8.3.05
Protection through Information: New Tool Assists EPA with Knowledge Management - Articles
Protection through Information: New Tool Assists EPA with Knowledge Management - Articles
Protecting the public from environmental dangers is a time-consuming and expensive endeavor, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) now has a powerful tool to effectively manage data on hazardous waste sites. The EPA’s Knowledge Management Application (EPAKMA) will cut costs and streamline the information collected by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly referred to as the Superfund program.
Enacted in December 1980, the Superfund program taxes chemical and petroleum industries. The tax money collected under the act is used for the clean-up of uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites. If no person or party is found liable for the hazardous waste identified, money from the Superfund program is allocated for the clean-up of the site.
The EPA is required to follow a standard set of procedures under the Superfund program to determine whether a site contains contaminants that are at a high enough concentration to warrant action by the agency. If contaminants are suspected at a site, the EPA is required to follow a remediation process to determine appropriate action.
The Superfund program and its requirements have resulted in the generation of a large amount of data that is frequently referred to and used during the site evaluation process. The data is stored in three different locations:
* the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) database, a database that contains all data collected on a particular site;
* the Federal Facilities Agreement Commitment Tracking Report (FFACTR), a bi-monthly report that provides the current status of documents under review for a particular region; and
* annual site management plans, non-standard reports that are generated by regional project managers to illustrate progress at a specific site and are updated on an annual basis.
¶ 08:48
Protecting the public from environmental dangers is a time-consuming and expensive endeavor, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) now has a powerful tool to effectively manage data on hazardous waste sites. The EPA’s Knowledge Management Application (EPAKMA) will cut costs and streamline the information collected by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly referred to as the Superfund program.
Enacted in December 1980, the Superfund program taxes chemical and petroleum industries. The tax money collected under the act is used for the clean-up of uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites. If no person or party is found liable for the hazardous waste identified, money from the Superfund program is allocated for the clean-up of the site.
The EPA is required to follow a standard set of procedures under the Superfund program to determine whether a site contains contaminants that are at a high enough concentration to warrant action by the agency. If contaminants are suspected at a site, the EPA is required to follow a remediation process to determine appropriate action.
The Superfund program and its requirements have resulted in the generation of a large amount of data that is frequently referred to and used during the site evaluation process. The data is stored in three different locations:
* the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) database, a database that contains all data collected on a particular site;
* the Federal Facilities Agreement Commitment Tracking Report (FFACTR), a bi-monthly report that provides the current status of documents under review for a particular region; and
* annual site management plans, non-standard reports that are generated by regional project managers to illustrate progress at a specific site and are updated on an annual basis.
¶ 08:48
