What's New

June 2010

• ECHO State Review Framework (SRF) and Annual Reports webpages have been updated!
  
  The ECHO SRF Multi-State and Multi-Year queries have been updated to include fiscal year 2009 data.
  
  Annual Reports, which provide state level summary data for inspections, violations, enforcement actions, and penalties, are now available for fiscal year 2009. Online graphs also are available for the 2009 Annual Reports. These graphs show state trends for inspections and enforcement.
  
  Also updated for fiscal year 2009:
  • CAA Air Emission Sources
  • NPDES (CWA) Regulated Universe
  • RCRA Handler Counts
  • CAA Violations and Deviations
  • CWA data entry rates for discharge data by state
  
  
  
• Data quality pages improved and updated.
  
  The Data Alerts webpage has been incorporated into the Known Data Problems for added clarity. The format of the State Comments on Frozen Data webpage has been adjusted to include 2009 comments. Efforts have been made to integrate the data quality information available on these pages, while distinguishing between the state comments on the frozen data, and the data problems that may affect both the frozen data and data available through current ECHO queries.



• Reports and Resources have been updated.
  
  Updates have been made to the Reports and Resources webpages for the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The most current reports and webpages have been incorporated, and a quick search feature has been added to allow users to easily find the reports they are looking for.



• The "impaired waters" search flag now allows users to search for facilities near additional classes of impaired waters!
  
  The impaired waters search flag used in the All Data and Water Data searches has been expanded from facilities that discharge into an impaired water body for which a plan has not yet been developed - these are listed waters under the CWA section 303(d) program (category 5 water body) - to also include facilities that discharge to an impaired water body for which the state has developed a plan to return the water to its designated uses - under the Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) program (category 4 water body).
  
  Under section 303(d) of the CWA, states, territories, and authorized tribes are required to develop lists of impaired waters. These are waters for which technology-based regulations and other required controls are not stringent enough to meet the water quality standards set by states. The law requires that states establish priority rankings for waters on the lists and develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), for these waters. A TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive and still safely meet water quality standards. For more information about impaired waters or TMDLs, please visit EPA’s overview of impaired waters and Total Maximum Daily Loads Program web page. For detailed information on the categorization of impaired waters, see Section V of the 2006 Integrated Report Guidance.
  
  Note that to determine whether a facility is discharging into an impaired water, the water it discharges into must be assessed by the state and the assessment must be indexed to the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) Reach Addressing Database (RAD). Whether a water is impaired is not available for some waters; only 26% of rivers and streams and 42% of lakes, reservoirs, and ponds have been assessed nationally and not all assessed waters have been indexed to the NHD. For more details on the percentage of waters assessed, see the National Summary of State Information. For information on the completeness of indexing impairment information to the NHD, see EPA's NHD Reach Indexing Status web page.
  
  Also note that facility locational data (latitude and longitude) is also needed to index CWA NPDES facilities to the NHD. Whether the facilities directly discharge into impaired waters cannot be determined for some facilities, if latitude and longitude are not available.
  
  If you are interested in the causes of impairment for the water a facility discharges into, click on the small "W" button for the facility in your search results. This button will bring you to the Water Quality Report for the facility, which presents cause of impairment.
  
  EPA is continuing to work on expanding options in this area. To view the data in a GIS platform, you can go to EnviroMapper for Water.



• Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) 2008 data is now available in ECHO!
  
  The ECHO queries and Detailed Facility Report have been updated to use the TRI 2008 data.

May 2010

ECHO Detailed Facility Report (DFR) enhanced with additional Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) information.

EPA has added new Toxic Substances Control Act(TSCA) information to the ECHO Detailed Facility Report (DFR). Where available, TSCA IDs and compliance monitoring history data are now presented on the DFR. Users can access DFRs through ECHO Facility Search Results.

