Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Open Government Plan 3.0
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a rich legacy as an open organization and views
environmental information as a strategic asset in our mission to protect human health and the
environment. The Administration's Open Government (OpenGov) initiative has been a catalyst to re-
examine our open practices with the goal of bringing tangible benefits to the public. As with the
Agency's two previous OpenGov plans, this document provides the public with an update on Federal-
wide as well as EPA-specific efforts that support transparency, participation and collaboration. In
addition to our plans, EPA informs and engages the public on our open progress by keeping the
www.epa.gov/open and www.epa.gov/digital websites up to date, posting reports on our progress on
a quarterly or bi-annual basis, and offering avenues for the public to provide comments.
This section describes EPA's current progress and plans in support of new and expanded Government-
wide initiatives.
A. Open Data
EPA is currently in compliance with or on track to fulfill the requirements of the May 9, 2013, Open
Data Memorandum (OMB Memorandum M-13-13) and Project Open Data, leveraging EPA's
Environmental Dataset Gateway (EDG) and policy efforts to foster a long-term commitment to
effective data management and publication as appropriate. Details can be found in our
implementation plan for open data posted in November 2013.
¦ Policy and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
EPA's Strategic Data Action Plan (SDAP) set guiding principles, goals, and standards in support of open
data. The Agency's Environmental Information Management Policy (EIMP), currently being developed,
is anticipated to institutionalize open practices as an EPA policy. The SDAP and draft EIMP establish the
policy, define the means for registering data assets, and set the expectation that data assets will be
made available to the public in consumable formats where it is technically and legally feasible.
Developer Central is a resource for developers who want to build applications using EPA data and Web
services. It provides developers a venue for ranking EPA resources and interacting with Agency staff
and other developers through the Data and Developer's Forum. Developers can also request preferred
formats for data such as APIs and tag and perform cross-category queries of datasets, APIs, codes, and
widgets. A recently added feature provides all of the Agency's widget code in one place with examples
of uses profiled to encourage and foster innovation. Developer Central fully incorporates the resources
the Agency maintains in the EDG and our Reusable Component Services (RCS), EPA's central IT services
catalog (www.epa.gov/rcs).
I. New and Expanded Initiatives
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To help developers find the right API, many can be found on individual webpages for a particular
program (e.g. the fueleconomy.gov web services page jointly sponsored by the Department of Energy
and EPA) and at Developer Central's API page.
¦ Enterprise Data Inventory and Public Data Listing (PDL)
EPA's PDL is generated by the EDG, provided to Data.gov, and available from our digital strategy
webpage in the "Developer Resources" box. We are expanding the EDG to include data resources that
have not yet been made public, with the ability to tag each as public, non-public or restricted. As part
of the Agency's EIMP, we are developing the process to evaluate datasets and inform stakeholders of
the public access status of each, and will report on our progress as part of EPA's activities in support of
the Open Data Policy at .
The Agency has taken many steps to encourage use of the array of datasets already published,
including developing tools such as the Data and Developer Forum and Developer Central. For example,
we conducted a webinar in December 2013 to introduce communities to the basics of the Toxics
Release Inventory (TRI) including historical case studies. The target audience was grassroots
community groups, environmental justice organizations, and others who serve communities exposed
to pollution. As another example, the recent Developer Central redesign includes ways to engage
developers directly through EPA participation in hackathons and by encouraging universities to
incorporate a course component with EPA developer resources in some computer science classes.
