U.S. EPA to Host Webinars on FY21 Exchange Network Grant Solicitation Notice

February 10, 2021

In support of the FY 2021 Exchange Network (EN) Grant cycle, U.S. EPA will host three webinars to assist interested applicants. The webinars will be held on February 22nd, February 25th, and March 8th. Each webinar will include the same presentation on the following topics: a brief overview of the EN Grants Program and FY 2021 timeline, critical elements of the Solicitation Notice, notable changes from FY 2020, an overview of new guidance materials and optional templates, and common mistakes to avoid. This will be followed by a question and answer session with participants. Please note that the sessions will end when all the participants’ questions have been addressed.
 
Notes on Joining the Webinars

  • Note: The webinars will be given through Microsoft Teams, which can be joined by clicking the links provided below. Please note these links are different for each webinar.
  • Note: To enter a meeting, click the appropriate link below; you will be prompted to ‘choose your video and audio options’. Select your audio preference (e.g. ‘computer audio’), ensure your camera is turned off, mute yourself, and then click ‘join meeting’.
    • During the call, you can unmute yourself to ask a question by clicking on the microphone icon (top of the screen).
    • Questions can also be typed into the TEAMS “Meeting Chat”.

Webinar Details and Connection Information

Monday, February 22, 2021, 2:00 – 3:30pm ET

 
Thursday, February 25, 2021, 2:00 – 3:30pm ET

 
Monday, March 8, 2021, 11:00 – 12:30pm ET

 
Please direct any questions to Erika Beasley, Exchange Network Grants Program Manager, at beasley.erika@epa.gov.
 
Although not mandatory, U.S. EPA would appreciate if you would pre-register for webinar sessions by sending an email to Shela Poke-Williams (Poke-williams.shela@epa.gov) indicating the session you plan to attend and listing the participant name(s), organization, and state, tribe, or territory. Please note that EPA will maintain these records internally and they will not be shared with any third parties.

Planned Maintenance on February 14 May Cause Service Outages

February 9, 2021

Please be advised that U.S. EPA will be conducting system maintenance and infrastructure improvements on Sunday, February 14, 2021 from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM EST. During this time, the Exchange Network, Shared CROMERR Services, and the EPA Central Data Exchange (CDX) may experience extended service outages or interruptions. Please plan accordingly and reschedule any activity planned during this window. 

If you have questions, you may contact the Exchange Network Help Desk. 

U.S. EPA Publishes FY21 Exchange Network Grant Solicitation Notice

February 3, 2021

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Exchange Network (EN) Grant Program Solicitation Notice (SN) has been published to Grants.gov and is available here: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=331293. Applications are due to EPA by 11:59 PM Eastern Time, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Additional guidance tools, including optional fillable templates, are available for applicants both on Grants.gov and on the EPA Exchange Network website. Applicants are encouraged to review the new FY21 SN in full, as significant updates have been made since the FY20 version. Information on applicant webinars will be provided shortly.

The purpose of Exchange Network (EN) grants are to foster better environmental management and decision-making through increased access to timely, high quality, environmental information. An applicant’s proposed project goals and outputs should align with one or more funding areas in the SN and EPA’s FY 2018-21 Strategic Plan Goal 3: Greater Certainty, Compliance, and Effectiveness, Objective 3.4: ‘Streamline and Modernize’.

EPA expects to award 25-35 grants of up to $400,000 each, totaling approximately $8,000,000 in FY21. Most awards will be in the $50,000 to $200,000 range. The exact number of grants will depend on the number of applications submitted to EPA by the application deadline, the amounts of proposed project budgets, and the quality of proposals.

EPA only accepts project proposals for EN grants submitted electronically through Grants.gov, unless applicants have a waiver. EPA anticipates that it will announce selection decisions around August 2021, and tentatively plans to issue awards by September 30, 2021.

For more information, please contact:

Erika Beasley
EN Grants Program Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
E: beasley.erika@epa.gov

Project Team on Environmental Data Management Best Practices is Recruiting Members

December 9, 2020

The Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council (ITRC) is recruiting members for a new project team on Environmental Data Management Best Practices.  The Team will produce a toolkit and online trainings that focus on the fundamentals of environmental data management practices, so that organizations can progress toward more modern and efficient data management. The team will launch in 2021 and operate for one to two years. E-Enterprise and Exchange Network partners from states, tribes, and EPA can consider lending their perspectives and expertise to this effort. 

To learn more, visit the project team’s webpage or follow a related discussion on the E-Enterprise Community Inventory Platform.

