The FY 2017 National Environmental Information Exchange Network (EN) Grant Program applications are due to EPA by November 18, 2016. The Solicitation Notice is available at https://www.epa.gov/exchangenetwork/exchange-network-grant-program.

EPA only accepts project proposals for EN assistance agreements submitted electronically through Grants.gov, unless applicants have a waiver.

For more information, please contact EPA’s Salena Reynolds at reynolds.salena [at] epa.gov.

Salena Reynolds
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.0466
E: reynolds.salena [at] epa.gov

The Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), on behalf of the E-Enterprise for the Environment Initiative, is seeking a contractor to aid in the development of an Inventory of State, Tribal, and Territorial Profiles to help partners more strategically plan and collaborate within the E-Enterprise model. The contractor will provide project management and web development services that will lead to the deployment and management of a web-based tool to share, display, and update the collected partner profiles.

ECOS’ Request for Proposals is available at http://www.ecos.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/ECOS_EE_Inventory_RFP_2016.pdf. Responses are due to ECOS by 5:00 PM ET on December 12, 2016.

For more information, please contact ECOS’ Owen McAleer at omcaleer [at] ecos.org.

Owen McAleer
Environmental Council of the States
P: 202.266.4922
E: omcaleer [at] ecos.org

EPA will hold two webinars to provide EPA Regional and state permitting, enforcement, and information technology staff with important updates on implementation of the NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule (22 October 2015; 80 FR 64064).

These 2-hour webinars will be held at 3:00pm ET on November 2 and November 9, 2016, and will cover different topics. To participate, please visit: http://epawebconferencing.acms.com/nerw/.

Both webinars will be recorded and questions will be collected through the webinar chat box. Please note that EPA Regional and State staff can always request more information or separate individualized discussions as needed. These webinars will use Adobe® Connect™ for audio and video presentation.

Materials from the webinars are available at https://www.exchangenetwork.net/npdes-electronic-reporting-rule-implementation-webinar-materials/.

For more information, please contact EPA’s Carey Johnston at johnston.carey [at] epa.gov.

Carey Johnston
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.1014
E: johnston.carey [at] epa.gov

In preparation for the FY 2017 Exchange Network Grant cycle, EPA will convene a webinar at 1:00PM ET today, October 13, 2016.

To participate, dial: 1.866.299.3188; and enter Conference Code 202-566-0466 #.

Use the following link to access the webinar’s slides: http://epawebconferencing.acms.com/engrant1013/.

A recently discovered issue with Adobe® Connect™ may prevent some participants from viewing today’s slides. The slides are currently posted here.

For more information, please contact EPA’s Salena Reynolds at reynolds.salena [at] epa.gov.

Salena Reynolds
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.0466
E: reynolds.salena [at] epa.gov

E-Enterprise for the Environment has launched the new website http://E-EnterprisefortheEnvironment.net/.

The E-Enterprise Website features three user-based information pages for citizens, co-regulators, and the regulated community; an “About E-Enterprise” section with governance body rosters and a description of the E-Enterprise joint governance model; and a section focused on E-Enterprise projects.

For more information, to ask questions, or provide feedback, contact ECOS’ Owen McAleer at omcaleer [at] ecos.org.

Owen McAleer
The Environmental Council of the States
P: 202.266.4922
E: omcaleer [at] ecos.org

The Columbia River Basin Coordinated Assessment Data Exchange (CAX) allows for efficient, consistent, and transparent data-sharing among the co-managers (fish and wildlife agencies and Tribes), regulatory agencies, and data consumers in the Columbia River Basin (CRB) for anadromous fish-related data. Development of the CAX was coordinated by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership with support from the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission’s StreamNet project.

The CAX supports the exchange of four salmon and steelhead population indicators including natural origin spawner abundance, natural origin smolt to adult return rate, and natural origin recruits (adult and juvenile) per spawner. It is envisioned that over time, the CAX will be expanded to include most of the indicators of highest importance to fisheries management and restoration decision makers.

For more information on the CAX, contact the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Greg Wilke at gwilke [at] psmfc.org.

Greg Wilke
Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission
P: 503.595.3157
E: gwilke [at] psmfc.org

The 2017 Tribal Exchange Network Conference will be held February 28 – March 1, 2017, in San Diego, California. Organized by the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP), the Conference provides Tribal professionals an opportunity to meet and learn about current initiatives, funding, and technical topics related to the Exchange Network.

