FINAL RE
on
EPA
SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION
NETWORK CONCEPT AND
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
To
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
FEBRUARY 1974
Contract No. 68-01-1854
BATTELLE
Columbus Laboratories
505 King Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43201
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X^DS^>
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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
April 25s 1974
OFFICE CI'
RKSCAHCH AND DlIVJ£L
SUBJECT: Final Report on In formation Network, Study
,v--<' //. "Thr
FROM: Luther E. Garrett UU*l\c!•. i-.iiXi-K(/(,
Data 8. Informatiorr'ftesearch Division
Office of Monitoring Systems
TO: See Below
The attached firm'! report is the result of the BcvUe'ie Cc'lLiiiVrvjr,
Laboratories study announced in Dr. Greenfield's June 28, ly/3
memorandum to you.
I would like to emphasize that the recommendations sscde in the
report have not yet been acted upon by the Agency.
If there are any questions or comrrents, please contact me, My
te'lephop'- number is (202) <
Add^as^ees:
Assistant Administrators
Office Directors
Deputy Assistant Administrators
Regional Administrators
NERC Directors
Attachment
MAY 1 1974
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February 1974
EPA SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION
NETWORK CONCEPT AND
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
by
R. S. Kohn, R. L. Darby, W. D. Penniman, and B. A, Frautschi
Information and Communication Systems Research Department
Battelle Memorial Institute
Columbus Laboratories
505 King Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43201
Contract No. 68-01-1854
Program Element 1 HA325
Project Officer
Luther E. Garrett
Data and Information Research Division
Assistant Administrator for Research and Development
Waterside Mall, Washington, D.C. 20460
Prepared for
Assistant Administrator for Research and Development
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
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ABSTRACT
This report presents the results of an analysis of EPA scientific and
technical information activities and makes recommendations concerning
the concept of, and an implementation plan for, an environmental sci-
entific and technical information network. The investigators deter-
mined that the free, unorganized network currently in operation fails
to fully meet Agency, Congressional, other governmental, and non-
governmental needs.
Given the autonomy of EPA organizations, their geographical dispersion,
their variety of subject interests, their diversity of functional needs,
the disparity between information user practices, the general image of
heterogeneity displayed by EPA, and the many information resources
outside EPA control, it is not likely that improvement in EPA's infor-
mation practices or position can easily be effected by a high degree
of centralization or a dedicated approach to a strong line organiza-
tion with its accompanying authority and responsibility. A workable
structure appears to be the establishment of a staff office (recog-
nized as a line item in the appropriations budget) entitled the Office
of Technical Information Coordination (OTIC), at the Administrator
level, whose mission would be to plan, coordinate, and encourage im-
proved accessibility, handling, and usage of environmental information
and data within a coordinated network.
The Office would be an active group-oriented undertaking with a low
level of staffing which would, over a 43 to 48 month period:
ii
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Establish a scientific and technical information
coordination function
Establish an environmental project information
coordination function
Establish the present functions of the Library
Systems Branch, except for operation of the
Headquarters Library, as a library systems
coordination function
Establish a group communications function
Establish an advisory services in the informa-
tion sciences function
Establish an information research function in
cooperation with other appropriate offices of EPA
Establish an EPA Information Committee and an
Interagency Advisory Council.
An alternative plan is provided in the event EPA elects to devote fewer
resources to its scientific and technical information activities than
would be required to achieve the above goals of OTIC. Under the alter-
native plan, EPA would create the position of Information Science Ad-
visor to the Administrator.
The implementation plan is designed with sufficient flexibility to
permit EPA to build from Information Science Advisor to OTIC (from
the alternative plan to the recommended plan) as desired.
This report was submitted in fulfillment of Contract No. 68-01-1854 by
Battelle, Columbus Laboratories, under the sponsorship of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency. Work was completed as of November 30, 1973.
iii
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CONTENTS
Page
Abstract ii
List of Figures vi
List of Tables vii
Management Summary 1
Introduction 5
Background 5
Brief History of EPA Information Activities 10
Summary of the Research Approach to Determination of 18
EPA's Information Future
The Findings 20
General 20
All Organizational Units 24
Selected Systems 38
Centers of Competence 44
International Referral Service 47
Information Resources Outside EPA 49
Results of Personal Interviews 51
Analysis of the Findings 64
General 64
The Present EPA Information Network 64
Network or Monolith or Status Quo 69
Public Spokesman 73
iv
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Page
Information Integrity 73
User Needs Studies 75
Network Concept Plan 76
The Plan 76
Scope 77
Operations 77
Organization of the Office of Technical Information 80
Coordination (OTIC)
An Alternative Plan 87
Implementation Plan 87
References 94
Appendices 97
A. Conclusions and Recommendations from the 1970 97
EHS Report
B. Phase I Work Plan 103
C. Alphabetical Cross-Index of Information Systems 109
to Environmental Information Systems Directory,
Subject Category, and Environmental System
Identification Number
D. Interagency Agreement 117
E. List of Interviewees 121
F. The Concept of Information Networks 130
G. List of Acronyms 138
H. Information Network Study Memorandum 143
I. List of Directories Screened for Non-EPA 146
Information Resources
J. Management Briefing Report 150
v
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FIGURES
No¦ Page
1 Proposed Administrative Assignment "of 82
the Office of Technical Information
Coordination (OTIC) Within EPA
2 Suggested Implementation Plan for Primary 85
and Alternative Recommendations
3 Concept of Networking Functions With 88
Outside Resources
A Network Types and Relationships 132
5 Network Organizations 135
vi
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TABLES
No. Page
1 EPA Organizational Responsibilities 21
2 EPA Information Systems Tabulated by Subject 25
Category and Controlling Organization
3 Numerical Distribution of Systems by Orientation 28
and Controlling Organization
4 Distribution of Systems by System Title and 29
Controlling Organization
5 Numerical Distribution of Systems by Purpose 34
and Orientation
6 Distribution of Systems by Purpose and 36
Orientation Including System Titles
7 Information Systems Reporting to Regional 43
Administrators Tabulated by Region and Subject
Category
8 Centers of Competence and Their Subject Coverage 45
9 Distribution of Non-EPA Information Resources 50
10 EPA Research, Scientific, and Technical Information 55
Interests
11 Identification of Information Networks 133
12 Characteristics of Information Networks 134
vii
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MANAGEMENT SUMMARY*
The conduct of research on the adverse effects
of pollution and on methods and equipment for
controlling it, the gathering of information on
pollutionj and the use of this information in
strengthening environmental protection programs
and recommending policy changes. (Italics added.)
The quotation above is a partial statement of EPA's mission and purpose
as initially defined by the President in his message relative to
Reorganization Plans 3 and 4 of 1970. However, an agency-wide plan
for coordination, control, and future direction of its scientific and
technical information activities does not presently exist.
Two years after the organization of EPA, some 1700 participants at the
1972 National Environmental Information Symposium still expressed as
their most common concern the need for improved awareness of, and ac-
cess to, environmental information. This concern was echoed by EPA
personnel who were interviewed in the course of this study.
The demand for rapid access to sound information/data is becoming
increasingly more critical not only in support of research and develop-
ment but also in support of the enforcement and regulatory functions of
the agency. It does not appear that EPA has fulfilled the President's
*Appendix J contains a Management Briefing Report which is a condensed
version of the complete Final Report but more informative than this
highly condensed Management Summary.
1
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mandate under Reorganization Plan Number 3. In order to do so, EPA
should undertake the required planning and make available the adequate
resources to improve EPA's scientific and technical information activ-
ities and to present EPA as the U.S. focal point for environmental
information.
Given the autonomy of EPA organizations, their geographical disper-
sion, their variety of subject interests, their diversity of functional
needs, the disparity between information user practices, the general
image of heterogeneity displayed by EPA and the many information
resources outside EPA control, it is not likely that improvement in
EPA's information practices or position can easily be effected by a
high degree of centralization or a dedicated approach to a strong line
organization with its accompanying authority and responsibility. A
workable structure appears to be the establishment of a staff office
(recognized as a line item in the appropriations budget) entitled the
Office of Technical Information Coordination (OTIC), at the Adminis-
trator level, whose mission would be to plan, coordinate, and encour-
age improved accessibility, handling, and usage of environmental
information and data within a coordinated network.
The Office would be an active group-oriented undertaking which would
be structured and implemented over a time period of approximately four
years and which would:
Establish a scientific and technical information
coordination function to provide a current knowledge
of sources of scientific and technical information.
Establish an environmental project information coor-
dination function to provide a current knowledge of
sources of information on on-going projects.
Incorporate the present functions (excluding the
operation of the Headquarters Library) of the
Library Systems Branch to provide for library
systems coordination.
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Establish a group communications function to
provide a forum furnishing the atmosphere for
discussion of common problems and to serve as
EPA's public spokesman for environmental
information in a non-conflicting relationship
with the Office of Public Affairs.
Provide advisory services through its designation
as the initial source for resolution of EPA's
problems in information science in order to
minimize the duplication of effort and inconsistency
of approach possible if different individuals or
contractors act without coordination.
Establish an information research function to
conduct, or more often cause to be conducted,
intramural and extramural research studies of
in format ion/data handling techniques and trans-
fer processes to assure that attention is
drawn to improvements which can be made by
existing organizations.
Establish an EPA Information Committee and an
Interagency Advisory Council to assist the
Director of OTIC in the execution of his
planning responsibilities.
An alternative plan is provided should EPA elect to devote fewer
resources to its information activities than would be required to
achieve the above goals of OTIC. The alternative retains the objec-
tives of the first recommendation but scales back the level of effort
to approach each of the operations on a priority selection basis with
reduced performance. Under the alternative plan, EPA would create
the position of Information Science Advisor to the Administrator.
The Advisor would:
Keep the Administrator informed of, and suggest
line action to be taken with respect to all EPA
present, contemplated, or needed information
science activities.
Establish a referral capability for environmental
project information systems and for scientific and
technical information systems.
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Create a presence about which the resources of
EPA could be marshalled for execution of its
information responsibilities.
A detailed implementation plan is provided which permits EPA to
establish either the recommended OTIC or the alternative of an Informa-
tion Science Advisor to the Administrator. Sufficient flexibility is
included in the plan to permit EPA to evaluate progress and benefits
at each step. Should EPA elect to initiate the alternative plan first
(e.g. establish the Office of the Information Science Advisor), the
functions of OTIC may be implemented and added as desired.
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INTRODUCTION
The conduct of research on the adverse effects
of pollution and on methods and equipment for
controlling it, the gathering of information on
pollution, and the use of this information in
strengthening environmental protection programs
and recommending policy changes. (A portion of
EPA's mission and purpose as initially defined
by the President in his message relative to
Reorganization Plans 3 and 4 of 1970. Italics
added.)
BACKGROUND
Those concerned with environmental matters have shown considerable
perceptiveness and consistency over the years in analyzing their
information problems and determining their needs. Unfortunately,
while some sporadic success has been realized in meeting goals, there
has been little coordinated major effort toward providing environ-
mentalists with what they say they want. What they say they want
is "improved awareness of, and access to, environmental information."
This is reported to be the most common concern expressed by some 1700
participants at the National Environmental Information Symposium
(1)*
held in September 1972 at Cincinnati, Ohio.
While there are certainly areas in which vital environmental data
and information are lacking, the current situation appears to be that
*The same theme was noted during the course of interviews with EPA
personnel as discussed in a later section of this report.
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expressed at the Symposium by William D. Ruckelshaus, then Adminis-
trator, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency:
We may indeed, as one scientist has suggested,
already have a substantial part of the scientific
information we need to ensure the protection and
preservation of our common environment. Yet we
don't have timely access to it because retrieval
systems are uncoordinated or non-existent. There
is as great a need to organize and manage informa-
tion as there is to make new discoveries.
After some digging I found out a few weeks ago
that environmental information is generated by
some 75 different sources in the Federal Govern-
ment alone. More than a dozen Federal agencies
play some role in collecting and disseminating
this information. Within EPA we have idei ' 'fied
Mr. Ruckelshaus really understated the proliferation of environmental
information, since he referred only to the Federal Government. A
demonstration study conducted by the United Nations Environment
Programme to examine the feasibility of developing an International
Referral Service for sources of environmental information identified
(3)
over 700 sources world wide in a three week period. The study was
initiated as a result of one of the recommendations adopted by the
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in June 1972
in Stockholm.
The quantity of environmental information will continue to proliferate
as new legislation, with specific information requirements, is enacted.
The President's 1973 Environmental Program proposes a number of items
(4)
of legislation containing specific information-related sections.
For example, in S. 888, H. R. 5087, the Toxic Substances Control Act
of 1973, Section 19 states that:
The Council on Environmental Quality in consultation
with the Administrator, the Secretary of Health, Education,
and Welfare, the Secretary of Commerce, and the heads
of other appropriate departments or agencies, shall
coordinate a study of the feasibility of establishing
(1) a standard classification system for chemical
a number of separate information systems.
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compounds and related substances, and (2) a
standard means for storing and for obtaining
rapid access to information respecting such
materials.
Similarly, in S. 924, H. R. 4862, the Land Use Policy and Planning
Assistance Act of 1973, Section 101 (c) states that:
The Congress finds that adequate data and
information on land use and systematic methods
of collection, classification, and utilization
thereof are either lacking or not readily
available to public and private land use
decisionmakers; and that a national land use
policy must place a high priority on the
procurement and dissemination of useful land
use data.
There is proposed legislation, as well, aimed at solution of the
environmental information problem. Prominent among these is the
Dingell Bill, H. R. 56. This bill, establishing a national
environmental data system, was vetoed by President Nixon on
October 21, 1972. As cleared, major provisions of H. R. 56 would
have:
e Established a national environmental data
system with a central facility to serve as a
clearinghouse for new and existing information
on environmental matters
o Directed that information should be gathered
from federal, state, and local governments,
private institutions--including educational
institutions—and foreign sources; specified
that information would be made available without
charge to Congress and federal, state and local
governments and upon payment of reasonable fees
to private persons or groups
• Authorized appropriations of $l-million in
fiscal 1974, $2-million in fiscal 1975 and $3-
million in fiscal 1976 for collection and
dissemination of data.(5)
The President's veto message stated in part:
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I am withholding my approval from H. R. 56.
My objections to this bill are centered upon
two of its titles which would establish a
National Environmental Data System and create
environmental centers in each State. While
both of these titles sound desirable in theory,
they would in reality lead to the duplication
of information or would produce results unrelated
to real needs and wasteful of talent, resources,
and the taxpayers' money.
In the form now before me, Title I of this
legislation calls for the establishment of an
independent, centralized environmental data
system for the acquisition, storage and
dissemination of information relating to the
environment. Data for the system would come
from governmental, international, and private
sources. A Director, who would be under the
guidance of the Council on Environmental
Quality, would determine what data would
actually be placed in the system and who
would have access to the data.
I believe there are serious drawbacks to such a
data system which would outweigh potential
benefits. The collection of data and statistics
on the supposition that some day they may be
useful is in itself a highly dubious exercise.
Data, taken out of the context of the questions
they were specifically designed to answer, can even
contribute to confusion or be misleading.
With this in mind, I believe the centralized
collection of environmental data should be
related to specific policies and programs.
H. R. 56 fails to provide such a relationship
and the question of whether this basic deficiency
can be overcome, and a useful centralized system
designed, is now under study by the Administration.
In the meantime, the Environmental Protection Agency
and other agencies have consistently worked to
strengthen the acquisition and exchange of such
data and this effort will continue.^!
Despite the President's pocket veto, in early March 1973, a bill
H. R. 36 (which is reportedly almost identical with H. R. 56) was
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pending in the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Conimittee--the committee
r.-ac reported H. R. 56 in the 92nd Congress.
The pressures are not national alone, however. At the U. N. Con-
ference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm in June 1972,
the Declaration on the Human Environment included the following
princ iple:
Scientific research and development in the
context of environmental problems, both
national and multinational, must be promoted
in all countries, especially the developing
countries. In this connection, the free
flow of up-to-date scientific information
and experience must be supported and assisted,
to facilitate the solution of environmental
problems; environmental technologies should
be made available to developing countries on
terms which would encourage their wide dissemina-
tion without constituting an economic burden on
the developing countries.^)
The current U. N. effort to establish an International Referral Service
for sources of environmental information is responsive to this principle.
An appraisal of the activities described above could lead to the
conclusion that the present impetus in environmental information is
largely directed toward specifying what is to be accomplished
discretely rather than towards defining, developing, and implementing
some coordinated mechanism for its accomplishment. This statement
should not be construed so harshly, however, as to infer that no
progress has been made. Many excellent information resources
have been established, but unfortunately they have remained largely
insular and parochial and have not returned to the environmental
community the full potential of their benefits.
To a significant extent, EPA has operated in the mode just described.
Some explanation for this operating mode may be revealed through a
brief history of the information activities of EPA and its predecessor
organizations.
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BRIEF HISTORY OF EPA INFORMATION ACTIVITIES
This review of EPA information activities was extended over only the
past five years, starting with the formation of the Consumer Protec-
tion and Environmental Health Service (CPEHS). At the time of CPEHS
inception, the Federal Water Quality Administration of the Department
of the Interior was administering those functions required by the
Federal Water Pollution Control Act. In addition, Agriculture,
Interior, and Health, Education, and Welfare were responsible for
various aspects of the effects of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides
and rodenticides. Further, the Atomic Energy Commission and the
Federal Radiation Council were concerned with radiation effects.
CPEHS was established on July 1, 1968 by order of the Secretary of
Health, Education, and Welfare, and consisted of three Administrations:
the Environmental Control Administration (ECA), the National Air
Pollution Control Administration (NAPCA), and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA). In August of that year, the Division of
Management Systems initiated a survey of scientific and technical
information systems within CPEHS that culminated in a November 1968
(8)
report commonly referred to as the "Hause Report". Since FDA is
not now a component of EPA, findings of the Hause Report with respect
to FDA need not be recounted here. With respect to NAPCA, the point
was made that because of the unity of interests within NAPCA it was
possible to establish an Air Pollution Technical Information Center
(APTIC) to service the entire administration. ECA, however, because
of its broad diversification of interests, had no apparent common
denominator to form a focus for a single specialized center. As a
consequence, a number of separate and distinct information resources
were established to meet the various needs within that Administration.
Such differences, however, did not preclude the need for non-
categorical information basic to several CPEHS programs nor did they
preclude the possibility of effectively using common methods,
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the Executive Office Building, Washington, D. C. Each administration,
in addition to the oral briefing, compiled descriptive material on
various information activities within its respective administration.^"^
One statement in the review made by the then ECA appears to epitomize
the information problem that continues to plague EPA today:
Although we are organizationally peer to these
two (FDA, NAPCA), informationally we are not their
equal. Our sister groups came into CPEHS as already
established organizations. Incidentally, each
brought with it a developed, operating technical
information element, including staffs, technical
information systems of varying sophistication,
standard and unique literature collections, and
well defined programs. On the other hand, ECA,
a newly formed agency, composed of an amalgam of
groups from various sources, originated without
any centralized technical information capability.
The substantive components which were joined to
form ECA have technical information support of
differing qualities, finesse, sophistication, and
development. Yet, it must be reiterated—there
is no formal centralized technical information
structure within ECA.
The COSATI effort was simply a review. It did not produce any
specific recommendations. Shortly thereafter, however, in June 1969,
a contract was awarded to examine research and development program
planning needs and to develop a management assistance system for
CPEHS. The study included the following major efforts: (1) research
and development planning in the perspective of man in his total
environment, (2) information network analysis, and (3) model case
studies. On the basis of the study, an Environmental Health Informa-
tion Network (EHIN) was structured, incorporating the existing
information and data sources, and also new resources such as the
Information Resource Identification System (IRIS), and the Project
Information Retrieval System (PIRS).^^
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In structuring the proposed EHIN, it was recognized that other
agencies of the Federal Government had also established information
and data bases that related to CPEHS responsibilities. Mechanisms
for interfacing and utilizing those resources were suggested.
Further, it was recognized that an operational EHIN structured as a
result of that study might not be immediately achievable. Rather,
EHIN represented a concept which CPEHS should build toward as it
was able in order to assist in constantly strengthening its role
in protecting man's environment. The conclusions and recommendations
of that study are contained in Appendix A.
Although the two preceding paragraphs refer to CPEHS, there were two
significant organizational changes effected during, and shortly
after, the study that bear upon subsequent implementation of the
study recommendations. The first change occurred about midway in
the study when the Food and Drug Administration was separated from
CPEHS to report directly to the Assistant Secretary for Health.
Announcement of the change and the formation of the Environmental
Health Service (EHS) to replace CPEHS was made in December 1969 and
the separation took place in February 1970. The second change took
place in December 1970 when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
was established in the executive branch as an independent agency
(12)
pursuant to Reorganization Plan 3 of 1970. Under the plan, EPA
assumed responsibility for specified functions formerly executed by
components of Interior, the Environmental Health Service, Council on
Environmental Quality, Atomic Energy Commission, Federal Radiation
Council, Agriculture, Water Pollution Control Board, and the Air
Quality Advisory Board, among others.
The principal impact of the change from CPEHS to EHS was that its
most advanced effort in technical information planning and operations,
the Science Information Facility (SIF) of FDA, was lost to CPEHS, and
that the future of the central computer facility and its services
became uncertain.
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The impact of the establishment of EPA was much more extensive with
respect to information. This impact is well described in a document
prepared for the National Environmental Information Symposium (NEIS):
Current information resources (i.e., information
sources, services, and systems), were inherited
from a multitude and variety of organizations,
including Federal agencies, private industry,
and universities. For example, over 50 separate
information facilities — libraries and information
centers—were passed on to EPA when it was formed
in December 1970. Supporting these information
facilities were an extremely wide range of data
handling equipment, computer programming languages,
and computer software packages. In short, no
single comprehensive, linked and coordinated
information network existed. And, yet the need
has been clear: to insure the optimal interaction
of computers, information systems, information
centers, and libraries in support of a well
designed, responsive environmental information
network.^ '
These successive organizational restructurings, coupled with subse-
quent changes internal to EPA, seriously hampered agency information
planning and implementation. The effect of this organizational flux
was compounded by the establishment of discrete, uncoordinated,
information resources by various agency components to assist them
in meeting their urgent commitments.
It is believed that two other elements also should be mentioned
at this point. One of the elements is already in existence while
the other is only in the discussion stage. The element in existence
consists of a number of Centers of Competence. EPA's Assistant
Administrator for Research and Development funds some of the
Centers in accordance with an inter-agency agreement with the Depart-
ment of Interior's Office of Water Resources Research on behalf of
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the Water Resources Scientific Information Center (WRSIC).* As
currently constituted within EPA, these Centers serve primarily to
select, abstract, and index the literature within their respective
areas of expertise. They generally do not analyze, evaluate, or
compress technical information and data into such forms as state-of-
the-art reports, technical compilations, data and design handbooks,
or provide direct answers to technical inquiries. The output of
the Centers is primarily disseminated through WRSIC and the Selected
Water Resources Abstracts.
The second element, which is currently under discussion, is the
Smithsonian Science Information Exchange (SSIE) and the possibility
of its providing EPA with information support activities to enhance
(14)
EPA's research management efforts. The SSIE has been the
subject of two recent studies—one by the General Accounting Office^"^
and one by Research Planning and Management Services for the 70s.^^
The GAO report concluded that if the RPM-70 study showed that the
Exchange was needed and it was decided to continue it, agencies
should consider using the Exchange to the maximum in meeting the
needs of the Government for information on active research projects.
The RPM-70 study made many recommendations. One was that the existing
organizational arrangement comprised of a central exchange and
specialized information centers be continued. A second was that
the Exchange take the initiative to negotiate agreements, or new
agreements, where necessary with other agencies of the Government
to establish the working relationships necessary to implement the
overall system operation for the newly defined system. A third
recommendation was that an Executive Order be issued to establish
'-'There are several additional EPA contractors who serve a similar role
in other environmental areas and with respect to pollution literature
not primarily announced through WRSIC and who provide inputs to EPA
information bases such as APTIC, NOISE, and SWIRS.
15
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that it is the policy of the Government that, in the planning and
conduct of their research programs, the executive departments and
agencies shall use the system established for exchanging research
information among them.
The above brief history of EPA information activities has been essen-
tially an overview with little attention paid to specific information
activities. Such activities are extensive as evidenced by the
listing of almost 300 administrative and environmental support
systems in the Environmental Information Systems Directory (EISD).
In addition, the Directory does not reflect many extramural and intra-
mural information activities which are concealed within research and
development activities (for example, not all of the Centers of Com-
petence are identified in the Directory).* Discontinuance of some
efforts and implementation of new efforts, changes of scope, and
re-assignment of personnel or priorities all affect the reliability
of this Directory as they have its predecessors. Although the June
1973 edition of the Directory has been used to delineate some aspects
of the present EPA scientific and technical information network,
changes have already occurred which interject some deviations from
the various tabulations contained in this report.
Although the National Science Foundation reported estimated scientific
and technical information expenditures by EPA in 1973 as $3,738,000
with $2,155,000 being allocated to intramural programs and $1,583,000
being allocated to extramural programs, the true expenditure may well
approach an order of magnitude greater because of concealed activi-
ties.^*^ For example, the cost of ST0RET alone is of the order of
$6 million which causes the NSF figure to be questioned.