To apply for membership on the team, visit the ITRC website and create a new member profile. 

The ITRC is a state-led coalition working to reduce barriers to the use of innovative air, water, waste, and remediation environmental technologies and processes. ITRC produces documents and training that broaden and deepen technical knowledge and expedite quality regulatory decision making while protecting human health and the environment. For more information on the ITRC, visit the ITRC website or Frequently Asked Questions.

Final EE2020 Webinar on December 17 to Feature Drones for Environmental Protection!

November 30, 2020

The next and final installment of the EE2020 webinar series is set for Thursday, December 17 at 1:00 PM Eastern! Visit the EE2020 Meeting Website to reserve your spot today.

Deploying Drones for Environmental Results
Date: December 17, 2020
Time: 1:00 – 2:30 PM Eastern
Register:  https://www.eenationalmeeting.net/december-2020

The link to join the webinar will be distributed to registrants via email shortly before the webinar begins.  

Drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are taking environmental agency programs to new heights! States, tribes, and EPA are generating better environmental results and improving worker safety by deploying drones in emergency response, compliance monitoring, mapping, sampling, and other activities. Join us to hear more about these soaring efforts, techniques for managing all the new data, and lessons learned on the ground and in the sky.
 

 

 

For registration questions, please email: krakouskas@ecos.org.

Register for November 19 Webinar on Low Code Platforms!

November 12, 2020

The next installment of the EE2020 webinar series is set for Thursday, November 19 at 1:00 PM Eastern! Visit the  EE2020 meeting website to reserve your spot today.

Do We Even Need Programmers? Low-Code Software and the Future of Environmental Protection Systems
Date: November 19, 2020
Time: 1:00 – 2:30 PM Eastern
Register: https://www.eenationalmeeting.net/november-2020-1

The link to join the webinar will be distributed to registrants via email shortly before the webinar begins.  

The next phase of digital transformation—from systems of record to GIS and data analytics—relies on no-code and low code platforms. These systems allow people with very little programming knowledge to create robust cloud applications in order to meet a wide variety of needs. Agencies are beginning to use these systems outside of traditional IT to meet emerging needs. However, these systems are not without their challenges. They require a new set of skills and a different governance model to achieve their full potential. Agencies will need to adjust their work to support this emerging cloud technology or face a wave of organizational chaos. This panel will outline the promises and pitfalls of the no-code/low-code platforms along with suggestions on how to fully leverage this new approach to tool and service development.

For registration questions, please email: krakouskas@ecos.org.

Tribal Exchange Network Virtual Data Academy and Conference: October 26 - November 12

October 20, 2020

Are you a tribal official who works with environmental data? Interested in streamlining or enhancing your data management capacity? The Exchange Network Tribal Governance Group and the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) invite you to join their 2020 Virtual Data Academy and Conference. 

The conference portion of the event is being held from October 26-28 (open to all interested attendees) and will demonstrate how tribes can benefit from participating in the EN through live discussions and a showcase of tribal projects and tools. The series of workshops comprising the data academy are from November 2-12 (open to tribal officials only) and will offer practical lessons for tribes working with environmental data.

Interested? Please check out the resources outlined below or visit the meeting webpage for more information.

 

AGENDA

  • Presentations and interactive discussions.
  • Professional development workshops and mentoring sessions with peers.
  • Featured speakers include members of the Tribal Governance Group, Tribal Exchange Network users, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

PRE-REGISTRATION

By pre-registering, you will be granted priority access to event sessions and added to our announcements email list which will share updates about the upcoming event and notifications about conference recordings. Conference Sessions are open to the public, workshop sessions are open to tribal employees only and require pre-approval.

Register for Workshops after submitting your pre-registration form. Session details can be found in the  Agenda. Workshops include:

  • Data Carpentry – Ecology Curriculum (R emphasis) – 20 seats
  • The E-Enterprise Community Inventory Platform (EECIP): A Live Demo & Workshop for Tribes – 20 seats
  • The Quality Review and Exchange System for Tribes (QREST) – 15 seats
  • Introduction to ESRI Field Operations – 15 seats

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Additional Questions? Contact NEIEN@nau.edu or visit www.tribalexchangenetwork.org.

Network Connectivity Issues May Be Impacting EN Services

September 30, 2020

Please be advised that the EPA is experiencing intermittent network connectivity issues. This may impact access to the Central Data Exchange (CDX), the Exchange Network (EN) and Shared CROMERR Services (SCS). Please know that actions are being taken to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. 

