Sinkhole Mapping Act of 2025

The bill would require the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey to establish a program with two core tasks: studying the short- and long-term causes of sinkholes — including extreme storms, prolonged drought, aquifer depletion, and major shifts in water use — and developing maps that show which zones face elevated risk of sinkhole formation. The maps must use three-dimensional elevation data already being collected under the National Landslide Preparedness Act. The USGS Director would also be required to maintain a public website displaying the maps and other information useful to community planners and emergency managers, and to review and update the maps at least once every five years.

The program is subject to the availability of advance appropriations, meaning no funding is guaranteed by the bill itself. The bill does not set specific timelines for when initial maps must be completed, nor does it mandate any land-use restrictions or local zoning changes based on the maps.

State and local emergency managers, community planners, and government agencies that rely on hazard data for land-use and emergency preparedness decisions — particularly in sinkhole-prone states like Florida, Texas, and others with karst geology. The USGS would carry out the program, and members of the public could access maps through the new website.

Communities in sinkhole-prone areas currently lack consistent, nationally standardized risk maps. If enacted, local planners and emergency managers would gain a federally maintained, publicly accessible resource to identify at-risk zones, potentially informing where homes, roads, and infrastructure are built and how emergency responses are planned in vulnerable areas.

The USGS Director would stand up the program, drawing on 3D elevation data already collected under the National Landslide Preparedness Act rather than building a new data-collection system from scratch. Maps would be developed and posted to a public website that the agency would maintain on an ongoing basis. The Director must review each map at least once per five-year cycle — or more frequently if deemed necessary — to assess whether revisions are warranted. No rulemaking process is specified; implementation is an internal agency function, contingent on Congress providing appropriations.