action Items and Suggested Course(s) of Action: Would like a copy of the state geologic survey cost benefits survey that Ohio developed. DONE 3/26/14 VSM

National Mining Association State Geologists gave short summaries of important mining issues in their states. Topics included:

EPA actions regarding Pebble Mine in Alaska (potential to be not just an Alaskan problem) Moratorium on suction dredges in Oregon Sage grouse protection in Nevada and its effect on mineral exploration Increase in demand for magnesium produced in Utah because of increased use of aluminum-

magnesium alloys in car manufacturing High demand for frack sands (Wisconsin is top producer) Moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia Delay in development of cobalt property in Idaho (economics)

Amanda Aspatore, Associate General Counsel for NMA: Discussed scope of Clean Water Act Jurisdiction EPA report on connectivity of streams and wetlands to downstream waters is under review Critical minerals legislation (focus is on Senate, which has a shorter list of critical minerals than

house versions; Senator Wyden out, Landrieu from Louisiana in; likely no progress this year; all minerals critical to NMA)

EPA rulemaking relating to “Financial Assurance” delayed to 2016 NRC licensing of three new uranium processing facilities in Wyoming advancing

Katie Sweeney and Virginia Gunn also represented NMA.

House Interior Appropriations – Majority StaffThe House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee meeting with Rachelle Schroeder (R) majority staff Topics covered:

Each AASG member talked briefly about major geologic and hydrologic issues in their respective states

Good discussion about hydro-fracturing including potential threats to groundwater and induced seismicity

Spoke about Federal Co-op programs and the power of matching federal and state dollars Pointed out the relative productivity of STATEMAP as compared to FEDMAP, and the unmatched

state dollars regularly "left on the table" thanks to shrinking appropriations Spoke of our support for a national groundwater monitoring network including our concern that

the USGS communicate with state surveys so as to not duplicate existing state networks

There were no particular action items.

Nuclear Regulatory CommissionMet with Rasool Anooshehpoor, Edward O’Donnell, and Jose Pires. See handouts and PowerPoint.

The Supreme Court instructed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to restart its review of DOE’s license application for Yucca Mountain as a permanent geological repository for nuclear waste. The $9 million or so that they have to undertake the task this year is insufficient to complete the work.

Jose outlined seismic reevaluations of reactor locations in the U.S., spurred on in part by the 2011 earthquake and resulting damage to the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. NRC is starting with central and eastern U.S., where most reactors are located. Licensees perform probabilistic seismic hazard analyses. Plant risk evaluations will be conducted for power plants whose reevaluated hazard exceeds design. Jon Price brought up need for mapping and better understanding of geologic properties that relate to seismicity.

Action Item: Virginia should send geologic maps recently completed near North Anna Nuclear Power Station to NRC.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationMet with: Ashley Chappell, Rick Rosen, Carl Gouldman, Sasha Pryborowski, Sandy Lucas, two others

International Ocean Observing Systems (IOOS Program); authorization lapsed; Ashley will provide contact for Josee Quintelle to follow up

Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping activity New web site – seasketch.org – state geological surveys are requested to indicate near-term

mapping priorities NOAA grant opportunities will be placed on Grants.gov in June or July. Climate program – budget looking favorable – call for proposals this summer Tsunami program, expressed concern about grants program Geoid work in prep for datum overhaul ~2022; National Arctic Strategy Climate variability; snow & ice surveys; bathymetric LiDAR New green LIDAR being tested in Caribbean; may be able to reach depths of 30m.Action items: none

Independent Petroleum Association of AmericaMet with Lee Fuller, VP, Government Relations; Fred Lawrence, VP, Economics & International Affairs; Ryan Ullman, Director, Government Relations & Political Affairs

Lee was the overall spokesperson and led the IPAA discussion. They were all familiar and had met with AASG previously.

1. IPAA represents the interests of small-to-large independent petroleum companies, i.e. mom-and-pop sized to as large as Anadarko and Plains.

2. It observes, advises, and lobbies with regards to legislative and regulatory issues related to federal agencies such as EPA, BLM, BOEM, and DOE.