^"Concealed" means those practices, both formal and informal, followed
by scientists to assure that they have the necessary information and
data to accomplish their assigned tasks. Such activities appear as
costs within their individual R&D budgets rather than as budgeted
information activities.
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The staff of EPA are not only generators of information; they are
aLso users of information. As recognized by Ruckelshaus, in the
statement quoted in the introduction of this report, the problem
faced by individual staff members is how to retrieve from the vast
storehouse of human knowledge those facts, data, and procedures
that are required at the time they are required. The cost of their
individual efforts to obtain information cannot be estimated.*
The brief history of the several studies and the development of EPA's
information facilities presented in the preceding pages amply illus-
trates earlier concerns for EPA's information and data systems.
Unfortunately, these efforts have been largely ignored or only
partially implemented due to organizational changes (e.g., CPEHS to
EHS to EPA) and to deferral to other priorities.
During 1972 and early 1973, personnel assigned to the Office of Research
and Monitoring's Research Information Division (since reorganized),
aware of the proliferation of information efforts within EPA and con-
cerned with the lack of coordination of those efforts, undertook a
detailed review of previous EPA information studies. It was their
conclusion that the network approach presented in the 1970 EHS report
offered the most appropriate solution for EPA. However, the EHS report
did not reflect current EPA policies, organizational structure, and
congressional and private pressures. Further, the number of informa-
tion and data resources had increased and become more complex. Because
of those factors, the current study was undertaken.
*It is reasonable to assume that U. S. problems are not signi-
ficantly different from those of the Soviet Union, where figures
have been published estimating that if Soviet scientists could
reduce by one-half the time they lose in searching for and processing
information, this would be comparable to adding 100,000 scientists
to the existing scientific work force.'
17
-------
SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH APPROACH TO DETERMINATION
OF EPA'S INFORMATION FUTURE
The research team made two major decisions which underlie the develop-
ment of the research approach used in this study:
That the team should avoid, insofar as possible,
duplication of earlier work, and capitalize on the
results of earlier studies to the greatest extent
feasible;
That the principles of the earlier Battelle
recommendations(11) for the establishment of
an environmental information and data network
were still valid but needed updating to reflect
current EPA policies and organizational structure.*
The recognition by the research team of the recommendations of the
earlier Battelle study, accomplished during 1970 under the sponsorship
of CPEHS, is based upon the same premise of building upon prior work.
However, it was considered that a fresh appraisal of the network
concept would be warranted for the current study.
Based upon the above decisions, the investigation by the joint team
consisting of members of EPA's Data and Information Research Division
and personnel from Battelle's Columbus Laboratories focused upon three
major sources of information and data.
*See Appendix F for a tutorial on The Concept of Information Networks
18
-------
Acquisition of EPA reports on projects related to
study or review of EPA's technical information
ac t ivit ies
Interviews with a small number of selected
EPA and contractor personnel representing a reasonably
complete cross-section of EPA information users,
producers, processors, and disseminators.*
A minimal literature search effort to determine
non-EPA sources of environmental information.
Analysis of the input from the three components was expected to
result in the development of a network concept for EPA's scientific
and technical information and the design of an implementation plan.
"While details of the methodology are to be found in Appendix B, it
useful to point out here that due to the complex nature of the EPA
organization and the scattering of the many information and data
efforts throughout the organization, many more interviews were con-
ducted than were originally anticipated. Several teams, consisting
of a Battelle investigator and his EPA counterpart,visited all NERC
and virtually all Regions and Laboratories to assure as complete an
investigation as possible.
19
-------
THE FINDINGS
GENERAL
The present EPA scientific and technical information network generally
is a free unorganized network.* Such a network permits individual
systems to develop whenever and wherever they are needed. To the
extent that interaction or cooperation between the diverse systems is
required, the operators of each of the individual systems must
establish and maintain such channels of interaction as they see fit.
Some portions of the existing network, such as the library system,
are tending to operate in a more coordinated fashion. Other portions
of the network are tending to deteriorate as unilateral decisions
are made to discontinue some systems or to alter their mode of
operation. While operational changes in themselves are not neces-
sarily undesirable, the free, unorganized network is not always
fully responsive to EPA's agency-wide needs because of the parochial
orientation of the network nodes.
Some of the various individual systems were developed to assist each
of the Offices in meeting its assigned responsibilities. Table 1
condenses and paraphrases those responsibilities as assigned by
reference in Order 1110.18A, dated March 29, 1973. Other systems
were designed within one organizational entity to be responsive to the
needs of another organizational entity. It appears more appropriate,
however, to review the systems in relationship to the Offices which
*See Appendix F for a tutorial on The Concept of Information Networks
20
-------
TABLE 1. EPA ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES*
ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
Plans overall program activities; manages the Agency's resources; develops and conducts a comprehensive audit pro-
gram; develops and conducts administrative programs and systems; and represents the Administrator in dealings
with other federal agencies.
ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR ENFORCEMENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL
Is responsible for enforcing environmental quality standards, including the gathering and preparation of evidential
data and the conducting of enforcement proceedings.
ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR AIR AND WATER PROGRAMS
Develops standards defining major types of air and water pollutants and levels of acceptability, and provides pollu-
tion control information to users and potential polluters.
ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR HAZARDOUS MATERIALS CONTROL
Is responsible for the pesticides, solid waste management, noise, and radiation programs of the Agency.
ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Provides supervision of the activities of Agency laboratories engaged in national or basic research, and technical
policy direction of laboratories engaged in operations related to the Agency Regional Administrators.
REGIONAL OFFICES
Ten regional offices, which develop and implement an approved regional program for comprehensive and integrated
environmental protection activities, represent the Agency's commitment to the development of strong local pro-
grams for pollution abatement.
OFFICE OF FEDERAL ACTIVITIES
Develops national policy for dealing with environmental problems arising from Federal facilities and federally
authorized or supported activities.
OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS AND URBAN AFFAIRS
Serves as the principal adviser to the Administrator with respect to equal opportunity and civil rights programs and
policies, minority economic development, and the impact of agency programs upon urban core areas.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATION
Serves as the principal adviser to the Administrator with respect to legislative and congressional affairs.
OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Develops policies and procedures for the direction of the Agency's international programs and activities, subject to
U. S. foreign policy, and assures that adequate program, scientific, and legal inputs are provided.
OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Provides public information services and support to Agency programs and operations, and develops and administers
a cohesive information program for the Agency, including publications, audiovisual materials, and exhibits.
"Some titles may differ from those in existing orders undergoing revision.
21
-------
support them financially. Based upon selection of pertinent systems
from the Environmental Information Systems Directory, it appears that
all 5 Offices of the Assistant Administrators, 9 out of 10 Regions, and
2 Offices have responsibility for, and are supporters of. infor-
mation and data activities in one or more areas of application, but
there is no uniform policy for administering those activities.*
Aside from organizational location, the various systems are not
readily categorizable, however, and decisions made with respect to
assigning many of the systems in the subsequent analysis are some-
times debatable. To facilitate consistency, guidelines, criteria,
and several definitions were established, as presented in the
following paragraphs.
Scope of the study was restricted to scientific and technical informa-
tion systems. But it was found that some administrative and manage-
ment information systems had either scientific and technical content
or could be used with a scientific purpose. For example, the
Personnel Management System (PMS) in Region VI, Denver, which provides
a list of personnel according to 56 descriptive information displays,
one of which is education, is not included; the Categorical Informa-
tion Summary System (CISS) in Region X, Seattle, which provides
program managers with a list of organizations and persons for consul-
tation and information in their particular area of interest is
included. The Assistant Administrator for Research and Development's
Program Planning system is included since it identifies research
needs, defines specific research objectives, and develops detailed
plans to achieve those objectives. The Contracts Information System
*127 systems were selected. Tables 3 and 4 show their dispersion by
organizations responsible for their operation. Appendix C is an
alphabetical cross-reference to the Environmental System Identifi-
cation Number as established for the Directory.
22
-------
is not included since it is a tracking system providing only status
and financial information. Some scientific and technical systems
were not considered pertinent because of their narrow parochial
scope; e.g., the Whole Body Counting System at the NERC-Las Vegas.
Some of the systems are considered data oriented while others are
considered information oriented. The distinction between the two
is as follows:*
DATA--symbolic representation of information
(e.g., letters, numerals, or other characters
in a document) or the record of signals received
from a sensing device.
INFORMATION--the meaning assigned to data, or a
description of data. Knowledge concerning some
particular fact, subject, or event in any
communicable form; for purposes of documentation,
it has three basic criteria: existence, avail-
ability, and semantic content.
It is important that this distinction be made because of its relation-
ship to possible networking considerations.
For purposes of this report the various environmental information
systems were placed into the category of data-oriented or infor-
mation-oriented based upon an analysis of their content rather than
their titles. Within the data-oriented category, a further distinc-
tion was made between (1) activities which merely process and store
raw data for future retrieval by others and (2) activities which manip-
ulate the data to produce various summary and formatted outputs. An
example of the former is the National Estuarine Inventory (NEI) which
is scheduled to become a static management data base on current
coastal zones as of 1965 and to be used to identify information needs
*See P. 24 for amplification of these definitions.
23
-------
for EPA special studies. An example of the latter is Characteristics
of Water Supply Systems (CWSSI) which prepares statistical analysis
reports from water quality data derived from samples of various
community water supplies.
The last of the criteria is related to the current status of the
systems. During the period of this study, both organizational and
systems changes were effected. Although the June 1973 edition of
the Environmental Information Systems Directory was used to delineate
some aspects of the present EPA scientific and technical information
network, changes have already occurred which interject some deviations
from the various tabulations contained in this report.
ALL ORGANIZATIONAL UNITS
Out of the total of 284 environmental information systems listed in
the Environmental Information Systems Directory, the research team
selected 127, about 45 percent, as being pertinent to this particular
study. Table 2 is a tabulation of those systems by subject category
and controlling organization. Quantity alone is not the only criterion
for importance, but from Table 2 it appears that information/data
systems related to air and water comprise over half the total and
they are principally controlled by the Assistant Administrator for
Research and Development and the Assistant Administrator for Air and
Water Programs.
In order to structure tables to illustrate some of the relationships
between EPA organizational units, subject areas, and information
systems, it was necessary to prepare a few definitions as follows:
Information Oriented
Activities that are text oriented. May be documents or merely textual
descriptions of projects, activities, organizations, treatment pLants.
Will include that numeric material that is not intended to be arith-
matically manipulated. Where there is a mixture of information and
24
-------
TABLE 2. EPA INFORMATION SYSTEMS TABULATED BY SUBJECT
CATEGORY AND CONTROLLING ORGANIZATION*
Environment/
^^v^Pollutant
Organization
Air
Water
Pesticides
Noise
Radiation
Solid
Waste
General
Total
Percent
Office of Federal Activities
2
2
1.6
Office of International
Activities
1
1
0.8
Assistant Administrator for
Planning and Management
1
4
5
3.9
Assistant Administrator for
Enforcement and General
Counsel
1
2
3
2.4
Assistant Administrator for
Hazardous Materials
Control
8
1
5
1
15
11.7
Assistant Administrator for
Research and Development
4
8
4
9
6
31
24.5
Assistant Administrator for
Air & Water Programs
14
24
38
29.9
Regional Administrators
17
7
3
5
32
25.2
Total
19
50
21
1
14
4
18
127
Percent
15.0
39.3
16.6
0.8
11.0
3.1
14.2
100.0
'Source: Environmental Information Systems Directory. June 1973^7).
25
-------
data (i.e., text and numbers) the activity is placed in this category
if the data are subordinate and not intended to be manipulated.
Data Oriented (Numeric Capable of Arithmetic Manipulation)
Raw-those activities collecting measurement data which could be mani-
pulated, but are not manipulated by this specific activity.
Manipulated--performs statistical or other computations upon the data.
Management
Activities which are used primarily for planning, grant tracking or
fund allocation decisions regardless of where the activity resides
within the organization. Generally, if description included use of
system for decision making purpose (other than at the research project
level, i.e., whether or not results were conclusive, etc.) then the
activity was included here. Also, if it was used to track the pro-
gress of a construction grant or other such activity it was included
here.
General
Only if the activity contained material cutting across all subject
3reas of concern to EPA was it included in this category. Excluded
were all information/data collections dealing with one specific area
of concern such as pesticides or air quality. Also excluded were
any tracking systems that, while general, could be used as a manage-
ment tool primarily.
Specialized
All activities dealing with one or more areas of interest to EPA,
but not cutting across the entire scope of EPA. Actually, most
activities in this category turned out to be much narrower than
this definition and dealt primarily with one subject of one area.
26
-------
Research Tool
Includes only chose activities in which it was indicated that the
researcher used them as an intermediate step in the conduct of his
research project. This did not include the systems he might use
to search for relevant literature while planning or conducting a
study, but did include systems that could be used to reduce his
specific data prior to further analysis.
A decision to place a given system into a cell of a matrix was
highly subjective and principally based upon the text of the
Directory entry, supplemented by the personal knowledge of the
system assigner. Other individuals could well have elected different
distributions of systems. The study team strove for consistency of
decision within the definitions given and considers the matrices to
be reasonably accurate under the recognized conditions.
Table 3 is a numerical distribution by orientation and controlling
organization. This table indicates a higher percentage of data
oriented systems with about two-thirds of the systems being of the
manipulated data type.
Table 4 is an expanded version of Table 3, listing system titles,
identification numbers, and other related EPA systems.*
Table 5 is a matrix intended to show the numerical distribution of
the various systems in terms of their purpose and their information/
data orientation. Table 6 is a matrix showing the same distribu-
tion as Table 5, but with system titles replacing the numbers.
^Appendix C has an alphabetical cross-reference to the Environmental
System Identification Number as established for the Environmental
Information Systems Directory.
_27
-------
TABLE 3. NUMERICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SYSTEMS BY ORIENTATION AND
CONTROLLING ORGANIZATION
Orientation
Date Oriented
Information
Organization
Raw
Manipulated
Oriented
Total
Percent
Office of Federal
Activities
2
2
1.6
Office of Inter-
national Activities
1
1
0.8
Asst. Administrator
for Planning and
Management
5
5
3.9
Asst. Administrator
for Enforcement and
General Counsel
2
1
3
Z4
Asst. Administrator
for Hazardous
Materials Control
2
8
5
15
11.7
Asst. Administrator
for Research and
Development
6
14
11
31
24.5
Asst. Administrator
for Air and Water
Programs
5
19
14
38
29.9
Regions
7
6
19
32
25.2
TOTAL
22
47
58
127
PERCENT
17.3
37.0
45.7
100.0
28
-------
TABLE 4. DISTRIBUTION OF SYSTEMS BY SYSTEM TITLE AND CONTROLLING ORGANIZATION'
Orienta-
Date
EISD
Environmental Systems
Office
Unit
System Title
tion*
Typo"
Category
Identification Number
Related Systoms
Office of Federal Activities
Environmental Impact Statement System
207
10009
Fodoral Facilities System
207
10013
206ES10132/10142
207 ESI 0261
Office of International Activities
International Environmental Reports
1
None
None
104ES10017
System
Assistant Administrator for
Environmental Information Retrieval
107
10045
Planning and Management
On-Line (ENVIRON)
Environmental Information Systems
1
104
10032
Inventory
EPA Economic Dislocation Early
106
10264
Warning System
EPA Library System
104
10017
104ES10042/10093/10310/10270
206ES10094
Intl Env flepts Sys.
EPA Technical Publications System
201
10016
Assistant Administrator fgr
Pesticide Import File
D
R
203
10232
203ES10274/10294
Enforcement and
Pesticides Registration System
D
R
203
10028
203ES10039
General Counsel
Refuse Act Permit Program System (RAPP)
1
207
10030
207ES10255
Assistant Administrator for
Office of Noise Control Prograire
Noise Information Service (NOISE)
1
202
10026
Hazardous Matenals
Deputy Assistant Administrator
Episode Reporting and Accident
1
203
10082
203ES10219/10273/10293
Control
for Pesticides Programs
Investigation System
National Soils Monitoring System
D
M
203
10222
Pesticide Air Monitoring Data System
D
M
203
10207
Pesticide Community Studies Data System
D
M
203
10209
Pesttcide Human Monitoring Data System
D
M
203
10208
Pesticide Test Result
D
R
203
10320
203 ES10249/10272 /10295
Pesticides Analysis Retrieval and Control
I
203
10083
System (PARCS)
Registration Records
1
203
10039
203ES10028
Deputy Assistant Administrator
Human Bone Notwork
D
M
204
10087
for Radiation Programs
Institutional Total Diet Sampling Network
D
M
204
10085
(ITDSN)
National Environmental Radiation Data
D
M
204
10084
System (NERADS)
Pasteurized Milk Network
D
R
204
10088
Tritium Network
D
M
204
10086
Deputy Assatant Administrator
Solid Waste Information Retrieval
1
205
10095
205ES10250/10251/10296
for Solid Waste Management
System ISWI RSI
Programs
'Derived from Environmental Information Systems Directory. June 1973
+l ~ Information, D ¦ Data.
**R = Raw; M » Manipulated.
-------
TABLE 4. (Continued)
Orienta
Oota
E ISO
Environmental Systems
Office
Unit
Systom Title
tion+
Type*
Category
Identification Number
Related Systems
Assistant Administrator for
Office of Program Management
Assistant Administrator for Research and
Research and Development
Development Program Planning System
1
106
10243
Bibliography Fife
1
206
10094
104ES10093/10310/10017/10770
Pinal Reports File (FINR)
1
104
10093
Project Information Retrieval System
f
104
10089
104ES10017/10310/10270
(PIRS)
206ES10094
Deputy Assistant Administrator
Program Review and Evaluation System
1
207
10048
lor Monitoring Systems
(PRES)
NERC-Research TriartglePsrk
(Air)
Community Health Environmental
1
201
10186
Surveillance System (CHESS)
Fuel Additive Registration System (FARS)
1
201
10319
Users Network for Applied Modeling of
D
R
201
10185
Air Pollution 1UNAMAP)
(Pesticides)
Electroencepholographic Patterns of
D
M
203
10316
Monkeys
Toxicology Data System
D
M
203
10317
LO
(Radiation)
Feline Colony Information (TheCat
D
M
204
10190
O
System)
NE RC-Las Vegas
(Radiation)
Air Data Managsment
D
R
204
10197
Eskimo Surveillance
D
M
204
10205
Indoor Radon Indepth Air Sampling
0
M
204
10200
Dosimetry Data Base
Milk Director Information System
D
R
204
10198
Nevada Test Site Off-Site H-uman
D
M
204
10312
Surveillance System
Surveillance Data Management
D
M
204
10203
Technical Reports System
1
104
10310
104ES10093/10017/10270
208ES10094
Uranium Mill Tailing Survey Data Ba&e
D
M
204
10201
NERC-Corvallis
(Water)
Automated National Sensor Work Platform
for Environmental Research (ANSWER)
D
R
206
10211
Data Aquisition for Aquatic Ecosystem
D
R
206
10220
Simulator
Environmental Data Evaluation System
D
M
206
10218
(EDES)
Mass Spectral Identification
D
M
206
10221
Sample Handling and Verification
D
M
206
10214
System (SHAVES)
1
Solar Radiation Date Acquisition
D
-
206
10319
-------
TABLE 4. (Continued)
Orienta-
Data
EISD
Environmental Systems
Office
Unit
System Trile
tion*
Type**
Category
Identification Number
Related Syftoms
Assistant Administrator for
(Pesticides)
Data Acquisition and Processing for
D
R
203
10219
203ES10222
Research and Development
Agricultural Runoff Resoarch
{Continued)
Toxicity Dote File
D
R
203
10318
(General)
Automatic Indexing by Keyword
1
104
10183
(KWOC)
Assistant Administrator for
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Characteristics of Water
i
Deputy Assistant Administrator
Accomplishment Planning and Reporting
D
M
206
10044
for Water Planning arvf
System
Standards
Aerial Measurement of U£>. Coastal Zone
D
M
206
10068
Automap Subsystem (AUTOMAP)
D
R
206
10034.02
Beach Closure Inventory
1
206
10069
City Master File (STORET)
1
206
10034.04
Construction Grant Need Cost System
D
M
206
10034,06
(STORET)
Fish Kill File (STORET)
1
206
10034.05
Generalized Cataloging and Inquiry
1
206
10065
System (GCIS)
General Point Source File (GPSF)
D
M
206
10067
Industrial Waste Literature File (IWES)
1
206
10081
Map Inventory and Status Subsystem
1
206
10034.03
(MISS)
Municipal Waste Needs Facilities
D
M
206
10034J07
Inventory (STORET)
National Estuarine Inventory (NED
D
R
206
10076
National
-------
TABLE 4 (Continued)
Orienta
Data
EISD
environmental Systems
Office
Unit
8y«tom Title
tion+
Typo'"
Category
identification Number
Rotated Systems
Assistant Administrator for
Deputy Assistant Administrator
Air Pollution Technical Information
1
201
10060
Air and Water Programs
for Air Quality Planning
Centor (APT IC)
(Continued)
and Standards
Air Quality Data Handling System
D
M
201
10057
(AQDHS)
Air Quality Implementation Planning
D
M
201
10058
Progrom (1PP)
Comprehensive Data Handling System
D
M
201
10046
(CDHS)
Foderal Power Commission Tape (FPC)
D
M
201
10069
Industry Study
1
201
10239
National Emissions Data System (NEDS)
D
R
201
10056
NEDS Variable Data Subsystem (YDSS)
D
M
201
10062
Storage and Retrieval of Aerometric
D
M
201
10055
Data (SAROAD)
Deputy Assistant Administrator
All Major In-House and Contracted
D
M
201
10063
for Mobile Source Air
Project Data
Pollution Control
Data Base of MSP CP Laboratory
D
M
201
10054
Test Results
Library Files
104
10042
104ES10017
Manufacturer versus EPA Vehicle
0
M
201
10064
Testing Results
Primary Test Data
D
R
201
10240
Regions
(Pesticides)
Pesticide Accidents File
1
203
10273
203ES10082/10293
Pesticide Collection Report File
D
R
203
10272
203ES10249/10295/10320
Pesticide Episode File
1
203
10293
203ES10082/10273
Pesticide Import File
D
R
203
10274
203ES10232/10294
Pesticide Sampling Information System
D
R
203
10249
203ES10272/10295/10320
Pesticide Sampling Information System
D
M
203
10295
203ES10249/10272/10320
Pesticides Import File
D
R
203
10294
203ES10232/10274
(Solid Waste)
Leachate
1
205
10251
205ES10095/10296/10250
Solid Waste Disposal Sites Inventory
1
205
10296
205ES10095/10251/10250
Status of Recycling System
1
205
10250
205ES10095/10251/10296
(Water)
Annapolis Field Office Water Laboratory
D
M
206
10260
Analysis System
Basin Planning System
1
206
10104
County Population and Density
D
M
206
10126
Decimal Input Edit (DIPEDIT)
D
M
206
10115
Dissolved Gas Information System (DIGIS)
D
R
206
10159
(DIG1S)
EPA Engineering Summary
D
M
206
10265
Federal Facilities Inventory System
1
206
10132
206ES10142
207 ESI 0013/10261
-------
TABLE 4 (Continued)
Orienta-
Oata
E ISO
Environmental Systems
Office
Unit
System Title
tion*
Type**
Category
Identification Number
Relotcd Systems
Regions (Continued)
Major Point Source and Effluont Loads-
D
R
206
10141
South Platte River
Matter System
1
207
10098
Microfilm-Microfiche System
1
107
10302
Municipal Information System
1
206
10297
Power Plant Program Management
\
207
10119
Information System
Refuse Act Permrt Program (Local)
0
M
207
10256
207ES10030
Regional Map Collection Index
1
104
10101
Storei Station Location System
1
206
10277
Water Supplies Used on Interstate
1
206
10275
Carrier System
Wheeling Water Laboratory Analysis
0
R
206
10259
System
(General)
Categorical Information Summary
1
207
10298
System
Environmental Residual Information
1
207
10105
System
Federal Facilities File
1
207
10261
2O6ES10132/10142
207ES10013
Federal Facilities Storage and
1
206
10142
2O6ES10132
Retrieval System
207ESI 0013/10261
Publications and Beport System
1
104
10270
104 ESI0017/10093/10270
2O6ES10O94
-------
TABLE 5. NUMERICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SYSTEMS BY PURPOSE AND ORIENTATION
Orientation
Information
Data Oriented
Purpose
Oriented
Manipulated
Raw
Total
Percent
Management
14
10
24
18.9
General
5
5
3.9
Specialized
39
31
19
89
70.1
Tool
6
3
9
7.1
TOTAL
58
47
22
127
PERCENT
45.7
37.0
17.3
100.0
34
-------
This page Intentionally left blank.
