OFFICE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL
INFQRMATION
December 2008
For More Information
Jonathan Jacobson
Office of Information Collection
jacobson.jonathan@epa.gov
202.566.1984
www.epa.gov/exchangenetwork/
www.exchangenetwork.net
National Environmental Information
Exchange Network
The Environmental Information
Exchange Network (Exchange
Network) is an Internet-based
approach for exchanging
environmental data among
partners (e.g., EPA, states, tribes
and territories). Built on the
principles of applying data
standards; providing secure, real-
time access; and electronically
collecting and storing accurate
information, the Exchange
Exchange Network Objectives
• Improved data quality
Reduced burden and costs
associated with accessing
and reporting data
• Increased timeliness and
accuracy of data
Enhanced data access to
support stronger
environmental decisions
Network enables participants to
control and manage their own data while making it available to
partners via requests over a secure Internet connection. By
facilitating the efficient exchange of environmental information
among interested parties at all levels of government, the Exchange
Network has begun to transform the way information is shared.
The information technologies featured on the Exchange Network
allow EPA and its partners to save time and resources on
environmental reporting and ensure timely, high-quality data
exchanges. The Exchange Network also fosters new information
exchanges among its partners by providing infrastructure and
services.
Through utilizing the Exchange Network, partners are able to realize
efficiencies in operations, as they leverage the technology
infrastructure to better provide services and streamline federal
reporting requirements. EPA benefits by having high-quality
environmental data and access to the right information at the right
time, while allowing the partners to provide closer data stewardship.
Examples of Exchange Network Projects
• Yurok Tribe- The Yurok Tribe Environmental Program (YTEP)
diligently collects and analyzes over 500,000 water-related data
points annually. The Yurok Indian Reservation sits astride the lowest
46 miles of the Klamath River, which is the center of Yurok culture,
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ENVIRONMENTAL
INFORMATION
and the source for the Tribe's main subsistence resource: salmon. Water quality in the Klamath
River is influenced by several industrial activities in the watershed, including hydroelectric power
generation, mining, logging, and pesticide use, putting this subsistence resource at risk. In the
past, the remote locations of monitoring equipment made tracking the performance of
monitoring stations difficult. Retrieving the sample data was challenging, and quality assurance
methods were costly and consumed much staff time. Once the Tribe had the water quality data
in a central location, it was cumbersome to share the data with other partners. YTEP faced
similar challenges with air quality sampling data.
Using funds from an Exchange Network Grant, YTEP set out to build an integrated data
management system that would address its data and environmental management challenges.
The result of this effort was the open-source Yurok Environmental Data Storage System (YEDSS)
and an Exchange Network node client that could send water and air quality data from YEDSS to
U.S. EPA and other partners. Utilizing the Exchange Network has provided many benefits for
YTEP. It has improved the Tribe's capacity to identify watershed management issues quickly
and share real-time information with users of the Klamath River. The Exchange Network has
also enabled YTEP to streamline business practices and deploy its limited staff resources more
efficiently. The multi-faceted functionality of YEDSS and its use of the Exchange Network allow
the tribe to meet reporting requirements for both water and air data within the same system.
This reduces the amount of resources needed from managing multiple reporting practices.
• Water Quality Exchange (WQX) - Access to comprehensive water quality information is
indispensable for managing and protecting water resources. However, timely and accurate
information can be difficult to come by since water monitoring data are collected by a wide range
of organizations with different information systems that are often incompatible. The U.S. EPA
Office of Water worked with a group of states to overcome this data access problem by
developing the WQX. WQX allows states, tribes, and other partners to store their water quality
information in any format or database they choose. The standards and simplicity of WQX are
already paying enormous dividends. Current contributors to the STORET warehouse are working
with EPA to transition away from using the distributed database in favor of the simpler WQX
model. Most importantly, new contributors are joining the WQX fold and filling gaps where data
was previously unavailable. For example, the state of Wisconsin has added 18,500 monitoring
locations and over 1.6 million results since implementing WQX. Similarly, Texas added 8,500
new monitoring locations and over 3.5 million results. The Exchange Network and WQX are
blowing the lid off of water quality information that has been trapped in disparate data systems.
Timelier and more comprehensive information is now at the ready to help water quality
managers and the public make better decisions about our environment.
For More Information
EPA's Exchange Network Web Site: http://www.epa.QOv/exchanaenetwork/
Exchange Network Web Site: http://www.exchangenetwork.net/
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