April 2010

ECHO Release Notes

EPA releases 2008 Clean Water Act Annual Noncompliance Report and associated interactive map for non-major facilities. The interactive 2008 Clean Water Act Annual Noncompliance Report Map provides information on the smaller direct discharge permit holders (primarily factories and smaller wastewater treatment plants). Information includes how many permits have been issued, how frequently sampling data is reviewed to determine if violations occurred, the frequency of violations, and the frequency that formal enforcement has been taken in 2008. Users can change the map theme using the "Select Data to Map" menu, can hover over a state to view statistics, and can click on the state to get more information and maps with details about the violations and enforcement actions. The data presented in the map are also available in table format.

• New updates to EPA State Review Framework (SRF) homepage. SRF recommendations can now be searched, filtered, and retrieved with the new ECHO SRF Recommendations query.
  
  EPA has released an updated State Review Framework (SRF) public website that includes new reports about progress made in each state regarding the enforcement of the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The site has live links to the ECHO website to view recommendations for action and their status, and an option to be informed by email when new reports are added to the website. Also, a new SRF link on the ECHO home page under Reports and Resources makes it easier to find this information.
  
  The SRF recommendations also can now be searched, filtered, and retrieved with the new ECHO SRF Recommendations query. Users can search and filter SRF recommendations by round, state, completion status, statute, and element, as well as sort and download recommendations in text or Excel format.
  
  



• Effluent violation mapping now available!
  
  

  The Water maps now provide a "toggle" checkbox, allowing users to generate a map containing balloons that provide information specific to: the number of effluent exceedances at the facility over the last 3 years, or the number of years since the last facility inspection




• Effluent Chart Search and Download options enhanced!
  
  The ECHO CWA search results now provide a link to effluent charts for all facilities that have permit limits. Effluent chart links were previously displayed only for facilities with violations. Additionally, users now have the option to download effluent chart data for up to 100 facilities. Users can view the new features after using the ECHO Water searches.
  
  Additionally, the ECHO Detailed Facility Report has been updated to make the effluent chart options more prominent.



• New ECHO Mapping Center created!
  
  The Mapping Center summarizes all mapping options available in ECHO, including:
  • View Nationally Published maps - Published maps include the ANCR, Annual Report, and Chesapeake Bay Maps.
  
  
  
  • Create Custom Map - Create a custom map using a list of IDs.
  
  
  
  • Multimedia Mapping - Map facilities from your search results.



• Updated Chesapeake Bay Enforcement Action Map released!
  
  

  The interactive Chesapeake Bay Enforcement Action Map shows information on enforcement actions and cases since 2009. Airshed and watershed boundaries on the map can be clicked on or off in the legend to the left of the map. Users can click on the yellow flags to obtain additional information on a case. All cases represented on the map are also listed below the map.




• ECHO has improved options for customizing facility search reports.


Several interfaces include a "search with custom output" option, allowing users to select their own search results column headings. New custom column options have been added to this feature on the ECHO All Data Search, including:
• SIC and NAICS codes,



• Latitude/Longitude,



• Facility Registry System ID,



• Region,



• and Permit Type


To use this feature,
• Method 1 - Choose search criteria on the All Data Search, and then click on the "Search With Custom Output" button at the bottom of the search form. Columns may also be added or removed from the search results page. Downloading search results with the latitude/longitude data allows the information to be used in other GIS platforms.



• Method 2 - After running your query, use the "add/remove columns" button to update the columns.



• Excel download now available on the ECHO Search results pages.
  
  Users now have the option to download the search results into an Excel or comma separated text file. To download results, click on the "download" button located on the All Data, Air, Water, or RCRA Search results tables.



• CWA ICIS-NPDES Owner/Operator flag has been updated.
  
  The CWA ICIS-NPDES Owner/Operator search options have been updated to match the AFS, PCS, and RCRA options.

December 2009

EPA Case Mapping Now Available! EPA Announces 2009 End of Year Results and Enforcement Action Mapping!

• ECHO Enforcement Case data has been combined with Google’s mapping functionality to provide facility location and case data along with zooming capabilities and satellite photographic images. Cases are color-coded based on enforcement action media (CAA,CWA,RCRA,EPCRA,CERCLA,TSCA,FIFRA,Other), and can be mapped from the "EPA Enforcement Cases Search" results page. Cases that are linked to multiple facilities contain "+" icons within the case information balloons.



• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released enforcement results for fiscal year 2009, and has developed a new Web-based tool and interactive map that allows the public to get detailed information by location about the enforcement actions taken at approximately 4,600 facilities.
  
  The new Annual Results Mapping Tool allows the public to view the locations of facilities that were the subject of enforcement actions on interactive maps of the U.S. and territories. The maps show facilities where civil enforcement actions were taken for environmental laws for air, water, and land pollution, and a separate map shows criminal enforcement actions. Additional information on the enforcement and compliance program for fiscal year 2009 with highlights of specific accomplishments is available at
  http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/reports/endofyear/eoy2009/index.html

November 2009

Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) website's look and feel has been enhanced! Additional data and features have been made available!

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made available comprehensive information on enforcement and compliance with federal clean air and hazardous waste regulations in all 50 states and has made improvements to the agency’s national Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) website. In a memorandum issued in July of 2009 (2pp, 150KB, About PDF), Administrator Lisa P. Jackson directed EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) to develop an action plan to enhance public transparency regarding clean water enforcement. This release provides the public with equivalent information for the Clean Air Act and hazardous waste programs. Recent ECHO enhancements include:

• A Redesigned ECHO homepage to provide more information for the public in a more user-friendly format. Please provide comments and feedback about ECHO's new design to ECHO support.



• Improved mapping, which allows users to view information in their community, such as which facilities are regulated, and which have current violations.
  
  



• Inclusion of summary buttons to ECHO output results. Use these buttons to go directly to a facility map, detailed facility report, enforcement case report, water quality report, or effluent chart
  
  



• Inclusion of additional columns to ECHO's default output results. Users can add custom columns using ECHO's custom output feature.
  
  



• Addition of searchable state-by-state trend data from 2004 through 2008 for the Clean Air and hazardous waste programs now supplements similar Clean Water data. Trend data allows users to view summary state performance.



• Online graphs have been made available to show state trends for state inspections and enforcement.
  
  



• Toxics Release Inventory data has been made available in ECHO. Search for, and review information on toxic chemical releases and waste management activities reported annually by facilities in your area.



• CAA National Emissions Inventory (NEI) data has been made available in ECHO. Search for facilities that emit criteria air pollutants (CAPs) and their precursors, as well as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs).



• EPA has posted new webpages on federal clean air and hazardous waste issues that are organized around key questions the public may have, such as the universe of regulated facilities, what are rates of violation, and where can pollutant and emissions data be found on EPA’s website.



• EPA has also posted copies of recent enforcement and compliance performance audits for each state. These reports cover Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and hazardous waste programs. EPA included additional reports that show progress states have made toward correcting problems found within the audit reports.

October 2009

ECHO CWA results updated to show number of effluent violations!

The number of effluent violations at a facility is now available for facilities with CWA NPDES IDs. Although ECHO has always provided the ability to search on number of effluent violations, the inclusion of an effluent violations column in the search results is new. Users can produce output, download results, and sort on the number of effluent violations in the search results. This feature is available as a default column on the ECHO CWA and multimedia searches. For more information about the data displayed, please visit the ECHO results guide. The availability of this information is variable by state. The calculation relies on limit data and monitoring data being present in the database. EPA has posted data completeness percentages (1pp, 16KB, About PDF).

July 2009

State Review Framework (SRF) web search functionality was added to ECHO for Clean Water Act. This allows users to view summary statistics by state. This includes:

• 2004-2008 Clean Water Act Trends by State
• Graph and chart any SRF CWA Data Metric by State
• National Download of 2008 SRF Frozen Data (shows data for all states - CWA)

Also, EPA has provided a new State Review Framework overview web page with reports that provide EPA evaluations of stat programs (CWA, RCRA, and CAA).

Addition of new ECHO function that integrates compliance data with water quality assessment data. For help with the water quality assessment data, see the ECHO Water Quality Report (WQR) Data Dictionary, and the first time user guide.