Tribal or EPA volunteers to help formulate the agenda and coordinate sessions during the Conference are invited to contact ITEP’s Lydia Scheer at lydia.scheer [at] nau.edu.

Lydia Scheer
Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals
P: 928.523.6887
E: lydia.scheer [at] nau.edu

In preparation for the FY 2017 Exchange Network (EN) Grant cycle, EPA will convene two webinars to assist applicants. The webinars will be held at 1:00PM ET on September 29 and October 13, 2016. Topics will include FY 2017 EN Grant program, new priorities, procedures, tips on writing a high-quality application, and questions and answers with potential applicants.

To participate, dial: 1.866.299.3188; and enter Conference Code 202-566-0466 #. Use the following links to access the specific webinars indicated:

• September 29, 2016; 1:00PM ET – http://epawebconferencing.acms.com/engrant929/
• October 13, 2016; 1:00PM ET – http://epawebconferencing.acms.com/engrant1013/

An Adobe® Connect™ account is not required to enter a webinar, simply log in as “Guest.”

For more information, please contact EPA’s Salena Reynolds at reynolds.salena [at] epa.gov.

Salena Reynolds
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.0466
E: reynolds.salena [at] epa.gov

The FY 2017 National Environmental Information Exchange Network (EN) Grant Program Solicitation Notice is now available at www.epa.gov/exchangenetwork/exchange-network-grant-program. Applications are due to EPA by November 18, 2016.

In FY 2017, EPA expects to award about $9 million for 30-40 assistance agreements for Exchange Network projects. Most awards will be in the $50,000 to $300,000 range. Awards to a single applicant cannot exceed $300,000. EPA may make a limited number of awards to collaborative, partnership assistance agreements. Budgets for these projects cannot exceed $500,000. The exact number of assistance agreements will depend on the final amount of EPA’s appropriation for the EN grant program, the number of applications submitted to EPA by the application deadline, the amounts of proposed budgets, and the outcome of application reviews.

The primary outcome expected from EN assistance agreements is improved access to, and exchange of, high-quality environmental data from public- and private-sector sources. With this outcome in mind, applications should demonstrate support for and results toward EN program priorities.

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 April 2017, and plans to issue awards by July 31, 2017.

For more information, please contact EPA’s Salena Reynolds at reynolds.salena [at] epa.gov.

Salena Reynolds
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.0466
E: reynolds.salena [at] epa.gov

• How innovation can cross Federal, State, Territorial, and Tribal boundaries;
• How working creatively together as Partners can identify innovative solutions;
• How Partnerships are the new “best practice;” and
• How we can all employ innovation in our daily work.

The Exchange Network and E-Enterprise community convene EN/EE Open Calls to increase information sharing among Partners. These calls are an opportunity for the community to gather and discuss topics of interest.

The next Open Call, to be held September 21, 2016, at 2:30pm ET, is entitled Quick Guide to Using Virtual Exchange Services (VES) and the EN Service Center (ENSC). The Open Call’s panel will include:

• Chris Clark, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Lucas Gentry, CGI Federal
• Eric Cleckler, Alabama Department of Environmental Management

Panelists will first walk attendees through a decision tree for determining if VES and/or ENSC are the right tool for your agency. This will be followed by testimonials from VES users detailing their experience with this tool.

To participate in the Open Call, please pre-register at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2432652261138894082.

Note that we are using GoToWebinar® for the Open Call. Participants will enter the audio portion muted. To participate in the Q and A, please join the conversation via phone and enter the audio PIN that appears on your GoToWebinar dashboard. If you must use your computer audio, please ensure you have a headset and speaker.

The Open Call will be recorded and available at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/8920809904105102084.

For more information or to provide ideas for future EN/EE Open Calls, please contact Lynn Capuano at lynn [at] exchangenetwork.net.

Lynn Capuano
Exchange Network Coordinator
P: 516.744.0307
E: lynn [at] exchangenetwork.net

The E-Enterprise Facility Team is seeking State, Territorial, Tribal, local, and EPA participants as it begins Phase II of its work.

Based on the finding from Phase I, the Team is seeking to bridge disparate sources of facility data and develop a more comprehensive approach to allow regulated facilities to streamline data collection and reporting requirements and to assemble more quickly the multi-media environmental data they need for consolidated reports, permits, and inspections; provide the public a more complete understanding of all the regulatory obligations and environmental impacts at each facility across media programs; help programs and agencies manage their responsibilities more efficiently; and increase data accuracy.