Register for October 8 EE2020 Webinar on Community Science!

September 28, 2020

The next installment of the EE2020 webinar series is set for Thursday, October 8 at 1:00 PM Eastern!  Visit the EE2020 meeting website to reserve your spot today. 

EE2020 Webinar on Community Science

Date: October 8, 2020

Time: 1:00 – 3:00 PM Eastern
Register: https://www.eenationalmeeting.net/october-2020

The link to join the webinar will be distributed to registrants via email shortly before the webinar begins.  

Community science, or the involvement of the public in expanding scientific knowledge and understanding, is becoming more and more widespread in environmental and public health programs at the local, state, and national levels. The use of community-collected data to help address environmental issues presents both opportunities and challenges for government agencies.

This session will showcase results from an EPA-funded project at the Environmental Law Institute that is assessing how different state and tribal environmental programs use community science.  Panelists will review and discuss a diverse set of state and tribal case studies. The goals are to: 1) learn about different types of state and tribal community science programs that can serve as models; 2) analyze different program’s operations and best practices, and; 3) engage the audience in their ideas for how EPA, states and tribes can better partner on community science programs.

Visit the website to register and to find a more detailed agenda and information on our featured speakers. 

For registration questions, please email: krakouskas@ecos.org.

Register for September 17 EE2020 Webinar on Building an Information-Centric Environmental Protection Enterprise!

September 9, 2020

The next installment of the EE2020 webinar series is set for Thursday, September 17 at 3:00 PM Eastern! Visit the EE2020 meeting website to reserve your spot today.

EE2020 Webinar on the E-Enterprise Digital Strategy

Date: September 17, 2020
Time: 3:00-4:30 PM Eastern
Register: https://www.eenationalmeeting.net/september-2020

The link to join the webinar will be distributed to registrants via email shortly before the webinar begins.

The September webinar will focus on the E-Enterprise Digital Strategy which represents a shared vision to help environmental agencies:

  • Better coordinate their IT systems and services;

  • Improve collaboration using shared data, and;

  • Reimagine ways to use technology to achieve better environmental outcomes and provide more responsive services to the public and the regulated community.

This webinar will begin with a brief introduction to the key principles of the E-Enterprise Digital Strategy and a conversation about how the drinking water program is applying it to the modernization of the Safe Drinking Water Information System. The bulk of the webinar will focus on the Information-Centric principle of the E-Enterprise Digital Strategy. We will explore examples that show how agencies are making their data available as a service and the benefits of doing so.

Visit the website to register and to find a more detailed agenda and information on our featured speakers. 

For registration questions, please email: krakouskas@ecos.org.

EPA To Host Feedback Session on FY 2020 Exchange Network Grant Cycle & Solicitation Notice

August 20, 2020

To support the development and planning of the upcoming FY’21 Exchange Network (EN) grant cycle and solicitation notice, the EPA will be hosting a feedback session on the FY’20 EN Solicitation Notice and FY’20 grant application cycle. This session will be held on August 27th from 1-2 PM Eastern Time  and will be an open discussion about the clarity and usability of the FY 2020 EN Solicitation Notice (SN), the scope of funding opportunities within the Notice, the applicant guidance appendices, and the optional templates included for the first time in FY 2020.

If you aren’t able to join this meeting, but would like to provide feedback on the FY’20 EN Grant Solicitation Notice or the application process, please email your comments to Erin McGown at mcgown.erin@epa.gov before September 9th, 2020.

Joining the Call:

By participating in EPA hosted virtual meetings and events, you are consenting to abide by the agency’s terms of use. In addition, you acknowledge that content you post may be collected and used in support of FOIA and eDiscovery activities.

Register for July 9 EE2020 Webinar on Machine Learning & Predictive Analytics!

June 29, 2020

The next installment of the EE2020 webinar series is set for Thursday, July 9 at 1:00 PM Eastern! Visit the EE2020 meeting website to reserve your spot today. 

 

EE2020 Webinar on Machine Learning & Predictive Analytics

Date: July 9, 2020

Time: 1:00-2:30 PM Eastern
Register: https://www.eenationalmeeting.net/july-2020

The link to join the webinar will be distributed to registrants via email shortly before the webinar begins.  

 

The July 9 webinar will focus on applications for machine learning and predictive analytics in environmental protection. The webinar will include:

  • Information about the basics of machine learning and predictive analytics;

  • Case studies in using predictive analytics to help agencies target resources for environmental inspections where they can do the most good; and

  • An interactive discussion on machine learning, implementation challenges, use cases, and collaborative development opportunities for the environmental protection community.