Addition of Reports about the NPDES Programs:

• 2007 Annual Noncompliance Report (ANCR) for non-Majors
• 2008 NPDES Majors Report - provides summary data by state that is similar to the non-majors ANCR
• Summary Reports about CWA NPDES facility universes by state, and data completeness (% of permit limits and discharge monitoring reports entered into the national system by state).

May 2009
The IDEA downloads have been updated to use data from the March 2009 IDEA refresh. In the event that the data retrievals available through ECHO do not meet your needs, EPA has compiled data sets from five primary enforcement and compliance history databases in IDEA, including AFS, PCS, ICIS-NPDES, RCRAInfo, and ICIS FE&C. EPA has also created an IDEA download archive for users who may need to retrieve past versions of the IDEA downloads.

November 2008
The ECHO "search with custom output" option, which allows users to select their own search results column headings, has been enhanced. New custom column options have been added to this feature, including SIC and NAICS codes, latitude/longitude, Facility Registry System ID, and more!
To use this feature,

• Method 1 - choose your search criteria on the AFS Facility Search, PCS Facility Search, ICIS-NPDES Facility Search, or RCRAInfo Facility Search, and then click on the "Search With Custom Output" button at the bottom of each search form. Columns may also be added or removed from the search results page. Downloading search results with the latitude/longitude data will allow users to use the information in other GIS platforms.



• Method 2 - after you run your query, use the new menu on the results page (shown below) to update your columns.

August 2008
Clean Water Act Monthly Effluent Charts Enhanced! ECHO users now can customize the set of charts or data to be returned for ECHO Effluent Charts. To use the new feature, perform a Water Data Search, then click on a facility's Detailed Facility Report. Scroll down to the Three Year Compliance Status by Quarter-CWA/NPDES Compliance Status section and click on the "custom" link. The Custom Searches section of the Effluent Charts help file provides information on using the custom search form.

February 2008
Clean Water Act Monthly Effluent Charts Now Available on ECHO! New data on ECHO improves the usability of the Clean Water Act (CWA) discharge data. Previously ECHO showed summary quarterly effluent discharge measurement data in table format. ECHO now also offers users the ability to see monthly discharge measurements in a color-coded chart format. The charts are available for CWA major dischargers. Data for standard CWA non-major dischargers also are available at about 50% of the permitted facilities in the country.¹ To learn about the format of the report, please visit the help page.

To get started with ECHO Effluent Charts, perform a "Water Data Search." The results of your search will include a link (an "E" icon in the Facility Information column) to the charts for each facility that has had one or more violations in the past three years. Effluent Charts also are available as a link from the ECHO Detailed Facility Reports.

The compliance status for CWA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) dischargers is normally determined by the electronic comparison of discharge monitoring reports (DMRs) submitted by facilities to permitted discharge limits. Both permit limits and discharge data must be present for the data system to generate an accurate compliance status. The ECHO Detailed Facility Report displays when a permit limit has been exceeded during a calendar quarter and allows you to jump to the corresponding effluent report.

If you have comments on the overall design or functionality of the charts, please feel free to use the Contact Us feedback form.

¹ Because it is not required, not all states use EPA's databases to enter and automatically track CWA NPDES violations at non-major facilities. However, many states enter that data voluntarily. EPA's calendar year 2006 non-major limit and DMR chart (PDF, 27KB) can help site users determine the percent of non-majors with compliance information available in ECHO.

September 2007
New ECHO enhancements available! More than four million searches have been performed on the Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) Web site since its release in November 2002. This first major site upgrade since November 2004 brings in more data, offers exciting new search options, and fulfills popular user requests.

• ECHO is expanding from three to five years of compliance monitoring and enforcement data. Searches can now be performed for five years of inspection and enforcement action data, and reports display five years of this information.



