Part 601 - NATIONAL COOPERATIVE SOIL SURVEY
ORGANIZATION
CONTENTS
PART
TITLE
PAGE
601.00
Definition .................................................................................................................................... 601-1
601.01
NRCS Organization and Responsibilities ................................................................................... 601-1
(a) NCSS Responsibilities of the Soil Survey Project Office .................................................... 601-1
(b) NCSS Responsibilities of the Resource Soil Scientist ........................................................ 601-1
(c) NCSS Responsibilities of the State Soil Scientist ................................................................ 601-1
(d) NCSS Responsibilities of the MLRA Office ........................................................................ 601-2
(e) NCSS Responsibilities of the Digitizing Units .................................................................... 601-2
(f) NCSS Responsibilities of the Digital Map Finishing Centers ............................................. 601-2
(g) NCSS Responsibilities of the National Cartography and Geospatial Center ...................... 601-2
(h) NCSS Responsibilities of the National Soil Survey Center ................................................ 601-2
(i) NCSS Responsibilities of the National Headquarters ......................................................... 601-3
(430-VI-NSSH, 1999)
i
Part 601 - NATIONAL COOPERATIVE SOIL SURVEY
ORGANIZATION
601.00 Definition.
The National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS)
is a nationwide partnership of Federal, regional,
State, and local agencies and institutions. This
partnership works together to cooperatively
investigate, inventory, document, classify, and
interpret soils and to disseminate, publish, and
promote the use of information about the soils of
the United States and its trust territories. The
activities of the NCSS are carried out on
National, regional, and State levels.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS) is responsible for the leadership of soil
survey activities of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, for the leadership and coordination
of NCSS activities, and for the extension of soil
survey technology to global applications.
Additional information about the NCSS is
given in the NRCS General Manual Title 430,
Part 402.
601.01 NRCS Organization and
Responsibilities.
(a) NCSS Responsibilities of the Soil Survey
Project Office.
-- managing the project soil survey;
-- providing technical direction and training
for soil survey project members;
-- preparing management plans and keeping
the soil survey on schedule;
-- controlling the quality of all phases of the
project soil survey;
-- ensuring the quality of the collection,
description, classification, correlation,
investigation, and interpretation, of all
field soil data;
-- identifying and planning soil investigations;
-- considering the health risks of handling
certain soil samples;
-- preparing soil series descriptions;
-- collecting soil performance data;
-- preparing soil survey technical reports;
-- compiling soil maps for technical reports;
-- developing and maintaining the project soil
database;
-- developing and implementing an active
information program; and
-- evaluating, maintaining, and updating soil
surveys.
(b) NCSS Responsibilities of the Resource
Soil Scientist.
-- assisting with the development,
coordination, and maintenance of field
office technical guides and soil
interpretations;
-- conducting onsite soils investigations
according to agency authorities;
-- evaluating and assisting field offices to
maintain the official record copy of soil
survey information and soil information
systems;
-- providing assistance in the use of soils
information for the implementation of
NRCS programs;
-- providing interdisciplinary input to solve
resource problems;
-- assisting with special soil studies;
-- training NRCS staffs and the public to
understand and utilize soil survey data
and information;
-- assisting with the dissemination of soil
information; and
-- collecting additional site and soil
information on the performance and
behavior of correlated soil map units.
(c) NCSS Responsibilities of the State Soil
Scientist.
-- providing technical soil services to other
staffs and leadership to resource soil
scientists;
-- developing cooperative relationships to
enhance the funding, progress, use and
understanding of soil surveys;
-- serving as liaison to NCSS cooperators and
to the MLRA office;
-- hosting an annual meeting of State NCSS
cooperators to plan and coordinate soil
survey activities and technical soil
services;
(430-VI-NSSH, 1999)
601-2 Part 601 - National Cooperative Soil Survey Organization
-- assisting soil survey users in understanding
and applying soil survey information;
-- coordinating the development of localized
soil interpretations;
-- marketing soil survey information;
-- providing soils training to specialists in
other disciplines;
-- ensuring the technical content, coordination,
and quality of soil information in the field
office technical guides;
-- providing soils input to all NRCS program
activities;
-- assisting in national soil program initiatives;
 --supplementing and distributing a state
subset of the national soil information
system data; and
--providing to the responsible MLRA Office,
layers desired for map finishing in a
compiled or electronic format compatible
with digital map finishing. These include
such layers as hydrography, public land
survey, roads, and recommended cultural
features to be used in the survey.
