[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 132 (Tuesday, July 10, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 35976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-17203]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7009-1]


Internet Availability of Data on a Subset of Federal Facilities 
in the Sector Facility Indexing Project

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the 
Internet release of data on a subset of federal facilities in the 
Sector Facility Indexing Project (SFIP). Based upon the positive 
results of an Agency study that evaluated the progress of this project, 
the EPA announced on May 17, 2000 that the SFIP would be expanding to 
include a subset of federal facilities. (See 65 FR 34704, May 31, 
2000). The new federal facility subset includes all federal facilities 
which are considered to be major facilities under at least two of the 
three following statutes: the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and 
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. This new subset joins the 
approximately 625 facilities already profiled in SFIP. The existing 
facilities address five industry sectors: Automobile assembly; 
petroleum refining; pulp manufacturing; iron and steel manufacturing; 
and primary smelting and refining of aluminum, copper, lead, and zinc 
(nonferrous metals).

DATES: The SFIP was expanded to include data on a subset of federal 
facilities on June 25, 2001, and the data is currently available to the 
public.

ADDRESSES: Data may be accessed electronically via the Internet at the 
following address: http://www.epa.gov/oeca/sfi.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Lischinsky, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Office of Compliance (2223-A), 1200 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone: (202)564-2628, fax: 
(202)564-0050; e-mail: [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As a community right-to-know project, SFIP 
is a computerized database of environmental information that provides 
the public with facility-level compliance data in one location on the 
Internet. This database makes it possible for anyone to easily find and 
compare information on the environmental record of many industrial 
facilities. Government agencies can use the information as a planning 
tool, and facilities can benchmark their data against those of other 
facilities, or simply monitor their own regulatory performance. SFIP 
includes such information as a facility's compliance and enforcement 
history; information on pollutant releases and spills; and demographics 
of the surrounding community.
    When EPA launched the SFIP website (www.epa.gov/oeca/sfi) in May 
1998 (see 63 FR 27281, May 18, 1998), the Agency made a commitment to 
monitor and evaluate the progress of this project. User groups both 
inside and outside the Agency were consulted in our evaluation and the 
results were positive. SFIP has been extensively accessed by a variety 
of users. They have found the site easy to navigate and the information 
useful, resulting in numerous analyses. Users have commented that SFIP 
has met the challenge of summarizing complex compliance and pollutant 
release information from multiple statutory programs. They also have 
stated that the project serves as an incentive to achieve and maintain 
compliance while helping to improve data quality in the underlying 
databases.
    During the evaluation of SFIP, EPA received feedback that the 
project should provide for additional sectors to make the project more 
useful to a broader audience. Prior to expanding the project, the 
Agency consulted with various groups, including environmental 
organizations, industry trade associations, several States, and The 
Environmental Council of the States. The expansion to federal 
facilities has been viewed as a positive step as it will provide the 
public with additional information on the U.S. government's own 
environmental performance. With this expansion, we have continued to 
ensure that we maintain the public's confidence in the integrity of the 
data. Regions, States and the affected facilities were given the 
opportunity to review the data and resolve any data quality issues 
through a coordinated EPA/State effort prior to release.

    Dated: June 29, 2001.
Ken Gigliello,
Acting Chief, Air, Hazardous Waste, & Toxics Branch, Compliance 
Assessment & Media Programs Div., Office of Compliance.
[FR Doc. 01-17203 Filed 7-9-01; 8:45 am]
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