Visit the website to register and to find a more detailed agenda and information on our featured speakers. 

 
For registration questions, please email: krakouskas@ecos.org.

EPA to Decommission Node Relay Service; Please Update Your Data Flow Endpoints 

June 9, 2020

On June 19, 2020, U.S. EPA’s Central Data Exchange (CDX) will be decommissioning one of its Exchange Network Node endpoints in order to increase operational efficiency and reduce maintenance costs. The retiring endpoint is associated with a seldom used service called the Node Relay located at https://noderelay.epa.gov/Node2/Node2WS.svc. The Node Relay endpoint was only used by a very limited number of partners for two active data flows, including Facility Identification 3.0  and the Emissions Inventory System (EIS).

Most partner agencies will not be impacted by this change. If you are still pointing your data flows to submit to the Node Relay endpoint, please update your settings to use https://node2.epa.gov/Node2WS.svc. Please make this change by June 19, 2020. After that date, the Node Relay endpoint will be decommissioned and data flows using that endpoint will fail. As a reminder, you can find a complete list of CDX Node endpoints for each data flow on the Exchange Network website. 

If you have any questions or need support, please contact the Exchange Network Node Help Desk at nodehelpdesk@epacdx.net.

June 25th Webinar to Feature an Update on SDWIS Modernization

June 8, 2020

On Thursday, June 25, 2020 from 3:00 – 4:30 PM Eastern, you are invited to participate in a webinar that will provide an update on work to plan a modernization of the Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS). The webinar will describe the work to date of the state/EPA SDWIS Modernization Board and its process and schedule to develop a modernization alternatives analysis. 

To register for the webinar, please visit:  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3304671664917807118

Background on the SDWIS Modernization Board

In January 2020, U.S. EPA and states initiated the SDWIS Modernization Board. The Board is guiding the SDWIS Modernization process, following the principles of the E-Enterprise Digital Strategy. Members include leaders from state and EPA drinking water programs and information management offices. See the full Board Membership here.

The first phase of Board activities has been focused on providing input to support an Alternatives Analysis of SDWIS modernization options. The Analysis will assess these options for a long-term replacement of SDWIS State that supports the data management needs of primacy agencies and U.S. EPA. The Alternatives Analysis is scheduled to be delivered at the end of June, with option selection in July.  

The SDWIS Modernization Team

Register for the June 4 Kickoff of the EE2020 Webinar Series

May 27, 2020

Don’t forget that EE2020 is going virtual in just over 1 week! Visit the EE2020 meeting website to reserve your spot on the June 4th kickoff call that will launch our monthly webinar series. We’ll be featuring a selection of presentations, discussions, and networking opportunities from the originally planned program. You can find more details about the Kickoff Webinar below. Watch your inbox and the website in the weeks ahead for news about other topics that will be featured throughout 2020!

 

EE2020 Webinar Series Kickoff

Date: June 4, 2020

Time: 1:00-3:00 PM Eastern
Register: https://www.eenationalmeeting.net/webinars

The link to join the webinar will be distributed to registrants via email shortly before the webinar begins.  

 

The Kickoff Webinar will feature:

  • An introduction to the EE2020 webinar series;

  • A featured discussion on The Chicago Array of Things and its work to collect data on the urban environment, infrastructure, and activity of Chicago; and

  • Virtual networking, interaction, and conversation with your colleagues from across the environmental protection enterprise.

 

Visit the website  to register and find more details about the featured topics and speakers. 

 

For registration questions, please email: krakouskas@ecos.org.

EE2020 Announces Webinar Series Starting June 4

May 15, 2020

EE2020 is going virtual! In lieu of an in-person meeting, the 2020 E-Enterprise and Exchange Network National Meeting will launch as a series of monthly webinars beginning on June 4, 2020. The series will feature a selection of presentations, discussions, and networking opportunities from the originally planned program. You can find more information about the Kickoff Webinar below. Watch your inbox and the website in the weeks ahead for news about other topics that will be featured throughout 2020!

EE2020 Webinar Series Kickoff

Date: June 4, 2020
Time: 1:00-3:00 PM Eastern
Register: https://www.eenationalmeeting.net/webinars

The link to join the webinar will be distributed to registrants via email shortly before the webinar begins.  

The Kickoff Webinar will feature:

  • An introduction to the EE2020 webinar series;

  • A featured discussion on The Chicago Array of Things and its work to collect data on the urban environment, infrastructure, and activity of Chicago; and

  • Virtual networking, interaction, and conversation with your colleagues from across the environmental protection enterprise.

