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gils: FW: Key ID Sign-on -- another way of searching govt info

gils: FW: Key ID Sign-on -- another way of searching govt info

FW: Key ID Sign-on -- another way of searching govt info

Patrice McDermott (patricem@RTK.NET)
Mon, 16 Dec 96 17:25:55 EDT 

Date: Mon, 16 Dec 96 17:25:55 EDT
From: Patrice McDermott <patricem@RTK.NET>
Subject: FW: Key ID Sign-on -- another way of searching govt info
To: gils@cni.org
Message-Id: <Chameleon.961216173148.patrice@patrice.rtknet.org>

Below is some information and a sign-on letter on an issue 
of interest to folks working on access to government 
information. We see the Key ID as another way to provide 
access across databases (and ultimately with a potential 
of searching across agencies) and we invite any of you who 
can to sign-on. The sign-on deadline is Thurs., Dec 19th.

An explanatory note from Jeff Thomas <thomasje@rtk.net> is 
followed by the sign-on letter. 

Thank you.

Patrice McDermott
-------------------------------------
Patrice McDermott
patricem@rtk.net
OMB Watch
Date: 12/16/96
Time: 17:25:55
-------------------------------------
>-----------------------------------------------
>
>Attention GILS Activists:
>
>The EPA is currently receiving public comments and 
>developing an implementation strategy for the 
>development of an information management reform 
>initiative known as the key identifiers project.  In 
>response to this, we are seeking the support of the 
>GILS activist community to help move forward this 
>reform initiative.  The project compliments the GILS 
>program in that it seeks to create an automated 
>information system that integrates and makes easily 
>available all information resources within the EPA 
>through a centralized database that will serve as an 
>information locator of environmental data. 
>
>At the center of this project will be a comprehensive 
>facility ID database that through the use of specific 
>data elements or key identifiers (parent company, 
>geographical coordinates, SIC code, and tax ID #) 
>will link together all available EPA and state 
>environmental data for a particular facility, 
>industry, or region.  In accomplishing this goal, the 
>EPA must design an effective means through which it 
>will collect ID data from reporting facilities, 
>update and maintain collected information, and, 
>ultimately, link the ID data with corresponding data 
>in the various program offices within the agency. 
>
>This project and the tasks necessary in developing it 
>directly parallel the policies and components of the 
>GILS program.  The key identifier project's principle 
>goal of restructuring how the EPA collects, manages, 
>and disseminates information resources is consistent 
>with Section 8(a) of OMB Circular A-130 which stated 
>the responsibilities of agencies in developing GILS 
>as "to record, preserve, and make accessible 
>sufficient information to ensure the management and 
>accountability of agency programs...[and] provide 
>information to the public consistent with their 
>mission."  Moreover, the incorporation of data 
>elements to be created through this project into GILS 
>is a vital step in evolving GILS to a level where it 
>is no longer merely a card catalog for government 
>information but rather a tool through which 
>individuals can delve deeper into available 
>government resources.
>
>At present the EPA is considering a number of options 
>through which it will create this initiative.  
>Indecision and an inconsistent high-level commitment 
>has prevented the EPA from utilizing the framework, 
>technology, and partnerships already existing that 
>can make this project a reality. We urge you then to 
>join the 170 national and community-level 
>organizations that have signed onto a letter to EPA 
>Administrator Carol Browner encouraging her to take a 
>direct lead in moving this reform forward.  The 
>letter summarizes our concerns over the pace with 
>which the project is being developed and outlines the 
>reforms that should be accomplished in developing it.
>
>Please review the letter and show your support for 
>this project by signing on to it.  Pursuit of this 
>project and other information management reform 
>initiatives within the federal government is a  
>necessary step in ensuring that the goals responsible 
>for the development of GILS continue to be focused on 
>and broadened. 