In developing our policies, procedures and tools that support the Open Data Policy, we encourage
consistent application across the Agency including:
¦ Relying on the EDG to register, manage, publicize, and provide with access to our data
including administrative and statistical data requested under OMB Memorandum M-14-06
"Using Administrative Data for Statistical Purposes," issued in February 2014
¦ Establishing requirements and procedures to provide the public access to published scientific
articles at no cost by establishing the repository with the goal of also providing access to the
associated data in the future
B. Proactive Disclosures
The Agency has proactively made a great deal of information public for many years. Examples include:
¦ The Registry of EPA Applications. Models and Databases (READ). EPA's authoritative source of
information about EPA information resources
¦ Electronic Newsroom ,for journalists and other citizens, which includes ability to sign up for
news feeds and press releases
¦ EPA testimony and hearings before Congress
¦ Toxics Release Inventory
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¦ Information about the Agency including organization charts, points of contact and phone
numbers, facility locations, mailing addresses, and an electronic, searchable employee directory
EPA also reviews common or frequent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to determine if
information should be proactively disclosed. For example, several years ago EPA was responding to
numerous requests from realtors, banks, and other similar institutions to determine if a property
pending sale had any environmental records. Now instead of submitting a FOIA request, anyone can
visit MyProperty and immediately determine if EPA has any records related to a specific address. EPA's
2013 Chief FOIA Officer Report, submitted annually to the Department of Justice (DOJ), provides
additional information regarding the steps we take to openly share information.
In a larger effort, EPA is a founding partner and the program manager of the FOIAonline application a
multi-agency FOIA solution that allows the public to make and track a FOIA request, search other
requests and read responsive documents that have been posted by participating agencies. FOIAonline
also allows agencies and the public to generate reports on FOIA processing by those participating
agencies. Through the development of the National Action Plan, a number of external organizations
emphasized their interest in extending the functionality offered by FOIAonline to additional agencies.
The current FOIAonline partnership includes EPA, Department of Commerce, U.S. Navy, Customs and
Border Protection, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board,
Federal Labor Relations Authority, and the Office of General Council at the National Records and
Archives Administration. EPA is actively working with additional agencies who are interested in joining
the partnership to meet their FOIA needs.
C. Privacy
EPA prepares and submits all required compliance reports in support of privacy. Required reporting
includes:
¦ Quarterly and annual Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) reports on
implementation of Privacy Act
¦ Federal Register notices for system of records as required by the Privacy Act
¦ System of records notices published in the Federal Register
¦ Biennial report on computer matching activities submitted to OMB
¦ Quarterly and annual FISMA reports on privacy data specified by OMB
¦ Privacy Impact Assessments, as required by Section 208 of the E-Government Act
D. Whistleblower Protection
The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012 requires Agency Inspectors General (IG) to
ensure that employees are adequately informed about whistleblower protections, rights and remedies.
The EPA IG has designated an attorney as the Whistleblower Protection Ombudsman who is
responsible for educating employees and has communicated that position and its associated role to all
EPA personnel. The Whistleblower Protection Ombudsman program has been operational for
approximately one year and has fielded inquiries from several EPA employees, although the program is
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still being developed. The Ombudsman is focused on meeting the U.S. Office of Special Counsel
requirements for program certification.
E. Websites
EPA provides the public with relevant information on the topics of Open Government and Open Data
through the websites that are prescribed by OMB. For example the www.epa.gov/open site is routinely
updated with progress reports, spotlights of innovation, and the most current version of documents
such as this plan. We also report open data related activities on the digital strategy page,
www.epa.gov/d igitalstrategy.
Additionally, EPA has invested significant time and energy over the past several years to improving our
comprehensive set of websites with an emphasis on improving the user's experience. The
transformation of EPA's website to a topic-based site is underway to better meet the needs of website
visitors. Our modernized website is managed within a Drupal-based Web Content Management System
(WebCMS) and designed to facilitate a visitor's top tasks. With a single point of Internet presence,
centralized governance, and distributed content development, EPA.gov uses standard templates to
provide visitors a more consistent user experience. We use quantitative Web analytics reports to focus
resources on the most popular and frequently accessed pages. As of Quarter 2 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2014
we have transformed over 10,000 content pages and published the information in resource directories
and microsites. The content transformation is scheduled to be complete at the end of FY 2015.
A. Transparency Initiatives
The Agency continues to actively support and participate in Federal-wide transparency initiatives,
including:
¦ Data.gov: EPA continues to be an early and frequent publisher on Data.gov, and supplies a
robust suite of metadata for datasets published on the site.