• ECHO can be used to access Clean Water Act data from EPA’s modernized database (ICIS-NPDES, which stands for Integrated Compliance Information System - National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System). Twenty-one states, two tribes and nine territories are using ICIS-NPDES. The remaining states have not yet begun populating the modernized system, but they continue to enter data into the Permit Compliance System (PCS). Because the database of record differs by state, ECHO provides separate search interfaces for PCS states and ICIS-NPDES states. To view data from a particular state, users should choose the appropriate interface (the lists of states/territories/tribes using each system are displayed on the site). For national or EPA Regional Clean Water Act searches, users will need to do two separate searches - one with each interface. Alternatively, users may use the All Data Search (searches air, water, and waste data) as a way to view both ICIS-NPDES and PCS data in one query.



• ECHO data has been combined with Google’s mapping functionality to provide facility location and compliance data along with zooming capabilities and satellite photographic images. Multiple facilities are color-coded based on compliance status, and can be mapped from the Air, Water, Hazardous Waste, and All Data search result pages. Specific facilities still can be mapped from the Detailed Facility Report.



• Search page enhancements include:
  
  
  • All ICIS-NPDES facility types are now available for search in ECHO (see NPDES permit type and component menus).
  
  
  
  • When available, users can search on and reports will display a facility-level compliance status for non-major facilities in ICIS-NPDES. Similar functionality will be added for PCS states soon.
  
  
  
  • Search by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code on the Air and ICIS-NPDES Data Searches.
  
  
  
  • Search for pollutant currently in violation or for facilities in a non-attainment area on the Air Data Search.
  
  
  
  • Multiple states can be searched by using the "ctrl" key to select states of interest.



• The options for search results have been expanded:
  
  
  • For users who need to analyze data for a large number of facilities, this feature provides comma-delimited text for download and use in spreadsheet and other programs for searches that return between 1,001 and 10,000 facilities.
  
  
  
  • A new Custom Output search option allows users to customize the columns that are displayed on the search results screen.

June 2007
New search option added to ECHO. U.S. EPA’s Facility Registry System, which links EPA records common to a facility, includes a flag identifying facilities in the U.S. and within 100 kilometers of the U.S.-Mexico border. At present, border facilities are flagged based on the latitude and longitude retained in EPA’s Locational Reference Tables.

May 2007
ECHO has moved to a new web address. The address change was required due to our move to a new server location. ECHO resided at a temporary web address during April and May ( http://63.160.3.204/echo/). This temporary address will not be available after May 25 and will not redirect users to the new web location. We apologize for this inconvenience. If you had bookmarked the temporary address, please be sure to update your bookmarks to the new address:
http://www.epa-echo.gov/echo

(Bookmarking this page in Mozilla Firefox or adding to Internet Explorer favorites will create a new bookmark; using the Organize Bookmarks option in Firefox or the Organize Favorites option in Internet Explorer will allow you to delete the old bookmark). The longstanding web address (http://www.epa.gov/echo) will continue to work - ECHO users will be automatically redirected from the old web address to the new web location.

January 2007
Non-compliance data for NPDES non-major facilities. EPA released data on non-compliance at National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) non-major facilities on January 16, 2007. The report is posted on the ECHO About the Data page.

December 2006
New search options added to ECHO. The performance stack test information that was added last month is now searchable. Users can search for facilities based on whether a stack test passed or failed, when a test was conducted, and more. In addition, the August data update included information from the upgraded RCRAInfo system, the national program database for Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) data. RCRAInfo Version 3 includes a new site activity status flag, which for the first time allows all RCRA Subtitle C facilities to be designated as active or inactive. This flag has been incorporated on the ECHO Web site. The All Data Search restricts searches to active facilities in all three major programs (air, water, and hazardous waste). The default Hazardous Waste Search restricts searches to active facilities, but a Facility Status check box allows the user to include inactive facilities in searches. Each RCRA facility's activity status also will be displayed on the Detailed Facility Report.

November 2006
New information added to ECHO. Basic information about the results of Clean Air Act stationary source performance stack tests (pass/fail - with pollutant tested, if reported) and Title V compliance certification reviews (results of "in compliance", "in violation" or "unknown" - plus deviations with yes/no, if reported) has been added to the Inspection History section of the ECHO Detailed Facility Report. Details are available in the ECHO Data Dictionary.