35
-------
TABLE 6. DISTRIBUTION OF SYSTEMS BY PURPOSE AND ORIENTATION
INCLUDING SYSTEM TITLES*
CLASSIFICATION
INFORMATION ORIENTED
PURPOSE
Assistant Administrator for Research and
Federal Facilities Storage and Retrieval
Development Profpam Planning System
System
Basin Planning System
Federal Facilities System(FEDFAC)
Categorical Information Summary System
Ribnagement Reporting System (MRS)
MANAGEMENT
Environmental Impact Statement System
Master System
Environmental Information Systems
Municipal Information System
Inventory
PastiadB Ejesode File
Environmental Residual Information
Water Supplies Used on Interstate
System
Carrier System
EPA Economic Dislocation Early Warning
System
Environmental Information Retrieval On-Lme (ENVIRON)
EPA Library System
GENERAL
EPA Technical Publications System
International Environ irental Reports System
Publications and Report System
Air Pollution Technical Information
Pesticide Accidents File
Center System (APT1C)
(feticides Analysts Retrieval and Control
Analytical Methodology Information
System (PARCS)
Center (AMIC)
Power Plant Pro ye m Management
Automatic Indexing by Keyword (KWOC)
Information System
Beach Closure Inventory
Program Review and Evaluation System
Bibliopephy File
(PRES)
City Afester File (STORET)
Project Information Retrieval System
Community Health Environmental
(PI RS)
Surveillance System (CHESS)
Refuse Act Permits Propem System 4 RAPP)
Episode Reporting and Accident Investi
Regional Map Collection Index
gation System
Reparation Records
Federal Facilities File
Sewage Treatment Plant Operation end
SPECIALIZE
Federal Facilities Inventory System
Muntenance Data Retrieval
Final Reports File (FINR)
Solid Waste Disposal Sites Inventory
Fish Kill File (STORET)
Solid Waste Information Retrieve! System
Fuel Additive Repitration System (FARS)
(SWIRS)
Generalized Catalopng and Inquiry
Spill Information Retrieval System
System (CCIS)
(OHM-SIRS)
Industrial Waste Literature File (1 WES)
Status of Recycling System
Industry Study
STORET Station Location System
Leschate
Technical Assistance Data System
Library Files
(OHM-TADS)
Map Inventory and Status Sub-System
Technicel Reports System
(MISS)
Technology Transfer Data Storap and
Mcrofilm — Microfiche System
Retrieval System
Noise Information Service (NOISE)
Water Quality Standards
RESEARCH
TOOL
'Based upon em net in the June 1973 edition of the Environmental Information Systems Dlrectory^^ and does not
reflect all dianga which may hivi occurred since the Directory wn prepared.
36
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TABLE 6. (Continued)
DATA ORIENTEO
MANIPULATED
RAW
Accomplishment banning and Reporting System
Aerial Measurements of U.S Coastal Zone
Comprehensive Data Handling SystBm (CDHS)
Construction Grant Need Cost System (STORET)
EPA Enpneenng Summary
Municipal Waste Nee& Facilities Inventory (STORET)
National — Reponal Water - Land Resources Assessment
Pesticide Sampling Information System
Refuse Act Per rrut Proyam (Local)
Storage and Retrieval of Water Quality Data (STORET)
Air Quality Data Handling System lnters;ate Carrier Water Supply Inventory
(AQDHS) HOWS)
Air Quality Implementation Planning Manufacturer w EPA Vehicle Testing
Program (IPP) Results
All Major In-House and Contracted National Environmental Radiation Data
Protect Data System (NERADS)
Annapolis Field Office Water Laboratory National Soils Monitoring System
Analysis System NEDS Variable Data Subsystem (VDSS)
Characteristics of Water Supply Systems Nevada Test Stte - Off-Site Human
(CWSSI) Surveillance System
County Population and Density Pesticide Air Monitoring Data System
Data Acquisition System (TAME) Pwtictde Community Studies Data System
Data Base of MSPCP Laboratory Test Pesticide Human Monitoring Data System
Solar Radiation Data Acquisition
Oecimd Input Ec*t (OlPEDIT) Storage and Retrieval of Aerometric
Eskimo Survtollance °att (SAROAD)
Federal Pow»r Comnwsion Tape (FPC) 1,ance Mana^ment
Generri Point Source File (GPSF) Tritium Netwoik
Human Bone Network (HBN) Oanium Mill Tailing Survey Data 8ase
Indoor Radon Indepth Am Sam^mg U»rs Network for Applied Modeling
Dosimetry Data Base of A*r Pollution (UNAMAPI
Institutional Total Diet Sampling Water Inventory System
Network (ITDSN)
Air Data Management
Aulomap Subsystem (automap)
Automated National Sensor Work Platform for
Environmental Research (ANSWER)
Dissolved Gas Information System (DIGIS)
Major Point Source and Effluent Loacfe -
South Ftatte River
Mlk Directory Information System
National Emcssore Data System (NEDS)
National Estuanne Inventory (NEI)
Pasteurized Mrtk Network (PMN)
Pesticide Collection Report File
Pesticide Import File
Pesticide Sampling Information System
ftjsticide Test Result
Pesticides Import File
Pesticides Registration System
Primary Test Data
Water Quality File Sub-System (STORET)
Wheeling Water Laboratory Analyses System
Electroencephalotpaphic Patterns of Monkeys
Environmental Data Evaluation System (EDES)
Feline Colony Information (The Cat System)
ftfess Spectral Identification
Sample Handling & Verification System (SHAVES)
Toxicology Data System
Oata Acquisition and Processingfor Agricultural
Runoff Research
Data Acquisition for Aouatic Ecosystem Simulator
Toxicity Data File
37
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SELECTED SYSTEMS
Some additional information was obtained about a few of the systems
from personal interviews and other sources. Except for the Regional
Offices, these systems will usually be discussed without reference to
their organizational location.
Environmental Information Systems Inventory
This system is the base for the semi-annual publication of the Envi-
ronmental Information Systems Directory and the unpublished Reference
Index of Environmental Information Systems Hardware and Software.
Maintenance of the Directory and Index is dependent upon voluntary
completion and submission to the Management Information and Data
Systems Division of an Information Systems Resume1 Form whenever a
system changes or a new system is developed. There is no obvious
mechanism with which to police compliance with the requirement for
form submittal.
EPA Library System
The EPA library at Headquarters serves as the focal point for the
(20 21 22 23)
library network. ' ' ' The EPA library system consists of
approximately 30 libraries located in the Headquarters, ten Regional
Offices, and the four National Environmental Research Centers (NERC)
including their satellite libraries. Some of the libraries were
initiated in some other organizational form almost 25 years ago; some
are of 1973 origin. The Headquarters Library was activated in 1972
with the former Federal Water Quality Administration Library as its
nucleus.
There is a great disparity, even at comparable organizational levels,
among resources and capabilities of the various libraries. Funding
is erratic and may consist of only one man year of effort in one
Region, while it may be four man years in another Region. In some
instances, the library functions are performed by personnel who have
38
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not had a formal education in lihrary science. In a substantial
majority of the libraries, the librarians do not have adequate
resources, or technical subject knowledge to undertake direct
interrogation of available computerized data bases.
The Library Systems Branch has only a functional operational relation-
ship with the other libraries. It has neither any administrative
responsibility, nor any authority. Despite this handicap, the Chief,
Library Systems Branch is developing the libraries into a coordinated
network.
At the present stage of its development, the library network activity
falls into two principal categories: 1) basic library inventory
systems and 2) literature retrieval systems. In the first instance,
the Headquarters Library provides a centralized source of literature
holdings in the form of journals, books, and microform material.
Each library in the system submits data on its holdings to EPA
Headquarters where a computerized data base is maintained and a
print-out of holdings is produced for all libraries.
In the area of literature retrieval, in addition to local library
resources and the inventory print-out, there is a central technical
focal point in the library system at the NERC Cincinnati which has
access to about 30 computerized data bases containing over eight
million document citations. Both on-line and batch searches are
available as well as selective dissemination of information. A few of
the libraries have recently acquired terminals so they can interrogate
selected data bases (frequently used and judged of value) without
going through the NERC interface.
One other item of interest is that the Air Pollution Technical
Information Center (APTIC) has provided each of the libraries at
NERC and Regional Office levels with a microfiche file of APTIC
holdings. An APTIC search provides microfiche accession numbers
for library retrieval.
39
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Pesticides Registration System
This system is a raw data system which produces listings of chemical
ingredients of a pesticide formula and the approved practices for
pesticide uses. It is understood that tapes from this system will
become a component of the Pesticides Analysis Retrieval and Control
System (PARCS). Input into this system is received from the Regis-
tration Record System which is under the jurisdiction of the Assistant
Administrator for Hazardous Materials Control.
Pesticides Analysis Retrieval and Control System (PARCS)
PARCS has recently been developed. It assimilates most of the existing
information/data bases on pesticides with the objective of providing
a centralized information resource to coordinate nationwide enforce-
ment or analysis. In those cases where systems remain organizationally
external to the Office of Hazardous Materials Control, selected output
tapes from those sources will provide input to PARCS.
Noise Information Service (NOISE)
A thesaurus is under development. This thesaurus is expected to be
incorporated into the system and available on-line to aid the user in
formulating his search strategy. With NOISE becoming a viable system,
its relationship with the Transportation Noise Research Information
Service at the Department of Transportation should be carefully
considered.
National Environmental Radiation Data System (NERADS)
NERADS is intended to be the data management system for all radiation
monitoring and will also include a modeling capability for the
calculation of population dosage. The nucleus of NERADS will be
composed of the Pasteurized Milk Network (PMN), the Human Bone Network
(HBN), the Tritium Network, and the Institutional Total Diet Sampling
Network (ITDSN). Each of those networks monitors radiation levels in
the particular subject area indicated in the system title.
40
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International Environmental Reports Sy8tem
This system contains summaries of foreign government environmental
reports received by EPA through document exchange programs with
foreign countries. Computer generated reports are intended to alert
the agency to major environmental developments around the world. The
system produces reports by category (legal, planning and management,
scientific and technical, and socio-economic), by country, and by
subject (air, water, pesticides, radiation, solid waste, noise, and
general).
This system currently places minimum emphasis upon scientific and
technical information to avoid duplicating efforts being conducted
elsewhere. The initial annotated bibliography produced contains
reports of legislative and regulatory aspects of environmental
quality. There also will be 24 issues (2500 copies each) of an
abstract bulletin containing 500-600 abstracts per issue. The
system is treated as a component of EPA's in-house library systems.
Principle 20 of the Declaration on the Human Environment stressed the
need for free flow of up-to-date scientific information to the
developing nations. Although little current effort in this respect
is being expended by the Office of International Activities, a staff
member is serving on the U. S. interagency committee formed to assist
in the development of the U. N. International Referral Service for
sources of environmental information.
Project Information Retrieval System (PIRS)
PIRS contains information on active and completed research, develop-
ment, and demonstration projects funded by EPA and is part of the
ENVIRON system. It is understood that consideration is being given
to performing PIRS functions through the Program Planning System.
The effect of such a decision on the negotiations initiated with the
Smithsonian Science Information Exchange is not known at this time.
41
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Storage and Retrieval of Water Quality Data (STORET)
Data systems are predominant within EPA. The major system, with its
many associated bases, is STORET, which has terminals in 37 states
and processes 1000 requests per day at an annual cost of about $6
million. Yet user attitudes toward STORET are highly polarized with
respect to its true value to the water programs community. In 1972,
the Office of Audit made an evaluation of STORET in which it was
pointed out that evaluation and control of EPA's data bases was not,
but should be, centralized. (For some of the other on-line systems
an appraisal is being made to determine whether the cost of on-line
storage is justified by data base usage.)
Air Pollution Technical Information Center (APTIC)
The current status of APTIC is being reviewed and some operational
changes are likely to be effected, but APTIC is expected to continue
to operate at some lower level of effort with perhaps greater
orientation towards application programs. APTIC also will convert to
a UNIVAC 1110 and will become more terminal oriented and searchable,
for example, from the regional offices. This will make the regional
libraries' store of APTIC microfiche more rapidly accessible.
Regional Offices
Thirty-two information/data activities controlled by the regions were
selected as pertinent to this study. Their distribution among the
regions by subject category is shown in Table 7.
Over half of the systems are water related and three-quarters of the
systems are water or pesticides related.
42
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TABLE 7. INFORMATION SYSTEMS REPORTING TO REGIONAL ADMINISTRATORS
TABULATED BY REGION AND SUBJECT CATEGORY
N^Region
Subject N.
'
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
Total
Percent
Pesticides
1
3
V
3
7
21.8
Solid Waste
2
1
3
9.4
Water
1
3
2
1
1
2
3
1
3
17
53.2
General
1
1
1
1
1
5
15.6
TOTAL
4
4
3
1
1
2
7
2
0
8
32
PERCENT
12.5
12.5
9.4
3.1
3.1
6.3
21.3
6.3
0.0
25.0
100.0
43
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CENTERS OF COMPETENCE
The water Resources Scientific Information Center (WRSIC) conceived
the idea of Centers of Competence as a means of obtaining high
quality abstracts and associated indexes and, more importantly,
acquisitions with high relevancy to the various subject areas of
interest to the water resources community. By using organizations
having hiiih technical competence to provide input to WRSIC, a quality
information base could be built which would truly meet the needs of
its users.
The number of Centers has fluctuated as new Centers encompassing new
subject areas were initiated, while others no longer of interest or
the victims of financial cutbacks were disbanded.
At the present time 14 Centers are understood to be viable. Table 8
lists the Centers of Competence as identified in the September 15,
1973 issue of Selected Water Resources Abstracts. The list contains
18 Centers because of the time lag in recognizing and reporting
Center changes.
EPA's Role in Centers of Competence
On September 8, 1971, EPA entered into an inter-agency agreement
between the Assistant Administrator for Research and Development and
Interior's Office of Water Resources Research for processing all
water related reports resulting from the EPA inhouse or sponsored
activities into the WRSIC system, and for cooperatively establishing
certain literature centers of competence which would be mutually
advantageous and cover the field of water pollution. This agreement
superseded an agreement of November 19, 1969, which predated the
organization of EPA. On August 2, 1973 a letter from Stanley M.
Greenfield, EPA Assistant Administrator for Research and Development,
to Warren A. Hall, Acting Director of the Office of Water Resources
Research, continued the terms of the agreement pending receipt of the
44
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TABLE 8. CENTERS OF COMPETENCE AND THEIR SUBJECT COVERAGE*
Ground and surface water hydrology at the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey,
U.S. Department of the Interior.
Metropolitan water resources planning and management at the Center for Urban and Regional Studies
of University of North Carolina.
Eastern United States water law at the College of Law of the University of Florida.
Policy models of water resources systems at the Department of Water Resources Engineering of
Cornell University.
Water resources economics at the Water Resources Center of the University of Wisconsin.
Design and construction of hydraulic structures; weather modification; and evaporation control at the
Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colorado.
Eutrophication at the Water Resources Center of the University of Wisconsin, jointly sponsored by the
Soap and Detergent Association and the Agricultural Research Service.
Water resources of arid lands at the Office of Arid Lands Studies of the University of Arizona.
Water well construction technology at the National Water Well Association.
Water-related aspects of nuclear radiation and safety at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Public water supply treatment technology at the American Water Works Association.
SUPPORTED BY THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
IN COOPERATION WITH WRSIC
Thermal pollution at the Department of Sanitary and Water Resources Engineering of Vanderbilt
University.
Water quality requirements for freshwater and marine organisms at the College of Fisheries of the
University of Washington.
Wastewater treatment and management at the Center for Research in Water Resources of the
University of Texas.
Methods for chemical and biological identification and measurement of pollutants at the Analytical
Quality Control Laboratory of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Coastal pollution at the Oceanic Research Institute.
Water treatment plant waste pollution control at American Water Works Association.
Effects on water quality of irrigation return flows at the Department of Agricultural Engineering of
Colorado State University.
* As listed in the September 15, 1973, issue of Selected Water Resources Abstrecti.
45
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(24)
recommendations forthcoming from this study. A copy of the
September 8, 1971 agreement is shown in Appendix D.
As a result of the interagency agreement, a number of Centers of
Competence in the areas prescribed by the agreement were established.
The Centers' numbers and natures have fluctuated, and at the present
time only three of the EPA supported Centers shown in Table 8 are
understood to be active.*
Under the agreement, abstracts prepared by the Centers are provided
to WRSIC in return for 300 copies of Selected Water Resources Abstracts
and 100 computer searches of the WRSIC data base. Of the 15,599
abstracts announced in Selected Water Resources Abstracts during the
one-year period starting October 1, 1972, EPA supported Centers
provided 4127 abstracts and EPA provided 187 abstracts of its reports.
The combined EPA contribution was about 27.6 percent of the total.
A disturbing fact is that while it is possible to monitor the initia-
tion process for a Center of Competence by following its path through
the steps of Needs, Environmental Research Objective Statements (EROS),
and the Research Objective Achievement Plans (ROAP), it is not
possible to monitor positively the demise or change in a system.+
"The three Centers are: 1) thermal pollution at the Department of
Sanitary and Water Resources Engineering of Vanderbilt University;
2) agricultural livestock waste at the School of Environmental Science
of East Central State College; and 3) methods for chemical and biolo-
gical identification and measurement of pollutants at the Methods
Development and Quality Assurance Laboratory (MDQARL, formerly AQCL)
of EPA. The Environmental Information Systems Directory lists only
the last center by including the Analytical Methodology Information
Center operated for MDQARL by the Columbus Laboratories of Battelle
Memorial Institute.
+During the course of the investigative interviews, the question was
raised by one of the NERC's, "How long do we continue our funding of
this Center of Competence? We could better use these funds for
research. Shouldn't Headquarters fund this activity?" The activity
referred to represents an important aspect of water pollution.
46
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Under such, conditions, EPA1 s Data and Information Research Division
I'IPA's coordinator for the agreement) may only learn about a termina-
tion when WRSIC fails to receive the input and consequently inquires
of the Division. Since input cycles vary greatly from Center to
Center, WRSIC may encounter long delays before being fully alerted to
the true situation.
If funding for a system is discontinued by a given EPA program area
manager and the manager fails to properly report system termination,
the disestablishment of the system may go unnoticed for a long
period of time. Continuity of operation, trained staff, and credi-
bility are lost as a result. This situation is not unique for the
Centers of Competence. It exists in a parallel fashion for other
EPA information components.
INTERNATIONAL REFERRAL SERVICE
In June 1972, the United Nations convened the Conference on the Human
Environment at Stockholm. One of the matters on the agenda was
discussion of the educational, informational, social, and cultural
aspects of environmental problems. Some of the recommendations for
international action in dealing with the exchange of information were
* n (25>
as follows:
It was recognized that there are many initiatives
to promote the networking of existing information
systems so as to increase their usefulness and to
avoid the unnecessary duplication of effort.
Because of these initiatives, access to sources
of information was identified as the most important
problem to be tackled as a beginning and proposals
were developed for a modest International Referral
Service for sources of environmental information.
Such a service would enable the maximum benefit
to be gained from the exchange of information about
local, national and international research, applica-
tion, and legislative and management experiences in
environmental matters.
47
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The Referral Service would cover the five
substantive subjects of the Conference
agenda: planning and management of human
settlements for environmental quality;
environmental aspects of natural resources
management; identification and control of
pollutants and nuisances of broad inter-
national significance; educational, informa-
tional, social and cultural aspects of
environmental issues; development and
environment; and, on the other hand, should
catalogue all relevant governmental and
international sources of
a data
9 technological and scientific information
• social and economic information
• legislative, administrative and policy
informat ion
o public information
The Referral Service would collect, with the
assistance and advice of Governments and of the
bodies of the United Nations system, the entries
which will form its working catalogue of informa-
tion sources. Each entry to the catalogue would
contain the name, address, cable and telephone
number of the information source, together with
details of controlling body, function, subject
coverage, services and availability. These
attributes would be sufficiently categorized,
indexed and annotated to ensure efficient
retrieval.
The survey by the Conference secretariat of the
relevant information gathering and disseminating
systems of United Nations bodies and of some of
their clients has shown that an initial catalogue
of sources of information could be easily
assembled with the assistance and advice of
governments. Consultations with the Inter-
national Computing Centre have shown that the
right kind of modern computing facilities for
the Referral Service are present in Geneva and
that an appropriate terminal is housed in the
Palais des Nations.
48
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The setting up of the International Referral Service which was pro-
posed in recommendation 101 of the Action Plan was approved at the
Stockholm meeting.
In June 19 73, a demonstration of the International Referral Service
(based upon a pilot data store of 700 information sources) was made
before the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment
(3)
Programme. EPA was represented on the working group and had pro-
vided the project with extensive source information. The trip report
of the EPA representative contains the following sentences:
In the final analysis, one of the major benefits
of such a service would be the domestic require-
ments for participation in such an international
service. Clearly before any country would parti-
cipate in the IRS, it would have to have a proper
knowledge of its own environmental resources.
Gaining such a knowledge would be an exercise
that would probably benefit every country in the
world today.
At the June meeting referred to, the U. N. authorized an expenditure
of $200,000 for development of an operational model of the IRS. At
the time of this writing, no substantial progress has been made.
INFORMATION RESOURCES OUTSIDE EPA
A review of 30 directories identified as containing pertinent material
led to selection of 10 as being most productive. The ten are identi-
fied in Appendix I by an asterisk before each directory entry number.
Table 9 is a matrix showing the distribution relationships between
the controlling organizations and the type of pollution or environ-
ment information resource selected from the directories. While the
Federal Government is often thought to be the main source of environ-
mental information, Table 9 indicates that information resources are
-------
TABLE 9. DISTRIBUTION OF NON-EPA INFORMATION RESOURCES*
n. Subject
Organization
Miscellaneous
Environmental
Health
Toxicology
Multiple
"
Air
Water
Pesticide
Noise
Radiation
Solid
Watte
Total
Percent
Federal
16
100
19
60
21
16
27
9
268
22.8
State and
Territories
3
90
17
127
54
—
31
15
337
28.7
Universities
16
71
14
123
18
5
19
1
267
22.8
Academies
Libraries
Societies
Associations
Information
Centers
Councils
Companies
Not-For-Profit
12
110
19
51
18
12
13
11
246 .
20.9
Abstracting
and Indexing
Services
11
24
6
11
1
3
1
-
57
4.8
TOTAL
58
395
75
372
112
36
91
36
1175
100
'This table was constructed from entries found in 30 directories, and it was not practical to eliminate ail errors due to duplications and out-of-date listings.
-------
abouc equally distributed into four classes. Although the Table does
nc: consider aspects such as quality, quantity, size, cost, or
accessibility, the distribution suggests that use of a network might
make a large and viable information base available to EPA staff
members to augment existing internal resources. Many of the 127
systems selected from the Environmental Information Systems Directory
were of such a nature to make it unlikely they would appear in other
directories. If this assumption is correct, EPA information resources
represent far less than half of the Federal resources and less than
10 percent of all resources.
The research appears to bring out two important points. The first is
that the network concept seems to merit consideration for dealing with
large numbers of widely distributed information resources, e.g., 372
for water. The second is that the value of a printed directory is
highly transient because the directory becomes outdated so quickly.
If EPA elects to maintain a directory of its own or outside information
resources, it should develop a methodology to keep directory entries
current, whether in print or non-print form.
RESULTS OF PERSONAL INTERVIEWS
During the study, personal interviews with 131 individuals were
completed. Of those internal to EPA, 4 were within staff functions and
121 within line functions. The staff interviews were 1 in the Office
of Federal Activities, and 3 in the Office of International Activities.
The line interviews were as follows:
Assistant Administrators
Planning and Management
Enforcement and General Counsel
Hazardous Materials Control
Research and Development
Air and Water Programs
Total
2
2
12
62
_6
84
51
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The interviews under R&D can be further broken down follows:
Headquarters 11
NERC's 29
Laboratories 22
Total 62
Thirty-seven interviews were held in seven of the ten regions.* The
remaining six interviews were held with EPA contractors or former
contractors.
A list of interviewees is contained in Appendix E. The interviewees
represent a very diverse range of interests compatible with the
interviewees' assigned responsibilities and positions within the
hierarchy of EPA. Persons interviewed were managers, researchers,
administrators, enforcement people, surveillance people, and
information/data people, among others. In order to deal with this
diversity, the views of the interviewees have been aggregated and
categorized into the following subject areas:
• Information transfer
• Users
a Data bases
• ADP requirements
• Standards
The categories are not mutually exclusive; they are highly inter-
dependent, but continued repetition in other categories of findings
initially reported in one category was not considered warranted.
This approach, therefore, requires some thought transference by the
reader. In some instances, statements related to the results of
the interviews could be interpreted as analysis of the findings, but
they are included so that continuity of thought is not interrupted.
Information Transfer
There were many comments and conclusions concerning the process of
information transfer within EPA--most interviewees had something to
*Atlanta, Chicago, and Kansas City were not included.
52
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say about this. While the process is highly complex and there are
many successful functions of information transfer within EPA, the
overall process is not well understood within the organization. EPA
is heterogeneous in terms of its information users. This is true
not only between levels but within levels of administration within
the Agency. Some groups operate autonomously with little recognized
need for outside information, others rely heavily on interaction with
outside sources. While this could be expected where functions were
highly different, it is caused as much by individual differences
among staff members approaching the identical task.
Many individuals who are clearly highly proficient in their own fields
are constantly having to work within the constraints of limited know-
ledge concerning information transfer. This is reflected in their
inclination to function without using all available information
sources and tools and their lack of inclination to influence potential
information sources in the directions appropriate to their needs.
