In support of the FY 2023 Exchange Network (EN) Grant cycle, the EPA will host a webinar to help potential applicants better understand the EN grant program and the requirements to apply for an EN assistance agreement. The webinar will be held on Thursday, May 18^th from 2:00-3:30PM ET. Agenda topics will include notable changes from prior EN grant cycles, an overview of available guidance, and common mistakes to avoid. This will be followed by a question-and-answer session with participants; the session will end when all questions have been addressed.
 
Notes on Joining the Webinars:

• The webinars will be given through Microsoft Teams, which can be joined by clicking the link below.
• To enter a meeting, click the link below; you will be prompted to ‘choose your video and audio options’. Select your audio preference (e.g., ‘computer audio’), ensure your camera is turned off, mute yourself, and then click ‘join meeting’.
  • During the call, you can unmute yourself to ask a question by clicking on the microphone icon (top of the screen).
  • Questions can also be typed into the TEAMS ‘Meeting Chat’.

 General Webinar Details and Connection Information:

• Date: Thursday May 18th, 2 – 3:30pm ET
• TEAMS Presentation Link (Recommended Format) –https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_YjA1YzkxNTUtMTdiNC00N2JiLWFjNzItYjU2MmY0OWE5YWQ3%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2288b378b3-6748-4867-acf9-76aacbeca6a7%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%229661eb6a-1eb9-492e-9e70-773c4734909f%22%7d
• Dial-In Option (Audio Only) – Number: 1(202) 991-0477; Conf. ID: 118 046 918#

Please direct any questions to Erin McGown, Exchange Network Grants Acting Program Manager, at [email protected]. The PowerPoint slides from this presentation will posted shortly to the EN website at: https://www.epa.gov/exchangenetwork/exchange-network-grant-program#Resources.

Although not mandatory, EPA would appreciate pre-registration for webinar sessions by sending an email to Aimee Awad ([email protected]) with the participant name(s), organization, and state, tribe, or territory. Please note that EPA will maintain these records internally and they will not be shared with any third parties.

Applicants to the U.S. EPA’s Exchange Network Grant Program can now find optional templates for the cover letter, project narrative, and budget narrative attachment form at www.epa.gov/exchangenetwork/exchange-network-grant-program#Resources and the FY23 EN grant program’s grants.gov listing. Also available to applicants is an optional self-calculating budget tool, new for FY23. This pre-formatted Excel workbook helps correctly categorize project costs, calculate total cost per budget category, and includes an example of a project budget.

General FAQs and Tribal FAQs that answer frequent and previously asked questions from past EN grant webinars are also available on the EN Grants website. Dates for FY23 Exchange Network webinars will be released shortly; please continue to check the Exchange Network Grants website for more details. Applicants are encouraged to carefully review the new FY23 Solicitation Notice, as significant updates have been made since the FY22 version. For a list of some of these changes, please be sure to see the section titled ‘What’s New in the FY23 Solicitation Notice’ as found in the General FAQs.

Please contact [email protected] with questions on accessing or utilizing these optional forms and tools.

As a reminder, EPA only accepts project proposals for Exchange Network grants submitted electronically through Grants.gov, unless applicants have a waiver. Please allow for enough time to successfully submit your application and allow for unexpected errors requiring you to resubmit. EPA anticipates that it will announce selection decisions around August 2023, and tentatively plans to issue awards by October 2023. Applications are due to EPA by 11:59 PM Eastern Time, Friday, June 2^nd, 2023.
 
For more information, please contact:
Erin McGown
EN Grants Program Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Email: [email protected]

U.S. EPA has published the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Exchange Network (EN) Grant Program Solicitation Notice (SN) to Grants.gov. The SN is available here: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347503. Applications are due to EPA by 11:59 PM Eastern Time, Friday, June 2, 2023. Additional guidance tools, including optional fillable templates for the cover letter, project narrative (work plan), and budget narrative attachment form, plus a new budget calculation tool and attachment examples, will soon be made available for applicants on EPA’s Exchange Network Grants website. Applicants are encouraged to carefully review the new FY23 SN, as significant updates have been made since the FY22 version. Information on applicant webinars will be provided shortly.

The purpose of the Exchange Network (EN) grant program is to foster better environmental management and decision-making through increased access to timely, high quality, environmental information. An applicant’s proposed project goals and outputs should align with one or more EN Funding Areas as described in Section I-B of the SN and EPA’s FY 2022-2026 Strategic Plan. Applicants are encouraged to read the full text of the EPA Strategic Plan at:  https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan. 

