240B11001
OB FY12 NPM Guidance - FINAL 4/21/20/1
OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
Fiscal Year 2012 National Program Manager Guidance
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I. PROGRAM OFFICE: OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
This Office of Environmental Information (OEI) National Program Manager (NPM) Guidance for Fiscal
Year (FY) 2012 describes how program priorities, implementation strategies and key actions will
support government-wide initiatives and improve operational effectiveness and efficiency of EPA's
programs while supporting increased transparency and quality of environmental data.
II. INTRODUCTION/ CONTEXT
This Guidance describes key actions OEI will undertake, with support from across EPA, and with states,
and tribes in FY 2012.
III. OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION PRIORITIES
As an office that supports achievement of all Agency environmental programs, and as EPA's National
Program Manager (NPM) for Information, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) has set a vision that
information is readily available and serves as a strategic resource for protecting the environment and human
health. The mission and vision directly support the Administrator's Priorities, and the Agency Strategic Plan
and Cross-cutting Fundamental Strategies. On August 4, 2010, CIO Malcolm Jackson announced five
priorities:
1) Focus on Service Quality: OEI will carry out activities with a focus on customer service and
customer needs.
2) Run OEI Like a Business: Supporting Administration goals for government-wide efficiencies in
the information technology (IT) arena, OEI will manage resources efficiently and develop metrics for
success.
3) Strengthen Partnerships: OEI will support national exchange of environmental data through the
Exchange Network and work collaboratively with our partners in states and tribes and across the
Federal government to promote improved access to and transparency of environmental data.
4) Establish a Strategic Direction: In FY 2012, OEI will develop an Information Management /
Information Technology (FM/IT) Strategic Plan charting the path to success in meeting the business
requirements of the Agency.
5) Invest in Talent Management: OEI will build the capacity of the Agency's IM/IT workforce to
support the Agency in meeting environmental goals.
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IV. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
OKI's NPM Guidance describes, in general terms, the work that needs to be done in FY 2012 to support
EPA's FY 2010-2015 Strategic Plan including the Cross-Cutting Fundamental Strategies, which support
Government-wide initiatives as well as the CIO's five priorities. While many of the items included in
the guidance do not need action from our state and tribal partners, OEI is providing guidance on areas of
focus in the interest of transparency and enhanced emphasis within the Agency.
As described through this guidance, the key to transforming and improving operations relies on shared
EVI/IT solutions and platforms. Guidance is provided with an expectation that all EPA organizations
will participate in consistent application of the most effective platforms to enhance the IT effort.
In order to organize these actions and provide a framework for implementation, the Guidance organizes
the actions around:
• Executive/Government-wide Initiatives and Mandates: In FY 2012, OEI will work within
the Agency to implement a wide array of high priority enterprise-wide initiatives designed to
strengthen and improve how our government manages information assets and IT resources.
These include the President's directive for Transparency and Open Government, the U.S. Office
of Management and Budget's (OMB) 25-Point Implementation Plan for Federal IT Reform, and
the 2010 Telework Enhancement Act.
• Transformational Initiatives: In addition to implementing government-wide initiatives, in FY
2012, OEI also will collaborate across the Agency and with states and Tribes as appropriate to
implement transformational initiatives designed to provide the building blocks for how the
Agency will operate in future years, from both an information management and an IT
perspective. These transformational activities include Content Management and eDiscovery, the
Geospatial Platform, Green Travel, and improvements to the Exchange Network.
V. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO PRIORITIES FOR FY 2012
The Office does not expect significant changes to OEI priorities in FY 2012 other than those driven by
improved support for government-wide initiatives or improvements in Agency operations and
management.
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Executive/Government-wide Initiatives and Mandates
Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism:
In FY 2012, OEI will expand the conversation by leveraging EPA's Open Government implementation
which improves access to environmental data, to engage and empower communities and partners in
order to expand environmental protection and human health. Increasing the availability of publically
accessible Agency data through Data.gov will provide understandable and useable information for the
public, Agency partners and other Federal Agencies. Expanding the conversation to include those
historically under-represented in environmental decision-making helps EPA, state, and tribes:
• Strengthen partnerships making the Agency more effective in achieving its mission goals and
objectives through enhanced transparency, and opportunities for participation and collaboration.