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Jeff Thomas
>Environmental Analyst 
>OMB Watch
>
>* For more information or to sign-on, contact Jeff at 
>(202) 234-8494, thomasje@rtk.net
>
>* Deadline for signing on to letter is Thursday, Dec. 
>19th
>--------------------------------------
>
>SIGN-ON LETTER
>
>Administrator Carol Browner
>U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1101)
>401 M Street, SW
>Washington, DC 20460
>
>Dear Administrator Browner:
>
>We are writing to encourage the U.S. EPA to move 
>forward with far reaching information reforms under 
>the facility identification (key identifiers) 
>initiative.  This initiative will electronically
>link for public access all information collected 
>under Federal environmental laws.  This will help 
>EPA, the states, industry, the public, and our 
>organizations to obtain the information needed to 
>protect public health and the environment.  We need 
>your strong leadership to ensure that this initiative 
>succeeds.
>
>Despite spending over $300 million each year on 
>environmental  information, EPA cannot readily form 
>environmental profiles of industrial facilities. 
>Finding, compiling,and comparing environmental 
>information is a formidable task. The data are 
>fragmented among different states and EPA
>program offices, each with different data systems and 
>different rules for public access.  Once obtained, 
>information is incomplete and inconsistent.
>Neither EPA nor the public can readily obtain the 
>information needed to make effective environmental 
>decisions.
>
>In 1994, an EPA appointed task force told the agency 
>that:  If EPA does not change its approach to 
>managing information resources, the Agency
>will fail in its mission.  The task force recommended 
>that EPA link its information through common sense 
>elements covering: facility identification, location, 
>regulated substances, industrial sector, chemicals, 
>and organization (parent company).  These key 
>identifiers form the basis of EPAs facility 
>identification initiative.
>
>With a strong commitment from EPA, the facility 
>identification initiative will enable people to 
>readily find information on environmental
>conditions where we work, live, or play.  It will 
>enable people to obtain play.  It will enable people 
>to obtain information from all of EPAs information 
>from all of EPA's data collections for a local 
>factory, its parent company, an entire industry, a 
>zip code or watershed, or a regulatory requirement.  
>Further, reforms will encourage public use of 
>environmental information and support consolidated 
>one-stop reporting for industry.
>
>However, we are troubled by the limited progress of 
>the initiative and concerned that some of the options 
>EPA is considering simply won't achieve the goal of 
>integrating information.  While option 4 (rulemaking)
>in EPA's notice (61 FR 52587) comes closest to what 
>is needed, we specifically urge EPA to move forward 
>with reforms that:
>
>1)  Establish an effective national registration 
>system for every facility that EPA regulates, and 
>collect and update basic key identifier information
>from each reporting facility.
> 
>2)  Construct a unified and user-friendly national 
>system for linking environmental information, rather 
>than a series of inconsistent and incomplete state 
>systems.
> 
>3)  Develop a formal rulemaking that establishes EPAs 
>commitment, assures consistency across all states, 
>and makes facilities responsible for regularly 
>maintaining their own information in the registration 
>system.  A rulemaking (approach 4 in EPAs notice) 
>ensures needed commitment and stability of 
>decision-making.
> 
>4)  Include links to information reported under all 
>Federal environmental laws, whether collected by 
>states or EPA, and establish similar links to 
>information held by other agencies.
> 
>5)  Add critical elements not addressed in EPAs 
>notice, including tax identification number, 
>effective date, and certifying corporate officer,
>and assure easy links to data elements and files on 
>chemicals (CAS number), permit numbers, and 
>accidents.
>
>Improving environmental information collection and 
>access should be a cornerstone of EPAs efforts to 
>reinvent environmental regulations. EPA's faciltiy 
>identification initiative provides a unique 
>opportunity.  To succeed, these reforms will require 
>a consistent commitment from the top of the agency.  
>We ask you to give higher priority and expedite 
>activity to ensure the success of this critical 
>project.  