In Phase II, the Team will pursue its central goal of providing State, Territorial, Tribal, local, and EPA input into an approach for how these Partners may share facility identifiers, correct facility data as it is being reported, and facilitate many of the features envisioned by E-Enterprise. Specifically, Team members are being sought to support the following Workstreams:

• User Story Workstream – This Sub-team will develop user stories based on experiences of States, Territories, Tribes, locals, industry, EPA, and the public that document and corroborate the necessity of a shared facility approach.
• Business Rules Workstream – This Sub-team will develop and refine high-level shared business rules at the partnership level.
• Facility Profile Model/API (Application Program Interface) Workstream – This Sub-team will utilize the user stories to scope an API set, business rules, and a minimal E-Enterprise shared facility profile model required to support this API.
• CAER (Combined Air Emissions Reporting)/SLEIS (State and Local Emissions Inventory System) Pilot – This joint Pilot between the Facility and CAER Teams will build on the analysis conducted by the CAER Team, the work on the new Facility Registry Service (FRS) data model, as well as ongoing work and opportunities at EPA and States. South Carolina has been identified as the pilot state.
• SLT (State/Local/Tribe) Pilot: EPA Adoption of State MDM (Master Data Management) – This Sub-team will seek to demonstrate the concept that SLTs with a product-agnostic MDM approach – that also satisfies the business rules and an independent approach to shared facility management – would be acknowledged as the authoritative source for those linkages. For this Pilot, the Team is seeking expressions of interest from SLTs with current MDM in place.
• SLT Pilot: Bootstrap State MDM – This Sub-team will seek to demonstrate the concept that an SLT that does not currently perform facility MDM can take advantage of shared investment in E-Enterprise facility services in order to provide facility lookup and MDM. For this Pilot, the Team is seeking expressions of interest from SLTs who do not have MDM.

For more information or to volunteer, please contact one of the E-Enterprise Facility Team Co-chairs.

Regina Crolley, Facility Team Co-Chair
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
P: 803.898.3127
E: crollerc [at] dhec.sc.gov

Ron Evans, Facility Team Co-Chair
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 919.541.5488
E: evans.ron [at] epa.gov

Joshua Kalfas, Facility Team Co-Chair
Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality
P: 405.702.4210
E: joshua.kalfas [at] deq.ok.gov

Susan Joan Smiley, Facility Team Co-Chair
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 919.541.3993
E: smiley.susan [at] epa.gov

The Water Quality Tribal Roadmap project seeks to support Tribes in submitting and maintaining data submissions to the Water Quality eXchange (WQX). The Microsoft Excel®-based tool generates a road map document, in rich text format (.rtf), that guides a Tribe through working with water quality data and how they can approach data management and submissions. The tool is available at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-08/road_map_creator_v1.0.xlsm.

A customized tribal roadmap is created when a Tribe answers a series of questions and can be beneficial whether a Tribe is just beginning to report water quality data or has been reporting for years. Excel was used as a platform to generate the guide because it is a commonly owned software, which is internet independent. Other data summarization functions are also in the tool to support Tribes in maintaining knowledge of water quality on tribal lands. The Water Quality Tribal Roadmap Team consisted of EPA headquarters, EPA regional staff, and representatives from eight Tribes.

For more information, please contact EPA’s Laura Shumway at shumway.laura [at] epa.gov.

Laura Shumway
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.2514
E: shumway.laura [at] epa.gov

In preparation for the FY 2017 Exchange Network grant application process, EPA will hold two stakeholder conference calls to review the Draft FY 2017 Exchange Network Grant Solicitation Notice and answer questions from the Exchange Network community. The Draft Notice is available here .

The first call will be held Wednesday, August 3, 2016, from 1:00-2:00 PM EDT. The second call will be held Thursday, August 4, 2016, from 1:00-2:00 PM EDT. To participate in either call, please dial: 1.866.299.3188, and enter conference code: 202 566 1691#.

EPA will accept comments on the Draft Notice until 5:00 PM EDT, August 5, 2016. Written comments should be emailed to EPA’s Ryan Humrighouse at humrighouse.ryan [at] epa.gov.

EPA plans to issue the Final FY 2017 EN Grant Solicitation Notice by early September 2016.

