During the period 4:00AM-4:00PM ET on 8 September, the CDX Production Environment and the Exchange Network may experience intermittent outages due to a scheduled CDX Firewall upgrade. Please contact the Node Help Desk at nodehelpdesk [at] epacdx.net for further information.

Christopher Kilgore
CGI Federal
P: 276.889.8658
E: christopher.kilgore [at] cgifederal.com

The NPRG Co-Chairs are pleased to announce that two new State members have joined the NPRG. Heather Kenworthy, of Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, and Steve Steinberg, of the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, will be the two newest members of the Group. The Co-Chairs would like to thank everyone who expressed interest in joining the NPRG, and extend a warm welcome to Heather and Steve. The NPRG looks forward to their contributions to the Group.

Jonathan Jacobson (Co-Chair)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.1984
E: jacobson.jonathan [at] epa.gov

Chris Simmers (Co-Chair)
New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
P: 603.271.2961
E: chris.simmers [at] des.state.nh.us

During the period 6:00PM ET, 24 August to 4:00AM ET, 27 August, the CDX Pre-Production Environment may experience intermittent outages due to scheduled network maintenance. Please contact the Node Help Desk at nodehelpdesk [at] epacdx.net for further information.

Christopher Kilgore
CGI Federal
P: 276.889.8658
E: christopher.kilgore [at] cgifederal.com

Interested in Learning about the EN, Building EN tools and services, or Sharing data and tools with other EN Partners? The Exchange Network website now has an exciting new resource, the updated and streamlined EN Knowledge Base! The completely redesigned Knowledge Base consolidates key EN technical resources and lessons learned in one easy-to-use location. Built to serve the needs of first-time visitors, current and future Partners, Node software developers, EN Data Exchange designers and implementers, and data publishers, the Knowledge Base is the primary repository of Network guidance, protocols, and procedures.

As Phase 2 of the Exchange Network is implemented, the Knowledge Base will expand as well, serving as the essential technical resource for all EN Partners.

To promote greater awareness of Exchange Network Governance activities, important discussions and action items from EN Governance meetings, conference calls, and events are consolidated into monthly activity summaries and posted to the Exchange Network website. The summaries cover the Exchange Network Leadership Council (ENLC), Network Operations Board (NOB), Network Technology Group (NTG), Network Partnership and Resources Group (NPRG), Integrated Project Teams, Task Forces, Open Calls, Regional and National Meeting, etc.

The June 2012 EN Governance Activity Summary is now available.

For more information on EN Governance and a schedule of upcoming calls and meetings, visit Network Governance.

Are you a State or Territorial government employee looking to get more involved with the governance of the Exchange Network? If so, you’re in luck because the Network Partnership and Resources Group (NPRG) is looking for two new members. The NPRG provides planning, analysis, recommendations, and implementation support to the Network Operations Board (NOB) and the Exchange Network Leadership Council (ENLC). Members of the NPRG create and contribute to Exchange Network communication materials, perform outreach in the Exchange Network community, and help educate and inform Partners about the benefits of participating in the Exchange Network. The NPRG also helps coordinate efforts to identify and develop Exchange Network data standards.

NPRG members meet via conference call every month and in person once a year. Funding is available to cover travel costs to NPRG meetings. New members are asked to commit to serving for at least two years and participate in as many calls and meetings as possible.

If you would like to join the NPRG, please email Darcy Peth at dpeth [at] rossstrategic.com with a few sentences explaining why you are interested in serving on the NPRG and what you feel you can contribute to the Group. If you do not have a wealth of Exchange Network experience, fear not. The NPRG is interested in attracting fresh perspectives!

Visit Network Governance for more information on Exchange Network Governance. Should you have additional questions about the NPRG, please contact NPRG Co-Chairs Chris Simmers (chris.simmers [at] des.state.nh.us) and Jonathan Jacobson (jacobson.jonathan [at] epa.gov), or Exchange Network Coordinator Kurt Rakouskas (kurt [at] exchangenetwork.net).

Darcy Peth
Ross Strategic
P: 206.792.4030
E: dpeth [at] rossstrategic.com

EPA has released its Draft FY 2013 Exchange Network Grant Solicitation Notice. The Draft Notice and an overview of the significant changes from FY 2012 are available at http://www.epa.gov/exchangenetwork/index.html. EPA will accept comments on the Draft Notice until 5:00pm EDT, July 16, 2012. Written comments should be emailed to Michael Kaufman at kaufman.michael [at] epa.gov.

EPA will conduct two conference calls to review the Draft Notice, answer questions, and receive input from EN Partners. The calls will be held:

– July 5, 2012, 1:00-2:00pm EDT
– July 9, 2012, 3:00-4:00pm EDT

To participate in either call, dial: 1.866.299.3188, and enter code: 202 564 4499 #.

EPA plans to issue the Final FY 2013 EN Grant Solicitation Notice by August 16, 2012.