EPA expects to award 25-35 grants of up to $500,000 each, totaling approximately $9,500,000 in FY23. The exact number of grants awarded will depend on the number of applications submitted to EPA by the application deadline, the amounts of proposed project budgets, and the quality of proposals. Please be aware: award funding thresholds have increased from prior years by $100,000. Individual applicants can now request up to $300,000 and eligible EN partnerships can request up to $500,000.  

EPA only accepts project proposals for EN grants submitted electronically through Grants.gov, unless applicants have a waiver. Please allow for enough time to successfully submit your application and allow for unexpected errors requiring you to resubmit. EPA anticipates that it will announce selection decisions around August 2023, and tentatively plans to issue awards by October 2023. 

For more information, please contact:
Erin McGown
EN Grants Program Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Email: [email protected]

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recently conducted tests in August and September that impacted some agencies that use U.S. EPA’s Shared CROMERR Services (SCS). During these tests, the W3C redirected all internet traffic to its website to use the HTTPS protocol. While those tests have concluded for the time being, W3C indicates that it will eventually implement the change on a permanent basis. For additional information on the W3C’s recent testing, you may read entries in their blog here and here.
 
How does this impact users of SCS?
 
Some partner agencies experienced difficulties connecting to SCS during the W3C’s recent testing. This is because the Web Service Descriptor Language (WSDL) files for SCS include references to resources that are hosted on the W3C website. These references use the HTTP protocol instead of HTTPS. As a result, connectivity to SCS was interrupted for some agencies when the W3C redirected traffic to use HTTPS.
 
How will this issue be remedied?
 
U.S. EPA has revised the SCS WSDL files to use the HTTPS protocol. Testing indicates that this change resolves the connectivity issues with SCS. The updated WSDL files are available now in the SCS DEVELOPMENT and TEST environments (please see the URLs below). EPA plans to also deploy the changes to the SCS PRODUCTION environment on the evening of October 21, 2022.

• https://encromerrdev.epacdxnode.net/shared-cromerr-ws/services/IdentityProofingService2?wsdl
• https://encromerrdev.epacdxnode.net/shared-cromerr-ws/services/MessagingService?wsdl
• https://encromerrdev.epacdxnode.net/shared-cromerr-ws/services/SignatureAndCorService2?wsdl
• https://encromerrdev.epacdxnode.net/shared-cromerr-ws/services/SignatureService2?wsdl
• https://encromerrdev.epacdxnode.net/shared-cromerr-ws/services/IdentityProofingService?wsdl  (limited support/deprecated)
• https://encromerrdev.epacdxnode.net/shared-cromerr-ws/services/SignatureAndCorService?wsdl (limited support/deprecated)
• https://encromerrdev.epacdxnode.net/shared-cromerr-ws/services/SignatureService?wsdl (limited support/deprecated)
• https://encromerrtest.epacdxnode.net/shared-cromerr-ws/services/IdentityProofingService2?wsdl
• https://encromerrtest.epacdxnode.net/shared-cromerr-ws/services/MessagingService?wsdl
• https://encromerrtest.epacdxnode.net/shared-cromerr-ws/services/SignatureAndCorService2?wsdl
• https://encromerrtest.epacdxnode.net/shared-cromerr-ws/services/SignatureService2?wsdl
• https://encromerrtest.epacdxnode.net/shared-cromerr-ws/services/IdentityProofingService?wsdl  (limited support/deprecated)
• https://encromerrtest.epacdxnode.net/shared-cromerr-ws/services/SignatureAndCorService?wsdl (limited support/deprecated)
• https://encromerrtest.epacdxnode.net/shared-cromerr-ws/services/SignatureService?wsdl (limited support/deprecated)

What do I need to do?
 
U.S. EPA recommends that all agencies using Shared CROMERR Services test their use of the WSDLs and report any issues to either the Node Help Desk or Shared CROMERR Help Desk:
 
Exchange Network Help Desk
[email protected]
888-890-1995 ext 2
 
Shared CROMERR Help Desk:
[email protected]
888-890-1995 ext 2
 
Does this issue impact any other services or the Exchange Network?
 
At this time, there is no indication that other services or the Exchange Network will be impacted. EPA and its partners will continue to monitor and test for possible impacts. If your agency experiences any issues or has questions, please contact the Exchange Network Help Desk to report the problem.
 
