Curt Sumner hosts meeting at NSPS Headquarters with Ukrainian Delegation

Curt Sumner hosted a meeting on September 26 with 7 Ukrainian Land Management and Planning Officials. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the policies and procedures for land use in the United States, including the practice of surveying.

Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) Introduces Digital Coast Act

NSPS is pleased to announce the Senate introduction of a bill, S. 2890, authorizing a full "Digital Coast" program in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  The bill would create a coordinated and comprehensive national mapping effort for coastal, Great Lakes, and territorial waters of the United States.  Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced the "Digital Coast Act of 2014" on September 18. The "Digital Coast" is a geospatially enabled project to improve coordination and support work with stakeholders to identify geospatial priorities; improve coordination of coastal mapping and management activities; use standards and standardized methods for data acquisition, processing, and distribution 

NSPS Stolen Equipment Registry

NSPS Stolen Equipment Registry

You may not be aware that NSPS offers a registry for any NSPS member to use for listing stolen equipment, and for members to check if they are approached to purchase equipment from unknown sources. Anyone wishing to utilize the NSPS registry can access it by using the link, http://www.nsps.us.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=676&parentID=525&nodeID=2.

Nevada Governor Sandoval Requests NSPS Help

On September 18, NSPS lobbyist John "JB" Byrd met with Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval (R) in Washington, DC, where the Governor asked if NSPS could assist in identifying a land surveyor to fill vacancy on the state licensing board. Byrd committed to prompt action to meet the Governor’s request and contacted the NSPS Governor/Director for the Nevada Association of Land Surveyors (NALS) to inquire whether it had initiated the process of nominating a candidate for the Governor's consideration. This is an example of how NSPS and its national government affairs program proactively represents and benefits state surveying societies.

NSPS Executive Director Speaks to Penn State Wilkes-Barre Students

On Thursday September 18, Curt Sumner, LS traveled to the Penn State Wilkes-Barre campus to speak with students enrolled in the school’s Surveying Engineering program. Instructor of Surveying Engineering, Brian Naberezny, arranged for the visit as part of the program’s fall Surveying Seminar course. Sumner spoke about professionalism in the practice of surveying, stressing that the term relates to one’s conduct, and approach to service to clients and the public, rather than having been automatically bestowed by virtue of specific credentials that are based primarily on knowledge of a subject.

Approximately 60 students are currently enrolled in the four-year Surveying Engineering program at Penn State Wilkes-Barre.

NCEES Annual Meeting Actions

Among the actions taken during the recent (August 21-22) NCEES annual business meetings, three are of particular interest to the surveying profession. Two of the three are reported on the NCEES website, and are related to the NCEES Model Law prerequisite education and experience requirements for licensure as a professional engineers. The third action (unfortunately not reported on the NCEES website) relates to a motion which was briefly discussed during the Surveyors Forum, but introduced individually during the business meeting by Richard Smith who sits on the New Jersey licensing board. The basic gist to the motion is that the NCEES Model Law should not include an “exception” for what are known as “engineering surveys”. Smith argued that in order for licensed professional engineers to perform “incidental” surveying that is related to engineering projects they undertake, they must meet the education, experience, and examination requirements for licensure as a professional surveyor. Several other surveyor board members spoke on the issue, and a couple of amendments were offered. Some of the comments pointed out that education leading to licensure as a professional engineer includes virtually no components related to the practice of surveying. In the end, though, the concept failed by a significant margin.

NSPS News & Views hopes to be able to provide more in depth information about this matter in future editions.

GPS Adjacent Band Compatibility Assessment Workshop

The Department of Transportation's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology has posted a Federal Register Notice (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-08-12/pdf/2014-18971.pdf) of its intent to hold a "GPS Adjacent Band Compatibility Assessment Workshop" on September 18, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

This workshop is open to the general public by registration only.  For those who would like to attend the workshop in person or via WebEx, registration is requested no later than September 4, 2014. Please send the registration information to stephen.mackey@dot.gov providing: Name; Organization; Telephone number; Mailing and email addresses; Attendance method (WebEx or on site); Country of citizenship.

The physical location for the meetings is the U.S. Department of Transportation, John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, 55 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02142.  Identification will be required at the entrance of Volpe Center facility (Passport, state ID, or Federal ID).

Discussion at this workshop will focus on the various implementation steps of the GPS Adjacent Band Compatibility Assessment, including development of GPS receiver use cases, identification of representative GPS receivers, and development of a test and analysis program. In particular, emphasis will be placed on the information needed from GPS receiver and antenna manufacturers, and the logistics of procuring and handling that information to safeguard manufacturer proprietary data.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen M. Mackey, U.S. Department of Transportation, John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, RVT- 75, Cambridge, MA 02142, Stephen.Mackey@dot.gov, Telephone: 617-494-2753.