Michael Kaufman
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.564.4499
E: kaufman.michael [at] epa.gov

In preparation for the FY 2013 Exchange Network Grant application process, EPA will hold two stakeholder conference calls to review the draft FY 2013 Exchange Network Grant Solicitation Notice and answer questions from the Exchange Network community. EPA will release the draft Notice by June 29, 2012.

The first call will be held on Thursday, July 5, 2012, from 1:00-2:00 PM EDT.
The second call will be held on Monday, July 9, 2012, from 3:00-4:00 PM EDT.

To participate in either call, please dial: 1.866.299.3188, and enter conference code: 202 564 4499.

EPA will accept written comments on the draft Notice until 5:00 PM EDT, July 16, 2012. Written comments should be emailed to Michael Kaufman at kaufman.michael [at] epa.gov.  EPA plans to issue the final EN Grant Solicitation Notice by August 15, 2012.

Michael Kaufman
US Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.564.4499
E: kaufman.michael [at] epa.gov

The Network Operations Board (NOB) is exploring ways to use cloud technology and hosted software and hardware solutions to simplify data sharing and reduce the cost of maintaining Exchange Network Nodes and data exchanges. The NOB is looking for Partners and technical experts interested in participating in a Task Force that will help shape these opportunities to meet our community’s current and future business needs. The Task Force will discuss relevant policy issues, user requirements, and options for governance and operations. EPA is proposing that virtual nodes be a grant-eligible function in the upcoming grant funding cycle. Work will begin on June 26 with periodic calls and continue through 2012.

If you are interested in participating in the Task Force, please contact Megan Parker at mparker [at] rossstrategic.com.

Connie Dwyer (NOB Co-Chair)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
202.566.1691
dwyer.connie [at] epa.gov

Roy Walker (NOB Co-Chair)
Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality
405.702.7188
roy.walker [at] deq.ok.gov

To promote greater awareness of Exchange Network Governance activities, important discussions and action items from EN Governance meetings, conference calls, and events are consolidated into monthly activity summaries and posted to the Exchange Network website. The summaries cover the Exchange Network Leadership Council (ENLC), Network Operations Board (NOB), Network Technology Group (NTG), Network Partnership and Resources Group (NPRG), Integrated Project Teams, Task Forces, and Open Calls.

The April 2012 and May 2012 EN Governance Activity Summaries are now available at Network Governance.

The FRS FACID 2.3 flow will switch to the NGN node by April 30. This switch will not impact data flows initiated via a solicit request from the CDX node. Only Partners that submit FACID 2.3 submissions directly to FRS will be impacted by this change. These Partners will need to use a new endpoint for both 1.1 and 2.0 node protocols. The new NGN endpoints are:

Node 2.0:

Node 1.1: https://cdxnodengn.epa.gov/cdx-enws10/services/NetworkNodePortType_V10

Questions should be directed to:

Aaron Meyers
Office of Information Collection
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.0690
E: meyers.aaron [at] epa.gov

The Exchange Network has released the Q4 2011 National System Flow Implementation Matrix. This color-coded document provides detailed information about States’, Tribes’, and Territories’ National System Flow status and plans for flow development. The information is generated from the logs at EPA’s Central Data Exchange. Information regarding plans to flow or restart flows was derived from FY2010 grant applications and from regional outreach efforts. It is the goal of Network Governance to support conversion of all yellow and red boxes on the Matrix to green. Note that red, yellow, and white boxes do not indicate that a Partner is not meeting its reporting obligation; rather, they indicate what data are flowing through the Network.

Updates to the Matrix should be directed to:

Michael Kaufman
Office of Environmental Information
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.564.4499
E: kaufman.michael [at] epa.gov

EPA would like to notify TRI Data Exchange Partners that they may observe an unexpected data condition in XML files forwarded to their nodes or made available for download via the TDX Viewer.

RY 2011 TRI-MEweb submissions transmitted between January 13-February 17, 2012, and subsequently certified at any time then or in the future, may include a facility mailing name if one was reported in the last form that was transmitted and certified for RY 2010.

This data condition will manifest itself as the inclusion of the following tag in the XML file:
<TRI:MailingFacilitySiteName>[name]</TRI:MailingFacilitySiteName>.

EPA has taken steps to prevent XML files for RY 2011 TRI-MEweb submissions transmitted after February 17, 2012, from containing a facility mailing name.  EPA apologizes for any inconvenience caused by this issue.

If you have any questions, please contact the CDX Help Desk at 888.890.1995 or email epa-cdx [at] cgifederal.com.

Saturday, March 3, 2012 – The Oracle 11.2.0.3 Upgrade and Quarterly Patch will be performed for the Production servers on Saturday (3/03), which will result in brief outages of CDX Production components between 6:00 am and 12:00 pm ET as services are restarted after the upgrade and patches are applied.

