ECHO Comments Archive

"Thank you for making this critical data about facility performance available to the public on-line. Public access to this information will benefit both the regulated community as well as the public. Facilities that regularly comply with the law will have their records opened for all to see and their good track records can be lauded, while facilities that are often in violation of the law will be forced to explain their actions to the communities they harm the most, and thus will likely be more accountable. We commend EPA for beginning the work to make this information available to the public.

Features of the site that are particularly useful:
-Listing whether the facility is in noncompliance in the current quarter, as well as the number of quarters the facility has been in noncompliance over the previous eight quarters, as is done in the "Compliance Summary Data," is helpful and useful.
-Information on the CWA/NPDES Compliance Status, detailing if facilities were in noncompliance or Significant Noncompliance, at which discharge point, and in which quarter, is all necessary information to report.
-The environmental conditions of the receiving waters is critical information, and valuable.
-The site is relatively easy to navigate. Having links to the "Data Dictionary" by each section of the water facility reports is helpful, it is easy to search by facility number or name, as well as many other parameters.

Areas where the site could be improved:
-The site should be searchable country-wide. The limitation on the number of results that can come from a single search is an unfortunate constraint to the site.
-The Permit Compliance System currently includes information on stormwater, general, pretreatment and CAFO permits, but this information is not yet available on ECHO. There is no reason why this information should be excluded. It can be very important to the public.
-ECHO should include TRI data within its reports, rather than by linking to EnviroFacts.
-ECHO should include more pollutant release data such as: air emission inventory, hazardous waste generation (from Biennial Reporting System), and overall permitted loadings for each Clean Water Act chemical.
-ECHO should include Notices of Violation taken by EPA or states.
-ECHO should allow searching for spills reported to the emergency response notification system (ERNS).
-Significant amounts of data are missing from the certain states - for example California. If states do not report information on every major facility in their state, the data is compromised, and that appears to be the case for California. The web site should make it very clear that EPA and California have failed to report data on all major facilities, and indicate and name the number of major facilities for which there is no data. EPA and the states should be taking active steps to ensure that all data for major facilities in the state are reported.
-EPA should work with states to get Clean Water Act "minor discharger" violations added to the system. This is a significant whole because 90 percent of all dischargers as so-called "minor." When a search is conducted for major and minor facilities, the resulting table should clearly indicate which facilities are major and which are minor, which is not the case currently.
-Information about when facilities were inspected, by whom, and details about the type of inspection and enforcement action taken are needed for users to understand the extent of oversight.
-More detail needs to be provided on the type of inspection performed so that citizens know how thorough an inspection was - for example, who performed the inspection and was it a random, unannounced inspection? Did it last several days or several hours? How much effluent was sampled, and for what? What was learned from the inspection? None of these and many other similar, important questions can be answered from ECHO currently.
Instead of merely providing percentages for violations, citizens should have access to the underlying data, so that one can determine the quantities discharged.
-Data should be available for as many years as EPA has it. There is no reason that data should be provided only for the past two years. Also, even if ECHO does not show all historic violations, at least it should show all enforcement actions.
-Users should have the option to have data queries either printed to the screen, as is currently the case, or to a spreadsheet, such as Excel or Access.
-Information about the demographic profile of the surrounding area is very useful and helpful. There should be more search parameters for demographics, not just minority percentages.
- received from 4,511 unaffiliated users

"I very much appreciate the information your website provides, I sincerely hope it continues. The public needs to have the ability to see how the companies around us are performing in terms of environmental impact. Thank you again."
- Unaffiliated user

"...Thank you for making critical data about facility performance with the Clean Water Act available to the public on-line. Water pollution is a critical public health issue. I commend EPA for beginning the work to make this information available to the public. * Significant amounts of data are missing from certain states - for example California. If states do not report information on every major facility in their state, the data is compromised, and that appears to be the case for California. The web site should make it very clear that EPA and California have failed to report data on all major facilities, and indicate and name the number of major facilities for which there is no data. EPA and the states should be taking active steps to ensure that all data for major facilities in the state are reported."
- Unaffiliated user

"Great site! I would add a feature that retains the column headers when a visitor scrolls down the list of sites."
- Public interest group user

