E-Enterprise Combined Air Emissions Reporting Team Webinar to be Held January 29, 2016

January 25, 2016

On January 29, 2016, at 2:00pm ET, the E-Enterprise Combined Air Emissions Reporting (CAER) Team will host a webinar for States, EPA, Industry, and other interested parties to hear about the joint State-EPA Team’s work to develop a future process for reporting to four air databases including the National Emissions Inventory (NEI) via delegated state programs, and direct reports to Federal databases including the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHG), and compliance reporting requirements for Part 60 and Part 63 regulations (via Compliance and Emissions Data Reporting Interface or CEDRI).

Team Co-chairs Bryan Shaw, Texas, and Marc Houyoux, EPA, will provide an overview of considerations for future reporting. There will be an opportunity for questions and answer.

To register for the webinar, please visit: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9175231391683183618.

For more information, please contact EPA’s Shana Harbour at harbour.shana [at] epa.gov or ECOS’ Kelly Poole at kpoole [at] ecos.org.

Kelly Poole
Environmental Council of the States
P: 202.266.4939
E: kpoole [at] ecos.org

ECOS and EPA to Hold Webinars on E-Enterprise and Tradeoffs/Flexibility for Projects: January 28, and February 2, 2016

January 22, 2016

Two webinars are being held for States and EPA to discuss opportunities for tradeoffs and flexibility to work on E-Enterprise projects as reflected in EPA’s FY16 Partnerships Action Plan (PAP).
 
EPA and the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) worked together to include the following language in the PAP:
  1. By March 31, 2016, to have States and EPA Regions participate in building the E-Enterprise project portfolio by proposing business processes streamlining projects they are already working on together, that might become nationally scalable through joint governance.
  2. By September 30, 2016, to have States and EPA Regions look together at temporary tradeoffs in State workloads – generally reflected in their grant workplan – in exchange for the State focusing work on an E-Enterprise project.
The webinars will introduce E-Enterprise and explain these actions in the Partnerships Action Plan for managers and staff who are new to E-Enterprise to help them understand the E-Enterprise context for the actions and figure out some workable paths to carry them out.
 
The webinar will be offered on the following dates and times (information in the first webinar will be repeated in the second webinar):
 
Thursday, January 28, 2016, from 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
and
Tuesday, February 2, 2016, from 3:00-4:00 p.m. ET
 
E-Enterprise goals and objectives are to modernize by 1) streamlining co-regulatory business processes, 2) applying advanced technology where appropriate, and 3) managing collaboratively through joint governance to ensure ownership and adoption of E-Enterprise products. A key focus in 2016 is to broaden EPA and State participation in proposing and working on E-Enterprise projects, especially by States and Regions who have not been as involved in E-Enterprise so far.
 
For more information, please contact EPA’s Phil Metzger at metzger.phil [at] epa.gov or ECOS’ Beth Graves at bgraves [at] ecos.org.
 
Beth Graves
Environmental Council of the States
P: 202.266.4923
E: bgraves [at] ecos.org

E-Enterprise Lean and Information Technology Toolkit Now Available

January 20, 2016

Lean and information technology (IT) are two important ways that environmental agencies are transforming how they protect human health and the environment. New IT approaches can help agencies streamline, modernize, and expand the services they provide to customers. In December 2015, an ECOS/EPA E-Enterprise workgroup released the Lean and Information Technology Toolkit, which explores how Lean and IT can be used to:

  • Efficiently design new products and services to better meet customer needs (Lean startup),
  • Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of existing processes (Lean process improvement), and
  • Reduce the costs and risks of developing new IT products (Agile development).

The Toolkit provides how-to guidance, resources, and tips for making improvements in product conceptualization, process improvement, and IT product development; and describes how agencies can collaborate effectively on improvement projects.  It is available at http://e-enterprisefortheenvironment.net/.  Stay tuned for news of potential upcoming webinars highlighting the Toolkit’s content.

Sue Battle-McDonald, Co-Chair
Maryland Department of the Environment
P: 410.537.4111
E: sue.battle-mcdonald [at] maryland.gov

Scott Bowles, Co-Chair
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.2208
E: bowles.scott [at] epa.gov