3. It is particularly interested in matters affecting taxation of its member companies, such as intangible drilling costs on new wells, percentage depletion, passive loss exceptions, and cost recovery.

No real interest in earth-science matters.

No action items.

No need to visit more than once a year, unless it affects small petroleum companies on environmental matters.

Department of Energy – NuclearMet with Jeffrey Williams (Project Director, Nuclear Fuels Storage and Transportation Planning Project), Jay Jones (Nuclear Fuels Storage and Transportation Planning Project), and Erica Bickford (AAAS Fellow).

Yucca Mtn. is technically possible, but politically “unworkable” because of political resistance. Roughly $9-$11 million still available for work there (by NRC).

Roughly $750 million per year is being paid by DOE to utilities for breach of contract for storage of spent fuel.

2048 is the year that DOE now says is the earliest that they could open a permanent repository for nuclear waste. DOE is working under the assumption that the Administration will follow the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission (January 2012) on nuclear waste – not to work on Yucca Mountain but to focus on what might be a workable site, one that is both publically acceptable and technically suitable. The Commission had recommended that a “consolidated storage facility” or interim storage facility is needed, but Congress would have to change the Nuclear Waste Policy Act to allow such a storage facility to be built before a final permanent geological repository is chosen. AASG should be involved early on.

Office of Management and BudgetMelanie Stansbury

In addition to "ask sheets" AASG needs to develop information that demonstrates funding coming to states is meeting federal priorities

o Example: a visual graphic or chart showing how federal funds into cooperative programs is used to support federal priorities/initiatives: 20% to this, 30% to this 50% to this - these are compelling arguments

Discussed administration encouraging USGS to change their current management practices to be more efficient and less academic in nature toward translational and applied science to support objectives of DOI and federal priorities

Melanie suggested a possible listening session with the state surveys on experiences of being lean and efficient and management structures that are focused on dollars to science

Congressional Research ServicePeter Folger – Specialist Energy and NR Policy; 202.707.1517; pfolger@crs.loc.govMary Tiemann – Specialist in Environment Policy; 202.707.5937; mtiemann@crs.loc.govAnthony Andrews – Specialist in Energy and Defense Policy; 202.707.6843Key Points and Issues Discussed:

PF noted that the CRS is entering the 21st Century and has hired several GIS analysts to assist with research

o Looking toward a more geospatial, graphical format for reportso Busy aggregating data from multiple sources, lots of data discovery, trying to compare

data across states and agencieso Always looking for authoritative work – we, as usual, reminded them that state surveys

are a great resource Talked a bit about oil shale potential in AK

o It is there (Brooks Range) but the climate makes for very challenging extraction without environmental impact

Still considerable interest in gas hydrates and the energy potentialo Apparently some very interesting and unexpected chemical reactions in AK wells when

N was used to stimulate the well Discussed the potential impacts of the draft EPA rules on waterways

Action Items and Suggested Course(s) of Action: Send out a reminder to all state agencies to put Peter on their distribution list for notice of new pubs and also for newsletters, either paper format or e-format

His address is:Peter FolgerSpecialist in Energy and Natural Resources PolicyResources, Science, and Industry DivisionCongressional Research Service101 Independence Ave., SEWashington, DC 20540

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Department of Energy – GeothermalMet with Doug Hollett, Arlene Anderson, Arlene Boyd, and Lauren Schwartz (sp?).

         Update on GTO Report – Presentation slides were distributed (perhaps we could request a copy of the slides for the notes?), general focus on refining hydrothermal and promoting EGS

o   Funding opportunities currently available include the Play Fairways, Low Temperature Mineral Recovery, Integrated EGS R&D, and upcoming solicitation on the “Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE)”

o   FORGE is a demonstration site to help validate and optimize enhance geothermal systems (EGS)

  Intends to have a “live-data” environmento   GTO is focusing on attracting candidates (through a Science, Technology, and Policy

Fellowship) that are familiar with geology         DOE has been working with NAS to host a series of Congressional Briefings – Elizabeth Eide has

been the primary contact at NASo   Potential Action Item: AZGS has been in discussion with NAS on a geoscience data round

table proposal – perhaps this is the next step to follow up on the DOE/NAS/AASG support Congressional Briefings?