"The EPA Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) web site is an important service for our communities; both compliance with and violations of the Clean Water Act affect our lives, livelihoods and the health of our future generations. It is vital for citizens to have free and easy access to this type of performance data -- in order to help ensure accountability. I appreciate that the EPA has taken the steps to make it public and searchable online. Thank you for making critical data about facility performance available to the public on-line. I would, in fact, appreciate having more detailed information, background data outlining non-compliance, and additional data in areas such as air quality, etc."
- Unaffiliated user

"I just learned of the existence of this web site. I think it's an excellent resource. I also understand that this is a pilot project that may be discontinued. This is public information which should be readily available to the public. Please continue with and even expand the information available through this web site. Perhaps knowing that this information is readily available to the public will discourage Clean Air and Clean Water Act violations and hold violators more accountable. Thank you for your time and consideration."
- Unaffiliated user

"I would like to voice my approval of the website and hope that the EPA will choose to continue offering this service to the American People /free/ of charge. I believe this web site can be used as a tool to better encourage polluters to change their act."
- Unaffiliated user

"this is a fabulous site! The access to information and the way it is broken down is very valuable. I understand that you are under pressure to remove the data...please DO NOT take down the site, it is valuable public information. My only request (aside from 'please keep it up!') is that the data be made available in XML format as well. thanks!"
- Unaffiliated user

"Thank you for making critical data about facility performance available to the public on-line. Public access to this information will benefit both the regulated community as well as the public. Facilities that regularly comply with the law will have their records opened for all to see and their good track records can be lauded, while facilities that are often in violation of the law will be forced to explain their actions to the communities they harm the most, and thus will likely be more accountable. I commend EPA for beginning the work to make this information available to the public. I encourage the EPA to expand its the current ECHO site to be more inclusive of all pollutant release data."
- Unaffiliated user

"EXCELLENT site! Not only does it provide information that the public should be aware of, but it is very well orgainzed and easy to use. Good navigation."
- Unaffiliated user

"This is a great site. It allows the public to know who in their community is polluting and who is behaving responsibly. This information will put pressure on polluters to reduce their impact. Please keep this site."
- Unaffiliated user

"I think it is invaluable to have information like this available to the public - we have a common goal - making the planet better - the public can assist and can help monitor sites with problems. It would be helpful to have more detail - please keep the site up beyond 60 days."
- Academic user

"I think this site is a great service to the public and their right to know. Thank you for offering it and I hope it stays up."
- Unaffiliated user

"I just found this site and was impressed with the efficiency and the amount of information it offers. It is an excellent research tool and I hope you keep it online!"
- Unaffiliated user

"I very much appreciate the online enforcement and compliance history put forth by EPA. It helps identify organizations that are polluting my surroundings. It will enable me to boycott such organizations or take actions against them. I fully support this online registry of offendors & would encourage EPA to make it a permanent fixture. Thanks."
- Unaffiliated user

"Please maintain this valuable site, a wonderful resource for individuals and communities who have a right to know about pollution in their communities."
- Unaffiliated user

"i really appreciate this information being made available to the public. i have young children and a newborn grandchild and am very concerned about the environment for them in the future. i strongly urge you to keep this information available to the taxpayers and consumers of this world."
- Unaffiliated user

"This is a tremendous resource to help us track the actions of potential polluters in our watershed. It helps us identify persistent flaunters of environmental laws and, just as importantly, lets us know which industries are doing a good job at manageing their pollution."
- Unaffiliated user

"Thank you for making critical data about facility performance available to the public on-line. Public access to this information will benefit both the regulated community as well as the public. Facilities that regularly comply with the law will have their records opened for all to see and their good track records can be lauded, while facilities that are often in violation of the law will be forced to explain their actions to the communities they harm the most, and thus will likely be more accountable. I commend EPA for beginning the work to make this information available to the public. The site could be improved by giving specific information on violations. I was not able to obtain this information on facilities in my area. Thank you for the opportunity to make my comments. Please continue to make this information available to the public."
- Unaffiliated user

"I think that ECHO is a great idea. The environment belongs to us all and affects us all. We need to make sure that industry is kept accountable, and making this information easily accessible is of significant value to us all. I think that this is an appropriate use of public money. Thank you very much."
- Unaffiliated user

