United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
OFFICE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION;
DATA ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT
The EPA requires access to many sources of data and information to fulfill its mission of protecting human
health and the natural environment. The data and information that the EPA collects or acquires in
partnership with others are essential in supporting environmental decision-making, scientific research,
programmatic activities, and the enforcement of environmental laws and regulations.
Purpose
The Office of Information Collection (QIC) strives
to ensure that the data needed to carry out the EPA's
mission are available and to maximize the value of
the Agency's investment in data and information.
QIC collaborates with EPA programs and regions,
as well as Federal, State, Tribal, and local partners,
to support the collection, management, use, and/or
dissemination of a number of key databases and
inventories. Joint efforts involving internal and
external partners have allowed the EPA to leverage
its investment in data acquisition to gain access to
millions of dollars worth of environmental data.
Current Partnerships
Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data
National Land Cover Database (NLCD)
Integrated Taxonomic Information System
(ITIS)
National Watershed Boundary Dataset
(NWBD)
National Digital Orthophoto Program
Partnerships with other Federal Agencies
(USGS, FGDC)
Background
During the creation of the Office of Environmental Information (OEI) in 1999, both internal and external
stakeholders urged the new organization to include a comprehensive data acquisition function. This function
was established in QIC to perform the following tasks:
B Coordinate and collaborate with program, regional, Federal, State, and Tribal partners to acquire key
datasets;
" Develop strategies to obtain and manage environmental data obtained from other sources (e.g., U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS);
• Participate in external planning efforts for data acquisition, including non-regulatory and geospatial
data; and
• Identify and manage interagency agreements and memoranda of understanding (MOUs) for data
acquisition with other Federal agencies, States, Tribes, and the private sector.
Current Activities
OIC works with internal and external partners to develop the data infrastructure needed to support Agency
decision-making, information integration, and various mapping tools and applications. Some of the key data
efforts include the following:
0 Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data
D&B data are available to EPA programs and regions via the Intranet and provide valuable
information about U.S. businesses that can be used for enforcement and compliance and rulemaking
activities.
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• National Land Cover Data (NLCD)
The NLCD project was initiated in 1992 by several Federal agencies to acquire remote sensing data
needed for environmental monitoring programs. The NLCD includes landcover data for the
conterminous United States and is now used widely for land-use planning, hydrological analyses,
and ecological assessments.
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)
mS is a comprehensive, standardized database of the scientific and common names of organisms,
which is available via the Internet. The collection of the data in ITIS has been made possible by
partnerships among a number of government, academic, and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs).
• Other Datasets
The EPA works with other government entities individually and through groups such as the Federal
Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) to provide the Agency with access to other types of geospatial
data and information. For example, the EPA is working with the USGS to gain access to key
datasets such as the NLCD (as mentioned above), National Hydrography Data (NHD), National
Elevation Data (NED), National Elevation Dataset - Hydrological Derivatives (NED-H), and the
National Watershed Boundary Dataset (NWBD). In addition, as funding permits, QIC will work to
acquire datasets that are used by a number of EPA offices for mapping, planning, enforcement, and
environmental management purposes. Examples of such datasets might include the location of
schools, roads, and zip codes.
Locational Data Improvement Activities
OIC continues to pursue efforts to improve the quality of the Agency's locational data. Accurate data on the
location of regulated facilities, watersheds, air quality non-attainment areas, and point and nonpoint sources
of pollution are essential in targeting the Agency's programmatic efforts and resources as effectively as
possible. In addition, reliable locational data about industrial facilities, as well as environmental hazards and
conditions, are essential in protecting homeland security and in integrating data across environmental media
and geographic locations. OIC also works with EPA programs and regions to develop and maintain
locational data policies that foster the collection of accurate and precise locational data and metadata that
meet both EPA and Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) standards.
Geospatial Data Index (GDI)
QIC has developed the Geospatial Data Index (GDI) to provide EPA personnel with information about the
Agency's extensive geospatial data holdings and other sources of valuable locational data. GDI is available
via the Intranet (http://intranet.epa.gov/geoindex/) and provides programs and regions with an extensive
index of geospatial information that is readily available to support their programmatic and regulatory
responsibilities. By providing a mechanism for sharing available geospatial data, GDI helps offices avoid
duplicative data collection activities and identify opportunities for collaboration with other programs/regions
on new data collections. The GDI along with the EPA's National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) website,
the Environmental Information Management System (EIMS), will provide a foundation for the EPA to share
its geospatial data with other government agencies through the interagency Geospatial One-Stop Initiative.
For More Information, Contact:
Matthew Leopard
Chief, Information Exchange Partnership Branch
Phone: (202) 566-1698
E-mail: Leopard.Matthew@epa.gov Revised March 2004
Office of Environmental
Information (2812A) . WWW.epa.gOV/Oei
'Www.epa.gov/oei
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