         DOE is focusing on cross-cutting programs, particularly in understanding the subsurface (team called SubTER), through coordination between EERE, Energy Policy & Systems Analysis, Nuclear Energy, Environmental Management, Science, Fossil Energy/Carbon Storage, Fossil Energy/O&G, Congressional & Inter-governmental Affairs – “the subsurface environment is critical to the US energy future for energy production, energy and CO2 storage, and ultimate disposal of energy wastes; effectively managing the subsurface while mitigating impacts encompasses major technical and policy challenges; the subsurface crosscut brings together a number of new activities from participating offices” (DOE GTO handout)

o   Focus is not on new projects, but areas where there is a cross-cutting component between DOE programs

o   FY14 is focused on coordination; FY15 on National Lab based Projects; FY16 on New Projects

o   Potential Action: they have not identified a way of distributing and sharing data and results – this could be an area where AASG could help provide leadership.

AASG has the ability to present itself and market itself as the subsurface experts across the US with a wide-range of knowledge that can be applied to many of the current projects in GTO but also the new SubTER projects. Is there a way to market this to DOE as a whole as DOE works on their SubTER team? Jon Price did an excellent job of demonstrating how state surveys have the specific knowledge of their states by discussing issues in geothermal brine and nuclear storage.

ACTION ITEM: The Geothermal Science Advisory Board (of which Lisa Shevenell is a member) will be looking for special outcomes from the states at their meeting in late May. Short statements on how valuable the geothermal data project has been will be handy (such as leading to new publications on the favorability of geothermal energy development or actual new developments by industry that were stimulated by having the data available). These presumably can be sent to Doug Hollett (Douglas.Hollett@ee.doe.gov), the Geothermal Technologies Program Manager.

Incorporated Research Institutions for SeismologyMet with: David Simpson, Bob Woodward, John Taber, Rob Woolley, Andy Frasetto, Perle Dorr

David Simpson will retire by July; a search is in progress Earthscope is finishing up on the east coast; 159 stations will be retained and along with existing

stations will form the Central and Eastern US Network (CEUSN). Much appreciation for AASG

role in identifying sites for retention. To support acquisition and maintenance of these sites, IRIS will receive $12M from NSF over 5 years, ending in 2017. Sites will transfer to USGS in 2018. USGS will need help lobbying for funding to help support the network.

Much interest in seismic attenuation in east, differing from west; quakes more felt Transportable array will begin deployment in Alaska this year. IRIS is expanding the magnetotelluric network to collect data from several additional areas –

Eastern US, Northern Plains and additional areas south of existing data in the west. They are occupying 70-100 sites per year for a short period, with a site spacing of 70-100 km. Magnetotelluric surveys are increasingly relevant to magnetic storm vulnerability; need to infer conductivity/resistivity structure from geology. The rock in eastern US is less conductive than rock in the west; this will lead to more significant impacts from a major solar storm to the electrical transmission network, as the current will not go to ground as easily as in areas of more conductive rock. Projections from a Carrington-type event occurring now include loss of power in major metropolitan areas for several months. There is no inventory of the major transformers that would be needed to bring the power grid back up.

IRIS is looking for Earthscope success stories to show off Urge AASG attendance at Earthscope 10-year meeting, May 15 & Iris workshop, June 8-11 I

OregonAction items: none

National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationCraig Dobson, John Lebrecque, Francis…; Tom Johnson - on detail; Mike Frilich – Director of Earth Science Division (signatory on MOU)

Possible area of research is using real time GPS to rapidly estimate earthquake moment, to determine if tsunami is forming - can estimate magnitudes within a few seconds to minutes to alert evacution -

Discussion of upcoming National Exercise related to the 50 year anniversary of the Alaska Earthquake and activities associated - running the response network to determine where we can be successful

Promoting and supporting use of inSAR for what is active on landslides- San Andreas, Cascades, Slumgullion - Eric Fielding, Paul Lundgren at JPL - UAV SAR is flown regularly and might be able to discuss other coverage or enhanced coverage of something is already going on related to landslide and movement