Exchange Network Help Desk
[email protected]
888-890-1995 ext 2

Partners from the Exchange Network community are invited to provide comments on a set of draft best practices documents produced by the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC). ITRC is a state-led coalition working to reduce barriers to the use of innovative air, water, waste, and remediation environmental technologies and processes. ITRC produces documents and training that broaden and deepen technical knowledge and expedite quality regulatory decision making while protecting human health and the environment.
 
The ITRC Environmental Data Management (EDM) Best Practices Team was formed in early 2021 to address the need for integration and cohesion of data management across environmental disciplines and programs in states, tribes and industry. The team has been hard at work for over a year producing a set of documents and tutorials that focus on the fundamentals of environmental data management. Topic areas included in the team’s work products include:

• Data Exchange
• Data Management Planning
• Data Quality
• Environmental Data Management Systems
• Field Data Collection
• Geospatial Data
• Public Communications and Data Accessibility
• Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)

The team is now requesting External Review of their work products and the reviews are due to the team by COB of July 1, 2022. They welcome any and all comments, whether it is to review the entire set of documents or focus on specific area(s) of interest and expertise. The team also appreciates any additional outreach to other interested parties through your professional affiliations and contacts as you deem appropriate. Feel free to spread the word!
 
The documents are available at https://connect.itrcweb.org/viewdocument/itrc-edm-best-practices-work-produc.Detailed instructions are provided at the beginning of the PDF draft document bundle.
 
Please send comments to: Team Leaders (Douglas Morrison and Brian Pointer) and Program Advisor (Steve Brauner). Thank you in advance for your attention to this request.

U.S. EPA’s Central Data Exchange (CDX) will be performing some planned system maintenance on Friday, June 3, 2022 between 7:00 PM –  9:00 PM Eastern time. During that window, users of the Exchange Network, CDX Web, and Shared CROMERR Services may experience intermittent outages.

Should you have any questions, please contact the Exchange Network Help Desk at 1-888-890-1995 or [email protected]

The Exchange Network Grant Program at EPA is happy to report that the technical issues with the mailbox [email protected] have been resolved. Potential applicants and other stakeholders should resume sending their inquiries about the Exchange Network Grant Program directly to this mailbox. Thank you for your patience as this issue was resolved.

Please note that applications for a FY22 Exchange Network (EN) assistance agreement are due to EPA by 11:59 PM Eastern Time, Sunday, May 1st, 2022. Visit EPA’s EN Grant Program Website for full details and information.

Best,
The Exchange Network Grant Team

The Exchange Network Grant Program at the Environmental Protection Agency is experiencing technical issues with the mailbox [email protected]. Individuals writing to this inbox may receive a response message stating that the email was undeliverable. Any potential applicants experiencing this issue should send inquiries directly to Erin McGown, Acting Exchange Network Grant Program Manager, at [email protected]. EPA will send a follow-up notification when this problem has been resolved.
 
Thank you,
Exchange Network Grant Program

The previously reported connectivity issues affecting the Exchange Network and CROMERR Shared Services have been resolved as of 6:45 PM Eastern on April 4, 2022. Should you have any questions, please contact the Exchange Network Help Desk. Thank you for your patience.

EPA’s Central Data Exchange is currently experiencing connectivity issues that may intermittently impact users of the Exchange Network and Shared CROMERR Services. CDX is working with EPA’s network team and their service provider to resolve the issue. Updates will be shared as they become available. Thank you for your patience.

In support of the FY 2022 Exchange Network (EN) Grant cycle, the EPA will host two webinars to assist interested applicants. The webinars will be held on Wednesday April 6th and Monday April 11th. Each webinar will include the same presentation on the following topics: a brief overview of the EN Grants Program and FY 2022 timeline, critical elements of the Solicitation Notice, notable changes from FY 2021, an overview of new guidance materials and optional templates, and common mistakes to avoid. This will be followed by a question-and-answer session with participants. Please note that the sessions will end when all the participants’ questions have been addressed.
 
Notes on Joining the Webinars

• Note: The webinars will be given through Microsoft Teams, which can be joined by clicking the links provided below. Please note these links are different for each webinar.
• Note: To enter a meeting, click the appropriate link below; you will be prompted to ‘choose your video and audio options’. Select your audio preference (e.g. ‘computer audio’), ensure your camera is turned off, mute yourself, and then click ‘join meeting’.
  • During the call, you can unmute yourself to ask a question by clicking on the microphone icon (top of the screen).
    • Questions can also be typed into the TEAMS ‘Meeting Chat’.  

