ICIS Governance Fact Sheet Office of Compliance Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (MC 2221-A) Washington, D.C. 20460 http://www.epa.gov/compliance/data/systems/icis/guidance.html ------- vvEPA United States ssrntamotection Fact Sheet - Governance The Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS) is a web-based data system that supports the federal enforcement and compliance assurance programs and the Clean Water Act (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting and enforcement programs. ICIS Phase I was originally launched in June 2002 and supported only Federal direct data entry for the Federal Enforcement and Compliance (FE&C) programs. In June 2006, ICIS 2.0 was launched which integrated the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program with the Permit Compliance System (PCS) Modernization (creating ICIS-NPDES), as well as creating a new look and feel for the existing Federal Enforcement and Compliance screens. ICIS 3.0 currently supports State and Federal direct data entry and electronic submission of Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) by States. In June of 2009, EPA released the NetDMR system into production. NetDMR is a national tool that enables regulated Clean Water Act permittees to electronically submit Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) into ICIS via a secure internet application, using the National Environmental Information Exchange Network. NetDMR allows participants to discontinue mailing in hard- copy forms. NetDMR is available to EPA Regions and to States, Tribes, and Territories that use ICIS. Multiple Regions and States are currently using NetDMR and more States, Tribes, and Territories are planning to enable their regulated ICIS-NPDES facilities to begin utilizing this electronic reporting tool. As of FY2010, ICIS was used by 29 States, 2 tribes, and 9 territories. With the evolution of ICIS, the needs of the governance structure for the system have also changed over time. The governance structure for ICIS establishes processes that ensure that all decisions affecting system changes are made in an orderly, well-informed fashion. ICIS supports a very broad stakeholder community, which makes system governance complex. ICIS is a dynamic system, which will continue to change and evolve to match the needs of its user community. As ICIS grows, this governance will be updated to meet the evolving program needs and new stakeholders. What is ICIS Governance? On October 1, 2008, the ICIS governance process was established as a process to address and balance the interests of both the FE&C and ICIS-NPDES users. In the FY2010 Governance Cycle, NetDMR, EPA's internet based Discharge Monitoring Reporting tool, was added to ICIS- NPDES. Governance consists of Management Committees, and User Groups representing all State and Federal stakeholders. System stakeholders include State users and managers, and Federal users and managers for both the ICIS-NPDES and FE&C programs. Additionally, governance institutes a standard communication and decision making process for system enhancements, and policy and program issues that effect ICIS. On an annual schedule, System stakeholders whose interests include Federal direct data entry, State direct data entry, 1 ------- vvEPA ne aes srr-"1"" Fact Sheet - Governance hybrid data entry (a combination of electronic transfer of DMR data and direct data entry), NetDMR (facility electronic transfer of DMR data), and batch processing (electronic transfer of all ICIS-NPDES program data), will submit their change requests for prioritization and implementation. Who is affected by the ICIS Governance process? There are five categories or groups participating in the ICIS Governance process. The workgroups represent different perspectives of the Water and Compliance and Enforcement ICIS program needs, all of which are key to effectively support a diverse group of users and business requirements. The groups are: 1. ICIS User Support Team; their duties include the coordination of all of the governance components, tracking and elevating critical issues to management and elevating cross governance issues as needed. They will coordinate with various groups, workgroups, and committees to manage the submission of changes submitted in an Enhancement Request Initiation Templates (ERITs) and to determine the final requirements. 2. ICIS-NPDES . NetDMR and FE&C User Workgroups: are the foundation for the ICIS governance structure. The users are the ICIS supporters and liaisons for their State, Region or Headquarter offices; they are the pulse of the system. They will play a pivotal role in gathering requirements because they are the users of the system. In coordination with their Regional/State System Administrators, they will be responsible for submission and ranking enhancement requests for prioritization. 3. ICIS-NPDES (includes NetDMR) and FE&C Management Committees: provide the opportunity for Branch Chiefs (or State equivalent) or above level managers to influence ICIS to support program management and a future vision through the use of a voting process. Management Committees represent one for FE&C and one for ICIS-NPDES that includes NetDMR representation. These two Committees will allow the Managers to work through their unique business issues while also having open communication channels with the other Management Committees for common issues. The Management member must be able to vote as the voice or representative of their organization, Region, State or headquarters. Non-members can attend meetings to support their voting management member, but cannot vote in their place. 