Revolution of data processing - putting data together in single places and using virtual machines makes data compatible across hardware/software

Climate website coming online as a climate data portal - climate.gov Using inSAR to potentially identify lateral movement in sinkhole prone terrane White House recognizes success but has not given additional budget to NASA Land Imaging term- landsat, hyperspectral, lidar, SAR - thought about more broadly as a national

need and not be interpreted as isolated technology - we can do better than putting another landsat up - we need to fill the needs of modern uses of better data for society

Utilizing for determing damage from EQ in just a few hours; Google GISCorps; who utilizes this information - what kind of model do we want to pursue?

MOU discussion and value of having this relationship

Message: we need help on the hill to focus resources for inSAR, this satellite will break open barriers and open markets with science driven data; where are the areas of greatest application and how do we leverage these data

National Lidar survey, their 3DEP initiative - NASA supports high altitude data surveys Develop some discussion points for use in having conversations regarding SAR

Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and EnforcementMet with Steven Sheffield, Acting Division Chief; Harry Payne; Cecil Slaughter; Mick Kuhns; Dennis Rice; and Rob Welsh (by phone).

New rule on the use of Coal Combustion Residue to reclaim coal mine sites is due out in December 2014. EPA has carved this out of its coal ash disposal regulation as an “acceptable use.” This stems from a study by the National Research Council.

Rob Welsh made a presentation about GeoMine, an OSMRE web-based map data viewer prototype released last December. Its purpose is to support better decision-making in coal mine permitting. The system will accept ESRI shapefiles, geodatabases, and AutoCAD drawings. Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia are initial partners. System will not expose sensitive data, such as AML shaft locations, to the public. OSMRE is asking the Interstate Mining Compact Commission to help bring more states on board.

Indiana has its own system, the Indiana Coal Mine Information System, for web-based viewing of mined-out areas.

Action Items: Send a list of state geologists’ emails to Rob Welsh.

National Academy of Sciences/National Research CouncilElizabeth Eide,Director, BESR; Nick Rogers, Research Associate; Mark Lange, BESR; Sammantha Magsino, BESR; Courtney Gibbs, Program Assistant; Greg Symmes, ExecutiveDirector, Earth and Life Sciences Division

Overview by NAS There are 12 boards and commissions in the Earth and Life Sciences Division. Ways AASG can help NAS broaden its work.

o By disseminating NAS work and reports;o By giving feedback to NAS on the value of its reports to individual states;o By contributing specific expertise to reports;o Let NAS know about pressing issues in the states;o Provide input on how to frame a study to give it more value.

Some of the NAS reports in progress or coming out soono Responding to Oil Spills in the Arctic;o Emerging Research Questions in the Arctic;o Lessons Learned from Fukushima;

o Restoring the Everglades;o Coastal Risk Reductions (done for Army Corp of Engineers)o Subsurface Modeling and Remediation in Fractured Rock.

New Activities or Proposals Under Considerationo Wildland Fires and Community Resiliency;o Science and Issues Surrounding Unconventional Hydrocarbon Production;

NAS welcomes input from AASG on new proposals.

Overview of State IssuesFlorida

Hydrocarbon production in sensitive lands has renewed interest; Sinkholes and the ability to predict sinkhole risks continue to be a big issue and concern; Beach replacement with offshore sands is also an issue of concern.

Minnesota Ground Water is the big issue Non-point source pollution of ground water, especially nitrates, is a concern to both agricultural

and municipal users.

Nevada No water but plenty of issues with endangered species act and sage grouse; Wildland fire destroys much more sage grouse habitat than mining Fracking regulations are being created; Recent theme of AIPG in Nevada was “Gambling with Geologic Hazards and Nuclear Waste”.

Wisconsin Similar ground water issues as Minnesota; State has a good working relationship with USGS ground water modelers; Close to releasing ground-water models that can be used by counties as powerful decision

support tools; Occurrence and pathways of human viruses in deep municipal wells is not well understood but is

an emerging concern. Working with USFS on forest soils and ground water; Concerns about the lack of science/information on how shallow geothermal systems impact

ground water and ground water temperatures; Non-point source pollution of ground water, especially nitrates, is a concern to both agricultural

and municipal users; How do we maintain the appearance of neutrality in a highly polarized environment?

