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OECA Databases. 2010 RCRAInfo National Users Conference. Edward Cottrill EPA – Headquarters Office of Enforcement Compliance Assurance. Presentation. What RCRA Compliance and Enforcement Information is Available? What are the OECA Systems Containing RCRA Information?
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OECA Databases 2010 RCRAInfo National Users Conference
Edward CottrillEPA – HeadquartersOffice of Enforcement Compliance Assurance
Presentation • What RCRA Compliance and Enforcement Information is Available? • What are the OECA Systems Containing RCRA Information? • Why is RCRA Compliance and Enforcement Information Important? • OECA Public Access and Targeting
RCRA Compliance and Enforcement Information • What RCRA Compliance and Enforcement Information is Available? • Regional provided planned and/or actual Compliance Assistance information including: facility visits, responses to inquiries, targeted and general outreach conducted • Regional provided federal enforcement activities including: initiations, milestones, conclusions, penalties, SEPs or other environmental benefits • State provided limited compliance assistance data, substantial amounts of compliance monitoring data (evaluations/inspections, requests for information, etc.), and all state enforcement data • State reported data sets including: biennial reports, handler notifications, waste activity characterization, corrective action, financial assurance data, and more
RCRA Compliance and Enforcement Information (cont.) • What RCRA Compliance and Enforcement Information is Available? (cont..) • Media, facility and/or corporate specific patterns of non-compliance • Satellite images of a facilities and surrounding area (i.e., populated area, water bodies, nearby facilities) • Demographic information • TRI releases and transfer data
RCRA Compliance and Enforcement Information (cont.) • Where Does EPA Find This Information? • OTIS (Online Tracking System) / ECHO (Enforcement and Compliance History Online) – integrates ICIS and RCRAInfo data with additional sets of EPA and non-EPA data sources • IDEA – Direct Queries from Data Warehouse • RCRAInfo Reports – best source for real-time state data
Who Uses EPA Data? • EPA Headquarters and Regions • States • Congress and GAO • Inspector General • Public – ECHO • Press • Regulated Community
How are the Data Used? • Supports Program Management • Inspection targeting • Enforcement targeting • Identifying patterns of noncompliance • Identifying areas in need of assistance tool development • Identifying regional and national priorities • Supports Evaluation of State and EPA Performance • Assistant Administrator Regional Review Trip Reports – Regional Oversight • State Review Framework – State Oversight • Watchlist – Regulated Community Oversight
How are the Data Used? (cont.) • Support Annual Enforcement and Compliance Accountability and Assessment • End of year reporting to public and congress • Reports to Congress – Evaluation, Legislation, and Budgeting • Setting Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) targets • Measuring outcome benefits from compliance and enforcement actions • Planning • Big Case Projections - to project EOY totals in advance, and to assist managing EPA's biggest cases • Enforcement Initiative Selection (Formerly known as National Priorities) • National Program Management (NPM) Guidance
How are the Data Used? (cont.) • Supports Public Access to Transparent Data • The current Administration has made increased transparency and public access to data a priority as highlighted by the recent Executive Order on Transparency and Open Government, issued on January 21, 2009, and OMB's Open Government Directive issued on December 8, 2009. • ECHO • Press Releases • FOIA Requests
OTIS and ECHO • OTIS (On-Line Tracking System) • Intranet, Non-public, Open Cases • Available to: EPA staff, State/Local/Tribal and Federal Agencies • ECHO (Enforcement and Compliance History Online) • Internet, Public, Closed cases • Available to anyone 11
What is OTIS? • OTIS is a set of Web-based search and reporting tools that provide integrated enforcement and compliance data to more than 400 federal, state, and local agencies. • OTIS is found at the following URL that is secured to EPA and registered agencies: www.epa-otis.gov/otis. • OTIS is an easier-to-use Internet interface to the IDEA system. • Users run more than 150,000 OTIS queries per year.
OTIS Site Content • Three-year compliance status and five-year inspection and enforcement history for more than 800,000 EPA-regulated facilities: • Clean Air Act (CAA) stationary sources (AFS) • Clean Water Act (CWA) permitted direct dischargers (under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)) (ICIS, PCS) • Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste generators/handlers • Federal Enforcement and Compliance Information (ICIS) • OTIS includes EPA and state, local, and tribal environmental agency data.
OTIS Site Content (cont.) • Basic facility and permit data • Inspections performed • Violations with pollutants or brief violation types • Significant noncompliance status • Enforcement actions taken • Penalties assessed • Demographics of area surrounding facility • Pollutant release data (from TRI – Toxics Release Inventory)
OTIS Searching Methods & Reports • Search by media or multimedia • Search for trends (statistics) • State Review Framework • Management Reports • Search for non-notifiers/non-reporters • Start with a map and zoom in on facilities • Map results of a query • View detailed facility-level data • Chart out effluent discharge patterns • View Watch List
OTIS Access • OTIS homepage: http://www.epa-otis.gov/otis/ – all EPA buildings have access • Application for OTIS access for non-EPA government employees: http://envr.abtassoc.com/otis_ip_registration/ • Access based on IP address; no password required. • For EPA employees who regularly work from home: Anytime Anyplace Access Virtual Private Network (VPN) (http://intranet.epa.gov/aaa) allows OTIS access. • Any OTIS user can access Facility Finder tool • Account creation and password required for the purpose of storing each user's facility lists.
OTIS Access (cont.) • Watch List and State Review Framework access is limited to EPA, state environmental agencies, and local governments and tribes with EPA program authorization. • Access based on IP address; no password required. • Sensitive access information is limited to EPA employees. • Password required; for information: http://www.epa-otis.gov/otis/enf_sens_access.html • Provides searching for ICIS EPA cases in the pipeline and access to sensitive version of Case Report.
Error Correction Process • ECHO or OTIS users can report a potential data error by clicking ‘Report Error’ at the top of a Detailed Facility Report. • EPA and state data stewards review the error notifications. • EPA’s Integrated Error Correction Process, managed by the Office of Environmental Information (OEI), routes error notifications to the appropriate data steward. • List of data stewards available from the OTIS home page. • The data stewards make corrections to the source database when necessary.
Error Correction Process (cont.) • During the public comment period, regions and states experienced a heavy load of notifications requiring research. • The rate of error reporting dropped drastically after the review period ended. • More than 5,000 errors have been corrected since ECHO launch. • We receive about 60 error notifications per month in 2008. • This is up from 50/month in 2007 - most likely due to increased usage of ECHO and OTIS. • Violations are the most common error notification topic.
OTIS Examples • Screen Shots: • Examples of information used in case development 20