>
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Cosigning organizations:
>
>Alabama Environmental Council (Birmingham, Ala.), by 
>Danielle Dunbar
>Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning (Washington, 
>D.C.), by David Batts
>Alternatives for Community and Environment (Roxbury, 
>Mass.), by Charlie Lord
>American Lung Association (Washington, D.C.), by Fran 
>DuMelle
>American Oceans Campaign (Washington, D.C.), by 
>Barbara Jeanne Polo
>Arizona Toxics Information (Bisbee, Ariz.), by 
>Michael Gregory
>Atlantic States Legal Foundation (Syracuse, N.Y.), by 
>Sam Sage
>Bay Area Action (Palo Alto, Calif.), by David 
>Smernoff
>California Communities Against Toxics (Rosamond, 
>Calif.), by Stormy Williams
>California-Nevada Annual Conference, United Methodist 
>Church, by Rev. S. Delgado and Rev. J. Stone
>Calvert Group (Bethesda, Md.), by Ken Scott
>Center for Environmental Health (San Francisco, 
>Calif.), by Michael Green
>Center for Marine Conservation (Washington, D.C.), by 
>Tim Eichenberg
>Center for Urban Transportation (Chicago, Ill.), by 
>Orrin Williams
>Central Texas Environmental Network, by George Cofer
>Citizen Action (Washington, D.C.), by Wenonah Hauter
>Citizen Alert (Las Vegas, Nev.), by Richard Nielsen
>Citizens Action for a Safe Environment (Falls Creek, 
>Pa.), by Mike Pirow
>Citizens Awareness Network (Shelburne Falls, Mass.), 
>by Deborah Katz
>Citizens Campaign for the Environment (N.Y.), by Jeff 
>Fullmer
>Citizens Coal Council (Washington, D.C.), by Will 
>Collette
>Citizens Commission for Clean Air in the Lake 
>Michigan Basin (Milwaukee, Wis.), by G. Alex Johnson
>Citizens Environmental Coalition (Albany, N.Y.), by 
>Anne Rabe
>Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination 
>(Lake, Mich.), by Ann Hunt
>Citizens League for Environmental Action and Recovery 
>(Manville, R.I.), by Donald Gagnon
>Clean Air Council (Philadelphia, Pa.), by Joseph Otis 
>Minott Clean Production Action (Medford, Mass.), by 
>Joel Tickner
>Clean Water Action (Washington, D.C.), by Paul 
>Schwartz
>Clean Water Fund of North Carolina (Raleigh, N.C.), 
>by Carl Rupert
>Coalition of Washington Communities (Seattle, Wash.), 
>by Chris Leman
>Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life 
>(Washington, D.C.), by Daniel Swartz
>Communities for a Better Environment (San Francisco, 
>Calif.), by Denny Larson
>Community Coalition for Environmental Justice 
>(Seattle, Wash.), by Alan Forsberg
>Consumer Federation of America (Washington, D.C.), by 
>Mary Ellen Fise
>Consumer Policy Institute, Consumers Union (New York, 
>N.Y.), by Barbara Warren
>Cook Inlet Keeper (Homer, Alaska), by Bob Shavelson
>Council on Economic Priorities (New York, N.Y.), by 
>David Monsma
>Council on International and Public Affairs (New 
>York, N.Y.), by Ward Morehouse
>Dakota Resource Council (Dickinson, N.D.), by Mark 
>Trechock Defense Depot Memphis Tennessee Concerned 
>Citizens Committee, by Doris Bradshaw
>Desert Citizens Against Pollution (Calif.), by Jane 
>Williams
>Dont Waste Arizona (Phoenix, Ariz.), by Steve Brittle 
>and Scott Meyer
>Downwinders at Risk (Texas), by Jim Schermbeck
>Ecology Center of Ann Arbor (Mich.), by Charles 
>Griffith
>Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power (State 
>College, Pa.), by Judith Johnsrud
>Environmental Defense Center (Santa Barbara, Calif.), 
>by Marc Chytilo
>Environmental Defense Fund (Washington, D.C.), by 
>Lois Epstein
>Environmental Health Coalition (San Diego, Calif.), 
>by Joy Williams
>Environmental Health Network (Chesapeake, Va.), by 
>Linda Price King
>Environmental Health Watch (Cleveland, Ohio), by 
>Stuart Greenberg
>Environmental Information Center (Washington, D.C.), 
>by Jeff Wise
>Environmental Justice Resource Center, Clark Atlanta 
>University (Ga.), by Glenn Johnson, Ph.D.
