U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	10-P-0230
9	\ Office of Inspector General	September 22,2010
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At a Glance
Why We Did This Review
We sought to assess the
quality of key data elements
reported through the
Enforcement Compliance and
History Online (ECHO)
Website. KPMG, LLP,
performed the review.
Background
ECHO provides a single
source of detailed compliance
history of U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)-
regulated facilities. EPA
developed ECHO to provide
the public compliance and
inspection data under its
environmental programs, as
well as demographic data of
the surrounding areas. This
report focuses on the quality
of data elements entered into
ECHO source systems.
For further information,
contact our Office of
Congressional, Public Affairs
and Management at
(202) 566-2391.
To view the full report,
click on the following link:
www.epa.aov/oia/reports/2010/
20100922-10-P-0230.pdf
Catalyst for Improving the Environment\
ECHO Data Quality Audit - Phase 2 Results:
EPA Could Achieve Data Quality Rate With
Additional Improvements
What KPMG Found
EPA mandates that data elements reported to the public through the ECHO
Website have a 95 percent accuracy rate. KPMG found a 91.5 percent data
accuracy rate for key data elements entered into two primary ECHO source
systems: the legacy Permit Compliance System (PCS) and the newer Integrated
Compliance Information System - National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (ICIS-NPDES). Although the 91.5 percent data quality rate is close to
EPA's goal, EPA and the State environmental offices could take additional steps
to increase the quality of data reported through the ECHO Website.
What KPMG Recommends
KPMG made several recommendations to the Assistant Administrator for
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. These included:
•	Establishing an internal control structure to help manage the conversion of
PCS to ICIS-NPDES.
•	Including language in the National Program Manager Guidance requiring
the use of the Environmental Information Exchange Network for reporting
data to EPA.
•	Developing a plan to share data quality best practices implemented at
State environmental offices with all States.
•	Completing new rules requiring reporting ECHO data for minor facilities
and notifying ECHO Website users that the site does not contain data on
minor facilities.
•	Reviewing procedures used to test ICIS-NPDES programming code
before it is placed into production.
The Agency generally agreed with the report findings. EPA felt it has extensive,
documented procedures in place to test ICIS-NPDES programming code before it
is placed into production. Tests disclosed that programming errors directly
resulted in incomplete data on the ECHO Website and, as such, management
should review these processes to prevent future occurrences. The Agency's
response is included in Appendix A.

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