In many cases two groups with highly similar interests have very low
interaction. Formal attempts at promoting communication within EPA
have not been too successful. While there exists a structure of
contact points within EPA to perform liaison with other government
agencies, there is no viable structure to promote inter-group
communication within the agency. The Computer Sciences Corporation
(CSC) study resulted in a directory of information and data resources
that generally has not been effectively used^17\ Its dissemination
currently has been spotty and even where it is available it is not
used extensively as a reference tool.
It appears that, in effect, knowledge and use of the conventional or
traditional relevant information resources, both external and internal,
is not fully exploited within EPA. This potentially results iii under-
utilization of resources available for application to EPA's problems.
_53
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The diversity in EPA demands for information can be categorized into
horizontal interests and vertical interests as shown in Table 10.
Horizontal interests can be generalized as applying principally to
nonmanagement personnel who are usually involved in day-to-day
operations. Vertical interests can be generalized as applying
principally to management personnel who are usually involved in the
functions of planning, organizing, and controlling at various periods
forward in time.
The process of information transfer differs depending upon whether
horizontal or vertical interests are to be served. Individuals with
horizontal interests are more likely to utilize the conventional
types of information services (e.g., document storage and retrieval
systems, announcement services, and bibliographies) than are indivi-
duals with vertical interests. But they also depend very heavily
upon direct interaction with a peer group to the extent permitted by
organizational barriers. Individuals with vertical interests use
the conventional services to a much lesser extent, although they do
find such items as directories and reports useful when transferring
information upward in the hierarchy. Such individuals more frequently
require specialized information research capabilities such as
advisory services or information analysis centers to provide rapid
analytical responses to their information needs.
Identified formal components of EPA's existing or planned information
efforts were essentially passive. Broadly speaking, the term
"passive" denotes an information system, principally archival, that
is normally activated only by requests from outside the system and
that provides non-analytical responses to the requests received.
Within EPA several documentation-type systems deal with subject
matter impinging upon areas of interest to the various Offices. The
majority appeared to provide primarily bibliographic and abstract
services. Many automated data bases were active in the sense that
54
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TABLE 10. EPA RESEARCH, SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION INTERESTS*
("Demands" for Information)
Horizontal Interests
1. Details of new techniques and findings in
same or similar scientific and technical
disciplines.
2. Detailed prog-ess and results related to
supplementary, supporting, or competing
systems
Vertical Interests
1. Overall statistical summaries and overall con-
densations and application of R&D results
2. Evaluation of impact of significant R&D and
application results
3. Warning limits and danger signals
3. Detailed results of applications, especially
where more than one subagency is involved
or potentially affected
4. Technological details and available equip-
ment developments having possible
general application
5. Details of technical specifications relating
to R&D requirements and priorities
Emphasis of Demand
4. Notice and evaluation of significant new
approaches
5. Predictions and forecasts of technology, with
implications
6. Risk assessment
7. Key specialist identification, and other means
for fast answers to questions from mandatory
sources
As level of demand goes upward, emphasis tends to be more on:
Recommendations rather than R&D results.
Breakthroughs rather than "plodding" developments.
Full-scale applications rather than small or lab-type applications.
Impact evaluation rather than technical development as such.
Predictive and planning rather than retrospective or ongoing.
Self-initiated, automatic information useful for "offensive" purposes, rather than
requested or "defensive" information.
'Derived from "A Study of the Technical Information Requirements of the Department of Transportation", Battelle's
Columbus Laboratories, October 15, 1972.
55
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they initiated the publication of compilations from their holdings,
but they were not reactive to the specific needs of their potential
users.
If current known practices were to continue, EPA would operate
essentially in a "pull" rather than a "push" mode. The "push"
mode implies that the information service takes an active approach
to user needs, providing much of what is needed before it is requested.
In contrast, the "pull" mode, the traditional library approach,
requires the user to take the initiative in acquiring information.
In other organizations with both widespread indifference to the
concept of an information system and frequent belief by individuals
in their own ultimate ability to achieve their information goals
despite frustrations, it has been advantageous to foster those
courses of action that make the information system posture more
dynamic, responsive, and interactive, and hence, a more integral
part of the management, research, and operations processes.
The dichotomy of information interests described earlier is not
unique to EPA. Unfortunately, such dichotomy has sometimes retarded
the development or operation of basic information services that
adequately provide valuable support to the researcher or engineer at
the detailed working level, but which have little or no direct utility
for those people who allocate the research resources and who need
information support in special forms. In such situations emphasis
must be placed upon providing special information support to the
decision makers, and upon the need for the basic information services
as the foundation that makes the special support possible and viable.
Users
There has been a proliferation of computerized information systems in
recent years that has been received with mixed enthusiasm. Specific
comments regarding particular data bases are included in the next
56
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section; comments pertaining to general user characteristics are
included here.
There was evidence of lack of sophistication regarding computerized
information systems among many potential users in the EPA interviews.
This was typified by the expressed desire to merely "hit a button"
and retrieve all necessary information and data. Those users
actually experienced with EPA systems realized that effective
retrieval required considerable interaction and that no system could
satisfy real needs by just "hitting a button".
If users are to be truly considered in automated on-line systems
there must be a high degree of browsability in the file structure.
Without this important characteristic there is little need for the
scientist to have a direct hands-on capability. A concomitant
requirement for such a system is a highly user-oriented language
geared toward the researcher and not the information scientist. The
system must become simpler and not more sophisticated until the user
is ready for such sophistication.
The previous statements apply to user-oriented on-line systems. What
may be a more pressing need is the development of improved information
services for those users not familiar with or interested in com-
puterized systems--and with little time or motivation to become
expert in their use. Placing the emphasis on these users and their
requirements does not preclude the use of advanced computerized
information systems, but does introduce the need for an information
interface person to assist the end user in filling his information
needs. The majority of users encountered during the field survey
would be better served by such an interface.
The NERC-Cincinnati is the most active component in EPA in providing
an information interface, but it is a less than perfect, although
valuable, mechanism. First, of the some 30 data bases accessed, only
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AMIC , SWIRS, APTIC, and ENVIRON (including its 6 component bases) out
of EPA's many informat ion/data systems are queried. Of course,
systems like STORET can be, and are frequently, accessed directly
and the need for an interface is minimal. Second, the NERC-Cincinnati
is principally utilized by other libraries through the library
network although Region I also uses the NERC to expand its information
base on leaching. This library sequencing has the effect of imposing
two layers of transfer between the inquirer and the information/data
base. Since the two interfaces are not likely to be subject know-
ledgeable, this process is not highly conducive to relevant informa-
tion retrieval. Finally, as more users take advantage of the NERC
service and no staff adjustments are effected, throughput begins to
be degraded and response time approaches the limit of user tolerance.
Mention was made earlier of the horizontal and vertical information
interests existing within EPA. These interests can be characterized
in other fashions which tend to demonstrate that user needs differ
widely. One characterization is by subject: water, air, pesticides,
radiation, noise, solid waste. Presumably, many EPA personnel can
circumscribe their information needs to a single subject area. But
other activities such as the environmental impact statements and
the international environmental reports are agency-wide with respect
to information requirements. Thus, an administrative decision, for
example, that air data and water data for a given location be
processed into two distinct information systems, although perhaps
justified for many reasons, makes the information acquisition effort
more difficult for some components of EPA. A second means of charac-
terization is the function which the user serves. Typical of this
characterization is the distinction between the information needs
of the researcher and those of operations oriented personnel in
regulatory areas such as permits and enforcement. Regional repre-
sentatives are highly oriented toward data gathering and retrieval
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to support their enforcement responsibilities. They are only
iixLtecly oriented toward the problem of retrieval of scientific
and technical data to support research roles that are of concern to
them. For information in the scientific area they rely most heavily
upon personal contacts, supplemented by the technology transfer
program and by research reports. The potential role conflict within
EPA is somewhat exemplified by the current controversy over the
adoption of automobile engine exhaust-cleaning catalysts. According
to The New York Times, the research arm of EPA held that the devices
would create a bigger medical risk through the creation of sulfates
and sulfuric acid mists than would exist if the carbon monoxide,
(26)
hydrocarbons, and oxides of nitrogen remained uncontrolled. This
view met with strong opposition from EPA regulatory officials who
doubted that there was a problem.
Tables 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 show the distribution of the various
information/data oriented systems presently within EPA and
presumably established to be responsive to user needs as described
earlier.
Data Bases
The variety of information and data requirements throughout the agency
suggests the need for a hierarchical organization of files. As an
example, the Regional Offices need and have more complete information
on their own activities (e.g., federal facility compliance) but
portions of their information are required in headquarters' systems
to provide a comprehensive (though less complete) overview. The
reverse of this concept implies that data bases developed at head-
quarters do not satisfy requirements of the regions and laboratories.
A notable exception to this and an example of a data base which should
be maintained at the Agency level is a system for ongoing projects.
Another example of a file to be maintained at the Agency level is a
reference or directory to what files and resources are available.
59
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This file should not be considered the final solution to the referral
problem, however, since many who could use available resources may
never use the referral file. The referral file might prevent several
small but useful files from being overlooked. (As an example, there
is a file of EPA ADP terms maintained in Corvallis that could be
useful to the entire Agency.)
Data files developed at the operational level have an implicit
shortcoming with respect to widespread utility. Most data users
seem to trust only their own data. The widespread availability of
other scientists' data files can still be useful with respect to
the techniques of data manipulation, if not to the data stored.
There was indication from many of the interviewees that this was a
perceived utility of a system like STORET. Add to this the trend
toward enforcement within the Agency and the utility of historically
oriented data bases of the centralized type becomes even more
questionable. The interviewing, in fact, indicated a high degree
of polarization concerning such centralized files with most
individuals opposed to such centralization for reasons discussed in
the section on ADP requirements.
There is variation in the management of information/data bases in the
sense of their control in some cases by ADP personnel who are "subject
transparent" and in other cases by subject specialists who provide
intellectual input.
With the above points in mind, important decisions must be reached
with respect to determination of the organizational location of an
informat ion/data activity and its relationship with ADP functions
from a management standpoint.
ADP Requirements
Just as was the case with information/data requirements in EPA head-
quarters as opposed to laboratory and regional organizations, the ADP
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(27 28)
requirements of these various groups differ, ' . There are two
opposing forces at work here. First, decentralization of computer
facilities causes a problem of duplication of activities. Second,
centralization limits the capabilities for ADP activities within the
other groups. In addition, with relation to information and data
resources, a centralized coordination of the development and growth
of ADP activities appears to be highly desirable.
The uncoordinated growth of central ADP activities is seen by other
EPA groups as consuming resources that could be used by their own
activities. As the development of a national information resource
within EPA proceeds, there will be an increase in regional and
laboratory ADP requirements. This will require an aggressive coor-
dination program between headquarters and the various concerned
*
groups .
One area where consolidation of resources was considered useful was
that of systems programming staff. Many groups would prefer to tap a
pool of programming talent rather than support a full-time staff
member for this purpose.
Information Standards
There was an expressed concern for better information standards in
two areas:
(1) The quality of technical reports within the
Agency was seen to vary widely by scientists
at the operational level. Guidelines for
quality as well as content and format were
considered desirable.
*Paragraph 5 (covering the Management Information and Data Systems
Division) of EPA Order 1110.16A as approved by the Assistant Admin-
istrator for Planning and Management on August 2, 1973 appears to
establish this control and coordination function.
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(2) Standards for documentation of computer programs
were considered necessary at the Agency level
to promote effective exchange of programs across
various groups within the Agency.
The problem of thesaurus standardization was not investigated to
any great depth, but it appears that the vocabulary-control
conclusions and recommendations made for EHS in 19 70 should be
reviewed thoroughly before a decision to standardize is reached.
Those conclusions and recommendations modified to reflect the EPA
organization rather than EHS follow:
Multiple, small, special-purpose information systems
exist now and will probably persist within the
administration of EPA in the future. This is even
more probable with the changing structure of EPA
activities at the administrator, assistant adminis-
trator, and office levels.
System sophistication varies considerably among
information activities within EPA, as does staff
training in information-handling techniques.
Current vocabulary-control techniques are not
consistent, nor do they conform to what are now
considered accepted thesaurus-building rules.
Vocabulary-control techniques currently employed
by EPA activities appear to serve the needs of
the immediate group served by the system.
On the basis of the above conclusions, the EPA
information facilities should consider the
following recommendations:
(1) Allow a maximum of flexibility in structuring
a thesaurus to each system currently in use or
under development. Growth of new special-
purpose information systems should not be
stifled by creating a unified vocabulary at
this stage of development. This is especially
true for an organization as flexible as EPA.
(2) Enforce accepted thesaurus-building rules across
the board at the EPA level. This will initiate
establishment of a compatibility of the various
thesauri in terms of cross-reference techniques
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and similar devices. Efforts should also
be made to instruct the various information
activities on the general differences and
applications for thesauri as opposed to
alphabetical or hierarchical lists of clue
words. This type of groundwork is essential
if effective interchange of information be-
tween the various information systems is to
occur.
Although a number of EPA information systems make use of microforms,
the question of possible standardization did not arise during the
interviews. However, this is a current concern and is a likely
candidate for early investigation.
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ANALYSIS OF THE FINDINGS
GENERAL
The findings just recounted appear to confirm the statements about
the EPA information status made by Ruckelshaus at the National
Environmental Information Symposium in September 1972. There are
a large number of heterogeneous information/data activities dispersed
irregularly throughout EPA today very much as activities were at the
formation of EPA in December 19 70. Many of these activities are
not guided by national or agency environmental goals except to the
extent that while satisfying the needs of their immediate funder,
they also contribute to the achievement of national goals.* Such
systems are very vulnerable to parochial initiation and termination.
THE PRESENT EPA INFORMATION NETWORK
The research team selected 127 information systems listed in the
Environmental Information Systems Directory as being pertinent to
the scope of this study. These systems generally function at
present within a free unorganized network,"1" but represent only a
small fraction of the total sources of environmental information.
*Some, however, were initiated to meet legislative requirements (e.g.
water supplies used on Interstate Carriers System, under Subpart J of
the Interstate Quarantine Regulations, Department of Health, Education,
and Welfare, Public Health Service, Federal Register Rules and Regula-
tions, Title 42, Public Health, Chapter 1, Part 72, Interstate Quaran-
tine, Subpart J, Drinking Water Standards, pp. 2154-2155, March 6,
1962).
+See Figure 5, Appendix F.
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The IRS demonstration project identified over 700 sources in only a
three week period. Battelle's brief survey of the literature, with
Little emphasis upon foreign sources, disclosed about 1,200 sources.*
The members of differing "invisible colleges" were largely undis-
closed, but the use of the process at various levels was frequently
reported.+
Although the total number of 127 different information systems within
EPA seems rather large, and unmanageable, there are several factors
that must be considered. First, there is some effort underway in
the pesticides and radiation areas to consolidate some data bases
into single multiple base systems. Second, many of the systems
listed independently are actually in the STORET fold. Third, an
examination of the distribution of the systems by subject category
and controlling organization reveals that no single organization
has a very large number of systems.
For example, Table 2 shows that there are 49 systems dealing with
water. Table 7 shows that the 17 regional systems are distributed
over 9 regions, with the maximum number in any region being 3. Of
the eight systems controlled by the Assistant Administrator for
Research and Development, six are concentrated at the NERC-Corvallis
as shown in Table 4. Of the 24 systems controlled by the Assistant
*This survey served to emphasize the transient value of directories of
information resources.
+Derek J. de Solla Price, Avalon Professor of the History of Science,
Yale University, pioneered in the scientific analysis of the modern
growth and organization of scientific manpower and literature. He
coined the phrase "invisible college" for the nucleus of prestigious
researchers in a subfield of science who keep each other informed
about new results and new activities. They keep track of one
another's work through visits, seminars, and small invitational
conferences, supplemented by informal exchange of written material
long before it reaches archival publication. In contrast, tech-
nologists keep abreast of their field by close association with co-
workers in their own organization; they are limited in forming
invisible colleges by the imposition of organizational barriers.
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Administrator for Air and Water Programs, 7 are under the Deputy
Assistant Administrator for Water Program Operations and 17 under
the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water Planning and Standards
as shown in Table 4. Of the latter 17, 8 are in STORET.
It appears that, within EPA, overlap and duplication between systems
are not likely to occur within any given controlling organization.
The scope of this study did not include a detailed investigation of
duplication but a few possible instances were noted. It must be
remembered that duplication, per se, is not necessarily undesirable.
One situation where duplication may exist is in the agricultural
1ivestock waste center of competence which processes its abstracts
through WRSIC and publishes an annual bibliography, while one of
(29)
the subject fields covered by SWIRS is also animal manures.
Another possible area of duplication relates to the Pesticide Import
File under the Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and General
Counsel with pesticide import files also maintained by Region VII,
Kansas City, and Region X, Seattle. The area of announcement of
EPA reports also seems to be covered by quite a few systems. Within
EPA, the following systems deal with some aspect of report announcement:
EPA Library System, Bibliography File, Final Reports File, Technical
Reports System, and the information centers such as AMIC, APTIC, NOISE,
and SWIRS. Outside EPA are AEC, NTIS, and WRSIC. Perhaps, some changes
could be effected in that structure.
Still another possibility (but interagency related) is the mass
spectral identification being undertaken at BCL under the sponsorship
of the Southeast Environmental Research Laboratory. A similar
capability is available through NIH.
From Tables 5 and 6 it appears that EPA's information systems are
operations rather than management oriented and are largely specialized
in nature to meet immediate environment or pollutant related problems.
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Further, while some of the systems placed in the management category
do serve that function, many of the systems do not really directly
serve the higher management level and those who allocate the research
resources. The low information profile exhibited to management
merits close consideration as a prime suspect for management's apparent
current reluctance to accord its information requirements higher
agency-level attention and treatment.
EPA Order 1110.16, dated March 12, 1971, prescribed the Data Systems
Officer, Data Systems Branch, Data and Support Systems Division,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Administration, Assistant Adminis-
trator for Planning and Management as responsible for:
3. Plans, coordinates, and carries out a program
for exploitation of scientific and technical
applications of computers, the informational
sciences, and mathematical and statistical
approaches to the needs of the Agency.
4. Works closely with technical and scientific
staff of the Agency in developing and improving
automated applications for environmental
monitoring systems, network establishment and
enlargement, and the entire area of gathering,
storing, and disseminating fundamental infor-
mation on the Nation's environment.
(Italics Added.)
Under EPA Order 1110.16A, dated February 8, 1973, the Data and Support
Systems Division was reorganized resulting in Data Systems Branch
functions being incorporated into the Management Information and Data
Systems Division. However, the revision to paragraph 5 (covering
the Management Information and Data Systems Division) of EPA Order
1110.16A as approved by the Assistant Administrator for Planning and
Management on August 2, 1973 largely omits any reference to the
former functions of the Data Systems Branch. Only two sentences in
67
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the revision seem to be applicable:
o Provides the Agency focal point for coordination
and integration of information systems across
functional, geographic, media, and technical
lines;
o Provides technical advice and assistance to
managers, technicians, and program officials
throughout the Agency on the development of
new and improvement of existing information
and automatic data processing systems.
This lack of stress on the information sciences and particularly in
their application to scientific and technical information suggests
that the organizational role for guidance of the Agency's scientific
and technical information programs has not been well defined at
this point.
The mandate of EPA Order 1110.16A is open to other interpretation,
but the research team believes that the role of the Management
Information and Data Systems Division (MIDSD) must be confined to
ADP support, however innovative, and not expanded to include all of
information science, nor should MIDSD be permitted to take the lead
in determining EPA's strategic or tactical decisions relative to
information management and operations. While, in many instances,
ADP and information science are inextricably linked, ADP practices
are only a subset of information science as are, for example, the
less sophisticated but intellectually demanding functions of
abstracting and indexing. Further, EPA has 38 manual systems (30
percent of the total considered) which may be useful and valuable
contributors to the overall information achievements of the Agency
and which must be given full consideration when developing effective
information transfer.
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Many of the EPA applications operate on various types of computers.
Some systems are on the IBM 370/165 at NIH, some on the IBM 370/155 at
Optimum Systems Inc., some on the CDC 6400 at Battelle-Columbus
Laboratories and some are to convert to the UNIVAC 1110 at RTP, to
mention a few. Some groups are creating their own ADP operations and
applications with insufficient attention to existing capabilities, the
requirements of others, or the need for interfacing with other groups.
During the course of the 131 personal interviews conducted, the inter-
viewees mentioned about 40 sources of information outside EPA that they
used. Since the International Referral Service demonstration project
identified 700 sources and the literature search for this study identi-
fied about 1,200 sources, it appears that EPA personnel are not using
all available information sources and that the existing EPA network,
when interrogated, largely is confined to Agency resources. Of course,
the NERC-Cincinnati expands the search boundaries through its access to
about 30 separate information services, but some of those were men-
tioned by the interviewees so the total remains small in proportion to
the total apparent available resources.
NETWORK OR MONOLITH OR STATUS QUO
At the present time, the scientific and technical information net-
work of EPA is primarily a free, uncoordinated network consisting of
some 127 internal systems (as selected by the study team) and some
40 external systems identified through interviews with EPA personnel.
Certainly maintaining this network in its present form is an alterna-
tive EPA must consider. Other alternatives are to alter the present
network into a monolithic structure or into a coordinated
network.
The National Environmental Information Symposium advanced many
reasons for changing national habits with respect to organizing,
processing, and disseminating environmental information.
69
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It called for a national program to coordinate efforts to handle and
disseminate environmental information. A portion of the President's
message relative to EPA's mission and purpose under Reorganization
Plan 3 of 1970 stated:
...the gathering of information on pollution,
and the use of this information in strengthening
environmental protection programs and recom-
mending policy changes.
EPA must decide whether it wishes to fulfill a national role of
leadership in environmental information. There are some indications
that EPA will lose that role by default, the most notable and recent
being its having representation but not the chair for the U. S.
interagency committee formed to assist in the development of the
U.N. International Referral Service for sources of environmental infor-
mation. Whether or not EPA wants to become the national environmental
information authority, there appears to be enough clamor for change from
both within and without EPA to warrant adjustment of EPA's information
management practices.
The National Science Foundation reported that EPA expects to spend
(18)
$3.7 million on scientific and technical information in 1973.
Since STORET alone accounts for $6 million, it is apparent that the
specified sum is understated. It was estimated earlier that true
information costs'within EPA, if measurable, might be an order of
magnitude greater than reported. Such a sizeable expenditure
warrants a positive Agency-wide management approach to replace the
somewhat laissez faire policy existing at present.
The current information/data environment within EPA, while
encompassing a multitude of valuable products and services, is
recognized to have problems due to its pluralistic nature. In 1969,
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the Committee on Scientific and Technical Communication (SATCOM)
cebcribed a need in the information/data field which is equally
applicable to EPA "for guidance of its evolution, for increasing
recognition and acceptance of responsibility by all the organizations
involved (Governmental, scientific, technical, and not for profit),
for more effective coordination and for broader understanding of
„ .„. ,,(30)
problems and opportunities.
But problems in themselves do not dictate that the solution stems
from a monolithic information/data structure. Many of the EPA
organizational units are attempting to improve their own operations
and services as well as participating in cooperative efforts within
the environmental information community. To substantially tamper
with significant elements of the existing overall pluralistic system
with its heterogeneity of subjects and interests does not appear to
be warranted. Support for this view as applied to EPA is well
expressed in the following excerpt from the SATCOM final report as
(31)
applied to all aspects of scientific and technical communication.
Today in the United States, scientific and technical
communication exhibits the characteristic heterogeneity
of a system that evolved by fits and starts through
adaptations to locally perceived needs and opportunities.
No master plan prepared by experts guided its evolution,
nor are our information services staffed by an organized
body of such experts. Instead, decisions have been
made, and are still being made, at numerous points
and with a considerable degree of autonomy, often by
leaders of scientific and technical societies who
function as volunteers in the management of informa-
tion programs.
Though the performance of this heterogeneous
aggregate of activities has been criticized on
many counts, there is no evidence of critically
inefficient operation or catastrophic failure.
Nevertheless, with the necessary and continued
expansion of information services, scientific and
technical communication presents increasingly
diverse problems, and our ability to maintain
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high-quality services under such unstructured
coordination and leadership is frequently
questioned. As long as it continues to function
reasonably well, the present dispersed system
of decision making is a source of great strength.
Moreover, deeply rooted principles and traditions
of this country's scientific and technical com-
munity argue against placing scientific and
technical communication under centralized manage-
ment. Therefore, rather than urging immediate
and radical change at the present time, we see
the implementation of recommendations directed
toward more effective coordination, planning,
and decentralized management as the best means
of coping with the growing and increasingly
varied demands for scientific and technical
information.
As a prime objective, we urge that the initiative
of individuals, institutions, and organizations
continue to be accorded substantial scope in the
development and operation of those scientific-and-
technical-communication services that they consider
to be in their best interest. Such information
activities should be designed and operated as
individual and somewhat independent parts of a
comprehensive network, and, as a matter of
policy or principle, no attempt should be made
to centralize them either physically or managerially.
The conversion at this time to a monolithic system,
comprehensively planned, developed, and operated,
for recording, structuring, and distributing
scientific and technical information would be
exceedingly costly and would not ensure improved
performance.