Webinar Details and Connection Information

Wednesday, April 6th, 3 – 4:30 p.m. ET

• TEAMS Presentation Link (Recommended Format) – https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZTRkNTBmMDQtYTExOC00MWY0LTgyMGQtZjE4ZGViNTA2NTgy%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2288b378b3-6748-4867-acf9-76aacbeca6a7%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22ba29ef8d-9344-44c3-8ef7-94f4fe17adfb%22%7d
• Dial-In Option (Audio Only) – Number: 1(202) 991-0477; Conf. ID: 490 520 552# 

Monday, April 11th, 12:30 – 2:00pm ET

• TEAMS Presentation Link (Recommended Format)- https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_OTA5MDQ5ZTktNjg5MS00MGRmLWI2MzktMzgwY2QzYmYzMDg2%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2288b378b3-6748-4867-acf9-76aacbeca6a7%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22ba29ef8d-9344-44c3-8ef7-94f4fe17adfb%22%7d
• Dial-In Option (Audio Only) Number: 1(202) 991-0477; Conf. ID: 880 993 899#

Please direct any questions to Erin McGown, Exchange Network Grants Acting Program Manager, at [email protected].
 
Although not mandatory, we would appreciate if you would pre-register for webinar sessions by sending an email to Shela Poke-Williams ([email protected]) indicating the session you plan to attend and listing the participant name(s), organization, and state, tribe, or territory. Please note that EPA will maintain these records internally and they will not be shared with any third parties.

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Exchange Network (EN) Grant Program Solicitation Notice (SN) has been published to Grants.gov and is available here: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=338471. Applications are due to EPA by 11:59 PM Eastern Time, Sunday, May 1st, 2022. Additional guidance tools, including optional fillable templates for the cover letter, project narrative (work plan), and budget narrative attachment form, are available for applicants on the EPA EN Grant Program website. Applicants are encouraged to carefully review the new FY22 SN, as significant updates have been made since the FY21 version. Information on applicant webinars will be provided shortly.

The purpose of the Exchange Network (EN) grant program is to foster better environmental management and decision-making through increased access to timely, high quality, environmental information. An applicant’s proposed project goals and outputs should align with one or more EN Funding Areas as described in Section I-B of the SN and EPA’s Draft FY 2022-2026 Strategic Plan (Draft Plan). Applicants are encouraged to read the full text of the Draft Plan at: 
https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-10/fy-2022-2026-epa-draft-strategic-plan.pdf. 

EPA expects to award 20-30 grants of up to $400,000 each, totaling approximately $8,000,000 in FY22. Most awards will be in the $50,000 to $200,000 range. The exact number of grants will depend on the number of applications submitted to EPA by the application deadline, the amounts of proposed project budgets, and the quality of proposals. 

EPA only accepts project proposals for EN grants submitted electronically through Grants.gov, unless applicants have a waiver. Please allow for enough time to successfully submit your application and allow for unexpected errors requiring you to resubmit. EPA anticipates that it will announce selection decisions around August 2022, and tentatively plans to issue awards by October 2022. 

For more information, please contact:
Erin McGown
EN Grants Program Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
E: [email protected]

As previously reported in August and September, the U.S. EPA Central Data Exchange (CDX) plans to perform system migrations on several PRODUCTION Exchange Network services beginning this Friday, October 15, 2021 at 5:00 PM. This follows the migration of the same services in the TEST environment that took place during the weekend of September 24th. 

• PRODUCTION MIGRATION WINDOW – Friday, October 15, 2021, 5:00 PM ET to Monday, October 18, 2021, 8:00 AM ET.

What will be the Impact to Partner Agencies?
During the planned migration window, users of the Exchange Network and CDX Web services listed below will experience outages. Please plan accordingly and schedule any transactions outside of these windows. As part of this migration, some services will be assigned new IP addresses. IMPORTANT: Partner agencies with strict firewall rules may need to adjust those rules to allow traffic from the new IP addresses in order to continue accessing the services. Please see below for the new IP addresses for each service in the PRODUCTION environment.  
 
All URLs for the impacted services listed below will remain the same as they are today.
 
What Services will be Impacted?
The services listed below will be migrated to a new PRODUCTION environment. The services marked with ** will also be assigned new IP addresses for inbound and outbound traffic as indicated below.