¦ eRulemaking: EPA serves as the program manager of eRulemaking and has implemented a
revised look and feel, developed APIs, and partnered with other agency and non-government
organizations to leverage social media.
¦ IT Dashboard: EPA submits the Exhibit 300 portfolio to OMB on a monthly basis, and we have
eleven Major investments. The information submitted includes project, activity, cost, schedule,
performance metrics, risk, and acquisition information. In compliance with OMB's
requirement, the Agency submits this update by the last day of every month with the most
recent update submitted on May 29, 2014.
II. Ongoing Initiatives
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¦ Recovery.gov: EPA's Recovery.gov activity ceased as of September 30, 2013.
¦ Grants.gov: EPA provides the public with lists of all current EPA grants that are open
opportunities on Grants.gov and on the Agency grants website.
¦ CFDA.gov: EPA recently initiated the FY 2014 update cycle for the Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance.
¦ SAM.gov: In 2012, the Agency implemented an interface between the EPA Acquisition System
(EAS) and SAM.gov to pull Real-Time Vendor Registration Information and Representation and
Certification Information. EPA also uses SAM.gov to log, update and report Exclusions and to
load Vendor information into the financial system, Compass. The Agency participates in groups
driving the update and integration with the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting
System (CPARS). And although SAM.gov is not currently integrated with Federal Business
Opportunities (FBO) and Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), EAS interfaces with those
systems to report Real-Time Pre-award and/or Post-award procurement information.
¦ FSRS.gov: EPA is currently participating in a government-wide focus group for the Federal
Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) to improve its functionality.
¦ USAspending.gov:
The Agency submitted a plan to compare and validate USAspending.gov funding
information with data in the Agency's financial system, Compass, as of August 2013.
EPA submitted the first quarterly federal spending assurance with metrics on accuracy in
March 2014. The contract's work stream submits an annual verification to OMB, and
grants are automatically validated by pulling directly from the financial system.
¦ Example of Transparency:
ChemView is a system that improves access to health and safety information on
chemicals regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
The goal is to help people easily get information needed to make safe chemical choices.
It includes chemical names, Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) numbers and endpoints.
Managed and housed in EnviroFacts with plans to include web services in the future.
B. Public Notice
The Agency actively works to notify citizens of our actions and to seek input through many avenues.
The public can find information on EPA's website for a particular program or geographic location, as
well as subscribe to targeted newsfeeds or alerts from EPA's Newsroom. We also provide information
on upcoming and highlighted opportunities to participate and collaborate with the Agency in our
OpenGov progress reports, which have been posted quarterly or bi-annually since the OpenGov
program was launched. Examples include:
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¦ Public meetings, webinars, congressional appearances, and stakeholder meetings
C. Records Management
EPA's records program is actively addressing recent records related requirements. We publish
information about our Records Management program on the Agency's Intranet records site. The
Report on Managing Government Records dated March 27, 2012, commits the Agency to manage
emails as records subject to the Agency's records management policies and schedules, which have
been implemented. Additionally, the Agency's Senior Agency Official Report, posted on the Intranet
site on January 28, 2014, addresses how the Agency will further address electronic records and
digitization efforts including milestones.
D. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests
EPA's FOIA program has consistently applied program improvements to increase responsiveness to the
public. The Agency is frequently identified as a leader in terms of FOIA responsiveness and processing
activities by external groups that follow FOIA programs. An example is the Center for Effective
Government's 2014 Access to Information Scorecard. Relative to previous years, EPA's FOIA backlog
increased in FY 2013 in part due to staffing impacts from the mandatory furloughs all EPA employees
were required to take, and due to the complexity of several notable FOIA requests. Additional
information is available in the FY 2013 Chief FOIA Officer Report.