The suggestion that information activities should be designed as
individual and somewhat independent parts of a comprehensive network
does not preclude certain of these activities forming a coordinated
network which, in turn, becomes a node in another coordinated network.*
An example of such an action is the formation of the EPA library system
network. The recommendation also should not preclude consolidation of
*See Figure 5, Appendix F
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related activities wherever advantages can be demonstrated. Examples
of these are the recently developed Pesticides Analysis Retrieval
3.nd Control System (PARCS) which has assimilated some seven
existing pesticides in format ion/data bases, and the National
Environmental Radiation Data System (NERADS) whose nucleus wiLl be
formed from four existing data activities.
Monolithic highly centralized data files meant to serve a large
volume of users frequently are viewed skeptically in the field and
gain support only if the users are brought into the planning cycle.
There are functions of the network, however, which are best executed
in a monolithic form. Examples of such monolithic activities are
report control and project information systems.
THE PUBLIC SPOKESMAN
EPA is designed to serve as the public's advocate for a livable
(12)
environment. Its recognition in this role with respect to
information is doubtful. With the variety of vested interests and
conflicting goals faced by the environmental community, EPA has not
seized the initiative to emerge as the leading voice to represent
r'p.e information resource for all sectors. The International
Referral Service effort is an example of EPA's apparent low profile.
While EPA is represented on the interagency committee formed to
assist in the development of the Service, it is not providing
the leadership for the committee. Further, it appears that intra-
agency communication was not successful in appraising all concerned
parties about the existence of the committee so that their expertise
could be gainfully employed.
INFORMATION INTEGRITY
There is a lack of formal planning and coordination processes with
which to specify, on an EPA-wide basis, the conditions or criteria
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for the establishment or abolishment of information resources or the
policies for their operation consistent with the goals of a national
environmental information authority.
In practice, the interests, knowledge of information science, know-
ledge of the environmental information needs both within and without
EPA, authority, and responsibility of funders of EPA information
activities is extremely variable. This results in uneven application
of information systems concepts, processes, applications, and opera-
tions by the Offices within EPA. A most prominent example of this
lack of coordination is the somewhat ephemeral treatment of Centers
of Competence which are initiated or abandoned on the basis of
essentially unilateral decisions. Recognizing the "power of the
purse strings" and the cle facto elements of autonomy that will
continue to exist within EPA Offices and Regions, a more powerful
central mechanism than now exists is needed to mold the national
environmental information directions for EPA.
The number of information systems inside and outside EPA will increase
as legislated requirements, international efforts, and pressures from
outside EPA continue to grow. Thus, more individuals inside EPA will
be faced with information-science-related problems.
Although the technology of informat ion/data handling and analysis is
rapidly expanding, the developments and research projects do not
represent a unified approach to solving many of the more critical
problems. This is due, in part, to the variety of organizations
currently conducting information/data research. It is also due to
lack of any one organization possessing an adequate overview of
current research efforts, existing systems and techniques, and needs
of users. Such an organization would, ideally, have the means to
develop, or cause to be developed, new techniques when the need is
recognized as crucial to the entire environmental community.
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Undoubtedly many of the problems could be solved by the individual,
or if one has been retained, the contractor assisting in the informa-
tion system design or operation. Such practice, however, is likely
to result in duplication of effort and inconsistency of approach.
USER NEEDS STUDIES
Any information or data system exists, not for the benefit of informa-
tion scientists, but for the benefit of intended users of the system.
Although some elements of EPA's information activities have attempted
to study the needs of their users or to obtain evaluation of their
responses to user requests, no continuing effort has been made to
measure changing use habits and information/data requirements. The
evolving patterns of information/data sources and handling techniques
may well change the way individuals use such resources. As a new
generation enters professional life in EPA, a better understanding and
use of the capabilities of the computer is introduced into the work
cycle. Furthermore, EPA librarians believe that their more frequent
users are the newer, younger, staff members who possess neither the
experience, the knowledge, nor the personal information resources of
their senior colleagues.
There seems to be little choice but to recognize the study of user
needs as a continuing requirement. It should, perhaps, be viewed as
a monitoring function rather than as a series of studies with definite
termination dates. In addition, attention must be given to non-users
so that action can be taken to develop greater system usage.
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NETWORK CONCEPT PLAN
THE PLAN
Given the autonomy of EPA organizations, their geographical dispersion,
their variety of subject interests, their diversity of functional
needs, the disparity between information user practices, the general
image of heterogeneity displayed by EPA, and the many information
resources outside EPA control, it does not appear that improvement
in EPA's information practices or position could easily be
effected by a high degree of centralization or a dedicated approach
to a strong line organization with its accompanying authority and
respons ibility.
The solution would really appear to lie with the creation of an
active, group-oriented undertaking (recognized as a line item in
the appropriations budget) which provides--in addition to a forum
furnishing the atmosphere for discussion of common problems—an
organization to coordinate and conduct research, user studies, and
pilot demonstrations of a planning and coordinating nature, and to
provide a current referral service for environmental information.
In addition, the organization would actively promote information
standards agreed upon by participating groups, would mount an edu-
cational thrust in areas of information science of pertinence and
practical value for EPA, and would serve as EPA's public spokesman for
environmental information in a non-conflicting relationship with the
Office of Public Affairs. Although organizational structure and
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location will be covered later, for the purposes of the immediate
discussion the proposed controlling group is termed the Office
of Technical Information Coordination (OTIC).
SCOPE
OTIC would be dedicated to consideration of the national environmental
information/data resources. However, it also would be the logical
body to represent the United States in any larger organization formed
to consider the international aspects of environmental information/
data.
The considerations of OTIC should be oriented toward any or all levels
of audience including management, supervision, the professional
working level, and the technical support level.
OPERATIONS
The operations are the specific tasks to be performed by the organi-
zation. The operations of OTIC are limited to the support, develop-
ment, and coordination type aimed at providing group benefits. The
operations to be performed typically would be the following:
Hold Meetings
This operation comprises all of the aspects of conducting effective
group communications among the various segments of the environmental
information and data community. Meetings would be planned so as to
bring together representatives of diverse groups in the community for
discussion, and hopefully resolution, of common problems. The goal
of the meeting would be to reach agreement on questions of concern
to the community as a whole so as to emerge with a common voice to
promote adoption of solutions that represent the interests of the
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c Encouraging the adoption of policies that will
promote the long-term development of the national
environmental informat ion/data resource; and,
conversely, discouraging the adoption of policies
that will inhibit the long-term development of the
national environmental in format ion/data resource
• Encouraging recognition of the value (and the cost)
of in format ion/data products and services.
Promote Information Standards
The organization would bring together representatives of interested
groups for the purpose of formulating informat ion/data handling
standards. The broad base of the participating groups would provide
an opportunity to achieve the maximum possible consensus before the
standards are adopted throughout the environmental information/data
c oramunity.
Conduct Information Research
OTIC would conduct, or more often cause to be conducted, intramural and
extramural research studies of information/data handling techniques and
transfer processes to assure that attention is drawn to improvements
which can be made by existing organizations serving environmentalists.
The studies would be advisory in nature, and would be conducted by the
OTIC staff, by the Data and Information Research Division, by committees
or panels of qualified individuals, or by contractors and grantees.
Monitor Information Research
OTIC would stand as a central focus in the environmental information
community and would review all EPA requests for funding to provide
scientific and technical information services and would comment
appropriately on those applications so as to place them in context
with the needs of the environmental community.
Analyze User Needs
A continuing study of the environmental community would be conducted
to sense its changing needs. Mechanisms for detection of new or
revised needs would be developed and appropriate research programs
would be undertaken when needed.
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Perform Pilot: Demonstrations
UThile OTIC would not be a major operating resource in terms of infor-
mation services, it would perform or authorize limited pilot demon-
strations to show feasibility of methods and products developed
through the research program and the user analysis.
Referral
OTIC would establish relationships with collections or repositories
of documents and data (including on-going projects) to facilitate
accessibility of information resources to individuals and institu-
tions. In addition, OTIC would maintain registers of, and serve as
a referral service to, the specialized knowledge of members of the
environmental community. Increasing the recognition of this referral
capability would be an important responsibility of the education/
orientation program.
Orientation Program
A program should be established to inform the environmental community,
particularly EPA personnel, about the purposes of OTIC.
ORGANIZATION OF THE OFFICE OF; TECHNICAL INFORMATION COORDINATION (OTIC)
General
It was stated earlier that it did not appear that improvement in EPA's
information practices could easily be effected by a high degree of
centralization or a dedicated approach to a strong line operation
with its accompanying authority and responsibility. This view led
to the conception of OTIC as an active, group-oriented undertaking
for planning, coordinating, and encouraging improved handling of
environmental information and data. Given such conditions, in order
for OTIC to be effective, it becomes necessary to enhance its
organizational image and its consequent acceptance within the
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environmental community. Hopefully, the required stature can be
achieved through three courses of action: 1) designate OTIC as a
staff office at the EPA Administrator level; 2) let it br known
bv the Administrator that he considers the functions of OTIC to be
of great importance to the success of the EPA mission and that he
will impute line authority to OTIC efforts; and 3) performance of
its functions by OTIC in a logical fashion which demonstrates that
its actions benefit those that it affects.
Organization Structure
Figure 1 shows the proposed organizational structure for OTIC. The
functions which each of the organizational units would perform already
have been described in some detail and all need not be repeated here,
but a few warrant further attention. The structure shown represents
what is presently envisioned as the ultimate goal. The structure
should be implemented an an incremental basis depending upon priority
of need and resources available.
Director of OTIC—
The Director of OTIC will have a strong coordinating role on the inter-
national level, the national level, and within EPA. Many of his
functions and responsibilities have been described in the preceding
section on OPERATIONS of OTIC. Some currently anticipated additional
responsibilities of the Director which should be highlighted are as
follows:
o Information Science Advisor for the Administrator
o Chair the EPA Information Committee
© Chair the Interagency Advisory Council
o Representative to the United Nations (Environmental)
Information Referral Service
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U. S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
FIGURE 1. PROPOSED ADMINISTRATIVE ASSIGNMENT OF THE OFFICE OF TECHNICAL
INFORMATION COORDINATION (OTIC) WITHIN EPA
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EPA Information Committee—
It is suggested that a pro tern committee consist of members repre-
senting EPA components with adjustments to be made by the Committee
and the Director of OTIC as planning progresses. The Committee should
be limited to about 10 individuals selected by the Director of OTIC as
the most valuable contributors in plotting the course of the new
enterprise.
The functions of the Committee members would he to represent the
various activities within their respective areas, and to advise the
Director of OTIC, particularly with respect to planning. While the
Committee would deal with the spectrum of EPA information activities,
its main mission would be that of maintaining the vitality of the
network. One urgently needed role the Committee should play,
relating directly to the problems encountered with Centers of
Competence, is that of reviewing establishment, consolidation, or
disestablishment intentions for activities within the network.
Interagency Advisory Council—
It is suggested that the Council be composed of representatives of
information activities in other Federal agencies, but consideration
should be given to incorporating two representatives from state or
local governments, as well.
The Council's function would be primarily to serve as a forum in which
to keep current about each agency's plans and accomplishments with
respect to environmental information and to discuss those actions
possible to improve the network relationships.
Planning Function--
This would not be a separately staffed function within OTIC. It
would be the responsibility of the Director to assimilate the
advice of the Committee and Council, to review EPA program objectives
and resources, and to develop a plan which would maximize Agency
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benefits. The environmenta] organizaLional structure has been a
rapidly changing one and the Director must be alert to maintaining
a current plan suitably responsive to any altered framework of
implementation.
Scientific and Technical Information Coordination (STIC)—
STIC not only serves to maintain an inventory of resources dealing with
scientific and technical information (including monitoring, surveil-
lance, and intelligence information) and to provide both switching and
referral services (emphasis upon the latter), but also serves as the
focal point from which the Director of OTIC can initiate those actions
designed to facilitate the development of a workable coordinated net-
work for EPA. STIC is an information resource identification system
within OTIC and is not a technical information network itself. Identi-
fication of scientific and technical information activities provides
the foundation upon which the Director of OTIC, with the assistance of
his Committee and Council can apply his remaining coordination responsi-
bilities, such as advisory services, to foster improved networking.
Figure 2 shows one concept of networking OTIC coordination functions.
Typically, STIC would include resource information on such items as
the Environmental Information Systems Inventory, the National
Referral Center, and the International Referral Service. From these
resources the various components or nodes of the potential coordi-
nated network could be identified and action taken as needed.
Environmental Project Information Coordination (EPIC)—
This is similar to STIC in function, but deals with information
related to on-going projects. Typical inclusions would be the
Project Information Retrieval System (PIRS), the Smithsonian Science
Information Exchange (SSIE), and the Work Unit Identification System
of the Department of Defense. EPIC would be utilized in a manner
similar to that for STIC.
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EPIC
Environmental Project Information Coordination
NRC
National Referral Center
GAP
Group Associates Program
SSIE
Smithsonian Science Information Exchange
IRS
International Referral Service
STIC
Scientific and Technical Information Coordination
ISI
Institute for Scientific Information
TRAIS
Transportation Research Activities Information
LC
Library of Congress
U of G
University of Georgia
NESI
National Environmental Systems Inventory
WUIS
Work Unit Identification System
FIGURE 2. CONCEPT OF NETWORKING OTIC COORDINATION FUNCTIONS
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Library Systems Coordination
The present Library Systems Branch, under the Deputy Assistant Admin-
istrator for Administration:
Develops a technical reference library system
designed to serve the mission of the Agency;
Provides expert services in library science
as applied to the scientific, technological,
and regulatory subject matter areas represented
in the Agency;
Establishes and maintains consultative relation-
ships with professional groups and libraries
within and outside the Government for the purpose
of locating and exchanging information of mutual
interest;
Immediately supervises operations and staff of
the headquarters library; and
Provides policy guidelines and technical
supervision to all libraries in the Agency
headquarters and field.
These functions are an important adjunct to the Office of Technical
Information Coordination and should be incorporated into OTIC. An
exception is the operation of the Headquarters Library since no
apparent benefit would result from a transfer of organizational
responsibility for that or any other of the libraries located within
EPA.
Other Operations
The functions of the remaining organizational units have been dis-
cussed earlier. It is extremely important that the implementation
plan recognize their early need and that they be made available at
a low level of effort pending later full-scale development. Thus,
there should be at least an embryonic capability for group communi-
cations, advisory services, and information research as soon as
possible after OTIC start-up.
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AN ALTERNATIVE PLAN
Should EPA elect to devote fewer resources to its information
activities than would he required to achie^ e the ultimate goal of
the yreced:ng plan, an alternative plan could retain the objectives
but fcale back the level of effort to approach each of the operations
on a priority selection basis with reduced performance.
Under the alternative plan, EPA would creite the position of Infor-
mation Science Advisor to the Administrator. The Information Science
Advisor would have three primary responsibilities: 1) to keep the
Administrator informed of, and suggest line action to be taken with
respect to all EPA present, contemplated, or needed information
science related activities; 2) to establisn a referral capability for
environmental project information systems and scientific and technical
(including monitoring) information systems; and 3) to create a presence
around which the resources of EPA could be marshalled at the desired
level for execution of its scientific and technical information
responsibilities.
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Figure 3 illustrates an implementation plan which distributes accom-
plishment of the program over a period varying between 43 and 48 months.
This time frame is only a guideline and may be compressed or extended
as EPA chooses. Further, due to the many similarities in roles between
the Director of OTIC (the recommended program) and the Information
Science Advisor (the alternative program), it has been possible to
incorporate considerable flexibility into the implementation plan.
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For example, the alternative program parallels the proposed program
for the first 16 to 21 months. A decision step is incorporated into
each major phase in the program to determine whether the program
should be terminated, remain unchanged, or be incremented through the
implementation of additional functions. Thus, EPA can implement the
program at a pace and manner to best accomodate the Agency's needs.
Full implementation of OTIC is envisioned as a five step process.
Step 1
Step 1 provides a two to seven month period in which EPA management can
review the study recommendations and decide whether to accept them,
subject them to some revision prior to acceptance, or reject them and
terminate any further network effort, and, if implementation is elected,
to prepare the necessary EPA orders, develop objectives, priorities,
and resource requirements for approval by the EPA Administrator and
the Office of Management and Budget, and to obtain an administrative
decision.
Step 2
Step 2 provides 14 months for start up and incremental operation. The
procedural steps differ slightly depending upon whether the budget
decision in Step 1 has led to the selection of Alternative 1 or
Alternative 2.
Alternative 1—
The initial two month period would be used to select the Director of
the Office of Technical Information Coordination, establish the EPA
Information Committee and the Interagency Advisory Council, initiate
an Office planning function, and transfer the functions of the Library
Systems Branch, excluding operation of the Headquarters Library.
Alternative 2—
The initial two month period would be devoted to obtaining approval for,
and selecting, an Information Science Advisor to the Administrator.
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Alternatives 1 and 2—
An additional 12 months is allowed to establish the functions of
Scientific and Technical Coordination (STIC) and Environmental Project
Information Coordination (EPIC). STIC is expected to be operational
within nine months. EPCI would lag STIC but would be expected to be
operational within 12 months.
The embryonic functions of group communications, advisory services,
and information research should be initiated as early in Step 2 as
possible but no later than the operation of STIC and EPIC. These
functions are to be executed at a low level of activity, but the sphere
of influence must be established.
Step 3
At the conclusion of Step 2, progress of the office should be reviewed
with respect to changed EPA requirements and resources and a decision
reached whether the effort should continue as it was, continue in some
revised mode, or terminate. In Alternative 1, the decision to continue
leads to a need for a decision as to which option to implement next.
The implementation plan is based upon sequential implementation of the
options in the recommended order, but provision is made for bypassing
one in favor of another. The first implementation option recommended
is that of group communications.
Step 4
Step 4 repeats the processes of Step 3, but, this time, adopts incre-
mental introduction of advisory services. The services consist of
consultation, education, and information standards and are expected to
be available at the end of three, six, and nine month periods respec-
tively .
Step 5
Step 5 also repeats the processes of Step 3, but establishes an infor-
mation research function. The four components are user needs, products
and services, information research monitoring, and pilot demonstrations.
Time cycles for those activities are two, four, six, and nine months
respectively.
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Staffing Level
If full implementation of Alternative 1 is effected, the professional
staffing for OTIC is estimated as follows:
Total Number of
Professional Staff
Total Months from Implementation Plan
Beginning
Ending
1
3-8
4-9
16-21
4
5-10
5
17-22
25-30
34-39
"43-48
6
26-31
7
35-40
This staffing level would provide OTIC with a small, closely knit, but
highly diversified professional staff capable of managing the many
functions assigned to the Office. A small number of support personnel,
secretarial and clerical, would be required in addition.
In executing the functions of OTIC, it is expected that the Director
will resort to extramural programs to supplement EPA intramural
capabilities.
Personnel Attributes
Brief job descriptions were prepared as indicators of the caliber of
personnel visualized as necessary to carry out successfully the mission
of OTIC.
Director of 0TIC--
This individual should be a leader in the area of information and data
management with extensive experience, preferably including a strong
background and range of accomplishments in an environmental or
associated discipline. He should hold a doctorate degree or have
equivalent experience to establish him as exceptionally qualified
technically as well as managerially.
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A working relationship with Government, industry, academic, and not-
for-profit sectors is also required. Experience in information/data
matters should be such that this individual would already be a member
of, or readily be accepted in, the "invisible college" of environmental
information/data policy-makers and practitioners.
The Director of OTIC would be responsible for initiating start-up and
guiding the operation of the new organization including hiring major
staff personnel, coordinating system design and implementation, and
directing the overall operation as it grows to full scale. He would
be responsible for continuing operation once full-scale status was
achieved.
Manager of Scientific and Technical Information Coordination
The manager should have extensive and authoritative knowledge of
information storage and retrieval systems and possess a high degree
of ability in development and operation of automated information
systems. He should have 10 to 15 years of experience in information
systems and related areas and preferably possess at least a bachelor's
degree in one of the environmental sciences.
Manager of Environmental Project Information Coordination (EPIC)
The qualifications of the manager of EPIC are essentially the same as
for the manager of STIC, with the exception of the bachelor's degree
in one of the environiiieutal sciences.
Manager of Library Systems Coordination
This position could best be filled by the incumbent Chief, Library
Systems Branch, or equivalent, when the functions of the Branch are
transferred to OTIC.
Manager of Group Communications—
The manager of group communications should have a demonstrated ability
to communicate with leaders in the various environmental disciplines
and in information science on matters pertaining to technical informa-
tion and data. He should have an established reputation and suitable
academic background to gain cooperation in directing the forum and
public spokesman operations.
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Manager of Advisory Services--
The manager of advisory services should have demonstrated technical
and managerial ability in the areas of information research and opera-
tions and the transfer of knowledge in the information community. His
background should include a bachelor's degree and 10 to 15 years'
experience in information/data transfer. He should have a working
acquaintance with the organizations (Government, foundations, industry,
etc.) with pertinent information activities and be conversant with
the needs and desires of the environmental community in information
matters.
Manager of Information Research Monitoring--
The manager of information research monitoring should have experience
in development of information products and services and should be
capable of providing necessary support to the long-range goals of OTIC.
He should have a graduate-level degree in information science or equi-
valent experience and be capable of planning and monitoring necessary
internal research programs such as user studies and pilot demonstrations.
Information Science Advisor—
This individual should be a leader in the area of information and data
management with extensive experience, preferably including a strong
background and range of accomplishments in an environmental or
associated discipline. He should hold a doctorate degree or have
equivalent experience to establish him as exceptionally qualified
technically as well as managerially.
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REFERENCES
1. National Environmental Information Symposium, U. S. Environmental
Protection Agency, National Environmental Research Center, Summary
Report, Volume 1. May 1973. 47 p.
2. National Environmental Information Symposium: An Agenda for
Progress held at Cincinnati, Ohio, on 24-27 September 1972, Volume
2, Papers and Report. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,
D. C. Publication Number NTIS source PB-219071. May 1973.
567 p.
3. The Demonstration of the International Referral System for sources
of environmental information before the UNEP Governing Council in
Geneva, Switzerland. June 1973. (Trip report of Lester P. Needle,
EPA member of the working group.)
4. The President's 1973 Environmental Program, compiled by the Council
on Environmental Quality. April 1973. U. S. Government Printing
Office. 585 p.
5. 1972 Congressional Quarterly Almanac.
6. Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, Volume XXXI, Number 10,
March 10, 1973. p. 488.
7. "Text of the Environmental Principles", The New York Times, June
17, 1972.
8. "Survey of Technical Information Systems in the Consumer Protection
and Environmental Health Service", prepared by the Division of
Management Systems, Assistant Administrator for Administration,
CPEHS, PHS, DHEW, November 1968. 39 p., Appendixes.
9. "Science, Government, and Information", A Report of the President's
Science Advisory Committee, The White House, January 10, 1963. 52
P-
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REFERENCES(Continued)
10. Office of Science and Technology Review of CPEHS Information
Programsj March 7, 1969, Washington, D, C,, unpublished material.
11. "Technical, Intelligence, and Project Information System for the
Environmental Health Service, Volume II'. EHS Information Network
Analysis", Ralph L. Darby, et al, June 29, 1970. 100 pages plus
appendixes, Battelle Memorial Institute
12. United States Government Organizational Manual 1972/73. Office of
the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service,
General Services Administration, Superintendent of Documents, GPO,
Washington, D. C. p. 404. 710 p.
13. EPA Information Sources and Services, National Environmental
Information Symposium, Cincinnati, Ohio, September 24-27, 1972,
USEPA. 6 p., 12 attachments.
14. Letter of August 17, 1973, from Dr. David F. Hersey, President of
SSIE, to Mr. Luther Garrett, Data and Information Research
Division, EPA.
15. "Coordination of Computerized Information Systems Reporting on
Active Research Efforts", United States General Accounting Office,
March 29, 1973, B-115398. 4 p., Appendix.
16. "The Role of the SSIE in Research Management, Phase II", by Devany,
John F., Howell, Richard P., and Cannell, Rogers S., Research
Planning and Management Services for the 70's, February 9, 1973.
97 p.
17. "Environmental Information Systems Directory", June 1973. Ill p.
Management Information and Data Systems Division, Office of
Administration, EPA.
18. "Federal Funds for Research, Development, and Other Scientific
Activities, Fiscal Years 1971, 1972, and 1973". NSF 72-317,
Volume XXI, August 1972, Superintendent of Documents, GPO, Stock
Number 3800-00129.
19. Voprosy Filosofii, Number 12, 1969, p. 47 (11-11).
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REFERENCES (Continued)
20. "A Description of the Environmental Protection Agency's In-House
Library Systems", EPA-LIB-73-03, May 1973. 87 p.
21. "A User's Guide to the Environmental Protection Agency Library
System", October 1972. 9 p., 3 Exhibits.
22. Guide to EPA Libraries, EPA-LIB-73-02, May 1973. 44 p.
23. Computer Literature Searching: A Kit for Information Users,
National Environmental Research Center, Cincinnati, Ohio.
24. Letter from Stanley M. Greenfield, EPA Assistant Administrator for
Research and Development to Warren A. Hall, Acting Director,
Office of Water Resources Research, U. S. Department of the
Interior, August 2, 1973.
25. "Educational, Informational, Social and Cultural Aspects of
Environmental Issues", Provisional Agenda United Nations Conference
on the Human Environment, A/CONF. 48/9, December 21, 1971.