• **CDX Next Generation Node (NGN)
  See New IP Addresses Below
• **CDX .Net Node
  See New IP Addresses Below
• **Exchange Network Services Center (ENSC)
  See New IP Addresses Below
• **Exchange Network Discovery Service (ENDS)
  See New IP Addresses Below
• Shared CROMERR Services (SCS)
  No impact to current IP address
• CDX Web
  No impact to current IP address

 
New IP Addresses – PRODUCTION
These new IP addresses will be effective in the PRODUCTION environment after the planned migration during the weekend of October 15, 2021.
 
Traffic going TO the PRODUCTION NGN and .Net Node/ENDS/ENSC will go to the same IP address as the production NAAS:
204.47.254.197
 
Traffic coming FROM the PRODUCTION NGN and .Net Node/ENDS/ENSC will be from one of the following IPs at random (Note: these are the same as in TEST):
134.67.179.44
134.67.179.45
134.67.179.46
134.67.179.47
161.80.1.160
161.80.1.161
161.80.1.162
161.80.1.163
 
Please adjust your agency’s firewall rules accordingly.
 
Have Questions?
Please direct any questions or concerns to the Exchange Network Help Desk:

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 1-888-890-1995 (Select Option 1 and then Option 5 from the menu) 
  Available 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM Eastern

As reported on August 20, the U.S. EPA Central Data Exchange (CDX) plans to perform system migrations on several Exchange Network services beginning this Friday, September 24. The migrations will happen first in the TEST environment and then in the PRODUCTION environment. The planned dates for these migrations are:

• TEST – Friday, September 24, 2021, 5:00 PM ET to Monday, September 27, 2021, 8:00 AM ET.
• PRODUCTION – Friday, October 15, 2021, 5:00 PM ET to Monday, October 18, 2021, 8:00 AM ET.

 
What will be the Impact to Partner Agencies?
During these planned migration windows, users of the Exchange Network and CDX Web services listed below will experience outages. Please plan accordingly and schedule any transactions outside of these windows. As part of this migration, some services will be assigned new IP addresses. IMPORTANT: Partner agencies with strict firewall rules may need to adjust those rules to allow traffic from the new IP addresses in order to continue accessing the services. Please see below for the new IP addresses for each service in the TEST and PRODUCTION environments.  
 
All URLs for the impacted services listed below will remain the same as they are today.
 
What Services will be Impacted?
The services listed below will be migrated to a new environment in both TEST and PRODUCTION. The services marked with ** will also be assigned new IP addresses for inbound and outbound traffic as indicated below.

• **CDX Next Generation Node (NGN)
  See New IP Addresses Below
• **CDX .Net Node
  See New IP Addresses Below
• **Exchange Network Services Center (ENSC)
  See New IP Addresses Below
• **Exchange Network Discovery Service (ENDS)
  See New IP Addresses Below
• Shared CROMERR Services (SCS)
  No impact to current IP address
• CDX Web
  No impact to current IP address

 
New IP Addresses – TEST
These new IP addresses will be effective in the TEST environment after the planned migration on September 24, 2021.
 
Traffic going TO the TEST NGN and .Net Node/ENDS/ENSC will go to the same IP address as the test NAAS:
204.47.254.135
 
Traffic coming FROM the TEST NGN and .Net Node/ENDS/ENSC will be from one of the following IPs (at random):
134.67.179.44
134.67.179.45
134.67.179.46
134.67.179.47
161.80.1.160
161.80.1.161
161.80.1.162
161.80.1.163
 
Please adjust your agency’s firewall rules accordingly.
 
 
New IP Addresses – PRODUCTION
These new IP addresses will be effective in the PRODUCTION environment after the planned migration on October 15, 2021.
 
Traffic going TO the PRODUCTION NGN and .Net Node/ENDS/ENSC will go to the same IP address as the production NAAS:
204.47.254.197
 
Traffic coming FROM the PRODUCTION NGN and .Net Node/ENDS/ENSC will be from one of the following IPs at random (Note: these are the same as in TEST):
134.67.179.44
134.67.179.45
134.67.179.46
134.67.179.47
161.80.1.160
161.80.1.161
161.80.1.162
161.80.1.163
 
Please adjust your agency’s firewall rules accordingly.
 