The Agency's FOIA website is being redesigned, and the updated site will provide easier access to the
FOIA process, contact information for offices responsible for FOIA, and links to the two FOIA reports
EPA produces annually: the EPA Annual FOIA Report, and the Chief FOIA Officer Report which is
submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ). If a website visitor selects a link to create or track a FOIA
request, they are redirected to FOIAonline.
E. Congressional Requests
Information about EPA's Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations is located at the
program's website.
F. Declassification
EPA does not normally manage classified information. We do mange other sensitive information on a
regular basis as part of normal operations. While it is critical that sensitive information, e.g. Personally
Identifiable Information (PII) and Confidential Business Information (CBI), must be managed
appropriately, the Agency understands that the information could be of great benefit if determination
is made that it can be shared. In the area of CBI, we have made great strides in promoting the
declassification of information that may be inappropriately deemed CBI. For example, EPA's
declassification challenge urged companies to voluntarily declassify some of their CBI claims for
chemicals subject to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). A number of companies responded and
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released health and safety studies that are of value to the public. Voluntary releases and new releases
based on EPA review are available at:
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/declassified/declassified claims.html.
G. Participation
As previously described, the Agency provides the public with many avenues, including public meetings,
webinars, and conferences, to learn about, participate in, and collaborate with us on our processes and
meeting the Agency's mission. Examples can be found frequently in the electronic Newsroom (and
alerts/notifications), OpenGov Progress Reports, Developer Central, and Regional and program-specific
web pages.
H. Collaboration
The avenues and examples for participation also apply to collaboration. While EPA's mission requires
collaboration with other federal agencies (OFAs) for specific programs, EPA and many OFAs are
collaborating in new and innovative ways to solve common challenges.
I. Flagship Initiative
Two efforts are being featured as candidate Open Government flagships: The Enforcement and
Compliance History Online (ECHO) and AirNow systems. These two systems play a significant role in
collecting and managing information that is critically important in assessing environmental conditions
and the operational status of regulated entities that may impact such conditions.
EPA's Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) Website, recognized as a model of
transparency, is a go-to resource for information about environmental inspections, violations, and
enforcement actions for more than 800,000 EPA-regulated facilities. The data (sourced from EPA,
states, tribes and local environmental agencies) are exposed as web services to allow data reuse, and
the new platform allows for more frequent data updates and future public participation. Public input
and collaboration is facilitated by the ECHO feedback form, and the Agency has offered to host a
webinarto help the public understand and use the data and tool.
EPA launched the site in 2002, and ECHO currently provides answers to 2 million queries per year
regarding environmental regulatory compliance and enforcement data. The new site still provides
public access to searchable data for Clean Air Act (CAA) stationary sources, Clean Water Act (CWA)
direct dischargers, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste handlers, and
Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) public water systems with pollutant releases, with Census data
integrated for context.
1. Flagship: Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO)
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Web services allow developers to design custom applications using a live feed of data from ECHO. Over
the next year, EPA will provide a complete collection of documented "GET" or query-only Web services,
available through a simple URL http link and providing output in XML, JSON, or JSONP formats.
Documentation for using each of the services will be posted on the ECHO site.
The modernization process has moved ECHO from a custom-coded mainframe system to a sustainable,
scalable Oracle data mart and trimmed operation and maintenance costs. Building website reports
from Web services will help shift the focus from data presentation to emphasizing structured data and
metadata-making these underlying data openly available for use within agencies, among agencies, in
the private sector, and by citizens. Moving toward increased user participation will allow EPA to
respond to customers' needs, make it easier for them to find and share information, and accomplish
tasks. ECHO modernization focuses on enhancing the quality and timeliness of data and informative
content, simplifying transactions, and increasing accessibility and timeliness as resources allow.
We have modernization features planned in the coming years (shown below), and details on these
advancements will be reported in future OpenGov progress reports.
