[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 72 (Friday, April 15, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19950-19951]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-7576]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OEI-2005-2002; FRL-7998-8]


Office of Environmental Information; Announcement of 
Environmental Data Standards Council Revised Data Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of data availability.

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SUMMARY: Notice of availability is hereby given for six revised data 
standards--Biological Taxonomy, Contact Information, Facility Site 
Identification, Permitting Information, Tribal Identifier and SIC/
NAICS. The Biological Taxonomy Data Standard identifies specific data 
elements necessary for consistent and unambiguous identification of 
biological organisms of environmental interest. The Contact Information 
Data Standard describes a point of contact, address and communication 
information. The Facility Site Identification Data Standard provides 
for the unique identification of facilities of environmental interest. 
The Permitting Information Data Standard incorporates the original 
permitting standard and extends the scope to include information 
germane to multiple permitting programs. The Tribal Identifier Data 
Standard adopts the Bureau of Land Management tribal names and codes 
necessary to identify federally recognized American Indian and Alaska 
Native entities. The SIC/NAICS Data Standard provides information on 
business activities through reference to the Standard Industrial 
Classification (SIC) and the

[[Page 19951]]

North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Spencer; Environmental 
Protection Agency; 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, MC 2822T; Washington, DC 
20460; phone: 202 566 1651; fax: 202 566 1624; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The standards are comprised of data 
elements, formats, and definitions. Each standard document provides an 
overview diagram that depicts the organization of the standard.
     Key changes to the standards include:
     Identifiers and Code Lists are paired with context data 
elements.
     Contact Information Data Standard--becomes the primary 
standard for all contact related information and is referenced in other 
data standards.
     Facility Site Identification Data Standard--is 
restructured to reference rather than replicate appropriate primary 
standards (e.g., contact information) and to include the Federal 
Facility Data Standard information.
     Federal Facility Data Standard--is incorporated entirely 
into the Facility Site Identification Data Standard and is no longer 
its own standard.
    These standards were developed and revised by the Environmental 
Data Standards Council (EDSC). The EDSC is a partnership of among EPA, 
States, Tribes which promotes the efficient sharing of environmental 
information through the cooperative development of data standards. The 
EDSC conducted a technical review of the revised standards by U.S. EPA 
staff and the States in the Fall 2004. These documents reflect changes 
based on the comments received during the review.
    The standards are intended for use in environmental data exchanges 
among States, Tribal entities and the U.S. EPA. They are not meant to 
dictate or to limit data an agency chooses to collect for its own 
internal purposes. Changes in data standards should not be interpreted 
to mean that revisions to databases or information systems are 
required. What they do mean is that formats for sharing data with 
Exchange Network (EN) partners will change because the Exchange Network 
has adopted Shared Schema Components based on the data standards. The 
SSCs are available on the Exchange Network Web site at http://www.exchangenetwork.net.
    The draft data standards and ``Frequently Asked Questions'' 
document can be found on EDSC's Web site http://www.envdatastandards.net/ and are available through the Docket system 
as indicated below.

I. General Information

A. How Can I Get Copies of These Documents and Other Related 
Information?

    1. Docket. EPA has established an official public docket for this 
action under Docket ID No. OEI-2005-0002. The official public docket is 
the collection of materials that is available for public viewing at the 
OEI Docket in the EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room B102, 1301 
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public 
Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public 
Reading Room is (202) 566-1744 and the telephone number for the OEI 
Docket is (202) 566-1752.
    2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document 
electronically through the EPA Internet under the ``Federal Register'' 
listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.
    An electronic version of the public docket is available through 
EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, EPA Dockets. You may 
use EPA Dockets at http://www.epa.gov/edocket/ to view public comments, 
access the index listing of the contents of the official public docket, 
and to access those documents in the public docket that are available 
electronically. Although not all docket materials may be available 
electronically, you may still access any of the publicly available 
docket materials through the docket facility identified in Unit I.B. 
Once in the system, select ``search,'' then key in the appropriate 
docket identification number.

    Dated: April 8, 2005.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division, Office of Environmental 
Information, Office of Information Collection.
[FR Doc. 05-7576 Filed 4-14-05; 8:45 am]
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