>Environmental Law and Policy Center (Chicago, Ill.), 
>by Howard Learner
>Environmental Research Foundation (Annapolis, Md.), 
>by Peter Montague
>Environmental Resource Center (Olympia, Wash.), by 
>Hays Witt
>Environmental Resource Information Network 
>(Washington, D.C.), by Ned Daly
>Environmental Stewardship Concepts (Richmond, Va.), 
>by Peter deFur
>Environmental Studies Department, Dickinson College, 
>by Michael Heiman
>Environmental Working Group (Washington, DC), by Kert 
>Davies
>Federated Conservationists of Westchester County, 
>N.Y., by Gudrun LeLash
>Federation for Industrial Retention and Renewal 
>(Chicago, Ill.), by Jim Benn
>Friends of the CoastOpposing Nuclear Pollution 
>(Edgecomb, Maine), by Anne Burt
>Friends of the Earth (Washington, D.C.), by Lisa Kahn
>Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention 
>(Houston, Texas), by Ron Parry, Ph.D.
>Georgia CouncilTrout Unlimited (Lawrenceville, Ga.), 
>by Greg Moran
>Good Neighbor Project (Cambridge, Mass.), by Sanford 
>Lewis 
>Government Accountability Project (Washington, D.C.), 
>by Tom Devine
>Government Purchasing Project (Washington, D.C.), by 
>Alicia Culver
>Grand Calumet Task Force (Whiting, Ind.), by Doreen 
>Carey Great Lakes Program, Midwest Sierra Club 
>(Madison, Wis.), by Brett Hulsey
>Great Lakes United (Buffalo, N.Y.), by Margaret 
>Wooster
>Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility 
>(Mass.), by Ted Schettler
>Greene Environmental Coalition (Yellow Springs, 
>Ohio), by Bruce Cornett
>Greenpeace (Washington, DC), by Rick Hind
>Group Against Smog and Pollution (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 
>by John Warren
>Gulf Coast Commercial Fishermans Coalition (La.), by 
>Tracy Kuhns
>Gulf Restoration Network (New Orleans, La.), by 
>Cynthia Sarthou
>Heart of America Northwest (Seattle, Wash.), by 
>Gerald Pollet
>High-Desert Citizens Against Pollution (Lancaster, 
>Calif.), by Lyle Talbot
>Idaho Conservation League (Boise, Idaho), by Mike 
>Medberry
>Illinois Citizens for Better Environment (Chicago, 
>Ill.), by Joanna Hoelscher
>Illinois Paddling Council (Carol Stream, Ill.), by 
>Donald Schueman
>Indiana Izaak Walton League (Evansville, Ind.), by 
>Chuck Bauer
>Indoor Air Information Service (Santa Cruz, Calif.), 
>by Hal Levin
>Institute for Environmental Issues and Policy 
>Assessment (Baton Rouge, La.), by Joel Lindsay
>Institute for Policy Research (Evanston, Ill.), by 
>Allen Schnaiberg
>Institute for Social Science Research on Natural 
>Resources, Utah 
>State University, by Lori Hunter
>International Institute for Sustainable Development 
>(Winnipeg, Canada), by Terri Willard
>Iowa Sierra Club (Des Moines, Iowa), by Debbie 
>Neustadt
>John Muir Chapter of the Sierra Club (Madison, Wis.), 
>by Caryl Terrell
>John Snow Institute Center for Environmental Health 
>Studies (Boston, Mass.), by Richard Clapp, Sc.D.