Ryan Humrighouse
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.1680
E: humrighouse.ryan [at] epa.gov

The Exchange Network and E-Enterprise community convene EN/EE Open Calls to increase information sharing among Partners. These calls are an opportunity for the community to gather and discuss topics of interest.

The next Open Call, to be held August 1, 2016, at 3:00pm ET, is entitled Navigating and Optimizing Centralized Information Technology (IT). The Open Call’s panel will include:

• Andy Putnam, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment;
• Steve Nance, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency;
• Roy Duelfer, Montana Department of Environmental Quality; and
• Roy Walker, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.

Panelists will discuss their experiences transitioning to centralized IT, how centralized IT has transformed their agency, and how the transition has impacted maintenance and support for their agencies’ Exchange Network data flows. Descriptions of the centralized IT structure for each of the panelists’ states are available here.

To participate in the Open Call, please pre-register at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5176677041479035138

Note that we are using GoToWebinar® for the Open Call. Participants will enter the audio portion muted. To participate in the Q&A, please join the conversation via phone and enter the audio pin that appears on your GoToWebinar dashboard. If you must use your computer audio, please ensure you have a headset and speaker.

For more information or to provide ideas for future EN/EE Open Calls, please contact Kristen Durance at kdurance [at] rossstrategic.com or Lynn Capuano at lynn [at] exchangenetwork.net.

Lynn Capuano
Exchange Network Coordinator
P: 516.744.0307
E: lynn [at] exchangenetwork.net

As more States and Territories transition to centralized Information Technology (IT) departments and Tribes tend to rely on single IT resources, there is a changing audience supporting E-Enterprise for the Environment and the Exchange Network. Now, instead of internal environmental and/or health agency IT staff supporting E-Enterprise projects and EN infrastructure, staff from a central IT agency with less knowledge and understanding of the partnership, its work, and its principles are assigned to provide that support, maintenance, and coordination.

The E-Enterprise and Exchange Network Interoperability and Operations Team (IOT) wants to know if this shift is causing or foreshadowing any challenges related to ongoing maintenance of EN infrastructure, collaboration on E-Enterprise projects, and/or pursuit and execution of EN grants. We ask that you send your thoughts to EN Cooridnator Lynn Capuano at lynn [at] exchangenetwork.net. Please include any suggestions you have for how E-Enterprise Governance can help build bridges among E-Enterprise, Partner environmental and health agencies, and central IT management.

Thank you for your assistance with this important effort!

Matt Leopard, IOT EPA Co-Chair
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.1698
E: leopard.matthew [at] epa.gov

Chris Simmers, IOT State Co-Chair
New Hampshire Department of Information Technology
P: 603.271.2961
E: chris.simmers [at] doit.nh.gov

Utilizing the E-Enterprise/Exchange Network principal of joint governance, EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management and Arizona’s Department of Environmental Quality have developed the user-friendly, mobile device-navigable guidance “Solvents in the Workplace: How to Determine if They Are Hazardous Waste.” Available here, the guide helps people who use and discard solvents be aware of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste regulations and assists them in making correct hazardous waste determinations.

When viewed electronically, the guide contains two types of links: one that leads to additional information available on EPA’s website, and one that leads to additional information presented elsewhere in the document.

For more information, please contact EPA’s David Nicholas at nicholas.david [at] epa.gov.

David Nicholas
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.1927
E: nicholas.david [at] epa.gov

EPA is pleased to announce that version 2.3 of the Beach Notification schema has been approved and is now available here.

The Beach Notification data exchange allows for the reporting of beach meta data, contact information, and beach advisory and closing data. Version 2.3 can be used now and will be required for reporting 2016 Beach Season data.

For more information, please contact EPA’s Bill Kramer at kramer.bill [at] epa.gov.

Bill Kramer
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P: 202.566.0385
E: kramer.bill [at] epa.gov

The E-Enterprise for the Environment Advanced Monitoring Team (AMT) is recruiting members for the AMT Steering Committee and four AMT Project Teams. The AMT is focusing on air and water pollution monitoring technology and how best to integrate the rapid advances being seen in these areas into the regulatory landscape.

For more information, on the AMT Steering Committee and Project Teams, visit http://e-enterprisefortheenvironment.net/.

To participate in the Committee or its Project Teams, contact ECOS’ Kelly Poole at kpoole [at] ecos.org by June 7, 2016.

Kelly Poole
Environmental Council of the States
P: 202.266.4939
E: kpoole [at] ecos.org