Expanded search capabilities for multimedia facility and drinking water systems
Enforcement case report
Publishing information sooner
Making more ECHO data available on data.gov
¦ FY2015
Expanded search capabilities for CWA facility, enforcement case, RCRA facility, and CAA
Remove many limitations on how much data can be downloaded and mapped
User-defined alerts for locations of interest
Expanded data integration to enhance mapping capabilities
Options for monitored peer-to-peer communication tools
EPA's AirNow program provides the public with real time air quality data and forecasts - actionable
information citizens can use to protect their health. Collecting data from state, local, tribal, and federal
agencies, AirNow is the only national repository of real time air quality data and forecasts. The system
contains ambient measurements from thousands of monitoring stations around the United States,
Canada, and Mexico, as well as forecasts from over 400 U.S. cities.
Besides digital content (e.g. the website, free EnviroFlash email service, and smartphone apps) AirNow
reaches the public via traditional media by collaborating with weather and media companies.
Partnering with Weather Service Providers (WSPs) and media companies that supply weather data to
print, television, and Internet media outlets, widens the distribution of this important information.
¦ FY2014
2. Flagship: AirNow Supporting Collection by Public Scientists
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The AirNow system also serves as a model for other nations. AirNow-lnternational (ANI) was released
in 2010 after collaboration with the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center (SEMC). The ANI
package currently runs in the United States, Mexico, and China, with many other nations interested in
the system.
Before the AirNow system began in 1997, the public had fragmented, if any, access to real time air
quality data or forecasts. Now, the public has 24/7 access to air quality information, while partners
have access to their own and neighboring states' data for in-depth analyses. Social media offers public
participation via Facebook and Twitter. An API allows easy access to data feeds, opening the system to
outside developers who are free to develop innovative new applications.
Future Projects
A pilot project is underway to allow AirNow to accept and process small sensor data, with a time
resolution of one minute or less in contrast to the current one hour time resolution from the expensive
and semi-permanent regulatory monitors. As the Agency prepares for a new wave of citizen scientists,
the AirNow program will provide critical infrastructure. We will also add small but robust Web
applications to equip government partners with more efficient tools to manage their air quality
information.
AirNow will soon collect emergency air quality data provided by state and local agencies, emergency
responders, and the United States Forrest Service (USFS) during wildfire and prescribed burning
episodes. This new data stream will allow AirNow to inform the public about air quality effects during
fires, while also providing a central data repository for EPA, USFS, and emergency response agencies.
AirNow's work with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) resulted in a data fusion
engine, necessary to integrate satellite estimates with ground level observations, but flexible enough
to incorporate small sensor data, modeled data, or any other type of gridded data with minimum
development costs. A proposal is being developed to expand that satellite data fusion, possibly with
small sensors as well, internationally.
We have modernization features planned in the coming years (shown below), and details on these
advancements will be reported in future OpenGov progress reports.
¦ FY2014
Apply for NASA Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES) grant to integrate
satellite air quality data
Release ANI in Mexico City
¦ FY2015
Modify AirNow infrastructure to accept sub-hourly data
Incorporate data from ORD's prototype Village Green system
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Test several small sensors
Expand web services and AirNowTech to handle sub-hourly data
Beyond FY2016, we plan to design a Web version of the ANI Data Management System component,
making it easier to adopt by other countries.
J. Public and Agency Ideas
We established the EPA-wide OpenGov Implementation Work Group (OGIWG) to oversee and provide
input to the Agency's OpenGov efforts including this plan. Members of the OGIWG work with their
leadership and staff for cross-Agency collaboration and input.
For external input, we continue to receive and review input via our blog, Developer Central, and
Data.gov among other tools. We also met with and received suggestions from several outside groups
including:
¦ Government Accountability Project (GAP) whistleblower organization
¦ Center for Effective Government
¦ Sunlight Foundation
¦ World Resources Institute
¦ Union of Concerned Scientists
¦ Government Accountability Project
In developing this plan, we reviewed and considered input from both within and outside EPA with an
emphasis on efforts that are in concert with existing Agency priorities and are executable with
available resources. We will continue to solicit and consider suggestions from our stakeholders.
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