Guidance for Implementation of the Resource Use Designation and Determination Areas (RUDD) Data Standard
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240–0036
http://www.blm.gov
December 21, 2018
In Reply Refer To:
8342 (250) P
EMS TRANSMISSION 12/21/2018
Instruction Memorandum No. 2019-022
Expires: 09/30/2022
To: All Field Office Officials
From: Assistant Director, Resources and Planning
Subject: Guidance for Implementation of the Resource Use Designation and Determination Areas (RUDD) Data Standard
DD: 09/30/2019
Program Area: Resource Management Planning
Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) provides guidance and direction for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) staff at state offices (SO), field offices, and district offices to implement the new Resource Use Determinations and Designations (RUDD) data standard. The RUDD data standard will assist the BLM in improving plan development and spatial tracking of designations and determinations made in planning efforts, and must be used when developing, amending, or maintaining digital spatial information on Resource Management Plans (RMPs).
Administravite or Mission Related: Mission
Policy/Action: This IM establishes the RUDD data standard for the BLM, and instructs state offices to implement the requirements as applied to resource use determinations and planning level designations. The SO must complete the steps needed to implement the RUDD data standard in accordance with the date ranges listed in the following table, and all datasets that are part of phases I and II must be completed by September 30, 2019. Additionally, SOs must implement the new data standard and update the data set regularly as information changes. The National Operations Center (NOC) and Washington Office (WO) will complete the quality assurance for the data from each state.
To reduce the impact of the RUDD data standard implementation on the state and field offices, the WO and NOC utilized recent WO fluid minerals data call information and other existing land use plan datasets such as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, to compile phase I of the RUDD data standard migration. The existing data were then incorporated into the new RUDD data standard with support from the WO, NOC, and geospatial data contractors. Going forward, the data will be checked for accuracy and quality by the WO data stewards at each step of the migration process. The final result of this process will be a RUDD dataset ready for implementation for each state.
Phase II is a request for existing geospatial data at the state, district, or field office level to be migrated into the RUDD standard. Each SO must migrate the current resource area data to the RUDD national data standard in accordance with the schedule listed in the table below.
|
Phase |
Schedule |
Responsibility |
|
I - ACECs, Fluid Minerals, Lands and Realty. |
Completed |
These datasets have already been compiled nationally by the NOC through previously issued data calls. The NOC will return to the states for verification. |
|
II - Resource Use Allocation Initial Priorities-
|
1 month each
Jan. 31, 2019 Feb. 28, 2019 Mar. 31, 2019
Apr. 30, 2019 May 31, 2019
June 30, 2019
July 31, 2019
Aug. 30, 2019 Sept. 30, 2019 |
SO
WO/NOC will send schema to states; states will populate;
SO will be responsible for updating data in future. |
|
III – Resource Use Allocation 1. Wildland Fire Management 2. Forestry |
TBD |
WO/NOC will send schema to states; states will populate;
SO will be responsible for updating data in future. |
|
IV – Congressional & Executive Designations |
TBD |
WO/NOC will send schema to states; states will populate. |
|
V - Resources |
TBD |
WO/NOC |
Timeframe: The RUDD Data Standard is effective immediately and must be used when developing, amending, or maintaining digital information on the designations and land use determinations made in plans. All existing data predating this IM shall be incorporated into the new geodatabase by the date listed in the table. Older resource use area related data that are not managed in a geospatial format should be migrated into this data standard when possible, but digitization of legacy data is not required as a part of this directive.
Budget Impact: Planning data management and maintenance is considered base program workload and the overall impact to budgets will be minimal.
Background: National corporate data standard and database development is recognized by the Director and the Executive Leadership Team as a critical component to facilitate bureau-wide comprehensive data management and increase efficiency in dealing with information at all levels of the BLM. A national BLM RUDD data standard is essential for collecting the geospatial data necessary to identify management opportunities and challenges and support national level reporting and analysis. A national BLM RUDD data standard is part of BLM’s planning and NEPA streamlining efforts in support of Secretarial Order Number 3355.
The RUDD data standard will capture resource use determinations and planning level designations for all resources in a standardized geospatial dataset. Three datasets have been compiled as part of the completed Phase I including, ACECs, Fluid Minerals, and Land Tenure. These datasets will need to be incorporated and maintained in keeping with the standard presented for RUDD during phase II. Phase II will primarily consist of migrating data for other priority resource uses, which include program areas that are well documented and defined in the planning process. For programs with existing data standards based on program policy and guidance for planning designations and determinations, the RUDD data standard will not replace those data standards, but rather reference the existing data contained in those more detailed program specific national data standards.
Currently, these resource use determinations are created at a field or district office level in conjunction with the development of a Resource Management Plan. These data are not standardized and cannot be aggregated nationally. The RUDD data standard should be used throughout the planning process. As alternatives are developed, they should be mapped to the RUDD data standard, and incorporated into the national dataset after the signing of the Record of Decision. The goal is for resource use determinations and planning level designations to be used in the public comment process, and to help drive any adjustments to decision making at the preliminary alternatives, draft, and final stages of the planning process.
To support the development of the BLM corporate data standard for RUDD, a team of subject matter experts with representatives from field offices, state offices, Washington Office, and the NOC collaborated to identify the BLM’s requirements for RUDD. These requirements in the form of a corporate data standard must be used by all field offices to collect, manage, and maintain RUDD data.
Access the RUDD Implementation Guide, RUDD Domains Document, and RUDD Geodatabase XML at the following location: teamspace/sites/blmnds/Established%20Data%20Standards/
Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: This IM supplements the guidance contained in the BLM’s Land Use Planning Handbook (H-1610-1).
Coordination: This IM was coordinated between the Division of Decision Support, Planning, and NEPA (WO-210) and the National Operation Center, Division of Resource Support (OC-535). WO-210 also coordinated with all WO-200 and WO-300 Divisions and the Fire Planning and Fuels Management Division, FA-600 for program specific information and guidance.
Contacts: For questions regarding data standards, implementation of the standard or migrating existing data into the geodatabase, contact Tom Chatfield, NOC Data Standards Implementation Manager, OC-535 at 303-236-1936; Ryan Hathaway, Planning and Environmental Coordinator at 202-912-7289; or Patrick Mahoney, Geospatial Program Manager, WO-210 at 202-407-0422.
Signed By: Authenticated By:
Kristin Bail Ambyr Fowler
Assistant Director Business Resources, WO-850
Resources and Planning