• Improve consistency in information management procedures, increases the efficiency for
partners in the process of making more environmental information and data available and
transparent to the public.
In FY 2012, OEI will:
• Support EPA publishing 20 datasets and 20 data tools in Data.gov to improve access to EPA's
data in support of community and citizen involvement in environmental decision-making.
• Expand the capability of the Geospatial data gateway on data.gov to manage both mapping and
other types of data.
How EPA organizations will work together to implement Open Government:
• Catalog data resources in Data.gov, including appropriate metadata to make the information
useful to the public.
How States and Tribes can support the Initiative:
• Consider sponsoring additional state and Tribal data on Data.gov
• Alternately, consider creating specific state or Tribal Data.gov site
Strengthening EPA's Workforce and Capabilities:
In FY 2012, OEI will leverage Telework Enhancement Act of 2010 implementation to support strategies
for strengthening EPA's workforce and capabilities, ensuring that EPA is an excellent workplace, with a
workforce positioned to meet and address the environmental challenges of the future. OEI will deploy
IT solutions and applications that support expansion of the Agency workforce's ability to work
remotely.
In FY 2012 OEI will support:
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Employee Portal: Launched in FY 2011, the portal provides employee remote access to EPA
applications and systems in order to support telework and remote usage. OEI will import additional
Agency data and applications into the portal in order to broaden usability and will also measure usage
rates for the portal as a means to begin to evaluate portal usage.
Professional Networking Site: The diverse community of scientists, researchers and professionals
across the Agency can connect, communicate and share ideas in an open forum. The site makes it easier
for employees to establish and nurture professional relationships which are critical to job success,
especially for those working remotely. OEI will track usage of the networking site to build a baseline to
measure future success.
Videoconference Equipment: Increasing the use of green conferencing and green meeting practices will
continue in FY 2012, as OEI tracks videoconference equipment use. Across EPA, monitoring of
utilization of video equipment will help ensure those resources are utilized to the fullest extent possible.
Enterprise Single Sign-On (ESSO)'. The Agency will achieve greater productivity by allowing EPA
employees and internal contractors a single sign-on to all agency standards systems (applications and
directories) and some regularly used external applications. In FY 2012, a phased approach to ESSO will
begin using the Employee Portal and expand from that pilot.
25-Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal IT Management (25 Point Plan)
EPA is implementing the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB)'s 25 Point Plan
recommendations for IT reform in the areas of operational efficiency and large-scale IT program
management. The following website provides information about the 25 Point Plan:
http://www.cio.gov/documents/25-Point-Implementation-Plan-to-Reform-Federal%20IT.pdf.
In FY 2012, OEI will:
Implement a Data Center Consolidation Plan: EPA submitted a Data Center Consolidation Plan to
OMB on August 30, 2010, as part of the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI). During
FY 2012, OEI will optimize EPA's network and servers, and also drive efficiencies in procurement,
deployment and application administration.
Move to Cloud Computing: EPA is aggressively moving toward cloud services. In FY 2012, all of
EPA will be able to obtain through the NCC GSA approved and provided cloud computing services via:
• GSA authorized external cloud services vendors for low sensitivity applications.
• EPA-hosted private cloud computing services for medium sensitivity applications that require
high availability and internal data integration.
Currently, several of EPA's hosted applications are leveraging cloud technologies, and EPA is planning
to migrate Managed Trusted Internet Protocol Services (MTIPS) and Enterprise Service Desk to cloud
services during FY 2012. In addition, OEI will provide support for evaluating cloud computing
alternatives as part of the CPIC process, and assist Agency components with transit!oning applications
into the cloud computing infrastructure.
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Strengthen IT Project Management: OEI will continue to strengthen IT project management and
leverage best practices in support of OMB's TechStat model. OEI will work with the program offices in
the implementation of the TechStat Toolkit for evaluating the health of its IT investments.
