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

EPA is pleased to announce that version 2.2 of the Beach Notification schema has been released.  This data exchange allows for the reporting of beach meta data, contact information, and beach advisory and closing data. Version 2.2 can be used now and will be required for the 2013 reporting cycle.

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

EPA is pleased to announce that the final v5.0 TRI XML schema has been approved and posted at:
https://www.exchangenetwork.net/data-exchange/toxics-release-inventory-tri/ .

This updated schema and documentation reflects the following RY2011 Information Collection Request and Reporting Forms & Instructions changes:

1. Disaggregating the “Total Transfers” field and adding fields to identify chemical discharge quantities to specific publicly owned treatment works in Section 6.1 of Form R;
2. Adding a new section to capture miscellaneous and optional information regarding the submission in Section 9.1 of Form R; and
3. Adding codes 12 though 20 for Dioxin and Dioxin-like Compounds forms to indicate the maximum amount of the toxic chemical on site at any time during the calendar year in Section 4.1 of Form R.

All XML files uploaded to TRI-MEweb via Third-party Load as well as XML files forwarded to state partners of the TRI Data Exchange will adhere to v5.0 of the TRI XML schema beginning in calendar year 2012.

Zach Scott
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
202.566.0953
scott.zachary [at] epa.gov

On Thursday, November 17, 2011, from 2:00-3:00 PM ET, the Network Technology Group (NTG) will host an important Open Call for all Exchange Network Partners.  The NTG encourages all EN Node Administrators to participate.

As the Network moves to a more publishing-oriented focus, security policies are being adjusted to maximize the utility of tools such as the EN Browser.  Specifically, changes to the default behaviors of security policies for Query and Solicit are being made.  Open Call presenters will discuss these changes, their effects on existing Nodes, and strategies for minimizing their impact on your Node.

In addition, as the January 31, 2012, deadline to upgrade to Node v2.1 approaches, the Node Interoperability issues and the steps EN Governance have taken to address them will be revisited during the Call.

To participate in this important Call, please register in advance at:

The Network Partnership and Resources Group is excited to announce the launch of the new Exchange Network Website!  Developed with input provided by many members of the EN Community, Exchange Network Website is the central repository for all things Exchange Network.  Highlights of the new site include the Featured Resources on the home page, the redesigned Profiles and Progress section, and menus tailored to specific user groups to help you more easily find the right information.  You can subscribe to News feeds and get the latest EN Alerts delivered to your favorite RSS reader.  Node Contacts in each Network Partner State, Tribe, Territory, EPA Region, and organization can now update their own profiles and keep the rest of the Network informed about what data they are flowing.

Please join us in thanking everyone who worked so hard to launch a website capable of leading the Exchange Network into the future!

The Exchange Network has released the June 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.

The Network has also released an update to the Action Plan for Completing Phase 1 of the National Environmental Information Exchange Network. Changes from the last Action Plan are highlighted in yellow.

Updates to the Matrix or questions about the Action Plan 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 has released the final FY 2012 Exchange Network Grant program solicitation notice. Applicants for the FY 2012 Exchange Network Grant program must submit an application package to EPA by November 4, 2011.

In FY 2012, EPA expects to award an estimated $10,000,000 for 40-50 grants of up to $350,000. The exact number of grants will depend on the amount of EPA’s appropriation for the grant program, the number of applications submitted to EPA by the deadline, the amount requested to produce the proposed results, and the competitive review of the applications received. The primary outcome expected from the Exchange Network assistance agreements is improved access to, and exchange of, high-quality environmental data from public and private sector sources. With this outcome in mind, applications should demonstrate support for and results toward the EN program priorities.

EPA will accept project proposals for National Environmental Information Exchange Network grants in one of two ways: 1) a hardcopy mailed or delivered proposal, including one original and two copies or; 2) a proposal submitted electronically through the grants.gov website. EPA anticipates that it will announce selection decisions in or around March 2012. EPA plans to issue the awards by August 2012.

For complete information, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/exchangenetwork/grants/index.html

Ryan Humrighouse
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.1680
E: humrighouse.ryan [at] epa.gov

The deadline for reporting 2010 greenhouse gas emissions is September 30, 2011. To assist reporters with the using EPA’s electronic Greenhouse Gas Reporting Tool (e-GGRT), EPA is offering refresher courses for subparts C (General Stationary Combustion Sources), D (Electricity Generation), X (Petrochemical Production), Y (Petroleum Refineries), P (Hydrogen Production), AA (Pulp and Paper Manufacturing), HH (Municipal Solid Waste Landfills, and NN (Suppliers of Natural Gas and Natural Gas Liquids).

For more information and to register for the upcoming trainings, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/training.html.

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