Memorandum of Agreement

GENERAL AGREEMENT FOR DATA SHARING
AMONG
____________________________________
CHANNEL ISLANDS NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY,
CHANNEL ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK,
AND OTHER ENTITIES,
ESTABLISHING
THE CHANNEL ISLANDS REGIONAL
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM COLLABORATIVE

This General Agreement, which creates the Channel Islands Regional Geographic Information System Collaborative ("CIRGIS"), is entered into by the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary ("Sanctuary"), Channel Islands National Park ("Park") and various other public and private organizations (all "Partners" or "Parties" to this Agreement) that are either users or developers of Geographic Information System ("GIS") coverages and other spatial data("Geospatial Data"). The purpose of the CIRGIS is to share and cooperatively use Geospatial Data for research, planning, and management within the Channel Islands region.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

WHEREAS, each of the Partners is concerned with research, planning or management; and

WHEREAS, each of the Partners uses GIS or other information technology to accomplish those goals; and

WHEREAS, there is significant overlap in the data needed for the research, planning and management tasks to be accomplished; and

WHEREAS, the data that must be developed or acquired for these purposes is expensive and sharing of data will allow the Partners to accomplish those goals at lower cost; and

WHEREAS, there are administrative, organizational and technical barriers that have prevented data sharing in the past; and

WHEREAS, a regional GIS working group of public agency staffs and private partners began addressing the need for Geospatial Data sharing arrangements and common GIS system issues and concerns in early 1998;

NOW THEREFORE, subject to the availability of appropriated funds, the Parties agree to a cooperative process for the sharing of Geospatial Data about the Channel Islands region as follows:

I. Common Base Map(s)

The Parties to this Agreement agree that data shall, to the extent possible, be held in common geo-registration to facilitate the transfer of information between Partners. The common geo-registration shall be specified by the CIRGIS.

II. Sharing and Registration of Existing and Future Geospatial Data

Sharing, Distribution and Update of Geospatial Data:

Each Party to this Agreement shall make available to the other Parties any Geospatial Data developed by the Party in question insofar as the distribution of the Geospatial Data is not limited by a license, proprietary ownership, cost sharing agreement or would not otherwise be considered confidential or privileged under an applicable Federal or State public record disclosure law.

Subject to the provisions of the above paragraph, each Party shall also make available any updates of existing Geospatial Data as they are developed.

All Geospatial Data and documentation (metadata) shall be made available to the CIRGIS for sharing among the other Parties to this Agreement within two (2) months following the acceptance of the Geospatial Data by the Partner.

The CIRGIS shall facilitate the provision of all Geospatial Data and documentation to the Parties to this Agreement within two (2) months of receipt from the providing Party. The CIRGIS shall maintain a current catalog of all Geospatial Data available to Parties this Agreement.

Fees:

The Parties to this Agreement shall not be charged any fees for the acquisition of use of the Geospatial Data, other than normal transaction costs, including labor and media costs for the copying of data.

Restrictions on Use:

The Parties to this Agreement shall use the Geospatial Data provided by other Parties solely for their own purposes. To the extent of agency policy, no provision of this Agreement shall limit the application of the Public Records Act (or, in the case of Federal Partners, the Freedom of Information Act) to the Parties to this Agreement.

Hold Harmless:

The CIRGIS and each Party to this Agreement shall accept Geospatial Data from all other Parties "as is." In addition, each Party to this Agreement that receives Geospatial Data from another Party in accordance with this Agreement shall hold harmless every other Party to this Agreement in the event of damages or loss incurred by the Party in reliance upon such Geospatial Data, except that Federal agencies shall be bound by only the requirements of the Federal Tort Claims Act, and local and State entities shall be bound by only State requirements. Partners shall require any third party users of these coverages to agree in writing to hold harmless all Parties to this Agreement. The Parties to this Agreement acknowledge that the Geospatial Data are complex and time sensitive and that they may contain some nonconformities, defects or errors. The Geospatial Data represent the best available information. The Parties to this Agreement do not warrant that the Geospatial Data will meet users' needs or expectations, or that all nonconformities, defects or errors can or will be corrected.

Attribution:

Any authorized use of information derived or generated from Geospatial Data provided pursuant to this Agreement in any product shall acknowledge the appropriate Party to this Agreement as the source, and include any qualifications deemed appropriate given the specific data quality and application of the derived information.

Data Transfer Format:

The Geospatial Data shall be prepared in a format widely used by CIRGIS members. The CIRGIS may establish further standards for data transfer format as required to accommodate Parties to this Agreement.

III. Documentation: Metadata and Data Dictionaries

Each Party to this Agreement shall make available to all other Parties the metadata and data dictionaries necessary for responsible use of the Geospatial Data. The materials to be supplied shall be made available in a standard format agreed upon by the CIRGIS, and shall be published and updated no less than every six (6) months based on new information provided by the Partners.

IV. Channel Islands Regional GIS Collaborative Membership

Each Party to this Agreement shall designate one staff member and one alternate to serve on the CIRGIS. The CIRGIS shall meet at least quarterly to:

The CIRGIS shall function according to its own bylaws and operating procedures.

V. Standards

All Parties to this Agreement shall work through the CIRGIS to apply and adjust as necessary existing standards for documentation, data formats, geographic accuracy, updating and database design (developed by the U.S. Geological Survey Federal Geographic Data Committee). Further, to the extent possible, all parties shall abide by these standards in the development of Geospatial Data.

VI. Geospatial Data Development

The CIRGIS may jointly develop new Geospatial Data. A cooperative process (such as a workshop, conference, forum or other approach) which invites the input of interested Partners shall determine the priorities for development of new Geospatial Data.

VII. Other Terms of Agreement

A. New parties may be admitted to this Agreement in the following manner: The entity seeking admission shall make a written request for admission to the CIRGIS, which shall then vote on the request. A majority vote shall suffice for admission.

B. This Agreement may only be amended in writing agreed to by all the Partners to this Agreement.

C. This Agreement may be executed in counterparts and the signed counterparts shall constitute a single instrument.

D. Unless terminated earlier pursuant to Paragraph E below, this Agreement shall continue in effect for a period of five (5) calendar years from the date of final signature of this Agreement.

E. Any party to this Agreement shall have the right to withdraw from this Agreement by giving the other Parties six (6) months notice in writing.

F. The Parties to this Agreement acknowledge that each public Party to this Agreement has specific laws, regulations and policy mandates that guide its day-to-day operations. It is expressly understood and agreed by and between the Parties that nothing in this Agreement is intended to compromise those laws, regulations or policy mandates.

G. During the performance of this Agreement, the Parties agree to be in compliance with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1967 (42 U.S.C. sec. 2000d et seq.); Title V, Section 504, of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (20 U.S.C. sec. 794); the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C. sec. 6101 et seq.); and all other Federal laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination on grounds of race, color, national origin, handicap, religion or sex.

H. Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1913, "Lobbying with Appropriated Moneys", no part of the money appropriated by any enactment of Congress shall, in the absence of express authorization by Congress, be used directly of indirectly to pay for any personal service, advertisement, telegram, telephone, letter, printed or written matter, or other device intended or designed to influence in any manner any member of Congress to favor or oppose, by vote or otherwise, any legislation or appropriation by Congress, whether before or after the introduction of any bill or resolution proposing such legislation or appropriation; but this shall not prevent officers or employees of the United States or of its departments or agencies from communicating to members of Congress on the request of any member or to Congress, through the proper official channels, request for legislation or appropriations that they deem necessary for the efficient conduct of the public business.

Authorizing Signatures and Dates:

For:

Name:

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