Office of Environmental Information FY 2017 Addendum Publication Number: 260R16001
Office of Environmental Information
FY 2017 Addendum
to FY 2016-2017 National Program Manager
Guidance
April 2016
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Office of Environmental Information FY 2017 Addendum
Publication Number: 260R16001
I. INTRODUCTION
The Office of Environmental Information (OEI), headed by the Chief Information Officer (CIO], manages the life cycle of
information to support EPA's mission of protecting human health and the environment.
OEI's NPM Guidance for FY 2016-2017 communicates key actions OEI will undertake, with support from across EPA, and with
states, tribes, and territories in FY 2016-2017. OEI's NPM Guidance carries over to, and should be implemented, during FY
2017 with a few exceptions. This document, OEI's NPM Guidance Addendum for FY2017, discusses those exceptions as well as
additional direction critical for program implementation.
OEI's mission and vision in the FY2017 Addendum remain the same in that it directly supports the Administrator's themes, the
Agency Strategic Plan, and Cross-Agency Strategies. OEI continues to work with other programs and regions in support of
actions identified in the FY 2016 Cross-Agency Strategies for Making a Visible Difference in Communities, Working Towards a
Sustainable Future, Partnerships, and Embracing EPA as a High-Performing Organization.
II. KEY CHANGES FOR FY 2017
The table below summarizes each significant change from OEI's FY 2016-2017 NPM Guidance and identifies revised language
and/or activities to be implemented in FY 2017.
irea: Continued Federal Informa
inoloev Acauisition Reform Act f FITARA1 imDlementation
N/A I Exceptions-Based Change: The passage of the FITARA in early FY15 has introduced new responsibilities and opportunities
for the CIO to establish Information Technology (IT) management controls, revisit IT governance, and build on working
relationships with IT leadership throughout the Agency. FITARA provides the CIO with specific authorities with regard to IT
budget formulation and management, IT acquisition, and delivery of IT system benefits. During FY15 the CIO introduced IT
acquisition reviews. During FY16, the CIO has introduced IT Portfolio Reviews (also called pre-Exhibit 100 Portfolio
Reviews) to be held with the programs and regions, as well as debuting Agile Acquisition vehicles and an Innovation
Fellowship program. These activities will continue into FY17, along with any actions that arise out of them.
Activities:
1. Continued review of IT acquisitions. The CIO will continue to hold in-person reviews of IT services contracts
valued at over $1 million. These reviews provide an opportunity to ensure that IT work is set up for success using
appropriate contracting vehicles to deliver IT expertise and strategies that avoid creating vendor lock-in. They also
provide an opportunity for the CIO to review plans around hosting, security, and use of Agile development
methodologies.
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Office of Environmental Information FY 2017 Addendum
Publication Number: 260R16001
2. Continued conduct of pre-Exhibit 100 Portfolio Reviews. The CIO will continue to hold IT Portfolio Reviews with
the programs and regions. These will build on the initial portfolio reviews introduced in FY16 and may pursue
enterprise findings that emerged during those reviews. The findings from these reviews will feed into the FY18
budget formulation discussions.
3. Continued development of services to support Agile development and acquisitions. A key objective of FITARA
is to move the Federal government away from waterfall methodologies and toward Agile. During FY16, OEI will
establish programs to help with this transformation.
• The EPA Innovation Fellowship program will embed up to 50 experienced Agile and user-centered practitioners
annually in the programs for two-year fellowships. These practitioners will convey their skillsets to EPA staff,
and the two-year refresh ensures that EPA regularly brings in staff with cutting edge practice and experience.
The Fellowship will target specialties such as Senior Technologists, Software Developers, User Experience (UX)
Designers, Product Managers, Data Scientists, Data Managers, Security Specialists, Acquisitions specialists.
• OEI will also establish multiple Agile acquisition vehicles that will allow the agency to procure development
services "at the speed of need." These services will continue into FY17, with adjustments as needed from lessons
learned during FY16.
Exceptions-Based Change: Significant Funding Increase for Cyber security Activities in FY 2016 President's Budget
Activities:
Changes planned will focus more on the data layer to improve data centric protections and defense in depth capabilities
while enabling more and improved data usability scenarios. Specific new activities include:
• Collaborating on defining sensitive information for mission and business areas,
• Identifying characteristics that enable data centric protections,
• Implementing related tools and processes, and
• Following up on information and outcomes resultant to the processes.
Page # Issue Area: Toxics Release Inventory
13-14
Exceptions-Based Change: The TRI Program non-systems work will migrate to the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution
Prevention (OCSPP) in FY 2016 at which time the tasks in the NPM Guidance will be completed by OCSPP with TRI systems
assistance from OEI.
Activities: OEI revised the description in the "Toxics Release Inventory" section on page 13 to address the program
migration to OCSPP. The revised language reads as follows with the new language underlined.
The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program is the EPA's Community Right-to-Know program requiring more than 20,000
industrial facilities across the United States to report their releases and other waste management [e.g., recycling] of more
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Office of Environmental Information FY 2017 Addendum
Publication Number: 260R16001
than 600 TRI-listed toxic chemicals on an annual basis. TRI data are used by the public, industry, EPA, and other government
agencies to assess potential hazards to human health and the environment and to identify pollution prevention (P2)
opportunities. As such, it is critical that the Agency ensure the data are relevant to users, delivered in a timely fashion, and
are of the highest possible quality. The TRI Program non-systems work will migrate to OCSPP in the second quarter of FY16
at which time the tasks in the NPM guidance will be completed by OCSPP with TRI systems assistance from OEI. More
information about the TRI Program can be found at http://www.epa.gov/tri.
In the "Activities" on page 13 and 14, OEI revised the overview statement to address collaboration with OCSPP. The new
language is underlined.
• In FY 2016 - 2017. OEI will work jointly with OSCPP to:
OEI revised the first bullet in the "TRI Program and regions section." The new language is underlined.
• Enhance TRI data quality by conducting 600 annual data quality checks [OEI FY 16/OSCPP FY17):
Page # Issue Area: EPA Quality Program
14-15
Exceptions-Based Change: Clarification of Quality System Assessments activity
Activities: OEI revised the ninth bullet in the "Activities" section of the EPA Quality Program to delete the inference that
Quality System Assessments evaluate CIO notifications. The revised language reads as follows with the new language
underlined.
• Oversee the implementation of the Agency's Quality management System by conducting Quality Management Plan
Reviews and Quality System Assessments, evaluating CIO notifications1 of QA issues that impact agency operations
and implementing process improvements, where appropriate.
1 CIO 2106-P-01, EPA Quality Policy. (Section G)
4
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