>Kansas Natural Resources Council (Topeka, Kan.), by 
>Ellie Skokan
>Kentucky Resources Council (Frankfort, Ky.), by Tom 
>Fitzgerald
>Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation 
>(Tallahassee, Fla.), by Cynthia Valencic
>Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club (Texas), by Neil 
>Carman, Ph.D.
>Los Angeles Physicians for Social Responsibility 
>(Calif.), by Jonathan Parfrey
>Louisiana Coalition for Tax Justice (Baton Rouge, 
>La.), by Stephanie Anthony
>Louisiana Environmental Action Network (New Orleans, 
>La.), by Karen Sarradet
>Maine Peoples Alliance (Bangor, Maine), by John 
>Dieffenbacher-Krall
>Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club (Flintstone, 
>Md.), by Glen Besa
>Memphis Environmental Action Coalition (Tenn.), by 
>Scott Banbury
>Merrimack River Watershed Council (Lawrence, Mass.), 
>by Ralph Goodno
>Michigan Environmental Council (Lansing, Mich.), by 
>Dave Dempsey
>Midwest Center for Labor Research (Chicago, Ill.), by 
>Robert Ginsburg
>Midwest Sierra Club (Madison, Wis.), by Carl Zichella
>Military Production Network (Washington, D.C.), by 
>Maureen Eldredge
>Military Toxics Project (Lewiston, Maine), by Cathy 
>Lemar
>Mineral Policy Center (Washington, D.C.), by Philip 
>Hocker
>Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (St. 
>Paul, Minn.), by Peter Bachman
>Minnesota Citizens for a Better Environment 
>(Minneapolis, Minn.), by Lisa Doerr
>Minnesota Clean Water Action Alliance (Minneapolis, 
>Minn.), by Marie Zellar
>Mississippi River Basin Alliance (St. Louis, Mo.), by 
>Suzi Wilkins
>Missouri Coalition for the Environment (St. Louis, 
>Mo.), by Pat Waterston
>Mobile Bay Audubon Society (Ala.), by Myrt Jones
>Montana Environmental Information Center (Helena, 
>Mont.), by Anne Hedges
>Mothers and Others (New York, N.Y.), by Wendy Gordon
>National Audubon Society (Washington, D.C.), by Dan 
>Beard
>Native Ecology Initiative (Brookline Village, Mass.), 
>by Lillian Wilmore
>Native Forest Network (Missoula, Mont.), by Billy 
>Stern
>Natural Resources Defense Council (Washington, D.C.), 
>by Erik Olson
>Network for Environmental and Economic 
>Responsibility, UCC (Wheaton, Md.), by Rev. Douglas 
>Hunt
>New England Environmental Network (Medford, Mass.), 
>by Caroline Simmons
>New Jersey Environmental Lobby (Trenton, N.J.), by 
>Marie Curtis
>New Mexico Physicians for Social Responsibility 
>(Albuquerque, N.M.), by Dan Kerlinsky, MD
>New York Public Interest Research Group (New York, 
>N.Y.), Steven Romalewski
>New York Rivers United (Rome, N.Y.), by Bruce 
>Carpenter
>North Baton Rouge Environmental Association (La.), by 
>Florence Robinson
>North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network 
>(Durham, N.C.), by Jim Warren
>Northern Plains Resource Council (Billings, Mont.), 
>by Jerry Sikorski
>Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides 
>(Eugene, Ore.), by Norma Grier
>Nuclear Waste Citizens Coalition (Washington, D.C.), 
>by Fred Millar
>Ohio Environmental Council (Columbus, Ohio), by Sandy 
>Huntzinger
>Ohio Valley Environmental Council (Proctorville, 
>Ohio), by Diane Bady
>Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers (Denver, Colo.), by 
>Richard Miller