4. ICIS Integrated Management Board (IEVIB): is a nominated subset of the Management Committees. The IEVIB's primary role is to review and make final recommendations on which Final Requirements should be implemented. It is the job of the IEVIB members to represent their Committee members while negotiating for the best outcome for ICIS holistically. Decisions that cannot be made at the IIMB will be elevated to Headquarters Office Directors_ the Office of Compliance for ICIS-FE&C, and for ICIS-NPDES, the Office of Compliance and the Office of Wastewater Management. ------- vvEPA United States !™ntamotect'on Fact Sheet - Governance Prior to FY2010, members of the IIMB included three co-chairs, ETDD, and one co-chair from each Management Committee (4 ICIS-NPDES and 4 ICIS-FE&C) for a total of 9 members for a two year term. They met only as needed. In FY2010, it was determined that the IIMB should be changed to include only the three Management Committee Chairs from ETDD; one from ETDD, one for ICIS-NPDES and one for FE&C. The rationale for this change was that the IIMB members felt that ETDD had the expertise and breath of knowledge to make decisions on implementation of enhancements to ICIS. 5. Enhancement Requirements groups: are tasked in response to an enhancement request. The categories for the groups are created around the ICIS modules and are static but the members of the requirement groups are dynamic based upon the specific Enhancement request. The purpose of the enhancement requirements groups is to ensure all enhancement requests get reviewed and developed by the subject matter experts and users who will ultimately be the beneficiary of the enhancement. The Final Requirements should be detailed and specific enough that the ICIS contractor will be able to estimate the level of effort required, and then begin the development work. The frequency of the meetings will be dependent on the complexity of the Enhancement request. What is the purpose of ICIS Governance? Quite simply, EPA needs a way to manage changes to ICIS, develop requirements and prioritize and plan for the implementation of change request that are initiated by both stakeholders and EPA internal customers. How will the ICIS Governance process work? • An enhancement request is initiated via the Enhancement Request Initiation Template (Appendix A). • Enhancement Champions work in their State, Region or HQ office to complete the Enhancement Request Template prior to being submitted to ICIS User Support. • ICIS User Support communicates the essential enhancement request to User and Management groups and initiates a requirements group. • A Requirements group convenes to work on essential enhancement request requirements. • A Final Requirements Template (Appendix B) is submitted to ICIS User Support. • Finalize requirements • Assign resources • Implement system change ------- vvEPA United States !™ntamotect'on Fact Sheet - Governance Where can I find more information about ICIS Governance? For general information on ICIS Governance, contact the User Support Helpline at (202) 564- 7756. The User Support Helpline is open Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Eastern Time. For copies of the ICIS Governance document, visit the EPA User Support, Training and Reporting, UST&R website at [insert link]. For all other inquiries, email icis@epa.gov. ------- vvEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Fact Sheet - Governance Appendix A - Enhancement Request Initiation Template Template for Initial Request - send to ICIS(S)epa.gov This form is required in order to request procedure or system changes to ICIS 2.0. Individual Initiating the Request (Enhancement champion) SEM/Sr. Water Mgr n State n Mgmt. Comm. n ICIS usern HQn Region n Type of Request: (procedure or system change) Approving Manager Signature (Management Enhancement Champion) Phone Office: ICIS-NPDES n Date Submitted: E-mail: Program FE&Cn Change Request Description Complete all information known at the time request is submitted Module affected (Monitoring, Permits, Limits, Enforcement milestones) Description of requested system change Reason for the change request Federal Only: Has this been submitted to the Measures Review Board (MRB)? D YES n NO Is a sub-group required to develop specifications for the enhancement? If yes, which one User impacts by type of user Risks to be considered in the change: impact on other program/modules, user training, reports revision, documentation. Data migration or retroactive affects ------- vvEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency User training or other co|nmunications required Cliange Request is: Essential n Fact Sheet - Governance Ranked n Date: Accepted n User Workgroup Action Sub-group designated: Denied n ------- vvEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Fact Sheet - Governance Appendix B - Final Requirements Template Name of Enhancement Request: Enhancement Champions User: Manager: Requirements Group Members Phone E-mail: Program ICIS-NPDES o FE&Cn Date sent to Management Both n Committee: Management Champion Signature: Final Proposal Description Complete all information What is the Change Request Accomplishing? What screens does the change affect What fields will be affected o new field o pull down menus o business rule changes o filtering / logic Picture of the screen changes and data flows Reporting o new object o new report o revised report Data migration or retroactive affects User training or other communications required ------- vvEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Fact Sheet - Governance Changes to the ICIS 2.0 User Guide ------- |