(d) NCSS Responsibilities of the MLRA
Office.
-- leadership in the production and quality
assurance of soil survey information
including the maintenance and updating
of soil surveys;
-- planning and managing the soil survey
program;
-- providing technical supervision to soil
survey project offices;
-- ensuring the adherence to NCSS standards;
-- classifying, interpreting, correlating, and
joining soils within and between MLRAs;
-- coordinating and maintaining soil series and
soil property and interpretation databases;
-- providing training for soil survey databases
to project offices;
-- providing technical quality assurance to soil
survey technical reports and maps
submitted for printing;
-- editing, formatting, proofreading, and
reviewing text and tables for soil survey
technical reports;
-- coordinating and providing quality assurance
for the map finishing process which may
involve doing the job, or coordinating
with a state, digital map finishing center,
or other entity that does map finishing;
-- providing quality assurance of Soil Survey
Geographic (SSURGO)database and
maintaining the State Soil Geographic
(STATSGO) database, and major land
resource areas;
-- coordinating with State, and National Soil
Survey Center soil scientists and other
disciplines to maintain and improve soil
surveys;
-- securing technical input and review from
other disciplines into soil interpretations
and technical reports;
-- maintaining the national official series
description file and soil classification
files;
-- planning and initiating soil survey
investigations;
-- collecting, analyzing, and interpreting soil
performance and characterization data;
-- ensuring that safety and health
considerations are met; and
-- coordinating regional NCSS conferences.
(e) NCSS Responsibilities for the Digitizing
Units
--digitizing compiled map materials; and
--performing quality control of final digital
data including spatial, tabular, and
metadata.
(f) NCSS Responsibilities of the Digital
Map Finishing Centers
-- electronically preparing soil survey maps for
publication.
(g) NCSS Responsibilities of the National
Cartography and Geospatial Center.
-- acquiring imagery for soil mapping and
technical reports;
-- preparing maps and indices of aerial
photography;
-- preparing orthophotos for halftone
reproduction and lithographic printing;
-- assisting the MLRA office to provide
quality assurance to digital soils spatial
data;
-- providing training in map compilation to
project offices;
-- providing the process, procedures, and the
training to generate map finished
products;
-- providing photographic and reproduction
materials for reports and soil survey
management;
-- preparing map materials for reproduction;
-- assembling proof layouts for printing
technical reports;
-- preparing the finals of locator maps, block
diagrams, general soil maps, and index to
map sheets that are used in soil survey
technical reports;
(430-VI-NSSH, 1999)
Part 601 - National Cooperative Soil Survey Organization 601-3
-- archiving and distributing SSURGO and
STATSGO;
-- assisting with the application of remote
sensing to soil survey; and
-- providing training and assistance with
geographic information systems (GIS).
(h) NCSS Responsibilities of the National
Soil Survey Center.
-- providing leadership to the development of
policy, guidelines, standards, and
procedures for all technical phases of
NCSS work;
-- maintaining and improving the scientific
basis for the NCSS program;
-- maintaining National soil survey standards
included in the National Soil Survey
Handbook, the Soil Survey Manual, Soil
Taxonomy, Soil Survey Laboratory
Methods Manual, and other topical
handbooks for mapping, classification,
interpretation, investigation, laboratory
analysis, and data management;
-- assisting international, national, MLRA, and
local field staffs in soil survey activities;
-- providing training in soil classification,
interpretations, investigations, and data
management;
-- supplementing basic soil survey information
with laboratory and field data on
properties and behavior of soils; and
-- providing new information, concepts,
methods, understanding, and predictions
for soil survey modeling.
(i) NCSS Responsibilities of the National
Headquarters.
-- formulating national policies, guidelines,
and procedures;
-- representing NRCS agency interests to the
NCSS;
-- providing leadership for the Federal part of
NCSS;
-- chairing and coordinating the NCSS and its
activities; and
-- developing and maintaining relationships
and contacts with NCSS cooperators.
(430-VI-NSSH, 1999)