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES MEETINGCalifornia

No water so no water problems! Severe drought in state continues; Concerns about induced seismicity and fracking is different than other states because geology is

much different; Fracking is done using traditional methods and oil production is 95% water with water beingre-

injected into the same formation; Earthquake early warning system is being developed.

Indiana Ground water and potable water supplies are also a concern; Statewide water-supply assessment is being completed; High resolution LIDAR of state is an example of work by done NAS that had benefited Indiana.

Oregon Ditto on ground water issues and concerns; A broader question is what do we monitor for ground water and why on a national level; Oregon uses NAS work extensively; Any NAS study on wildland fire should include post-fire hazards and it should include fires in

shrub and grassland ecosystems; Earthquake early warning system is also being developed for the Pacific Northwest; Another broader question is “How does geology impact public health” For example, how does

geology impact the transmission of pathogens. What are the questions that need to asked and answered in the emerging field.

Idaho State vs local control is an issue with hydrocarbon production; state maintains it controls

permitting; The state has an active geothermal program; Sage grouse habitat is also a concern in state; What happens when a wildfire occurs over mine is a question that people want answered;

Virginia Governor has stated the longstanding ban on uranium mining will not be lifted during his term; Proposed fracking near Chesapeake is a big public concern and the survey is giving presentations

to the public and officials about potential hydrocarbon reserves and fracking technologies. One company would like to start drilling in 2015; the deposit is deep but an important aquifer (Potomac) lies directly on top of it;

State is interested in offshore leasing opportunities but military operations may limit leasing areas and options;

Missouri Ground water is the main water supply for 6.5 million people but there are no legal rights to

water; Rapid population and industrial growth are stressing ground water supplies and creating conflicts between uses and users; Potential ground water contamination from fly and bottom ash is a concern; storage facilities

are located near alluvial sand and gravels; ash is intermixing with alluvium but the mechanism is not well understood; many municipal wells are located in alluvial aquifers;

Delaware State has nearly 6000 poultry operations (about 600 million birds); manure washes off fields and

seeps into groundwater; aquifers are sandy and shallow; 3D knowledge of aquifers is not well understood but new studies are near completion; Following studies, 3D monitoring networks will need to be established; Ground water quality is a concern in urban areas; use of geothermal heat pumps in brownfields

has the potential to help mitigate contamination; a study is needed;

Due to a 1954 Supreme Court ruling; the state geologist represents the State of Delaware on a board that regulates the Delaware River Watershed, the City of New York water supply, including upstate New York;

Alaska The state currently does not have a ground water program but just hired staff to evaluate

ground water systems in permafrost and the origin of gas-hydrates across the North Slope; Big issue continues to be the EPA: Pebble decision and potential conductivity ruling; Data management is an ongoing problem; Loss of geologic hazard funding has resulted in loss of seismic monitoring at active volcanoes;

reducing the state’s ability to predict eruptions and increasing risks to air traffic; Climate change and surface deformation caused by the loss of permafrost will greatly impact the

landscape of the state; Arctic development is an emerging issue; receding sea ice results in more sea traffic through

Bering Strait with increased potential for oil spills.

Colorado Fire and Flood recovery continues; about 600 landslides, debris flows resulted as a result of

flooding in September; stream migration creates a complex series of issues, includingpotential loss of water rights to agricultural and other users; survey helping map geologic hazards caused by recent fires, flooding and momental rainfall;

Colorado is a state of strong local control; local communities are passing initiatives banning fracking; legal challenges between industry, state and local governments dominate the landscape;

State has many domestic wells in fractured crystalline rock; Survey has worked with local communities on water budget studies geared toward sustainable development “living on the interest (recharge) without drawing down the principle (base flow);

Look forward to release of NAS fractured rock report; Survey has an active geothermal program; entitlements for two production wells for electrical

generation are in process.

