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NSSH Amendment 16

May 2008

This is a summary of changes to the National Soil Survey Handbook (NSSH). All of the changes for this amendment were made to reflect discussions regarding the MLRA Soil Survey restructuring plan that took place at the State Soil Scientist meeting, March 17-21, 2008 at Florence, KY. The official copy of the NSSH is in HTML format and MSWord files at http://soils.usda.gov/technical/handbook/.

NSSH 601 – National Cooperative Soil Survey Organization

  1. Revised discussion of roles and responsibilities to include: developing long range, project, and annual plans; as well as leadership and participation on MLRA Soil Survey Area Technical Teams and Management Teams.

NSSH 606 – Working Agreements

  1. Minor revisions stating that quality control activities are the responsibility of the MLRA Soil Survey Office.

NSSH 608 – Program Management

  1. Added new exhibits:
    • 608-3 Example of Needs Identified For a MLRA Soil Survey Area Long Range Plan
    • 608-4 Example of a Project Evaluation Ranking Procedure
    • 608-5 Example of a Project Plan
       
  2. Revised discussion of roles and responsibilities to include: developing long range, project, and annual plans; as well as leadership and participation on MLRA Soil Survey Area Technical Teams and Management Teams.
     
  3. State that the MLRA Soil Survey Office is responsible for providing quality control activities for any satellite offices in their area.
     
  4. Added descriptions of the MLRA Soil Survey Area Technical Team and MLRA Soil Survey Area Management Team.

NSSH 609 – Quality Control, Quality Assurance, and Soil Correlation

  1. Minor revisions (similar to those listed above) to reflect MLRA Soil Survey restructure.

NSSH 610 – Updating Soil Surveys

  1. Updated roles and responsibilities to better reflect MLRA Soil Survey restructure.
     
  2. New exhibit 610-3 Example of a Soil Survey Implementation Guide.
     
  3. Revisions to 610.02 to reflect recommended contents for a Soil Survey Implementation Guide.
     
  4. Revise 610.04 to better address Long Range Plans and Project Plans.
     
  5. Added information to 610.07 Certification of Soils Data.

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