26. "Exhaust Catalyst. Is it Only Creating New Woes?", The New York
Times, October 21, 1973, Section 4. p. 4.
27. A Study of the Environmental Protection Agency's Automatic Data
Processing Needs, Phase I Report, Volume I and Volume II, Document
Number 73 SD4200, January 19, 1973, General Electric Company,
Space Division, Information Systems Programs.
28. A Study of the Environmental Protection Agency's Automatic Data
Processing Needs, Phase II Report, Volume 1 and Volume 2, Document
Number 73SD-4213, March 26, 1973, General Electric Company, Space
Division, Information Systems Programs.
29. Connolly, John A., Information Retrieval Services of EPA's Office
of Solid Waste Management Programs, SW-91, U. S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1972. 12 p.
30. Committee on Scientific and Technical Communication (SATCOM)
Synopsis of Report of the Committee, Scientific and Technical
Communication, Washington, D. C., National Academy of Sciences,
1969. p. 9.
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REFERENCES (Continued)
31. Committee on Scientific and Technical Communication (SATCOM)
Final Report of the Committee, Scientific and Technical Communica-
tion. A Pressing National Problem and Recommendations for its
Solution. Washington, D. C., National Academy of Sciences, 1969.
p. 20-21.
32. Becker, J., and W. C. Olson, "information Networks", Annual Review
of Information Science and Technology, Volume 3, 1968, Carlos A.
Cuadra, Editor, p. 289-327.
33. Swank, R. C., "Interlibrary Cooperation, Interlibrary Communica-
tions, and Information Networks—Explanation and Definition",
Proceedings of the Conference on Interlibrary Communications and
Information Networks, American Library Association, 1971.
p. 18-26.
34. Applebaum, S., "What Does it Take to Go On-Line", Computer
Decisions, January, 1970. p. 20-24.
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APPENDIX A
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
FROM THE 1970 EHS REPORT
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MANAGEMENT SUMMARY
(1970 EHS STUDY)
Summary. The Battelle study entitled "Technical, Intelligence, and
Project Information System for Environmental Health Service" is a
multifaceted and intensive investigation of the problems facing the
EHS in protecting man's environment from threats created by man.
This study included the following major efforts: (1) research and
development planning in the perspective of man in his total environ-
ment, (2) information network analysis, and (3) model case studies.
This section of the report concerns itself with Information Network
Analysis. The first step was to investigate the existing EHS infor-
mation resources, including the monitoring and surveillance activities.
A survey was conducted of the documentation systems and libraries in
order to determine their operational characteristics as related to
an information network.
The results of this survey, including a limited number of external
information resources, are contained in a separate volume entitled
"Directory of Information Sources for the Environmental Health
Service".
Additional data were obtained through limited personal and telephone
interviews at all levels of EHS and its Administrations and through
study of EHS documentation.
On the basis of the study, the establishment of an Environmental
Health Information Network (EHIN) has been structured, incorporating
the existing information and data sources, and also new resources
such as the Information Resource Identification System (IRIS) and
the Project Information Retrieval System (PIRS).
In structuring the proposed EHIN, it is recognized that other agencies
of the Federal Government have established information and data bases
that relate to EHS responsibilities. Mechanisms for interfacing and
utilizing these resources are suggested. Further, it is recognized
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that an operational EHIN, structured as a result of this study, may
not be immediately achievable. Rather, EHIN represents a concept
which EHS should build toward as it is able in order to assist in
constantly strengthening its role in protecting man's environment.
Specific conclusions and recommendations are detailed in the following
section of this Management Summary. The reader is urged to study the
more detailed discussions in the body of the report.
Conclusions and Recommendations. The following recommendations are
made for the establishment of an Environmental Health Information
Network (EHIN):
(a) The network should be a coordinated network consisting
of a Project Information Retrieval System (PIRS), a
Monitoring, Surveillance, and Intelligence Information
System (MSIIS), and a Scientific and Technical Informa-
tion System (STIS), supplemented by an Information
Resources Identification System (IRIS).
(1) PIRS should be a centralized system, operating
within EHS. The early establishment of PIRS
is urged.
(2) IRIS should be a relatively small operation,
maintaining an inventory of information
resources and providing switching and referral
services both for the use of the entire staff
and for referral of other agencies desiring
information to the proper portion of the EHIN
network. Implementation of IRIS should begin
as soon as practicable.
(3) MSIIS and STIS should each remain a federation
of centers in a coordinated network structure.
Each center or activity should report to the
highest authority consistent with its mission,
scope, and user audience.
(b) Within the EHS headquarters element, a Director of EHIN
should be appointed to represent and to coordinate the
interests of the network, not only at the EHS level,
but also in interagency and other Federal activities.
(c) The Director of EHIN should be assisted by an Advisory
Council composed of the coordinating managers of PIRS,
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MSIIS, and STIS plus five representatives from the
operating levels. The Advisory Council would assure
the vitality of the network, determine network
requirements for equipment, and recommend establish-
ment, consolidation, or disestablishment of activities
within the network.
Very little analytical response (e.g., state-of-the-
art reports, technical compilations, data or design
handbooks, and direct answers to technical inquiry)
can be expected from the present information resources,
both within EHS and outside EHS. EHS should establish
Centers of Technical Competence (Information Analysis
Centers) for various high-priority threat areas in
order to provide the needed analytical capability.
Necessary information resources and capabilities for
effective analysis and evaluation of threats are so
great in magnitude and variety that they cannot be
concentrated within any single agency. To cope
effectively with the complexities of today's environ-
mental problems, a wide variety of information
resources should be utilized.
There is a lack of accurate, documented information
relative to the identification of sensitive population
groups, to the determination of the number of people
currently and potentially affected by a stressor, and
to the nature and severity of the effect. This repre-
sents an information gap which should be filled on a
selective basis.
Accepted thesaurus building rules should be enforced
in all EHS information activities in order to
establish some compatibility of the various thesauri
in terms of cross-reference techniques and similar
devices. Growth of special-purpose information systems
however should not be stifled by the creation of a
unified vocabulary.
Whenever practicable, without harm to the direct
mission of a given information resource, common
information science procedures and practices should
be instituted.
The "Directory of Information Sources for the
Environmental Health Service" (prepared during
101
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this study) should be revised periodically by
IRIS to provide a desktop reference device for
operating-level personnel.
Various facilities probably can justify, and should
have, a stand-alone computer capability in addition
to access to the central computer facility, primarily
for data-processing and research purposes. However,
with regard to information systems, every effort
should be made to strive for compatibility of
operations.
The computer facility provided for EHS administrative
operations, including information storage and re-
trieval operations, should equal or exceed the
capability of the equipment currently employed by
the central computer facility, if that facility
cannot be made available to EHS.
The Director of EHIN and his Advisory Council should
investigate the extent to which information resources
dealing with program assistance, training, and
demonstration and testing should be established
and incorporated into the network.
1Q2
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APPENDIX B
PHASE I WORK PLAN
103
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THE RESEARCH APPROACH TO DETERMINATION
OF EPA'S INFORMATION FUTURE
INTRODUCTION
The Battelle team, in consultation with its EPA counterpart, made
two major decisions which underlie the development of the research
approach used in this study:
o That the team should avoid, insofar as possible,
duplication of earlier work and capitalize on
the results of earlier studies to the greatest
extent feasible.
s That the principles of the earlier Battelle
recommendations'^) for the establishment of
an environmental information and data network
were still valid but needed updating to reflect
current EPA policies and organizational structure.*
The history of EPA's several earlier studies and the courses of
development of EPA's information facilities amply illustrate earlier
concerns for EPA's information and data systems. Unfortunately,
these efforts have been largely ignored or only partially implemented
due to organizational changes (e.g., CPEHS to EHS to EPA) and to
deferral to other priorities. These earlier studies were reviewed and
many of their recommendations (and the premises upon which they are
based) were found to be as valid today as they were at the time of
their conception.
The recognition by the research team of the recommendations of the
earlier Battelle study, accomplished during 1970 under the initial
*See Appendix F for a tutorial on The Concept of Information Networks
104
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sponsorship of CPEHS, is based upon the same premise of building upon
prior work. However, it was considered that a fresh appraisal of the
network concept would be warranted for the current study.
Based upon the above decisions, the investigation by the research
team focused upon three, major sources of information and data:
o Acquisition of reports on projects related
to study or review of EPA's technical-
information-oriented activities.
• Informal interviews with a small number of
selected EPA and contractor personnel
representing a reasonably complete
cross-section of EPA information users,
producers, processors, and disseminators.
e A literature search to determine non-EPA
sources of environmental information.
EPA REPORTS
The Data and Information Research Division (DIRD), Deputy Assistant
Administrator for Monitoring Systems, Assistant Administrator for
Research and Development, assumed responsibility for identifying
and obtaining those reports pertinent to this project. An example
is the report on the Agency's ADP needs prepared by the General
Electric Company. In actuality, DIRD extended its responsibility to
include any releasable EPA documentation which would contribute to
determination of EPA's scientific and technical information future.
PERSONAL INTERVIEWS
Personal interviews with 131 individuals were completed. Persons
interviewed were managers, researchers, administrators, enforcement
people, surveillance people, information/data people, and service
people among others. Organizationally, they represented EPA, other
Federal agencies, and private contractors.
105
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Interviewee selection was not based upon any statistical sampling
plan. The initial list was jointly developed by DIRD and BCL
personnel to be fairly representative of a cross section of EPA
through the inclusion of personnel whose views were considered as
important contributions to the information store on which decisions
would be based. The initial list was expanded as interviewees
suggested other individuals. For example, the initial list identified
regional R&D representatives, who, in turn, set up interview schedules
with various regional personnel. A list of those interviewed is
contained in Appendix E.
Three interview teams were formed, each including both DIRD and BCL
personnel, as follows:
Team Type of Organization Visited
1 National Environmental Research
Centers
2 Regional Offices, Laboratories,
Contractors (Midwest and West)
3 Regional Offices, Laboratories,
Contractors (East and Southeast)
To prepare the way for the interviews, the Assistant Administrator
for Research and Development sent a memorandum to the other Assistant
Administrators, the Office Directors, the Deputy Assistant Adminis-
trators, the Regional Administrators, and the NERC Directors announcing
the existence and purpose of the joint EPA/BCL study and requesting
cooperation in the effort to develop the network concept. A copy of
the memorandum is contained in Appendix H. All interview scheduling
was completed by telephone.
INFORMATION RESOURCES OUTSIDE EPA
A low level of effort survey was made of non-EPA information and data
resources. Emphasis of this survey was directed toward those
106
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information resources within the United States which might complement
or augment EPA supported resources.
The Battelle Main Library and the Environmental Information Center
were searched to identify directories of sources of information and
data of interest to the EPA network.
Directories that were identified as containing pertinent material
were screened to select sources of environmental information on air,
water, pesticides, radiation, noise, and solid waste. Many of the
30 directories screened were out of date and no attempt was made to
verify the current status and scope of coverage of the listed organi-
zations .
Most organizations were listed in more than one directory. No
attempt was made to resolve conflicting information from the various
sources. Furthermore, changing resource titles and changing organi-
zational support identification induced duplicate inclusion of some
resources on the Battelle listing. A list of the directories
screened is contained in Appendix I.
In order to analyze these sources a card index was developed and
divided into the following major categories:
Federal
State and Territories
Universities
Academies, Libraries, Societies, Associations,
Information Centers, Councils, Companies,
Not-For-Prof it
Abstracting and Indexing Services
Index entries consisted of the name of the source, reference number, page
number and type of pollutant or environment, i.e., air, water. Selected
descriptions were photocopied and added to the appropriate index
entries. A matrix was then prepared to show the distribution relation-
ship between the controlling organizations and the type of pollution
or environment information resource.
107
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FUTURE EFFORT
Analysis of the input from the three components was expected to result
in the development of a network concept for EPA's scientific and
technical information and the design of an implementation plan. The
plan would conclude Phase I of a four phase effort. In the remaining
phases, it was anticipated that the plan would be implemented and kept
current with changing EPA information requirements, and a missionary
effort to foster awareness and use of the EPA information network
would be instituted.
108
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APPENDIX C
ALPHABETICAL CROSS-INDEX OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS TO
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS DIRECTORY. SUBJECT
CATEGORY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION
NUMBER
109
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SELECTED ADMINISTRATIVE AND ENVIRONMENTAL
MISSION SUPPORT SYSTEMS AS INDEXED IN THE
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS DIRECTORY (EISD)*
EISD
System Title Category
Accomplishment Planning and 206
Reporting System
Aerial Measurements of U.S. 206
Coastal Zone
Air Data Management 204
Air Pollution Technical 201
Information Center
System (APTIC)
Air Quality Data Handling 201
System (AQDHS)
Air Quality Implementation 201
Planning Program (IPP)
All Major In-House and 201
Contracted Project Data
Analytical Methodology 104
Information Center (AMIC)
Annapolis Field Office Water 206
Laboratory Analysis System
Assistant Administrator for 106
Research and Development
Program Planning System
Automap Subsystem (Automap) 206
Environmental
System Identification
Number
ES-10044
ES-10068
ES-10197
ES-10060
ES-10057
ES-10058
ES-10063
ES-10092
ES-10260
ES-10243
ES-10034.02
*Some titles may differ slightly from those in the Directory.
110
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EISD
System Title Category
Automated National Sensor 206
Work Platform for Environ-
mental Research (ANSWER)
Automatic Indexing by Key- 104
word (KWOC)
Basin Planning System 206
Beach Closure Inventory 206
Bibliography File 206
Categorical Information 207
Summary System
Characteristics of Water 206
Supply Systems (CWSSI)
City Master File (STORET) 206
Community Health Environmental 201
Surveillance System (CHESS)
Comprehensive Data Handling 201
System (CDHS)
Construction Grant Need 206
Cost System (STORET)
County Population and Density 206
Data Acquisition and Processing 203
for Agricultural Runoff
Research
Data Acquisition for Aquatic 206
Ecosystem Simulator
Data Acquisition System (TAME) 201
Data Base of MSPCP Laboratory 201
Test Results
Decimal Input Edit (DIPEDIT) 206
Dissolved Gas Information 206
System (DIGIS)
Electroencephalographic 203
Patterns of Monkeys
Environmental
System Identification
Number
ES-10211
ES-10183
ES-10104
ES-10069
ES-10094
ES-10298
ES-10080
ES-10034.04
ES-10186
ES-10046
ES-10034.06
ES-10126
ES-10219
ES-10220
ES-10176
ES-10054
ES-10115
ES-10159
ES-10316
111
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EISD
System Title Category
Environmental Data Evalua- 206
tion System (EDES)
Environmental Impact State- 207
ment System
Environmental Information 107
Retrieval On-Line (ENVIRON)
Environmental Information 104
Systems Inventory
Environmental Residual 207
Information System
EPA Economic Dislocation 106
Early Warning System
EPA Engineering Summary 206
EPA Library System 104
EPA Technical Publications 201
Episode Reporting and Accident 203
Investigation System
Eskimo Surveillance 204
Federal Facilities File 207
Federal Facilities Inventory 206
System
Federal Facilities Storage 206
and Retrieval System
Federal Facilities System 207
(FEDFAC)
Federal Power Commission 201
(FPC)
Feline Colony Information 204
(The Cat System)
Final Reports File (FINR) 104
Fish Kill File (STORET) 206
Fuel Additive Registration 201
System (FARS)
Environmental
System Identification
Number
ES-10218
ES-10009
ES-10045
ES-10032
ES-10105
ES-10264
ES-10265
ES-10017
ES-10016
ES-10082
ES-10205
ES-10261
ES-10132
ES-10142
ES- 0013
ES-10059
ES-10190
ES-10093
ES-10034.05
ES-10309
112
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System Title
Generalized Cataloging and
Inquiry System (GCIS)
General Point Source File
(GPSF)
Human Bone Network (HBN)
Indoor Radon Indepth Air
Sampling Dosimetry Data
Base
Industrial Waste Literature
File (IWES)
Industry Study
Institutional Total Diet
Sampling Network (ITDSN)
International Environmental
Reports System
Interstate Carrier Water
Supply Inventory (ICWS)
Leachate
Library Files
Major Point Source and
Effluent Loads-South
Platte River
Management Reporting
System (MRS)
Manufacturer vs EPA Vehicle
Testing Results
Map Inventory and Status
Sub-System (MISS)
Mass Spectral Identification
Master System
Microfilm-Microfiche System
Milk Directory Information
System
Municipal Information System
Env i ronmen ta1
EISD System Identification
Category Number
206 ES-10065
206 ES-10067
204 ES-10087
204 ES-10020
206 ES-10081
201 ES-10239
204 ES-10085
None ES-None
206 ES-10079
205 ES-10251
104 ES-10042
206 ES-10141
106 ES-10305
201 ES-10064
206 ES-10034.03
206 ES-10021
207 ES-10098
107 ES-10302
204 ES-10198
206 ES-10297
113
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EISD
System Title Category
Municipal Waste Needs 206
Facilities Inventory
(STORET)
National Emissions Data 201
System (NEDS)
National Environmental 204
Radiation Data System
(NERADS)
National Estuarine Inventory 206
(NEI)
National - Regional Water - 206
Land Resources Assessment
National Soils Monitoring 203
System
NEDS Variable Data Sub- 201
System (VDSS)
Nevada Test Site - Off-Site 204
Human Surveillance System
Noise Information Service 202
(NOISE)
Pasteurized Milk Network (PMN) 204
Pesticide Accidents File 203
Pesticide Air Monitoring 203
Data System
Pesticide Collection Report 203
File
Pesticide Community Studies 203
Data System
Pesticide Episode File 203
Pesticide Human Monitoring 203
Data System
Pesticide Import File 203
Pesticide Import File 203
Pesticide Sampling Information 203
System
Environmental
System Identification
Number
ES-10034.07
ES-10056
ES-10084
ES-10076
ES-10078
ES-10222
ES-10052
ES-10312
ES-10026
ES-10088
ES-10273
ES-10207
ES-10272
ES-10209
ES-10293
ES-10208
ES-10274
ES-10232
ES-10249
114
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EISD
System Title Category
Pesticide Sampling Information 203
System
Pesticide Test Result 203
Pesticides Analysis Retrieval 203
and Control System (PARCS)
Pesticides Import File 203
Pesticides Registration System 203
Power Plant Program Management 207
Information System
Primary Test Data 201
Program Review and Evaluation 207
System (PRES)
Project Information Retrieval 104
System (PIRS)
Publications and Report System 104
Refuse Act Permit Program 207
Refuse Act Permits 207
Program System (RAPP)
Regional Map Collection Index 104
Registration Records 203
Sample Handling & Verification 206
System (SHAVES)
Sewage Treatment Plant Operation 206
and Maintenance Data Retrieval
Solar Radiation Data Acquisition 206
Solid Waste Disposal Sites 205
Inventory
Solid Waste Information 205
Retrieval System (SWIRS)
Spill Information Retrieval 206
System (OHM-SIRS)
Status of Recycling System 205
Environmental
System Identification
Number
ES-10295
ES-10320
ES-10083
ES-10294
ES-10028
ES-10119
ES-10240
ES-10048
ES-10089
ES-10270
ES-10255
ES-10030
ES-10101
ES-10039
ES-10214
ES-10077
ES-10319
ES-10296
ES-10095
ES-10074
ES-10250
115
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System Title
Storage and Retrieval of
Aerometric Data (SAROAD)
Storage and Retrieval of
Water Quality Data (STORET)
STORET Station Location
System
Surveillance Data Management
Technical Assistance Data
System (OHM-TADS)
Technical Reports System
Technology Transfer Data
Storage and Retrieval
System
Toxicity Data File
Toxicology Data System
Tritium Network
Uranium Mill Tailing Survey
User Network for Applied
Modeling of Air Pollution
(UNAMAP)
Water Inventory System
Water Quality File Sub-
System (STORET)
Water Quality Standards
Water Supplies Used on Inter-
state Carrier System
Wheeling Water Laboratory
Analysis System
Environmental
EISD System Identification
Category Number
201 ES-10055
206 ES-10034
206 ES-10277
204 ES-10203
206 ES-10075
104 ES-10310
206 ES-10070
203 ES-10318
203 ES-10217
204 ES-10086
204 ES-10201
201 ES-10185
206 ES-10066
206 ES-10034.01
206 ES-10241
206 ES-10275
206 ES-10259
116
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APPENDIX D
INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT
117
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Mci.:o;\'wuui •: 0 f Agreement
V.'HL'li.Aj, the Secretary of the Interior established a V.'atcr 1 lorrccs
Scientific Tnforn.t io:i Center (Io5.1:» ft or referred to :.s V.'-'SiC) :.s
a co:;iponent of the Ofii.ce of Water Resources Research, on*.! the i'edera 1
Council 1'or Science and Technology has designated V.'ilSIC as the redcral-
wide l.'ater Resources Scientific Information Center;
i.'il'ntRAS, the obj -^s of V.'RSIC :iro to: serve as a f c.;.\ pe'rl for
wa'er resources s^i~n ii fic jnfor, tion ..:ct i"; Lies; initi.iLe 'jj. j;":s
to coordinate and supplement" existing scientific in fori.-.at i on services;
provide for such water resources scientific, and technical information
services as can be best accomplished 011 a nationwide level in cooper-
ation with participating agencies; and insure the pro:::pt flow of
scientific and technical information from both participating agency
systems and V.'RSIC to interested agencies and individuals;
IVUEREAS, the activities of various water-resources organisations
result in .the generation of and the need for scientific and technical
information v;hich should be compatible with that generated by others
within the United States watcr-rcsource community to enable n:orc
effective interchange and management;
NOW, THEREFORE, the parties hereto agree as follows:
1. Tne objective of this memorandum is to specify the relation-
ship between the V.'RSIC and the Environmental Protection Agency
(hereafter referred to as EPA) for processing all water related
reports resulting from the 13PA inhouse or sponsored activities
into the V.'RSIC system, and for cooperatively establishing
certain literature centers of competence which will be
mutually advantageous and cover the field of water pollution.
2. To achieve the foregoing objective, the EPA agrees (within such
limits as may be imposed by appropriated funding levels and
agency priority) to:
a. Provide two copies, plus a completed V.'RSIC input-trr.r.sr.ct ien
form, of all releasr.ble technical reports or documents which
deal with basic and applied research, devel opmont, or
p.1 r.nni.ng, as they r:r.y relate to water resources.
b. Provide b.ibl iographi ca 1 citat ions, abstracts, and sets of
index tei.ns used in the V.'ilS IC: input - transact J on for.i, which
sit.-.11 bo compatible with those used by 'nV.SIC.
C. Establish ant!/..-.- piov.'de fundr.g support for 1 i t or alu re
cent er.', of ck. j.n :.n«. c v.h.i ch w'» 11 ;ic.;u: re, r.bs: r.ici ,
index 1 j .* c -11: c f.w : uui'.l-v r-.?%r e»-d 1: sen roes in
the preser.i 1 ed V.'.ic." for..at. To accomplish this, sue!-,
centers of co. ,p-.-i e '..ill:
118
-------
()) ];Ui iijr,h a copy of each docii'• c-;ir processed as above
to the V.ltS 1C.
(2) Provide the proscribed input to the V.'uSJC in the
following subject area:". and in such additional njCoS
as shall be mutually agreed upon by an exchange of
correspondence:
(a) ^atrophica ticn
(b) Textile waste pollution
(c) Thc7Tial'pollution
(d) Wastewater treatment
(e) Coastal pollution
(£) V/atcr quality requirements
(g) Pollution identification
(h) Oil spillage
(i) Irrigation return flow
(j) Water treatment waste pollution
3. To achieve the foregoing objective, V.'RSIC agrees in return
to:
a. Monitor the output of the aforementioned literature
centers of competence for quality and quantity.
b. Evaluate periodically the performance of the centers
and report to the EPA.
c. Incorporate the output received from these centers
into the WRS1C system.
d. Cooperate with the EPA in developing specialized systen
output products for the field of water pollution from
the h'RSIC information base as r.utual needs ar.d capabilities
arise. As a specialised system, output service, V.'RSIC will
provide up to one hundred (100) computer searches of its
information base per year for EPA project and grantee users.
c. Provide three hundred (300) copies or Selected ',','atcr
Abstracts, and a mutually a.-reed upon number oJ '.'."RSIC
, / ^ s.» I i
publications and other sen/ices, as they may be developo.:.
4. 'J his agreement may be'terminated by either party upon sixty (60)
days written notice.
119
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5. This MoMOrr.iKl'.i..! of Af'.roci'.icnt superscJos the .ij'.vccr.icnl dated
NovLi:r 111, 11J60.
7 i ¦
Date
^ t;
Date
Director, Office of V.'ater Resources
Research, Department of the Interior
L20
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APPENDIX E
LIST OF INTERVIEWEES
121
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EPA NETWORK INTERVIEWS THROUGH AUGUST 16, 1973
Name
Anderson, Joseph
Andrews, Richard D.
Bach, David
Bartlett, Robert
Beierl, H. Gregory
Bishop, William D.
Bloch, Wayne
Budde, William L.
Bunce, Ronald
Burleson, Ned K.
Byram, Kenneth B.
Caras, Gus J.