Have Questions?
Please direct any questions or concerns to the Exchange Network Help Desk:

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 1-888-890-1995 (Select Option 1 and then Option 5 from the menu) 
  Available 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM Eastern

The U.S. EPA Central Data Exchange (CDX) plans to perform system migrations on several Exchange Network services in the coming weeks. These migrations will happen first in the TEST environment and then in the PRODUCTION environment. The planned dates for these migrations are:

• TEST – Friday, September 24, 2021, 5:00 PM ET to Monday, September 27, 2021, 8:00 AM ET.
• PRODUCTION – Friday, October 15, 2021, 5:00 PM ET to Monday, October 18, 2021, 8:00 AM ET.

 
What will be the Impact to Partner Agencies?
During these planned migration windows, users of the Exchange Network and CDX Web services listed below will experience outages. Please plan accordingly and schedule any transactions outside of these windows. As part of this migration, some services will be assigned new IP addresses. IMPORTANT: Partner agencies with strict firewall rules may need to adjust those rules to allow traffic from the new IP addresses in order to continue accessing the services. Please see below for the new IP addresses for each service in the TEST and PRODUCTION environments.  
 
All URLs for the impacted services listed below will remain the same as they are today.
 
What Services will be Impacted?
The services listed below will be migrated to a new environment in both TEST and PRODUCTION. The services marked with ** will also be assigned new IP addresses for inbound and outbound traffic as indicated below.

• **CDX Next Generation Node (NGN)
  See New IP Addresses Below
• **CDX .Net Node
  See New IP Addresses Below
• **Exchange Network Services Center (ENSC)
  See New IP Addresses Below
• **Exchange Network Discovery Service (ENDS)
  See New IP Addresses Below
• Shared CROMERR Services (SCS)
  No impact to current IP address
• CDX Web
  No impact to current IP address

 
New IP Addresses – TEST
These new IP addresses will be effective in the TEST environment after the planned migration on September 24, 2021.
 
Traffic going TO the TEST NGN and .Net Node/ENDS/ENSC will go to the same IP address as the test NAAS:
204.47.254.135
 
Traffic coming FROM the TEST NGN and .Net Node/ENDS/ENSC will be from one of the following IPs (at random):
134.67.179.44
134.67.179.45
134.67.179.46
134.67.179.47
161.80.1.160
161.80.1.161
161.80.1.162
161.80.1.163
 
Please adjust your agency’s firewall rules accordingly.
 
 
New IP Addresses – PRODUCTION
These new IP addresses will be effective in the PRODUCTION environment after the planned migration on October 15, 2021.
 
Traffic going TO the PRODUCTION NGN and .Net Node/ENDS/ENSC will go to the same IP address as the production NAAS:
204.47.254.197
 
Traffic coming FROM the PRODUCTION NGN and .Net Node/ENDS/ENSC will be from one of the following IPs at random (Note: these are the same as in TEST):
134.67.179.44
134.67.179.45
134.67.179.46
134.67.179.47
161.80.1.160
161.80.1.161
161.80.1.162
161.80.1.163
 
Please adjust your agency’s firewall rules accordingly.
 
Have Questions?
Please direct any questions or concerns to the Exchange Network Help Desk:

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 1-888-890-1995 (Select Option 1 and then Option 5 from the menu) 
  Available 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM Eastern

Over the weekend of July 23rd, the U.S. EPA’s Central Data Exchange (CDX) core services migrated to a new database platform. Beginning the morning of July 26th, performance issues began manifesting for some users when interacting with the CDX Next Generation Node (NGN), Exchange Network Services Center (ENSC), and Exchange Network Discovery Service (ENDS). Initial tuning attempts provided limited relief. On the evening of Wednesday, July 28th configuration changes were made to alleviate the widespread performance issues.

As of the evening of August 2nd, there are no known widespread performance issues impacting Exchange Network services, and the situation continues to be actively monitored.

If you have any questions or need to report an issue, please contact [email protected].

This is a reminder that the EPA will host a FY 2021 EN Grant Applicant Feedback session to support the development and planning of the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Exchange Network (EN) grant cycle and solicitation notice. This session will be held this Thursday July 29^th from 3:00 – 4:30 PM Eastern Time. The EPA will be asking for general feedback on the clarity and usability of the EN Solicitation Notice (SN), as well as seeking feedback on the available funding opportunities within the Notice, the applicant guidance appendices and optional templates, and the inclusion of the E-Enterprise Digital Strategy guiding principles.