"I heard about your new site and it is fabulous! I was not looking for particular information at this time but I look forward to coming back in the future. Please continue the site...There was one small bug, in that when pressing "back" from search results to modify the search, County data field had been reset and I had to reselect the state each time to get that field back."
- Unaffiliated user

"I would just like to say that this site is well done and serves an important public function. It is my hope that it is continued past the 60-day comment period and also forms the foundation for more information in future years."
- Unaffiliated user

"Kindly keep the water data searchable by the public. Environmental protection will not occur of the information is not available to the public. A truely democratic society requires access to information on which to base decisions."
- Unaffiliated user

"I wish to commend you on your ECHO web site. It is a great source of information and provides a long needed service to the public. Too little of this type of information is available; and, given the environmental impact violations of this type have on a community, public disclosure can only be beneficial. Thank you for your efforts. I hope that you will maintain the ECHO site permanently."
- Unaffiliated user

"Having this data availbale online is very important to the public. This information is important for us as we track track environmental issues. Please continue to make this information available and easy to access. Thanks."
- Unaffiliated user

"As a concerned prviate citizen, I think it is paramount that the EPA keep the ECHO database online. Although environmental records can be requested offline, online access allows citizens and businesses to obtain information in a more timely and efficient manner. Thank you for your time."
- Unaffiliated user

"The stated purpose of the Enforcement & Compliance History Online (ECHO) website is to provide the user with information on federal, state, and local compliance inspections, detected violations, and related enforcement actions. The availability of such information will assist some stakeholders in evaluating the compliance status of their local industries, but in its current form, the ECHO website does not meet that goal. From a review of several database listings, it is apparent that the website does not provide enough information to the user to determine the extent or severity of the permit violation(s). The ECHO website should present more detail to the user, such as a full description of the violation(s), the amount—if any—of pollutant(s) released, and the type of paper work or other non-pollutant related violation(s). The enforcement summaries provide some information on the monetary penalty(ies) placed on the facility of interest, but no information on what other actions the facility must undertake to be compliant. It is unclear why the "Demographic Profile of Surrounding Area" section is included in the facility summary because such data were not included in the stated purpose of the ECHO website. Although detailed population data near the facility may be interesting to some users, this data does not aid in the compliance status determination. It is recommended that demographic information be added to the Envirofacts website, and removed from this enforcement and compliance database. It would be more helpful if each ECHO listing had a link to the facility's Envirofacts summary. Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments."
- Trade group user

"this system provides a useful tool for citizens to monitor environmental monitoring and compliance in their locale. However, viewing the system for registered enitities in my area, while the structure of the Data Base was fair, I found the entries to either be lacking, or noting that data forms had not been submitted, in many cases. I am therefore not encouraged that environmental monitoring is providing the safeguards for health and welfare of our citizens, if the data is not even being recieved. With our present administration's overt disregard of the health and welfare of our citizenry, it will be up to each individual to look out for themselves, their families' and their neighbors' welfare. In addition, given the lack of responsive local action by state agencies, on cases that have been reported by citizens, it appears enforcement may, by necessity, soon become a citizen initiative as well."
- Unaffiliated user

"Wonderful site and great service! I found a site near me that had not compliance problems noted. Good news. I also found that the nearby city had problems meeting deadlines despite promises they made to me that they were on schedule. I will meet with them to better understand the problem. I really appreciate this service. It allows me to ask smarter questions and have a more constructive discussion."
- Public interest group user

"This is a great site. It is good to have information on permits available at one place and always available. Thanks"
- Public interest group user

"I want to say that I feel ECHO is a great service. It should be the right of every citizen to know the environmental condition of the surrounding areas within which they live. As a taxpayer that takes pride in my community and fights for it's welfare with my time and my dollars, I feel that anyone who threatens any part of that community should be held accountable before the public eye. As an individual I vote Yay on ECHO. Thank you."
- Unaffiliated user

"As a private citizen, I believe that public data like this should be available to anyone who wants to look at it. It should be easy to find and not buried under a pile of beaurocracy. As a father, I would definitely use this site to evaluate possible locations for where to move or send my kids to school."
- Public interest group user

"Thank you for providing the ECHO web-based resource. ECHO is a wonderful way for my Environmental Science students to explore real-world environmental issues. The ability to search any locality of interest and find relevant data is of great value. Please continue, and even expand, this resource."
- Academic user