Visit the website to register and find more details about the featured topics and speakers. 

EPA to Host Webinar on Citizen Science Activities

April 9, 2020

U.S. EPA’s Office of Research and Development will be hosting a webinar on EPA’s Citizen Science activities on April 15, 2020 from 3:00 – 4:00 PM EDT. Please see the details below for more information.

To join this webinar, please register at: https://epawebconferencing.acms.com/tools_citizen_science_apr2020/event/registration.html

With the advent of new technologies for environmental monitoring and tools for sharing information, community volunteers are more engaged than ever before in collecting environmental data, and many environmental agencies are using these data. A major challenge is ensuring the quality of the data collected by citizen science organizations. One of the keys to breaking down this barrier is a Quality Assurance Project Plan. EPA’s Handbook for Citizen Science Quality Assurance and Documentation is for organizations that are starting or growing a citizen science project, and where transparency in the scientific methods for collecting the data are central to the outcome of the project.
 
This webinar will provide an overview of citizen science at the Agency and showcase several EPA citizen science activities that involve partnerships with state, tribal and local governments on a diversity of issues, including 1) monitoring for cyanobacteria in waterbodies, 2) building and operating “real-time,” low-cost water quality sensors in Georgia; 3) demonstration of a new test method for community mapping of radon in Puerto Rico; 4) the Los Angeles Public Library air sensor loan program; and 5) using citizen science to analyze underwater video in the Great Lakes. For more information, visit EPA’s Citizen Science webpage.
 
For registration questions, please email: tools_resources_webinar@epa.gov
 
EPA Tools and Resources Webinar Series
U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development
 

Recording of Open Call on Low-Code Development Now Available

April 7, 2020

On March 24, 2020, E-Enterprise for the Environment and the Exchange Network hosted an open call focused on the use of low-code software development. Environmental agencies are increasingly exploring low-code approaches to building software that powers the business of environmental protection. On the call, representatives from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment gave presentations on their own work in this space.
 
If you missed the event, you can now view a recording by visiting the E-Enterprise website.  You can also contribute your own comments and questions about low-code development in the Low-Code Development discussion thread on the E-Enterprise Community Inventory Platform (EECIP).
 

Reminder - Exchange Network Grant Applications Due April 10 at 11:59 PM EDT

April 6, 2020

This is a reminder that the application due date for the FY2020 Exchange Network grant cycle is approaching. Applications are due to EPA by 11:59 PM Eastern Time, Friday, April 10, 2020.

An amended version of the FY2020 Exchange Network Solicitation Notice is available on the EPA website.

Other helpful resources available on the EPA Exchange Network website include a PDF version of the slide deck presented during EPA’s Solicitation Notice webinar series, an audio recording of one of the webinar presentations, an FAQ document which captures all of the questions asked by applicants during this grant cycle, and various other resources pulled from the solicitation notice, including optional templates and application submission guidance.

Please note that EPA only accepts project proposals for EN assistance agreements submitted electronically through Grants.gov, unless applicants have a waiver. EPA anticipates that it will announce selection decisions in or around August 2020, and tentatively plans to issue awards by October, 2020.

For more information, please contact:

Erika Beasley
Exchange Network Grants Program Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202-566-2530
E: beasley.erika@epa.gov

EPA and States Launch New SDWIS Modernization Board

April 1, 2020

On January 31, 2020, U.S. EPA, the Environmental Council of the States, and the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators initiated the SDWIS Modernization Board. Formed following a series of discussions over the past few months, the Board will be guiding the SDWIS Modernization process, following the principles of the E-Enterprise Digital Strategy. The Board is co-chaired by Benita Best-Wong, EPA Office of Water Deputy Assistant Administrator and by Victoria Phillips, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Enterprise Information Office Director, and will ensure integrated participation from both State and EPA drinking water program leaders and enterprise information management leaders. See the full Board Membership here.
 
The first phase of Board activities will largely be focused on providing input to support an Alternatives Analysis. The high-level scope of the Alternatives Analysis will be to identify and assess options for a long-term replacement of SDWIS State, that support both Primacy Agency and EPA data management needs, including new proposed requirements specified in the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions. The Alternatives Analysis is scheduled to be delivered at the end of June, with option selection in July.  
 
The Board will continue to provide a series of updates throughout the process.

Thank you and please feel free to direct questions to Kurt Rakouskas at ECOS.

The SDWIS Modernization Team