The discussion on the SN will be followed by an open feedback session with participants on the call, in which they can provide comments or thoughts on any aspect of the EN Grant Program.

If you aren’t able to join this meeting, but would like to provide feedback on the FY’21 EN Grant Solicitation Notice or the application process, please email your comments to Erin McGown at [email protected] before August 5^th, 2021.

Session Connection Information:

Thursday, July 29th, 2021, 3:00 – 4:30pm ET

• TEAMS Presentation Link (Recommended Format): Click here to join the meeting
• Dial-In Option (Audio Only) Number: +1 202-991-0477; Conference ID: 643 615 68#

Please direct any questions to Erin McGown, at [email protected].

Although not mandatory, we would also appreciate if you would pre-register for the session by sending an email to Shela Poke-Williams ([email protected]) indicating your organization, name(s), and state, tribe, or territory. Please note that EPA will maintain these records internally and they will not be shared with any third parties.

The U.S. EPA Central Data Exchange (CDX) will be performing system maintenance from Friday, July 23, 2021, 6:00 PM ET to Monday, July 26, 2021, 8:00 AM ET. Users of the Exchange Network and CDX Web will experience intermittent service outages during that planned maintenance window. Shared CROMERR Services are not expected to be impacted. Please plan accordingly and schedule any transactions outside of the maintenance window. 

Please direct any questions to the Exchange Network Help Desk:

• Email: [email protected]
   
• Phone: 1-888-890-1995 (Select Option 1 and then Option 5 from the menu) 
  Available 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM Eastern

To support the development and planning of the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Exchange Network (EN) grant cycle and solicitation notice, the EPA will host a FY 2021 EN Grant Applicant Feedback session. This session will be held on Thursday July 29^th from 3:00 – 4:30 PM Eastern Time. The EPA will be asking for general feedback on the clarity and usability of the EN Solicitation Notice (SN), as well as seeking feedback on the available funding opportunities within the Notice, the applicant guidance appendices and optional templates, and the inclusion of the E-Enterprise Digital Strategy guiding principles.

The discussion on the SN will be followed by an open feedback session with participants on the call, in which they can provide comments or thoughts on any aspect of the EN Grant Program.

If you aren’t able to join this meeting, but would like to provide feedback on the FY’21 EN Grant Solicitation Notice or the application process, please email your comments to Erin McGown at [email protected] before August 5^th, 2021.

Session Connection Information:

Thursday, July 29th, 2021, 3:00 – 4:30pm ET

• TEAMS Presentation Link (Recommended Format): Click here to join the meeting
• Dial-In Option (Audio Only) Number: +1 202-991-0477; Conference ID: 643 615 68#

Please direct any questions to Erin McGown, at [email protected].

Although not mandatory, we would also appreciate if you would pre-register for the session by sending an email to Shela Poke-Williams ([email protected]) indicating your organization, name(s), and state, tribe, or territory. Please note that EPA will maintain these records internally and they will not be shared with any third parties.

As announced on May 6, 2021, U.S. EPA is migrating Shared CROMERR Services (SCS) to a new hosting environment. After a successful migration of the TEST environment on May 14, EPA will move the PRODUCTION environment on June 4, 2021. 

Details

Users of SCS can expect the service to be offline beginning at 9:00 PM Eastern on Friday June 4, 2021. Service will be restored prior to 8:00 AM Eastern on Monday, June 7, 2021.

No SCS services endpoints will change after the migration. All endpoints will remain as follows:

• Dev endpoint – https://encromerrdev.epacdxnode.net
• Test endpoint – https://encromerrtest.epacdxnode.net
• Production endpoint – https://encromerr.epa.gov

All IP addresses WILL change after the migration.

IMPORTANT: IP ADDRESS CHANGES MAY REQUIRE PARTNERS TO ADJUST FIREWALL RULES TO ACCESS SCS SERVICES.

The new IP addresses will be:

• DEV: 40.71.227.82 (in effect as of May 14)
• TEST: 204.47.254.135 (in effect as of May 14)
• PROD: 204.47.254.197 (in effect starting on June 7)

U.S. EPA recommends testing SCS services in each of the respective environments based on the dates above to ensure no firewall changes are required.
 
Shared CROMERR Services Help Desk 
If you experience any difficulties or have questions, please contact the Shared CROMERR Services Help Desk.

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 1-888-890-1995 (Select Option 1 and then Option 5 from the menu) 
  Available 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time