>Oklahoma Agent Orange Foundation (Lexington, Okla.), 
>by James Gosvenor and David Carter 
>Oklahoma Toxics Campaign (Guthrie, Okla.), by Earl 
>Hatley
>OMB Watch (Washington, D.C.), by Jeff Thomas
>Pacific Studies Center (Mountain View, Calif.), by 
>Lenny Siegel
>Pamlico-Tar River Foundation (Washington, N.C.), by 
>Kristin Rowles
>Pennsylvania Clean Water Action (Philadelphia, Pa.), 
>by Robert Wendelgass
>Pennsylvania Environmental Network (Pa.), by George 
>Knox
>Pennsylvania Fair Tax Coalition (Scotland, Pa.), by 
>Alanna Hartzok
>People Against Contaminated Environments (Beaumont, 
>Texas), by Roy Malveaux
>People for Puget Sound (Olympia, Wash.), by Michael 
>Kent
>Physicians for Social Responsibility (Washington, 
>D.C.), by Alfonso Lopez
>Puget Soundkeeper (Seattle, Wash.), by B.J. Cummings
>Pure Water for Kansas Program/Kansas Wildlife 
>Federation (Pretty 
>Prairie, Kan.), by Larry Zuckerman
>Rivers Alliance of Connecticut (Collinsville, Conn.), 
>by Sarah Faulkner Leff
>Saratoga Springs Hazardous Waste Coalition (N.Y.), by 
>Marion Trieste
>Sierra Club (Washington, D.C.), by Kathryn Hohmann
>Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, Louisiana Office (New 
>Orleans, La.), by Jerald White
>Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (San Jose, Calif.), 
>by Ted Smith
>Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic 
>Justice (Albuquerque, N.M.), by Richard Moore
>Southwest Research and Information Center 
>(Albuquerque, N.M.), by Chris Shuey
>Surfers Tired of Pollution (San Diego, Calif.), by 
>Donna Frye
>Tehachapi Residents Against Pollution (Calif.), by 
>Yvonne Hartnett
>The Chemical Connection (Austin, Texas), by Susan 
>Pitman
>The Earth Day Coalition (Cleveland, Ohio), by Scott 
>Sanders
>The Environmental Network (Cincinnati, Ohio), by 
>Marilyn Wall
>The Loka Institute (Amherst, Mass.), by Richard 
>Sclove
>Toxics Action Center (Boston, Mass.), by Eric Weltman
>Trend Environmental Network (Miami, Fla.), by Jessica 
>Bonzon
>Trustees for Alaska (Anchorage, Alaska), by Stephen 
>Koteff
>Tulane Institute for Environmental Law (New Orleans, 
>La.), by Jerry Speir
>Urban Options (East Lansing, Mich.), by LeRoy Harvey
>Utah County Clean Air Coalition (Provo, Utah), by 
>Gary Bryner
>Unison Institute (Washington, D.C.), by John Chelen
>United Methodist General Board of Church and Society 
>(Washington, D.C.), by Paz Artaza-Regan
>United States Public Interest Research Group 
>(Washington, D.C.), 
>by Carolyn Hartmann
>Waynesboro College Environmental Group (Smithfield, 
>Pa.), by 
>Charlotte Firestone
>West Michigan Region Environmental Network (Montague, 
>Mich.), 
>by Diana Anderson
>Western Organization of Resource Councils 
>(Washington, D.C.), 
>by Mabel Dobbs
>Wisconsin Citizens for a Better Environment 
>(Milwaukee, Wis.), by 
>Susan Mudd
>Wisconsins Environmental Decade (Madison, Wis.), by 
>Keith Reopelle
>Womens Environment and Development Organization (New 
>York, N.Y.), by Pamela Ransom
>Working Group on Community Right-to-Know (Washington, 
>D.C.), by Paul Orum
>World Learning (Washington, D.C.), by Diane Mailey
>Yat Kitischee Native American Center (Naples, Fla.), 
>by Oannes A. Pritzker

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