High and Dry in the Smoggy Skies...?
Overcoming the Challenges in Capturing Air Toxics 411!
February 2004
ONLINE AIR POLLUTION DATABASES: COMPLIANCE
& ENFORCEMENT DATA
The
Environmental Protection Agency Databases - Below are
two compliance and enforcement databases run by EPA: ECHO,
and ICIS. But ICIS is still in being developed. It is not
a database to store new kinds of information, but rather,
a single user-friendly database where data from several
different existing EPA databases (including data in ECHO)
are combined - a part of EPA's attempt at systems modernization.
If ICIS contains data matching your search, it will appear
in the results page on ECHO.
Sector
Facility Indexing Project
(http://www.epa.gov/sfipmtn1/)
This is an EPA database with compliance and inspection
records for five industries (auto assembly, pulp manufacturing,
iron/steel production, petroleum refining, nonferrous
metals refining and smelting, and some major federal facilities).
Includes information on chemical releases, spills, production
capacity and demographics of the surrounding population.
Enforcement
and Compliance History Online (ECHO)
(http://www.epa.gov/echo/index.html)
This tool provides the public with compliance, permit,
and demographic data from approximately 800,000 facilities
regulated under the Clean Air Act stationary source program,
the Clean Water Act direct discharge program and the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act hazardous waste facilities
with violations. Integrated reports present inspections,
violations, enforcement actions, penalties, and locate
facilities on demographic maps. The results page features
formal enforcement actions according to the ICIS and ECHO
databases with direct hyperlinks to more case details.
On report, click on formal compliance action, for more
details such as specific violation; total fine amount
plus the total amt of compliance action (how much it cost
facility to achieve and maintain compliance, eg. purchase
a cleaner burning machine, etc.); and the type of compliance
action; information on pollutant reduction (pollutant
and amount reduced/year as a result of the compliance),
etc. The case records also have the name(s) of owners
of the facility. Some violations records can be for a
different facility (branch) owned by the same company
other than the one listed, which can be confirmed usually
by looking in the corresponding ICIS data (click on hyperlinked
case number under "Formal Enforcement Actions-ICIS."
DOCKET
(http://www.rtknet.org/doc/)
A database of civil cases filed by the Department of Justice
on behalf of EPA. A database of RTKNET, drawing from data
in EPA's DOCKET database. Can search the database by facility,
defendant name, or cases (specific law, violation or docket
number).