Leverage IT Procurement and Enterprise Maintenance and Licensing'. OEI will continue to leverage
and expand centralized IT Procurement capability and utilize enterprise maintenance and licensing
solutions. As we acquire better visibility into software and hardware used across the Agency, licensing
and maintenance of these applications and products can be done centrally thereby achieving both
operational and cost efficiencies. The projected benefits of this effort are cost savings due to economies
of scale, enhanced IT hardware planning, and improved lifecycle asset management.
Major Transformational Initiatives
IT Security:
Effective information security requires vigilance and adaptation to new challenges every day. Threats to
EPA's information and information entrusted to EPA, such as the public's and partners' data, are
continually evolving and increase potential impact on EPA's ability to successfully provide essential
services. As part of EPA's strategy to improve and evolve protection with changing threats,
In FY 2012 OEI will:
• Focus user security awareness training on how to securely operate in a mobile environment.
• Increase commitment to IT vigilance by using automated auditing tools and continue monthly
reporting to more effectively identify and neutralize threats and vulnerabilities.
Content Management:
A comprehensive Content Management (CM) strategy enables EPA to leverage its information assets to
increase productivity, reduce costs, and meet legal requirements.
In FY 2012, OEI will:
• Develop policies to guide content management, including eDiscovery across the Agency;
• Provide tools to facilitate electronic content management;
• Develop business process for e-Discovery in partnership with Federal Managers Financial
Integrity Act (FMFIA) Task Force.
• Implement a Controlled Unclassified Information (GUI) training and education program at EPA
once the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) provides requirements.
EPA Geospatial Platform:
EPA has historically been at the forefront of integrating place-based approaches into our environmental
program efforts. Geospatial technology has become ubiquitous, and the growth in use of these
technologies has been extremely rapid.
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In FY 2012, OEIwill:
• Implement a revised governance model for the National Geospatial Program and the
GeoPlatform and complete the implementation of cost and performance management tools for
the Program.
• Insure requirements from all EPA programs, regional offices and labs are being integrated into
the GeoPlatform planning process.
• Centrally track geospatial software and data licenses to support enterprise geospatial software
Exchange Network:
The Exchange Network is a collaborative effort among the U.S. EPA, states, tribes and territories to
exchange environmental data securely over the internet. It is becoming the preferred way that data will
be shared among EPA and its partners, lowering costs, increasing data quality and timeliness, and
leading to better informed environmental decision making. It is a critical mechanism for strengthening
state and tribal partnerships and supports EPAs Cross-Cutting Fundamental Strategy to Strengthen State,
Tribal and International partnerships.
In FY 2012, OEIwill:
• Expand to 72 the number of major EPA environmental systems that use Central Data Exchange
(CDX), enabling faster receipt, processing, and quality checking of data.
• Increase to 80 the number of States, tribes and territories that will be able to exchange data with
CDX through nodes in real time, using standards and automated data-quality checking.
• Increase to more than 215,000, the number of users from states, tribes, laboratories, and others
that chose CDX to report environmental data electronically to EPA.
How EPA will work together to support the Exchange Network:
• Make Exchange Network data reporting an eligible activity for funding under categorical
program grants.
How States and Tribes can support the Exchange Network:
• Implement the data flows using grant funding and utilizing new service offerings that make
implementation of data flows easier and less expensive than ever.
• Participate in governance and surface issues of concern early to regional, headquarters and/or
governance contacts.
OneEPA Web:
EPA.gov is our most valuable communication tool. It is the Agency's primary public interface for
providing public access to environmental information.
In FY 2012 OEIwill:
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• Make significant progress on the OneEPA Web project which reorganizes our web content into a
topic-based structure that better serves our information audiences.
• Enhance quality of EPA website offerings through targeted micro-site pilots.
Green Travel:
OEI is developing a green travel strategy, to reduce emphasis on travel for government business. Green
travel significantly reduces environmental impacts of travel and is often less costly and more efficient
that traditional travel. For the past several years, OEI has participated in an Agencywide effort to reduce
travel and promote green travel through installation of tools like video conferencing equipment and
applications that support electronic collaboration and information sharing.
In FY 2012, OEI will:
• Replace, where possible, conference workshops with webinars to reduce/replace trip durations
for conference participants.
• Encourage and use green conferencing tools, such as the video conference equipment which has
been installed around the Agency, and measuring usage rates for the equipment.
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