April 2006
NAICS Search added to the ECHO Hazardous Waste Search. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) has replaced the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. The NAICS search option allows ECHO users to query Hazardous Waste Data by NAICS code.

March 2006
ECHO Named Top Government Innovation. ECHO is one of three EPA programs that have been named semifinalists for the Innovations in American Government Award. EPA's Enforcement and Compliance History Online Web site, the National Environmental Performance Track program, and the eRulemaking program were among 50 programs selected by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
EPA Press Release
Press Release from The Council for Excellence in Government

February 2006
New Features Added to ECHO. EPA is announcing several new features that enhance the usability of the ECHO site. On the Water Data Search, EPA has added the ability to search for water facilities based on the number of combined sewer system outfalls. A combined sewer system is a wastewater collection system owned by a municipality that conveys sanitary wastewater (domestic, commercial, and industrial) and stormwater through a single pipe system to a publicly owned treatment works. Detailed information regarding combined sewer systems is available at http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=5. Two enhancements have been made to the search results page. After running a Water Data Search, the results page now displays the type of significant noncompliance (SNC) status, indicated by a single character, when a facility is designated as being in current SNC status (the site formerly displayed "yes" in this situation; the characters are explained on the Results Help page). Finally, after running an air, water, or hazardous waste search, the results screen displays an additional column with each facility's program system identification number.

December 2004
EPA has added the expanded version of the Detailed Facility Report, which includes information about Notices of Violation (NOVs). NOVs often are issued by EPA and/or the states as the first step in the enforcement process after an alleged violation is found or self-reported.

November 2004
New ECHO Enhancements available! More than 11,000 ECHO users provided input about the site during its 2002-2003 public comment period, and EPA is announcing several new features that enhance the site and address common user requests. A frequent comment was that two years of data did not provide enough historical information. ECHO has been expanded to include three years of data. Searches can be performed for three years of inspection, compliance, and enforcement data, and reports display three years of information.

Other enhancements now available:

• Search results screens provide data values instead of yes/no answers, so users can see how many inspections, quarters of noncompliance, and enforcement actions occurred in the past three years.
• Users may search for facilities with Notices of Violation (NOVs) (NOVs often are issued by EPA and/or the states as the first step in the enforcement process after an alleged violation is found or self-reported).
• The All Data Search allows for custom analysis of five industry sectors (Sector Facility Indexing Project (SFIP) Universe Search).
• Users can search for Performance Track facilities (see http://www.epa.gov/performancetrack/ for information on this program).

Finally, EPA added additional contextual information in several places to better describe the data that is available on ECHO. Questions/comments on these enhancements may be submitted directly from the ECHO Web site (http://www.epa-echo.gov/echo/comments.html), or emails may be sent to echo@epa.gov.

October 2004
EPA is continuing to experience delays in its error notification routing process, due to the transition between contractors who work on the EPA/ECHO error correction process. Users who submit error notifications from ECHO but do not receive a confirmation email from Error Tracker may notify Allison Donohue (donohue.allison@epa.gov). The ECHO team apologizes for the problems and thanks you for your patience.

August 2004
EPA underwent a transition between contractors who work on the EPA/ECHO error correction process.. During the transition, which began July 1, 2004, error notification routing experienced some problems. Routing of error notifications that were submitted from July 1 to July 25 has been delayed. The error correction system is functioning as of July 26, 2004. Users who submit error notifications from ECHO but do not receive a confirmation email from Error Tracker may notify Allison Donohue (donohue.allison@epa.gov). The ECHO team apologizes for the problems and thanks you for your patience.