Carson, Kathleen
Chi Ids, Norman E.
Circiello, Jean M.
Cochran, Joseph A.
Title
Deputy Director
Chemical Engineer
Enforcement-Wastewater Permits
Program Assistant
Office of Noise Control
Programs
Federal Agency Liaison Staff
Office of Federal Activities
Supervisory Chemist
Technical Services Division
Chief, Manpower Development and
Training Branch
Deputy Director, Data &
Information Research Div.
Group Leader, Organic
Instrumentation
Chief, ADP Support Branch
Sanitary Engineer
Enforcement
Computer Specialist
Laboratory Support Group
Chief, ADP and Statistical
Section, Technical Info.
Specifications
Foreign Affairs Officer
Office of International
Activities
Tech. Publ. Clearance Officer
Program Coordination Staff
Librarian
Civil Engineer, Field Operations
Office of Research Programs
Location
Analytical Quality Control
Laboratory, Cincinnati
Region VIII, Denver
EPA Hqs., Washington
EPA Hqs., Washington
Region VIII, Denver
Region IX, San Francisco
EPA Hqs., Washington
Analytical Quality Control
Laboratory, Cincinnati
Region III, Philadelphia
Region VI, Dallas
NERC, Corvallis
Pesticides Toxicology
Research Station,
Chamblee
EPA Hqs., Washington
ISERC, RTP
Region IX, San Francisco
NERC-Las Vegas
122
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Name
Cohen, Edward H.
Conger, Charles S.
Connolly, John A.
Cook, Richard
Courson, Robert G.
Crawford, Vera (Dee)
Cummins, Rodney L.
Cuny, Philip A.
Donaldson, William T.
Oovel, John A.
Duffer, William R.
Duttweiler, David W.
Oyer, John
Feigner, Kenneth D.
Field, Joseph W.
Finklea, John F.
Fisher, Farley
Fitch, Russell W.
Fitzgerald, Daniel T.
-2-
Tltle
Asst. R&D Regional Representative
Chief, Info. Access & User
Assistance Branch, Water and
Planning Standards
Tech. Info. Officer, SWIRS
Librarian
R&D Regional Representative
Librarian
Chief, Environmental &
Monitoring Section
Computer Systems Analyst
Field Operations Division
Chief, National Water Con-
tamination Characterization
Research Program
Chief, Publications Branch
Office of Research & Development
Research Aquatic Biologist,
Water Quality Control Program
Director
Sanitary Engineer
Technology Transfer
Chief, Data Systems Branch
R&D Regional Representative
Director
Chemist, Office of Toxic
Substances
R&D Regional Representative
Actg. Chief, Info Systems
and Analysis Branch
123
Location
Region III, Philadelphia
EPA Hqs., Washington
EPA Hqs., Washington
Primate & Pesticide Effects
Laboratory, Perrine
Region X, Seattle
Region VI, Dallas
Region IX, San Francisco
EPA Hqs., Washington
Southeast Environmental
Research Laboratory,
Athens
EPA Hqs., Washington
Robt. S. Kerr Env. Research
Laboratory, Ada
Southeast Environmental
Research Laboratory,
Athens
EPA Hqs., Washington
Region X, Seattle
Region VI, Dallas
NERC-RTP
EPA Hqs., Washington
Region VIII, Denver
Region III, Philadelphia
-------
-3-
Title
Computer Specialist
Technical Info. Officer
Chief, Systems Services Info.
Branch, Technical Services D1v.
Deputy Dir., D1v. of Multilateral
Organizations, Office of
International Activities
Aquatic Biologist
Nat'l Eutrophicatlon Survey
Program
D1rector
Name
Forrest, James A.
Frledwn, Morton H.
Fry, Elgin
Fuller, Irving
Gakstatter, Jack H.
Galegar, William C.
Gigl1ott1, Gilbert M.
Glldea, Bernard
Gimble, Alexander F.
Gltto, Louis F.
Glass, Norman
Hall, Marguerite
Hal pin, Peter
Hannesschlager,
Robert E.
Hass, Jeffrey W.
Hazelett, Samuel
Hegre, Carman Stanford
Hendricks, Donald R.
Technical Information
Chemist
Pesticides
Chief, Systems Analysis Branch
Acting Director
Computer Specialist
Management Information and
Data Systems
Chief, Air Pollution Technical
Information Center
C1v1l Engineer
Surveillance & Analysis
Sanitary Engineer
Program Information Branch
Actg. Branch Chf., Toxicology
Location
Region IX, San Francisco
NERC-C1nc1nnati
EPA Hqs., Washington
EPA Hqs., Washington
Pacific Northwest Env.
Research Lab., Corvallis
Robt. S. Kerr Env.
Research Lab., Ada
NERC-C1nc1nnat1
Region II, New York
Region VI, Dallas
Region I, Boston
Nat'l Ecological Res.
Lab., Corvallis
EPA Hqs., Washington
NERC-RTP
Region VI, Dallas
Region III, Philadelphia
EPA Hqs., Washington
Nat'l Marine Water
Quality Lab., Narragansett
NERC-Las Vegas
Office of Research Programs
124
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-4-
Name
Hersey, David F.
Hess, Richard
Hooper, Hark
Horton, Thomas R.
Ireson, Robert G.
Janensch, Paul
Jarvis, Arthur N.
Oaworski, Norbert A.
Jensen, Ray
Johnson, Dion
Jones, Thomas C.
Kapinos, Paul
Kari, Earl N.
Keeley, Jack W.
Kimbrough, Renate D.
Krawczyk, Daniel F.
Lacy,William J.
Title
President
Chief, Operations Branch
Water Program Operations
Physical Scientist
Staff Engineer
Office of Res. Programs
Sanitary Engineer
Surveillance Branch
General Manager
Instructor
Office of Quality Assurance
Director
Director
Information Technologist
Program Information Branch
A1r & Water Planning Branch
Sanitary Engineer
Monitoring & Data Support Div.
Deputy Director
Sanitary Engineer
Groundwater Treatment
Actg. Chief, Bioeffects
Laboratory
Chemist
Consolidated Lab. Services
Chief, Applied Science &
Technology
Location
Smithsonian Science Infor-
mation Exchange, Inc.,
Washington, D.C.
EPA Hqs., Washington
Region X, Seattle
NERC-Las Vegas
Region IX, San Francisco
Pollution Abstracts,
San Diego
NERC-Las Vegas
Pacific Northwest Env.,
Research Lab., Corvallis
WRSIC, Washington
EPA Hqs., Washington
Region IX, San Francisco
EPA Hqs., Washington
NERC-Corvallis
Robt. S. Kerr Env.
Research Lab., Ada
Pesticides Toxicology
Research Station,
Chamblee
Pacific Northwest Env.
Research Lab., Corvallis
EPA Hqs., Washington
125
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Name
Lattimer, John
Law, James P.
Levy, Burton
Levy, Steven J.
Lewis, Claudia
McBride, John R.
McCammon, Helen
McCauley, Betty M.
McGuire, John M.
McMillion, Leslie G.
Michel, Robert L.
Morgan, George G.
Neligan, Robert E.
Nime, Edward J.
O'Connor, Michael
Oneal, Gary L.
Osborn, John
02olins, Guntis
-5-
T1tle
Location
Librarian
Project Officer, Irrigation
Return Flow Quality Center
of Competence
Director of Administration
Sanitary Engineer
Resource Recovery
Tech. Info. Specialist
Deputy Director
Region I R&D Representative
Librarian
Research Chemist
Hydrologist, Office of
Research Programs
General Engineer
Water Program Operations
Monitoring Systems R&D Div.
Offc. of Air Planning Quality
and Standards
Supv., Computer Systems
Off. of Research Programs
Physical Science Administrator
Surveillance & Analysis Div.
Sanitary Engineer
Technology Transfer
Director of Quality Assurance,
Office of R&D
Region VIII, Denver
Robt. S. Kerr Env.
Research Lab., Ada
NERC-RTP
EPA Hqs., Washington
Pesticides Technology
Research Station,
Chamblee
NERC-Las Vegas
Region I, Boston
NERC-Corvallis
Southeast Environmental
Research Lab., Athens
NERC-Las Vegas
EPA Hqs., Washington
NERC-Las Vegas
NERC-RTP
NERC-Cinclnnati
Region X, Seattle
Region X, Seattle
EPA Hqs., Washington
126
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-6-
Name
Title
Location
Payne, Robert
Perman, Robert
Peters, Charles W.
Peterson, Harold T.
Phelps, Donald K.
Plntler, Herbert E.
Power, Charles F.
Ramsey, Ralph
Renner, Fred H.
Resnik, Anthony V.
Rosenstein, Larry
Senders: Walter M,
Santoluclto, John A.
Schneider, Eric
Schuck, Edward A.
Seba, Douglas 8.
Physical Science Administrator
Data & Info. Research Div.
Executive Officer
Office of Program Management
Operations
Physical Scientist
Offc. of Radiation Programs
Health Physicist
Surveillance Branch, ORP
Chief, Ecological Research Br.
Aquatic Biologist
Supv., Aquatic Research
Animal Wastes Center of
Competence
Technical Information Officer
Sanitary Engineer
Surveillance Branch
Sanitary Engineer
Chief; Nat'l Pollution Fate
Research Program
Supervisory Pharmacologist
Director
Chemist, Transport Processes
Branch
Technical Liaison Officer
EPA Hqs., Washington
EPA Hqs., Washington
EPA Hqs., Washington
EPA Hqs., Washington
Nat11 Marine Water Quality
Lab., Narragansett
Region IX, San Francisco
NERC-Corvallis
East Central State
College, Ada
NERC-RTP
Region IX, San Francisco
Primate & Pesticides
Effects Lab., Perrine
Southeast Environmental
Research Lab., Athens
Primate & Pesticides
Effects Lab., Perrine
Nat'l Marine Water Quality
Lab., Narrangansett
EPA Hqs., Washington
Nat'l Field Investigation
Center, Denver
127
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Name
Shew, 0. Craig
Shobe, Randall
Skogerboe, Gaylord
Smiecinskl, Ralph
Smith, Allan E.
Smith, Ethan T.
Snelling, Robert
Stenburg, Mike
Taras, Mike
Tarran, Jack
Tenney, Vern
Thomas, Sarah
Thompson, John F.
Thompson, Loren
Tilstra, John R.
Vincent, James R.
Weddle, Bruce R.
-7-
Tltle
Location
Research Chemist
Ecological Processes & Effects
Division
Supervisor, Budget & Mgmt.
Office of Program Mgmt.
Irrigation Return Flow Quality
Center of Competence
Chief, Offc. of Quality Assurance
Chief, Planning & Management
Monitoring Operations Div.
Physical Science Administrator
Chief, Data Acquisition
Chief, Surveillance Branch
Water Treatment Plant
Wastewater Pollution Control
Center of Competence
Program Management Officer
Offc. of International
Activities
R&D Regional Representative
Library Director
Library Systems Branch
Chemist
Chemist
Offc. of Quality Assurance
Chemist
Surveillance & Analysis Div.
Physical Science Administrator
Technical Assistance
Coordinator, OSWMP
Robt. S. Kerr Env.
Research Lab., Ada
EPA Hqs., Washington
Colorado State University,
Fort Collins
NERC-Las Vegas
NERC-Las Vegas
Region II, New York
NERC-Las Vegas
Region IX, San Francisco
American Water Works
Association, New York
EPA Hqs., Washington
Region IX, San Francisco
EPA Hqs., Washington
Primate 8 Pesticides
Effects Lab., Perrine
NERC-Las Vegas
Region VIII, Denver
Nat'l Field Investigation
Center, Denver
EPA Hqs., Washington
128
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Name
Weiner, Lawrence
Weir, Arvella J.
White, David R.
White, John J.
Whlttaker, Earl L.
Wlckman, Doreen T.
Williams, Thomas F.
Wlllmann, James C.
Wruble, Donald T.
Ziegler, Lee
-8-
T1tle
Location
Systems Analyst
Program Information Branch
Librarian
Computer Systems
Tech. & Admin. Data Support Br.
Physical Science Administrator
Chemist, Offc. of Quality
Assurance
Librarian
Dir., Tech. Info. Staff
Sanitary Engineer
Office of Oil
Chief, Monitoring Operations
Division
Physicist
Offc. of Quality Assurance
EPA Hqs., Washington
Region X, Seattle
Region VI, Dallas
Region IX, San Francisco
NERC-Las Vegas
NERC-Las Vegas
EPA Hqs., Washington
Region X, Seattle
NERC-Las Vegas
NERC-Las Vegas
129
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APPENDIX F
THE CONCEPT OF INFORMATION NETWORKS
130
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THE CONCEPT OF INFORMATION NETWORKS
In recent years increased national recognition has been given to the
(32)
concept of information networks, which Becker and Olson define as
follows:
"In an information network, more than two
participants are engaged in a common pattern
of information exchange through communica-
tions for some functional purpose".
In some instances, the functional purposes of information exchange may
be quite general. For example, for years libraries have operated a
very loosely constructed information network for the exchange of books
and journals (interlibrary loans) and for the centralized storage of
older and infrequently used materials (archival storage). In modern-
day context, however, the functional purposes of information exchange
are becoming more and more specialized.
There are several types of networks currently evolving in the United
States and elsewhere and a problem of definition exists regarding the
types and functions of various networks. Figure 4 presents three basic
types of networks: 1) data communication networks, 2) computer networks,
and 3) information networks. Information networks have existed long
before computer or data communication networks were developed. In the
broadest sense, an information network can be a banding together of
various types of information resources (e.g. libraries, information
systems, referral centers) into some type of communication cooperative.
131
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FIGURE 4. NETWORK TYPES AND RELATIONSHIPS
The computer networks have more recently evolved and are typified by
the ARPANET network in which many computers are linked together via a
data communications network. An example of a data communications
network not necessarily geared toward computer communication is the
Western Union system. An example of a computer network that does not
rely on an external data communications network is the ILLIAC IV
system designed at the University of Illinois in which many computers
are linked together at one site to form a single computing facility.
Much of the confusion arises over a network consisting of a single
computer serving many users via a communication network. Referring to
Figure 4 this would be viewed as an information network (sharing of
resources) overlapping a data communication network, but it is not a
network of computers. This brief description is meant to help dis-
tinguish between various types of networks and point out how one type
of network may make use of another type of network in accomplishing its
functions. Looking specifically at information networks, historically
they are usually identified by: 1) class of equipment, 2) form of
data, or 3) function, as indicated in Table 11.
132
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TABLE 11. IDENTIFICATION OF INFORMATION NETWORKS
Class of Equipment Form of Data Function
Telephone Audio Financial
Teletype Digital Library
Facsimile Graphic Biomedical
Radio Educational
Television Agricultural
Computer Management
Source: Adapted from J. Backet and W. C. Olson, "Information Networks", Annual
Rev. Inform. Sci. Tectinol., Vol. 3, 289-327 (1968).
It is easy to conceive an information network configuration based upon
various combinations of the identifying elements shown in the table.
A less restrictive view of the network concept is provided by con-
sideration not of the elements but of the characteristics for an
(33)
information network, as presented by Swank and shown in Table 12.
Network Organizations
Recognition of the possible organizational relationships is also sig-
nificant in understanding the network concept. The top part of
(34)
Figure 5 shows three types of network organizations . The simplest
of these is the monolith. The monolith is a highly centralized infor-
mation system that draws together into one system those functions that
might otherwise be performed by a number of individual systems. For
its designated sphere of cognizance, the monolith acquires all of the
required information, processes it into a unified store, receives and
responds to all inquiries, and provides all the needed products and
services for the entire user population.
133
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TABLE 12. CHARACTERISTICS OF INFORMATION NETWORKS
Characteristics
Prescription
Information resources
Collections of documents or data in whatever medium {the data
bases; the input)
Readers or users
Intellectual access systems
Usually remote from the main information resources
Schemes for the intellectual organization of documents or data
as directories for use by readers or users
Physical access systems
Methods for the delivery of resources to readers or users — the
output
Formal organization
Bidirectional communications
Combinations of cooperating or contracting formations, representing
different data bases and/or groups of users
Network links, preferably through high-speed, long-distance
electrical transmission with switching capabilities and computer
hook-ups
Source: Adapted from R. C. Swank "Interlibrary Cooperation, Interlibrary Communications, and Information
Networks - Explanation and Definition", Proceedings of the Conference on Interlibrary Communications
and Information Networks, p. 18-26, American Library Association, 1971.
134
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a. Monolith
s r <'v '
b. Free — Unorganized
o o
0-&--0
/ \
/ \
6 o
c. Coordinated
Basic Networks
o
D
a
/
/
/
/
/
/ ^
J" \
cr/
\ x
\ /
v.
s /
\ /
\ /
'\
~ \
. s
\
\
\
\
V \
^ /
/
/
/
/
&\-7^
-------
The second type—the free-unorganized network—permits Individual
svstems to develop whenever and wherever they are needed. To the
extent that interaction or cooperation between the diverse systems is
required to service an inquiry properly or to provide other products
and services, the operators of each of the individual systems must
establish and maintain such channels of interaction as they see fit.
The third type—the coordinated network—also permits individual
systems to develop wherever needed. Here, however, a central coor-
dinating organization is superimposed on the population of individual
systems such that the lines of interaction are markedly simplified.
For example, suppose an inquiry is directed to one of the systems in
the network, but a comprehensive response to the inquiry requires
inputs from a number of the other systems. In the coordinated network,
the centralized coordinating body would assume the task of acquiring
and coordinating multiple inputs and making them available to the
system that must answer the inquiry.
This characteristic of the coordinated network provides the basis for
understanding the concepts of "referral" and "switching". In a
referral network, the inquiry addressed to any individual system is
referred to other systems that can contribute the answer. _ This
requires the inquirer to establish direct contact with these other
systems in order to obtain their inputs to the answer, consolidates
these inputs, and presents to the inquirer a comprehensive, coordinated
response to his inquiry. In both the referral network and the
switching network it is the centralized coordinating body that provides
the intersystem cooperation required.
The three basic organizational models shown in Figure 5 can be applied
to information situations at almost any level of generality or
specificity.
136
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APPENDIX G
LIST OF ACRONYMS
138
-------
As an illustration, they might be applied at the level of handling
information for a corporation. The corporation could consider building
a monolithic structure, "the corporate information system". What is
more likely to happen, however, is that the corporation would allow
each department (manufacturing, finance, personnel, marketing, etc.) to
devise and construct its own information-handling facilities as it sees
fit. If the latter is the case, the corporate information system may
become either a free-unorganized network or a coordinated network
(involving a centralized corporate information referral or switching
group).
The same organizational models can be applied at a national level. The
Soviet Union, for example, has chosen to implement the monolithic VINITI,
the centralized Soviet national system for handling scientific and
technical information. The national "system" of information handling
in the United States, however, comprises a free-unorganized network in
which individual systems of various types, sizes, and subject areas
have been permitted to grow and interact on an almost totally uncon-
trolled basis. The influence applied so far by the United States
Government has been in the direction of achieving a coordinated
national network of information systems rather than a monolithic
structure.
In addition to the three basic organizational models that might be
applied to any level of generality or specificity for an overall
information-handling entity, it is important to realize that any
single satellite system of such an entity (when the entity is either
a free-unorganized model or a coordinated model) could itself be
organized according to any one of the three models. Thus, these three
organizational models can form a variety of agglomerated networks
(bottom of Figure 5) to represent the total complex of organization
relationships in all types of information-system networks, from the
very simple to the very complex.
137
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ACRONYMS
ADP
Automatic Data Processing
AEC
Atomic Energy Commission
AMIC
Analytical Methodology Information Center
ANSWER
Automated National Sensor Work Platform for
Environmental
Research
APTIC
Air Pollution Technical Information Center
AQCL
Analytical Quality Control Laboratory
AQCR
Air Quality Control Region
AQDHS
Air Quality Data Handling System
AQDM
Air Quality Display Model
BCL
Battelle Columbus Laboratories
BIOSIS
Biosciences Information Services
CAMP
Continuous Air Monitoring Program
CDHS
Comprehensive Data Handling System
CDM
Climatological Dispersion Model
CDS
Compliance Data System
CFSS
Combined File Search System
CHAMP
Continuous Health Air Monitoring Program
CHESS
Community Health Environmental Surveillance
System
CIS
Contracts Information System
CISS
Categorical Information Summary System
CMIS
Comprehensive Management Information System
COSATI
Committee on Scientific and Technical Information
CPEHS
Consumer Protection and Environmental Health Service
CSC
Computer Sciences Corporation
CSS
Community Studies System
CWSSI
Characteristics of Water Supply Systems
DC IM
Direct Cost of Implementation Model
DHEW
Department of Health, Education and Welfare
DIG IS
Dissolved Gas Information System
DIPEDIT -
Decimal Input Edit
DIPS
Departmental Integrated Personnel Services
DIRD
Data and Information Research Division
DTI
Document-Based Technical Information
ECA
Environmental Control Administration
11Q
-------
EDES
Environmental Data Evaluation System
EH IN
Environmental Health Information Network
EHS
Environmental Health Service
EISD
Environmental Information Systems Directory
EMS
Enforcement Management System
ENV IRON -
Environmental Information Retrieval On-Line
EPA
Environmental Protection Agency
EPIC
Environmental Project Information Coordination
EQM
Energy Quality Model
EROS
Environmental Research Objective Statement
FARS
Fuel Additive Registration System
FDA
Food and Drug Administration
FEDFAC
Federal Facilities System
FINR
Final Reports File
FPC
Federal Power Commission Tape
FTS
Federal Telecommunications System
IWPCA
Federal Water Pollution Control Act
FWQA
Federal Water Quality Administration
GAO
General Accounting Office
GAP
Group Associates Program
GC IS
Generalized Cataloging and Inquiry System
GFDF
General Facilities Discharge File
GPSF
General Point Source File
GSA
General Services Administration
HAPEMS
Hazardous Air Pollutant Enforcement Management System
HBN
Human Bone Network
HEW
Health, Education and Welfare
HMS
Human Monitoring System
ICWS
Interstate Carrier Water Supply Inventory
IMIS
Integrated Management Information System
IPP
Air Quality Implementation Planning Program
IRIS
Information Resource Identification System
IRS
Information Reporting System
IRS
International Referral Service
IRS IS
Ionizing Radiation Source Inventory System
IS I
Institute for Scientific Information
ITDSN
Institutional Total Diet Sampling Network
IWES
Industrial Waste Literature File
KWOC
Automatic Indexing by Keyword
KWOC
Keyword Out of Context
LSC
Library Systems Coordination
MCDF
Master Code Descriptor Files
MDQARL
- Methods Development and Quality Assurance Research
Laboratory
MICS
Management Information and Control System
MIDSD
Management Information and Data Systems Division
MISS
Map Inventory and Status Subsystem
140
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MIT - Milestone Interval Table
MSPCP - Mobile Sources Pollution Control Program
MRS - Management Reporting System
NADB - National Air Data Branch
KADB - National Ambient Data Bank
NADIS - National Aerometric Data Information System
NAPCA - National Air Pollution Control Administration
NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASN - National Aerometric Surveillance Network
NEDB - National Emissions Data Bank
NEDS - National Emissions Data System
NEI - National Estuarine Inventory
NEIS - National Environmental Information Symposium
NERADS - National Environmental Radiation Data System
NERC - National Environmental Research Center
NESI - National Environmental Systems Inventory
NICS - National Institute for Community Development
NIH - National Institutes of Health
NOISE - Noise Information Service
NRC - National Referral Center
NSIS - National Sources Inventory Section
NTIS - National Technical Information Service
NTS - Nevada Test Site
OHM-SIRS - Office of Hazardous Materials—Spill Information Retrieval
Sys tern
OHM-TADS - Office of Hazardous Materials—Technical Assistance Data
System
0MB - Office of Management and Budget
OSI - Optimum Systems Inc.
OTIC - Office of Technical Information Coordination
PAMS - Pesticides Air Monitoring System
PARCS - Pesticides Analysis Retrieval and Control System
PCS - Petitions Control System
PHS - Public Health Service
PMN - Pasteurized Milk Network
PMS - Personnel Management System
PPBS - Programming, Planning and Budgeting System
PIRS - Project Information Retrieval System
PRES - Program Review and Evaluation System
PRS - Product and Registrant System
RAN - Radiation Alert Network
RAPP - Refuse Act Permit Program
RAPS - Regional Air Pollution Study
RECON - Remote Console
REMS - Regional Economic Model System
RMI - River Mile Index
ROAP - Research Objective Achievement Plans
RPG - Report Program Generator
141
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RP10
Responsible Planning and Implementation Officer
RTP
Research Triangle Park
SAROAD
Storage and Retrieval of Aerometric Data
SAS
Statistical Analysis System
SATCOM
Committee on Scientific and Technical Communication
see
Source Classification Code
SEAS
Strategic Environment Assessment System
SHAVES
Sample Handling and Verification System
SIF
Science Information Facility
SIP
State Implementation Plans
SKF
System Management Facility
SPSS
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
SS IE
Smithsonian Science Information Exchange
SSPCP
Stationary Source Pollution Control Program
STIMS
Scientific Technical Information Modular System
STIC
Scientific and Technical Information Coordination
STORET
Storage and Retrieval of Water Quality Data
STPOM
Sewage Treatment Plant Operation and Maintenance Data
Retrieval
SWIRS
Solid Waste Information Retrieval System
TADS
Technical Assistance Data System
TAME
Data Acquisition System
TIMPS
Technical Information and Management Planning System
TNRIS
Transportation Noise Research Information Service
TRAIS
Transportation Research Activities Information System
TSN
Tritium Surveillance Network
UNAMAP
Users Network for Applied Modeling of Air Pollution
USDA
United States Department of Agriculture
USGS
United States Geological Survey
UTM
Universal Transverse Mercator
VDSS
NEDS Variable Data Subsystem
WRSIC
Water Resources Scientific Information Center
WUIS
Work Unit Identification System
142
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APPENDIX H
INFORMATION NETWORK STUDY MEMORANDUM
143
-------
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON!. D C. 20'.GO
wW 2 8 1273
SC3JF.CT: Information Network Studv
FRO! i:
Assistant Administrator for Research
and Development
TO:
See Distribution
In the period since its inception, EPA has developed
or augmented many valuable scientific and technical
information resources vital to the accomplishment of its
goals. In order to utilize these important resources to
their fullest potential, we are undo . taking a scientific
and technical information network concept study, the goal
of which is continued resource evolution in a systematic
manner.