If you have questions, please contact the CDX Help Desk at 1-888-890-1995 or email epa-cdx [at] cgifederal.com.

Michael Klos
EPA-CDX Operations
CGI Federal
703.652.0425

You are invited to join an Exchange Network Integrated Project Team (IPT) that will be building and reviewing tools that will enable broader sharing of drinking water information, including compliance and monitoring data. The workgroup will be holding a kickoff conference call on January 5, 2012, from 1:00 – 2:30 PM EST. On the kickoff call, we will review the draft Charter (see attached), identify co-chairs for the group, and determine a schedule for future calls. If you are interested in participating in this effort, please email kristen.durance [at] ross-assoc.com.

This group will build on the outputs of an effort begun by the State-EPA Implementation Workgroup (IWG), which was led by EPA’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, several state agencies, the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, the Environmental Council of the States, and the Association of State and Territorial Health Associations.

The mission of the Drinking Water IPT is to define the necessary data exchange schemas, web services, and other resources necessary to support the exchange of drinking water data over the National Environmental Information Exchange Network. The IPT will use the data elements from the existing SDWIS XML schemas along with the data elements identified by the IWG as the basis for the new schemas. The IPT will also identify opportunities to satisfy information needs of stakeholders from the environmental and public health communities, including partners on the Environmental Public Health Tracking Network. The resulting data exchange will allow primacy agencies for the Safe Drinking Water Act to report data to U.S. EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Information System; allow states to voluntarily share additional compliance monitoring data with U.S. EPA; enable states, EPA (and other providers of drinking water data) to voluntarily share drinking water data with a variety of data consumers (e.g. environmental and public health agencies at federal, state, and local levels); and support public tools for accessing and understanding drinking water information.

Would you like to be involved in planning EN2012, the 2012 Exchange Network National Meeting? EN2012 will take place May 30-June 1, 2012, in Philadelphia. As a member of our Exchange Network Community, you are invited to join the EN2012 Program Committee to contribute your ideas and expertise to your next National Meeting! Program Committee members can expect to attend approximately one conference call per month, and assist with recruiting and organizing moderators and presenters, as well as moderating sessions themselves. Please email Darcy Peth (darcy.peth [at] ross-assoc.com) and help us make EN2012 the best National Meeting yet!

Also, if you would like to make a presentation at EN2012, we would love to hear from you! Please submit a brief description of your topic to Darcy Peth by January 15, 2012.

Jonathan Jacobson
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
EN2012 Co-Chair
jacobson.jonathan [at] epa.gov

and

Chris Simmers
New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
EN2012 Co-Chair
chris.simmers [at] doit.nh.gov

On September 30, 2011, EPA collected comprehensive, comparable greenhouse gas (GHG) data from facilities across the U.S. economy. This information will be accessible to the public through EPA’s GHG Reporting Program. Thanks to strong collaboration and feedback from industry, states, and other organizations, this data will be publically available in mid-December 2011.

EPA invites State, Local, and Tribal government officials to a webinar demonstration of our on-line Greenhouse Gas Data Publication Tool on December 6, 2011, from 2:30-3:15 pm EST. The demonstration is intended to help these officials become familiar with the Publication Tool’s functionality prior to release of the GHG data. To participate, please register in advance at: .com/register/317266770. Details for joining the webinar will be provided after you register.

Kong Chiu
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
202.343.9309
chiu.kong [at] epa.gov

On Thursday, November 17, 2011, the Network Technology Group hosted an important Open Call for all Exchange Network Partners.  The Call focused on upcoming changes to the default behaviors of security policies for Query and Solicit.  Open Call presenters discussed these changes, their effects on existing Nodes, and strategies for minimizing their impact.  The presentations and a new Knowledge Base Article “Security Considerations for Query and Solicit Web Services” are now available here.

The January 31, 2012, deadline to upgrade to Node v2.1 was also discussed.  More information is available here.

EPA is pleased to announce that an upgrade to version 3.0 of the ICIS-NPDES schema has been approved and will be available starting Monday, November 21, 2011.

Version 3.0 will allow NPDES compliance monitoring inspections to be transferred electronically to EPA’s ICIS system by States and Tribes along with the permit and DMR data currently being supported by this data flow.  In addition, the permit data families have been expanded by adding the capability to delete and terminate permits, and enter dates into permit schedules for historical permits.

The exchange is currently in production for inspections, permits, and effluent data families, including Discharge Monitoring Reports. Other data families, such as enforcement actions and violations, will be developed in the future.

Version 2.1 will continue to be supported, but will only allow basic permit, master general permit, general permit covered facility, unpermitted facility, permit tracking event, narrative condition/permit schedule, permitted feature, limit set, limit, and DMR data to be transferred electronically to EPA’s ICIS system by States and Tribes.

Alison Kittle
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
202.564.6233
kittle.alison [at] epa.gov