March 2004
New Search Tools Added to ECHO. EPA has added two new search interfaces to ECHO. These new features allow users to more easily search for federal enforcement case information from the Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS). ICIS tracks formal civil administrative and judicial enforcement actions taken by the U.S. EPA. This change does not add new data to ECHO, because ICIS case reports were previously available from the site. However, the enhanced site provides powerful tools that allow users to develop custom searches on EPA enforcement cases. The EPA Enforcement Cases Search page allows users to search for any EPA enforcement case concluded after Sept. 30, 2000. Searches can be performed based on a variety of criteria, including facility name, penalty amount, geographic location, and statute violated. The Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEP) Search demonstrates EPA’s commitment to provide the public and regulated community with easy access to federal enforcement actions with SEPs. A SEP is part of an enforcement settlement in which a defendant/respondent voluntarily agrees to undertake an environmentally beneficial project. This new search page allows users to learn more about such projects, which are often community-based and improve or protect public health and the environment. The tool searches federal cases with SEPs that were concluded after Sept. 30, 2000.

February 2004
ECHO Integrated With Environmental Justice Geographic Assessment Tool. The ECHO Detailed Facility Report (DFR) has been augmented to link directly to the EJ Geographic Assessment Tool. The link is shown in the "Demographic Profile" section of the DFR. In addition to allowing users to specify the radius around the facility, new tabbed reports are available showing social, environmental, economic, and health data. Additionally, the DFR has been updated to add education, income, and poverty data from the 2000 Census.

Performance Track Facilities Noted on ECHO Detailed Facility Report (DFR). EPA has completed the integration of Performance Track data so users can see what facilities are recognized as participants in this voluntary program. The data appears on the ECHO DFRs in the "Facility Characteristics" section (first row and third column - under Facility Status). If the facility is not in Performance Track, the box will be blank. ECHO does not yet allow searching for Performance Track on the search forms, but this addition will be made soon. Information on the Performance Track Program is available at http://www.epa.gov/performancetrack/.

November 2003
ECHO adds a Direct Link to NPDES Permit Documents. The ECHO Detailed Facility Reports now provides a link to NPDES final permit and fact sheet documents. The links are only displayed for facilities with documents available. The Office of Water is creating pdf versions of NPDES permit documents and fact sheets as permits are reissued. Within four to five years the permit documents for all majors dischargers will be available. As of November 2003, permits and/or fact sheets were available currently for over 800 dischargers. The link appears directly after the "Facility Characteristics" section of the Detailed Facility Report.

An EPA press release recognized ECHO's first anniversary and one-millionth search request.

August 19, 2003
EPA removed the "pilot" label from ECHO and released it as final. The detailed Public Comment Period Summary and Response to Comments was posted on the site on the "ECHO History" page (formerly called "Information Room"). Several minor changes have been made to the site in order to improve its usability. Some enhancements to the site in response to public comments are shown in the table below, while possible future enhancements are discussed in the Response to Comments document.

April 1, 2003
EPA made several minor changes to the "Clean Water Act Two Year Compliance Status" section of the Detailed Facility Report. Associated data dictionary changes were also made. These changes were the result of several comments received indicating possible mis-interpretation of the Clean Water Act violation data. The Detailed Facility Report adds a line called "Non-compliance in Quarter" which indicates whether any violation (effluent, reporting, single incident/event etc.) occurred within each quarterly period. The results of each column (yes or no) are the basis for the overall "Quarters in Non-compliance (NC)" calculation shown in prior section of the report. For example, four quarters with a "yes" would translate to four quarters in non-compliance. The Detailed Facility Report continues to report on the significant non-compliance/reportable non-compliance quarterly determination (known as the quarterly non-compliance report or QNCR). This is an official determination made each quarter regarding the severity of violations. Regulation requires EPA to publish this information. It is possible that the quarterly non-compliance status is "blank" (meaning the facility is not in significant non-compliance or reportable non-compliance), however, other violations could be shown in the more detailed effluent violations table that appears in the following section of the report. In the previous version of the ECHO Detailed Facility Report, EPA denoted a "C" for compliance if the field was blank. This has been corrected, and the report now shows a "blank". This is consistent with the way that the Permit Compliance System handles the data. A blank means that there are no significant or reportable non-compliance events, but it does not mean that no violations occurred in the quarter.

March 31, 2003
The official comment period concluded.

November 20, 2002
The pilot site of the ECHO tool was released to the public. The official comment period commenced.