On June 1, 19 73, we initiated a six-month contract
with the Columbus Laboratories of Battelle Ilemorial
Institute. The purpose is to devise a development plan
for the creation of a scientific and technical information
network from EPA's resources as well as from information
resources of other agencies that relate to the EPA mission.
In the next few months, Battelle personnel and
personnel from our Data and Information Research
Division, Office of the Assistant Administrator for
Research and Development, will be visiting some of you
to obtain information required to build the foundation
from which to develop the network concept and plan.
If you have any questions regarding the purpose or
-goals of this study, additional details are available
from Luther Garrett, (202) 755-0S3S.
I consider the results of this project very important
to the future effectiveness of EPA's scientific and
technical information activities and would appreciate your
full cooperation with the research team if it should seek
your assistance.
' * 7
/-Stanley Greenfield
144
-------
Distribution
Assistant Administrators
Office Directors
Deputy Assistant Administrators
Regional Administrators
N£SC Directors
145
-------
APPENDIX I
LIST OF DIRECTORIES SCREENED FOR
NON-EPA INFORMATION RESOURCES
146
-------
LIST OF DIRECTORIES
1. Encyclopedia of Information Systems and Services, 1st Edition.
Ann Arbor, Edward Brothers, 1971. 1109 p.
*2. A Directory of Information Resources in the United States:
Physical Science, Engineering. Washington, D.C., Library of
Congress, 1971. 803 p.
*3. A Directory of Information Resources in the United States:
Biological Science. Washington, D.C., Library of Congress,
1972, 577 p.
4. Encyclopedia of Associations—Volume I, National Organizations
of the U.S., 7th Edition. Detroit, Gale Research Co., 1972.
5. Directory of Water Pollution Research Laboratories. Organization
for Economic Cooperation & Development, 1966. 519 p.
6. Directory of Information Resources in Agriculture-Biology
Washington, D.C., National Agriculture Library, 1971. 523 p.
7. United States Government Organization Manual, 1972/73.
Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1972. 710 p.
8. Available Data Banks for Library & Information Sources. Tempe,
Arizona, LARC Association, 1973.
9. Caroll, Kenneth. Survey of Scientific-Technical Tape Services.
National Technical Information Service, Washington, D.C.
Publication Number PB 196 154. September 1970. 64 p.
"10. Combs, Z., et. al. Directory of Environmental Information Sources.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Publication
Number ORNL-EIS-71-5. October 1971. 57 p.
147
-------
11. Battelle EHS Study, Volume IV: Directory of EHS Information
Facilities with Selected Supplementary Resources. Battelle
Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio.
12. Analysis of Information Requirements of the Noise Abatement
Community. Final Report. Informatics, Inc., Washington, D.C.
May 24, 1972.
13. U. S. Organization Chart Service, P. 0. Box 15175, San Diego,
California
*14. Government Air Pollution Agencies, 1972-1973 Directory. Air
Pollution Control Association, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1972.
*15. Your Government and the Environment. An Annual Reference.
Matthew J. Kerbec, Editor. Output Systems Corporation, Virginia,
1971.
*16. Directory of Government Agencies Safeguarding Consumer and
Environment, 4th Edition. Alexandria, Virginia, Serina Press,
1971.
17. Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory, 14th Edition, 1971-
72. New York, R. R. Bowker Co., 1972.
*18. Research Centers Directory, 4th Edition. Detroit, Gale Research
Co., 1972. 1033 p.
19. Consultants and Consulting Organizations Directory, 2nd Edition.
Detroit, Gale Research Co., 1973. 835 p.
20. Directory of Special Libraries & Information Centers, 2nd Edition.
Detroit, Gale Research Co., 1968. 1048 p.
21. Journal of Water Pollution Control Facilities. Water Pollution
Control Agencies. March 1973. p. 142-151.
*22. The Federal Environmental Monitoring Directory. Council on
Environmental Quality. May 1973.
23. Scientific, Technical & Related Societies of the U.S., 9th Edition.
Washington, D.C., National Academy of Sciences, 1971. 213 p.
24. International Scientific Organizations: A Guide to Their Library,
Documentation & Information Indexes. Washington, D.C., Library
of Congress, 1962. 794 p.
148
-------
25. International Scientific Organizations. Organization for
European Cooperation & Development, 1965.
26. Specialized Science Information Services in the United States.
Washington, D.C., National Science Foundation, 1961.
27. Agriculture-Environmental & Consumer Protection Appropriations
for 1974, Part 5: Environmental Protection. (Hearings before
a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations. House of
Representatives. 93rd Congress, 1st Session.)
28. Agriculture-Environmental & Consumer Protection Appropriations
for 1974, Part 8: Miscellaneous. (Hearings before a Subcommittee
of the Committee on Appropriations. House of Representatives,
93rd Congress, 1st Session.)
*29. Environmental Information Sources: Engineering and Industrial
Applications. A Selected Annotated Bibliography. Carole
Schildhauer, Compiler. New York, Special Libraries Association,
1972. 45 p.
*30. Bonn, George S., ed. Information Resources In the Environmental
Sciences. University of Illinois, Graduate School of Library
Science. (Papers presented at the 18th Allerton Park Institute.
November 12-15, 1972.) 1973. 238 p.
*Most productive sources
149
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APPENDIX J
MANAGEMENT BRIEFING REPORT
150
-------
INTRODUCTION
This is a condensed version of a February'1974 report entitled EPA
Scientific and Technical Information Network Concept and Implemen-
tation Plan prepared under EPA Contract No. 68-01-1854. A more
highly condensed version is contained in the blue pages labeled
Management Summary which are attached at the end of this document.
151
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REASON FOR THIS RESEARCH PROJECT
In September 1972, William D. Ruckelshaus, then Administrator, U. S.
Environmental Protection Agency stated:
We may indeed, as one scientist has suggested,
already have a substantial part of the scientific
information we need to ensure the protection and
preservation of our common environment. Yet we
don't have timely access to it because retrieval
systems are uncoordinated or non-existent. There
is as great a need to organize and manage informa-
tion as there is to make new discoveries.
Furthermore, despite its large expenditures for scientific and techni-
cal information, EPA does not appear to have fulfilled the President's
mandate under Reorganization Plan 3 of 1970 to gather information on
pollution, to use the information to strengthen environmental pro-
tection programs, and to recommend policy changes. Rationale for that
statement stems from the 1972 National Environmental Information Sym-
posium (NEIS) where the consensus of some 1700 participants was that
their most common concern was the need for improved awareness of, and
access to, environmental information.
Since EPA's Environmental Information Systems Directory listed almost
300 administrative and environmental mission support information
activities, and there were many additional information resources
outside EPA, personnel of the Data and Information Research Division
(DIRD) sought a solution to controlling the proliferation of infor-
mation resources and to the findings of the NEIS. Because their
152
-------
interest was centered upon EPA, they undertook a detailed review of
previous information studies of EPA and its predecessor services.
It was their conclusion that the information network approach pre-
sented in a 1970 study of the scientific and technical information
requirements of the Environmental Health Service (EHS) offered the
most appropriate solution for EPA. However, the 1970 EHS report did
not reflect current EPA policies, organizational structure, and Con-
gressional and private pressures. Further, the number of information
and data resources had increased and become more complex. Because of
those factors, this current study was undertaken.
153
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RECOMMENDATIONS
As a result of this study, the following recommendations were made
to EPA:
1. The EPA should establish an Office of Technical
Information Coordination (OTIC) which would
report at the Administrator level.
2. The mission of OTIC would be to plan, coordinate,
and encourage improved accessibility, handling,
and usage of environmental information and data
within a developing coordinated network.
3. OTIC should appear as a line-item in the EPA
budget.
4. OTIC would be an active group-oriented under-
taking which would be structured and implemented
over a time period of approximately four years
and would:
a Establish a scientific and technical infor-
mation coordination function to provide a
current knowledge of sources of scientific
and technical information.
e Establish an environmental project infor-
mation coordination function to provide a
current knowledge of sources of informa-
tion on on-going projects.
® Incorporate the present functions (excluding
the operation of the Headquarters Library) of
the Library Systems Branch to provide for
library systems coordination.
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9 Establish a group communlcations function
to provide a forum furnishing the atmosphere
for discussion of common problems and to
serve as EPA's public spokesman for environ-
mental information in a non-conflicting
relationship with the Office of Public Affairs.
a Provide advisory services through its desig-
nation as the initial source for resolution of
EPA's problems in information science in order
to minimize the duplication of effort and
inconsistency of approach possible if different
individuals or contractors act without coor-
dination.
e Establish an information research function to
conduct, or more often cause to be conducted,
intramural and extramural research studies of
information/data handling techniques and trans-
fer processes to assure that attention is drawn
to improvements which can be made by existing
organizations.
o Establish an EPA Information Committee and an
Interagency Advisory Council to assist the
Director of OTIC in the execution of his
planning responsibilities.
An alternative plan is provided should EPA elect to devote fewer
resources to its information activities than would be required to
achieve the above goals of OTIC. The alternative retains the ob-
jectives of the first recommendation but scales back the level of
effort to approach each of the operations on a priority selection
basis with reduced performance. Under the alternative plan, EPA
would create the position of Information Science Advisor to the
Administrator. The Advisor would:
Keep the Administrator informed of, and suggest
line action to be taken with respect to all EPA
present, contemplated, or needed information
science activities.
Establish a referral capability for environ-
mental project information systems and for
scientific and technical information systems.
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Create a presence about which the resources of
EPA could he marshalled for execution of its
information responsibilities.
A detailed implementation plan is provided which permits EPA to
establish either the recommended OTIC or the alternative of an
Information Science Advisor to the Administrator. Sufficient flexi-
bility is included in the plan to permit EPA to evaluate progress and
benefits at each step. Should EPA elect to initiate the alternative
plan first (e.g. establish the Office of the Information Science
Advisor), the functions of OTIC may be implemented and added as
desired.
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NETWORK CONCEPT PLAN
THE PLAN
Given the autonomy of EPA organizations, their geographical dispersion,
their variety of subject interests, their diversity of functional
needs, the disparity between information user practices, the general
image of heterogeneity displayed by EPA, and the many information
resources outside EPA control, it is not likely that improvement
in EPA's information practices or position can easily be effected
either by a high degree of centralization or by a dedicated approach
to a strong line organization with its accompanying authority and
responsibility.
The solution would really appear to lie with the creation of an
active, group-oriented undertaking (recognized as a line item in
the appropriations budget) which provides--in addition to a forum
furnishing the atmosphere for discussion of common problems--an
organization to coordinate and conduct research, user studies, and
pilot demonstrations of a planning and coordinating nature, and to
provide a current referral service for environmental information.
In addition, the organization would actively promote information stan-
dards agreed upon by participating groups, would mount an educational
thrust in areas of information science of pertinence and practical value
for EPA, and would serve as EPA's public spokesman for environmental
information in a non-conflicting relationship with the Office of
Public Affairs. The proposed controlling group is termed the Office
of Technical Information Coordination (OTIC).
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SCOPE
OTIC would be dedicated Co consideration of the national environmental
information/data resources. However, it also would be the logical
body to represent the United States in any larger organization formed
to consider the international aspects of environmental information/
data.
The considerations of OTIC should be oriented toward any or all levels
of audience including management, supervision, the professional
working level, and the technical support level.
OPERATIONS
The operations are the specific tasks to be performed by the organi-
zation. The operations of OTIC are limited to the support, develop-
ment, and coordination type aimed at providing group benefits. The
operations to be performed typically would be the following:
Hold Meetings
This operation comprises all of the aspects of conducting effective
group communications among the various segments of the environmental
information and data community. Meetings would be planned so as to
bring together representatives of diverse groups in the community
for discussion, and hopefully resolution, of common problems.
Make Recommendations
Discussion and resolution of problem areas as described above will
lead naturally to the formulation of recommendations of a planning
nature. Specifically, the organization would be in a position to
suggest needed improvements in the environmental information/data
environment.
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Provide EPA-Wide Information Advisory Service
OTIC should be designated as the initial source for resolution of
EPA problems in information science in order to minimize the possible
duplication of effort and inconsistency of approach if different
individuals or contractors acted v7ithout coordination.
Public Spokesman
The organization would direct efforts toward increasing the effective-
ness of the transfer of environmental information and data through
a promotional and educational spokesman, supplementing the role.of
the Office of Public Affairs.
Promote Information Standards
The organization would bring together representatives of interested
groups for the purpose of formulating information/data handling
standards. The broad base of the participating groups would provide
an opportunity to achieve the maximum possible consensus before the
information standards are adopted throughout the environmental
information/data community.
Conduct Information Research
OTIC would conduct, or more often cause to be conducted, intramural
and extramural research studies of information/data handling tech-
niques and transfer processes to assure that attention is drawn to
improvements which can be made by existing organizations serving
environmentalists. The studies would be advisory in nature, and would
be conducted by the OTIC staff, by the Data and Information Research
Division, by committees or panels of qualified individuals, or by
contractors and grantees.
Monitor Information Research
OTIC would stand as a central focus in the environmental information
community and would review all EPA requests for funding to provide
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scientific and technical information services and would comment
appropriately on those applications so as to place them in context
with the needs of the environmental community.
Analyze User Needs
A continuing study of the environmental community would be conducted
to sense its changing needs. Mechanisms for detection of new or
revised needs would be developed and appropriate research programs
would be undertaken when needed.
Perform Pilot Demonstrations
While OTIC would not be a major operating resource in terms of
information services, it would perform or authorize limited pilot
demonstrations to show feasibility of methods and products developed
through the research program and the user analysis.
Referral
OTIC would establish relationships with collections or repositories
of documents and data (including on-going projects) to facilitate
accessibility of information resources to individuals and institutions.
Orientation Program
A program should be established to inform the environmental community,
particularly EPA personnel, about the purposes of OTIC.
ORGANIZATION
It was stated earlier that it did not appear that improvement in EPA's
information practices could easily be effected by a high degree of
centralization or a dedicated approach to a strong line operation
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with its accompanying authority and responsibility. This view led
to the conception of the Office of Technical Information Coordination
(OTIC) as an active, group-oriented undertaking for planning,
coordinating, and encouraging improved handling of environmental
information and data. Given such conditions, in order for OTIC to
be effective, it becomes necessary to enhance its organizational
image and its consequent acceptance within the environmental community.
Hopefully, the required stature can be achieved through three courses
of action: 1) designate OTIC as a staff office at the EPA Adminis-
trator level; 2) let it be known by the Administrator that he
considers the functions of OTIC to be of great importance to the
success of the EPA mission and that he will impute line authority
to OTIC efforts; and 3) performance of its functions by OTIC in a
fashion which demonstrates that its actions benefit those that it
affects.
Figure 1 shows the proposed organizational structure for OTIC. The
functions which each of the organizational units would perform already
have been described in some detail and all need not be repeated here,
but a few warrant further attention. The structure shown represents
what is presently envisioned as the ultimate goal. The structure
should be implemented on an incremental basis depending upon priority
of need and resources available.
¦Director of OTIC—
The Director of OTIC will have a strong coordinating role on the inter-
national level, the national level, and within EPA. Many of his
functions and responsibilities have been described in the preceding
section on OPERATIONS of OTIC. Some currently anticipated additional
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U. S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
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ADMINISTRATOR
Deputy Administrator
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responsibilities of the Director which should be highlighted are as
follows:
o Information Science Advisor for the Administrator
o Chair the EPA Information Committee
o Chair the Interagency Advisory Council
o Representative to the United Nations (Environmental)
Information Referral Service
EPA Information Committee
The functions of the Committee members would be to represent the
various activities within their respective areas, and to advise the
Director of OTIC, particularly with respect to planning. While the
Committee would deal with the spectrum of EPA information activities,
its main mission would be that of maintaining the vitality of the
ne twork.
Interagency Advisory Council
It is suggested that the Council be composed of representatives of
information activities in other Federal agencies, but consideration
should be given to incorporating two representatives from state or
local governments, as well.
The Council's function would be primarily to serve as a forum in which
to keep current about each agency's plans and accomplishments with
respect to environmental information and to discuss those actions
possible to improve the network relationships.
Planning Function
This would not be a separately staffed function within OTIC. It
would be the responsibility of the Director to assimilate the
advice of the Committee and Council, to review EPA program objectives
and resources, and to develop a plan which would maximize Agency
benefits. The environmental organizational structure has been a
rapidly changing one and the Director must be alert to maintaining
a current plan suitably responsive to any altered framework of
implementation.
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Scientific and Technical Information Coordination (STIC)—
STIC not only serves to maintain an inventory of resources dealing with
scientific and technical information (including monitoring, surveillance,
and intelligence information) and to provide both switching and referral
services (emphasis upon the latter), but also serves as the focal point
from which the Director of OTIC can initiate those actions designed to
facilitate the development of a workable coordinated network for EPA.
STIC is an information resource identification system within OTIC and is
not a technical information network itself. Identification of scientific
and technical information activities provides the foundation upon which
the Director of OTIC, with the assistance of his Committee and Council
can apply his remaining coordination responsibilities, such as advisory
services, to foster improved networking. Figure 2 shows one concept of
networking OTIC coordination functions.
Typically, STIC would include resource information on such items as
the Environmental Information Systems Inventory, the National Referral
Center, and the International Referral Service. From these resources
the various components or nodes of the potential coordinated network
could be identified and action taken as needed.
Environmental Pro.ject Information Coordination (EPIC) —
This is similar to STIC in function, but deals with information
related to on-going projects. Typical inclusions would be the
Project Information Retrieval System (PIRS), the Smithsonian Science
Information Exchange (SSIE), and the Work Unit Identification System
(WUIS) of the Department of Defense. EPIC would be utilized in a
manner similar to that for STIC.
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Library Systems Coordination
The functions of the present Library Systems Branch are an important
adjunct to the Office of Technical Information Coordination and
should be incorporated into OTIC. An exception is the operation of the
Headquarters Library since no apparent benefit would result from a
transfer of organizational responsibility for that or any other of
the libraries located within EPA.
Other Operations
The functions of the remaining organizational units have been dis-
cussed earlier. It is extremely important that the implementation
plan recognize their early need and that they be made available at
a low level of effort pending later full-scale development. Thus,
there should be at least an embryonic capability for group communi-
cations, advisory services, and information research as soon as
possible after OTIC start-up.
AN ALTERNATIVE PLAN
Should EPA elect to devote fewer resources to its information
activities than would be required to achieve the ultimate goal of
the preceding plan, an alternative plan could retain the objectives
but scale back the level of effort to approach each of the operations
on a priority selection basis with reduced performance.
Under the alternative plan, EPA would create the position of Informa-
tion Science Advisor to the Administrator. The Information Science
Advisor would have three primary responsibilities: 1) to keep the
Administrator informed of, and suggest line action to be taken with
respect to all EPA present, contemplated, or needed information science
related activities; 2) to establish a referral capability for environ-
mental project information systems and for scientific and technical
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(Including monitoring) information systems; and 3) to create a presence
around which' the resources of EPA could be marshalled at the desired
level for execution of its scientific and technical information
responsibilities.
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Figure 3 illustrates an implementation plan which distributes accom-
plishment of the program over a period varying between A3 and 48 months.
This time frame is only a guideline and may be compressed or extended
as EPA chooses.. The alternative program parallels the proposed program
for the first 16-21 months and is structured to permit conversion to
the OTIC concept if so desired. A decision step is incorporated into
each major phase in the program to determine whether the program should
be terminated, remain unchanged, or be incremented through the imple-
mentation of additional functions. Full implementation is envisioned
as a five step process.
Staffing
If full implementation of Alternative 1 is effected, the professional
staffing for OTIC is estimated as follows:
Total Number of Total Months From Implementation
Professional Staff Beginning Ending
This would provide OTIC with a small closely knit, but highly diversi-
fied professional staff capable of manning the many functions assigned
to the Office. A minimal number of support personnel, secretarial and
clerical, would be required.
1
4
5
6
7
3-8
5-10
17-22
26-31
35-40
4-9
16-21
25-30
34-39
43-48
16 7
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16S
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MANAGEMENT SUMMARY*
The conduct of research on the adverse effects
of pollution and on methods and equipment for
controlling it, the gathering of information on
pollution, and the use of this information in
strengthening environmental protection programs
and recommending policy changes. (Italics added..)
The quotation above is a partial statement of EPA's mission and. purpose
as initially defined by the President in his message relative to
Reorganization Plans 3 and 4 of 1970. However, an agency-wide plan
for coordination, control, and future direction of its scientific and
technical information activities does not presently exist.
Two years after the organization of EPA, some 1700 participants at the
1972 National Environmental Information Symposium still expressed as
their most common concern the need for improved awareness of, and ac-
cess to, environmental information. This concern was echoed by EPA
personnel who were interviewed in the course of this study.
The demand for rapid access to sound information/data is becoming
increasingly more critical not only in support of research and develop-
ment but also in support of the enforcement and regulatory functions of
the agency. It does not appear that EPA has fulfilled the President's
*Appendix J contains a Management Briefing Report which is a condensed
version of the complete Final Report but more""" informative than this
highly condensed Management Summary.
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mandate under Reorganization Plan Number 3. In order to do so, EPA
should undertake the required planning and make available the adequate
resources to improve EPA's scientific and technical information activ-
ities and to present EPA as the U.S. focal point for environmental
information.
Given the autonomy of EPA organizations, their geographical disper-
sion, their variety of subject interests, their diversity of functional
needs, the disparity between information user practices, the general
image of heterogeneity displayed by EPA and the many information
resources outside EPA control, it is not likely that improvement in
EPA's information practices or position can easily be effected by a
high degree of centralization or a dedicated approach to a strong line
organization with its accompanying authority and responsibility. A
workable structure appears to be the establishment of a staff office
(recognized as a line item in the appropriations budget) entitled the
Office of Technical Information Coordination (OTIC), at the Adminis-
trator level, whose mission would be to plan, coordinate, and encour-
age improved accessibility, handling, and usage of environmental
information and data within a coordinated network.
The Office would be an active group-oriented undertaking which would
be structured and implemented over a time period of approximately four
years and which would:
Establish a scientific and technical information
coordination function to provide a current knowledge
of sources of scientific and technical information.
Establish an environmental project information coor-
dination function to provide a current knowledge of
sources of information on on-going projects.
Incorporate the present functions (excluding the
operation of the Headquarters Library) of the
Library Systems Branch to provide for library
systems coordination.
170
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Establish a group communications function to
provide a forum furnishing the atmosphere for
discussion of common problems and to serve as
EPA's public spokesman for environmental
information in a non-conflicting relationship
with the Office of Public Affairs.
Provide advisory services through its designation
as the initial source for resolution of EPA's
problems in information science in order to
minimize the duplication of effort and inconsistency
of approach possible if different individuals or
contractors act without coordination.
Establish an information research function to
conduct, or more often cause to be conducted,
intramural and extramural research studies of
information/data handling techniques and trans-
fer processes to assure that attention is
drawn to improvements which can be made by
existing organizations.
Establish an EPA Information Committee and an
Interagency Advisory Council to assist the
Director of OTIC in the execution of his
planning responsibilities.
An alternative plan is provided should EPA elect to devote fewer
resources to its information activities than would be required to
achieve the above goals of OTIC. The alternative retains the objec-
tives of the first recommendation but scales back the level of effort
to approach each of the operations on a priority selection basis with
reduced performance. Under the alternative plan, EPA would create
the position of Information Science Advisor to the Administrator.
The Advisor would:
Keep the Administrator informed of, and suggest
line action to be taken with respect to all EPA
present, contemplated, or needed Information
science activities.
Establish a referral capability for environmental
project information systems and for scientific and
technical information systems
171
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Create a presence about which the resources of
EPA could be marshalled for execution of its
information responsibilities.
A detailed implementation plan is provided which permits EPA to
establish either the recommended OTIC or the alternative of an Informa-
tion Science Advisor to the Administrator. Sufficient flexibility is
included in the plan to permit EPA to evaluate progress and benefits
at each step. Should EPA elect to initiate the alternative plan first
(e.g. establish the Office of the Information Science Advisor), the
functions of OTIC may be implemented and added as desired.
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