"I find the ECHO site and the information it contains to be very valuable and I strongly urge that it continues to be made available to the public. Thank you."
- Unaffiliated user

"First, I'd like to say that this compilation of information is very well done. As a state-level staff that handles facility NPDES permit compliance & enforcement, this website would definitely assist me in ensuring that correct and up-to-date data is in the federal system for facilties, as well as provide an at-a-glance overview of their 24 month compliance status. Also, having all the program status listed together (i.e. CWA, CAA, RCRA) this will facilitate intra-department communication on compliance issues. One item I feel could be improved regarding the CWA/NPDES Compliance Status table: I am concerned that the current set-up creates the appearance of double the violations if the facility is out-of compliance in one quarter, and returns to compliance in the subsequent quarter. [I was reviewing data for a minor facility.] Both the month non-compliance occurs and the month they return to compliance are listed (in gray type) on the same row. Currently both appear to be! violations. Is it possible to set up the table such that date of non-compliance would be listed on one row and the return to compliance would be listed on a different row, with row headings to specify this difference? I've already had one facility call me with a concern that they were out of compliance twice as much as they knew of. The other confusing aspect of this table is the cryptic language used for permit required submittals/ schedule requirements. This language is clear to me, as I am accustomed to interpreting the PCS reports, although not descriptive enough for facility personnel or for the general public to understand. Overall, congratulations on an effective database of information!"
- State government user

"...As I reviewed the ECHO historical data, many errors were noted for just one of our facilities that I checked...and I do know that these errors can be corrected if we submit the corrections....BUT my question is WHY????? should we go to the trouble to correct all the errors noted, and why do we want to monthly, quarterly or periodically review this material for correctness in the future....this is another cost due to time involved to correct data entry errors or just foolish errors in someone not knowing the permit values, parameters, or requirements.........This acronym use is challenging for us that are in the Environmental field, so no telling what a newspaper, citizen group or whomever might assume from all of this, as well as attorneys that want to look a more $$$$ And I do ask all this in a sincere way???"
- Regulated entity user

"content very helpful. Hard to find EPA ID for facility. Search screen does not refresh properly on second search for state and county fields. Some metadata for abbreviations would be helpful. Advanced searches should be easier to find."
- Regulated entity user

"In general, as a [xxx] feels it is necessary to always be able to comment and report errors on this and future websites that are sponsored by USEPA and that display our operational records on the internet. Accurate information was provided to [xxx] EPA and it should be provided accurately to the public. Dischargers should be given the ability to review and comment on any future reports prior to them being available to the public. This will help to ensure accuracy, proper transfer, sharing and display of public information- correct public information. As noted on your website, it is mentioned that corrections could be made within 2-3 days. While the website has examples of errors such as incorrect addresses, the errors we provided here are more technical and may require additional time to resolve. However, the types of errors we found are most disturbing to us and are the ones that really matter to the public and the regulated community and end up doing unnecessary damage when incorrect operational data is provided to the public."
- Regulated entity user

"It is important to have easy public access to this information. Please keep the site available to the public and consider ways to increase the amount and type of permit information available. Thank you."
- Public interest group user

"This is a very handy web site for researching EPA enforcement and compliance history. I hope you will make it permanent."
- Public interest group user

"This is a great site, please keep it running past the 60-day trial period!!"
- Unaffiliated user

"The web site is easy to access and look at the data..."
- Regulated entity user

"I love this site! It has greatly simplified initial facility surveys by providing COMPREHENSIVE coverage at a HIGH level of detail. Of course, the quality of the data is critical in relying on this information to make decisions about land use and land transactions. I find that I still need to cross reference the information on this site against private information company reports to ensure that "orphan" facilities are caught (for example, where zip code, county, city, or state data was entered improperly. Of course, no information source can catch every error, which underscores the need to field check all sites and never to rely completely on database reports. As these databases become easier to access, more and more people are overlooking the need to physically check the sites. I find that locating military facilities can be tricky -- they often have unique zip codes and city names. Is there a way to provide additional search capabilities for military facilities? This is especially critical since military facilities tend to have significant environmental impacts, hold many permits, and are often major violators. Thank you for your continuing efforts to provide quality public information."
- Commercial user

"This is a very helpful site, please keep it around!"
- Unaffiliated user