EPA is pleased to announce that version 5.4 of the RCRAInfo Data Exchange is now available at https://www.exchangenetwork.net/data-exchange/rcrainfo/. Partners use the Exchange Network to submit data to EPA’s RCRAInfo system, the national program management and inventory system for hazardous waste handlers.

For more information, please contact EPA’s Lori Furr at furr.lori [at] epa.gov.

Lori Furr
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 703.605.0596
E: furr.lori [at] epa.gov

EPA is pleased to announce that version 2.4 of the Beach Notification schema has been approved and is now available at https://www.exchangenetwork.net/data-exchange/beach-notification.

The Beach Notification data exchange allows for the reporting of beach meta data, contact information, and beach advisory and closing data. Version 2.4 can be used now and will be required for reporting 2017 Beach Season data.

For more information, please contact EPA’s Bill Kramer at kramer.bill [at] epa.gov.

Bill Kramer
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.0385
E: kramer.bill [at] epa.gov

The Exchange Network and E-Enterprise community convene EN/EE Open Calls to increase information sharing among Partners. These calls are an opportunity for the community to gather and discuss topics of interest.

The next Open Call, to be held November 30, 2016, at 2:30pm ET, is entitled Tools for First Responders: Washington State’s EPCRA App and the Homeland Emergency Response Exchange Data Flow.

During the first half of the Open Call, Ken Zarker and David Sage, Washington Department of Ecology, will address Washington State’s Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) App. Available for both Android and iOS, this first-of-a-kind mobile app allows authorized fire departments or other emergency responders to access EPCRA data directly from Washington Department of Ecology’s database. The app has been downloaded more than 500 times by first responders.

Next, Pat McDermott, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, will discuss the Homeland Emergency Response Exchange (HERE) data exchange. HERE allows Partners involved in emergency response planning and implementation to share available environmental, health, and natural resource information. Using the HERE flow, emergency planners can quickly identify potential dangers posed by chemical inventories or hazardous waste storage, allowing response teams to assess threats to drinking water infrastructure or other environmental interests.

To participate in the Open Call, please pre-register at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1425174156444612868.

Note that we are using GoToWebinar® for the Open Call. Participants will enter the audio portion muted. To participate in the Q and A, please join the conversation via phone and enter the audio pin that appears on your GoToWebinar dashboard. If you must use your computer audio, please ensure you have a headset and speaker.

For more information or to suggest topics for future EN/EE Open Calls, please contact Lynn Capuano at lynn [at] exchangenetwork.net.

Lynn Capuano
E-Enterprise/Exchange Network Coordinator
P: 516.744.0307
E: lynn [at] exchangenetwork.net

December 12, 2016, Update: 

Two PowerPoint presentations with more information on the EPCRA App, are available for download below:

Presentation 1   

Presentation 2

The Reusable Component Services (RCS) is a central registry for Exchange Network Partners to share information about available technical resources. RCS provides metadata about technical resources available to developers, such as web services, schema, widgets, and other tools. The information in RCS promotes sharing and reuse of resources, whether from direct use or from information sharing, resulting in standardization across environmental applications. RCS is a component of the centralized System of Registries (SoR), which provides access to a set of registry systems.

Available at https://www.exchangenetwork.net/data-exchange/rcs/, the new Version 1.1 of the RCS data exchange allows Partners to use web services to access data from RCS. Service queries pull standardized information about all resources matching a particular resource type.

John Harman
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.0748
E: harman.john [at] epa.gov

Planning is well underway for EN2017! The 2017 Exchange Network National Meeting will be held May 16-18, 2017, in Philadelphia. The EN2017 Program Committee is currently accepting abstracts for proposed presentations. If you would like to deliver a presentation, we would love to hear from you!

The theme for the 2017 National Meeting is Innovation and Partnership. During the Meeting, we will be exploring examples of:

• How innovation can cross Federal, State, Territorial, and Tribal boundaries;
• How working creatively together as Partners can identify innovative solutions;
• How Partnerships are the new “best practice”; and
• How we can all employ innovation in our daily work.

If you are interested in presenting, please email a concise description of your proposed presentation to Greg McNelly at gmcnelly [at] ecos.org by December 1, 2016. Complete instructions, an example presentation proposal, and key dates for all EN2017 Presenters are available at https://www.exchangenetwork.net/en2017-presenters-instructions/. Your participation will help us make EN2017 the best National Meeting yet!

For all the latest information about EN2017, please visit https://www.exchangenetwork.net/en2017, subscribe to EN Alerts, and follow @Ex_Network on Twitter (#EN2017).

Connie Dwyer, EN2017 Tri-Chair
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.1691
E: dwyer.connie [at] epa.gov

Frank Harjo, EN2017 Tri-Chair
Muscogee (Creek) Nation
P: 918.549.2510
E: fharjo [at] mcn-nsn.gov

Victoria Phillips, EN2017 Tri-Chair
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
P: 617.292.5956
E: victoria.phillips [at] state.ma.us

The FY 2017 National Environmental Information Exchange Network (EN) Grant Program applications are due to EPA by November 18, 2016. The Solicitation Notice is available at https://www.epa.gov/exchangenetwork/exchange-network-grant-program.

EPA only accepts project proposals for EN assistance agreements submitted electronically through Grants.gov, unless applicants have a waiver.

For more information, please contact EPA’s Salena Reynolds at reynolds.salena [at] epa.gov.

Salena Reynolds
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.0466
E: reynolds.salena [at] epa.gov

The Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), on behalf of the E-Enterprise for the Environment Initiative, is seeking a contractor to aid in the development of an Inventory of State, Tribal, and Territorial Profiles to help partners more strategically plan and collaborate within the E-Enterprise model. The contractor will provide project management and web development services that will lead to the deployment and management of a web-based tool to share, display, and update the collected partner profiles.

ECOS’ Request for Proposals is available at http://www.ecos.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/ECOS_EE_Inventory_RFP_2016.pdf. Responses are due to ECOS by 5:00 PM ET on December 12, 2016.

For more information, please contact ECOS’ Owen McAleer at omcaleer [at] ecos.org.

Owen McAleer
Environmental Council of the States
P: 202.266.4922
E: omcaleer [at] ecos.org