Closing Comments by NAS NAS has moved to a new round table structure for reports with established rules to include all points of view and representation for all sides; Once the round table issues a recommendation or a decision how does the information get

distributed to decision makers; How does NAS communicate objective results in a polarized environment? New study will look at the history of transformative research and try to identify factors that

foster such research and factors that hinder; Study on the art of earthquake and liquefaction prediction will be completed by February 2015.

New data shows liquefaction happens in unexpected soil types and more deeply than current engineering practice and research predicts.

NAS Board is conducting a series of informational briefings on energy topics for congress/staff and may continue the format if demand warrants;

Round table on unconventional hydrocarbons may function like a standing committee or board; Conflict of interest is welcome at round tables; everyone is welcome at table; and group can

issue a consensus report.NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES MEETING

Action Items Give NAS examples of how states use their reports; Let NAS know if you would like to serve as an expert on a study or round table; Signing of MOU?

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

AASG Debriefing

Action Items:A note to Suzette from AASG expressing disappointment for not being able to formally meet, but indicating we appreciated meeting with Larry and David A. and they are on what we believe to be the right path - Suzette, Larry, David, Bill

John P will do Anne, Suzette

Jon A will do other meeting thanks for the week including David Applegate and Bill Leith

Jon A will contact Peter Lyttle about our conversations with Anne about STATEMAP vs. FEDMAP

Virginia will send geologic maps of area of 2011 earthquake to NRC

Allow for timing of meeting with NRC to accommodate travel or bring them into the City - once a year meeting at this time

Make-up teleconference lead for BOEM - Spears, Wunsch, Arther

Make-up teleconference lead for House Water and Power - Wunsch, Arthur, Masterman, Parrish

Make-up teleconference lead for EPA - Masterman, Arthur, Gillman

Vicki will send a copy of the Ohio cost/benefit study to Kathy Beneddetto

AASG - Consider developing a web based location to use as a clearinghouse for success stories and cost/benefit analysis

Vicki will send Brent Wiles some information on the cost of LIDAR

Need to send Rachelle Schroeder our comments on the USGS budget justification - sooner rather than later - I will take a look at it and provide any comments/questions that we may want to consider - All comments to Arthur by FRIDAY!!

Send Rachelle Schroeder a NGGDPP information packet

Dave Wunsch will follow up with Rachelle Schroeder on National Groundwater Monitoring Network

AASG - Consider announcing to states that the Geothermal SAB will be looking for special outcomes from the states at their meeting in late May. Short statements on how valuable the geothermal data project has been will be handy (such as leading to new publications on the favorability of geothermal energy development or actual new developments by industry that were stimulated by having the data available). These presumably can be sent to Doug Hollett, Douglas.Hollett@ee.doe.gov, the Geothermal Technologies Program Manager.

AASG - discussion with AGI on an education and outreach effort at the state surveys - follow up with Wunsch

AASG - identify a representative from AASG (best to be the President, President-Elect, or Vice President or a willing State Geologist who is close enough to DC to occasionally make it to meetings in person) to work with the USGS Coalition in planning its strategies; then communicate who this person is to Kasey White at GSA; Kasey should then include that person in the Coalition’s strategy discussions. It would be helpful to have the Coalition include statements of the value of engaging experts outside the USGS (from academia, state governmental agencies, and the private sector) through external grants programs in its discussions with USGS, DOI, and OMB and in its testimony regarding the USGS budget. STATEMAP, EDMAP, and NEHRP grants are good examples of how successful this approach has been.

Gillman - follow up with Energy and Natural Resources fellows on success stories for NGGDPP

AASG - develop pie chart for state funding programs and how they apply to federal administrative priorities

AASG - develop a listening session on how to be lean and efficient in science (doing the same with less); coordinate with OMB

AASG - remind members to include CRS on list servers for publication and fact sheet announcements: Pete Folger,

pfolger@crs.loc.gov ,

AASG - MOU with USGS to be done at annual meeting; NRCS & NASA MOUs to be signed - press release; event at annual meeting

AASG - invite Elizabeth Eide to the annual meeting; explore the future of geologic mapping with a possible academy report