[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 179 (Friday, September 14, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Page 46703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-19985]



[[Page 46703]]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Natural Resources Conservation Service

[Docket No. NRCS-2018-0006]


Notice of Recommended Standard Methods for Use as Soil Health 
Indicator Measurements

AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Department 
of Agriculture (USDA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of proposed technical note ``Recommended 
Soil Health Indicators and Associated Laboratory Procedures'' for 
public review and comment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the intention of NRCS to issue a 
technical note on a group of recommended standard methods for soil 
health indicators selected by a collaborative multi-organizational 
effort, as described in the document. USDA/NRCS and partner efforts to 
assess soil health problems and impacts of management nationally, as 
part of conservation planning and implementation, will be facilitated 
if soil health indicators are measured using a standard set of methods. 
Soil health is defined as the capacity of the soil to function as a 
vital living ecosystem to sustain plants, animals, and humans. Six key 
soil physical and biological processes were identified that must 
function well in a healthy soil, and therefore would especially benefit 
from measurement methods standardization: (1) Organic matter dynamics 
and carbon sequestration, (2) soil structural stability, (3) general 
microbial activity, (4) C food source, (5) bioavailable N, and (6) 
microbial community diversity. The chosen methods met several criteria 
including indicator effectiveness with respect to management 
sensitivity and process interpretability, ease of use, cost 
effectiveness, measurement repeatability, and ability to be used for 
agricultural management decisions. The soil health indicator methods 
included are soil organic carbon (dry combustion), water-stable 
aggregation (Mikha and Rice, 2004), short-term mineralizable carbon 
(Schindelbeck et al., 2016), four enzymes: [beta]-glucosidase (Deng and 
Popova, 2011), N-acetyl-[beta]-D-glucosaminidase (Deng and Popova, 
2011), acid or alkaline phosphatase (Acosta-Mart[iacute]nez and 
Tabatabai, 2011), and arylsulfatase (Klose et al., 2011), permanganate 
oxidizable carbon (Schindelbeck et al. 2016), autoclaved citrate 
extractable (ACE) protein (Schindelbeck et al. 2016), and phospholipid 
fatty acid analysis (Buyer and Sasser 2012). Standard operating 
procedures to be used in laboratories have been provided in the 
appendices.

DATES: 
    Applicable Date: This is Applicable September 14, 2018.
    Comment Date: Submit comments on or before December 13, 2018. A 
final version of this technical note will be published after the close 
of the 90-day period and after consideration of all comments.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: You may download the draft Technical Note at 
https://go.usa.gov/xUFJE.
    Comments should be submitted, identified by Docket Number NRCS-
2018-0006, using any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing, 
Attention: Regulatory and Agency Policy Team, Strategic Planning and 
Accountability, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 5601 Sunnyside 
Avenue, Building 1-1112D, Beltsville, Maryland 20705.
    NRCS will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. In 
general, personal information provided with comments will be posted. If 
your comment includes your address, phone number, email, or other 
personal identifying information (PII), your comments, including PII, 
may be available to the public. You may ask in your comment that your 
PII be withheld from public view, but this cannot be guaranteed.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Dr. Diane Stott, National Soil Health 
Specialist, Soil Health Division, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Natural Resources Conservation Service, 915 W State Street, West 
Lafayette, IN 47907, [email protected].
    Electronic copies can be downloaded or printed from https://go.usa.gov/xUFJE.
    Requests for paper versions may be directed to: Public Comments 
Processing, Attention: Regulatory and Agency Policy Team, Strategic 
Planning and Accountability, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 
5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Building 1-1112D, Beltsville, Maryland 20705.

    Signed this 28th day of August 2018, in Washington, DC.
Leonard Jordan,
Acting Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-19985 Filed 9-13-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-16-P