October 18, 1995

The Certification Chronicle

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Mobile Sources
(OMS) Vehicle Programs and Compliance Division (VPCD) is in the
process of replacing the mainframe-based Michigan Terminal System
(MTS) Certification and Fuel Economy Information System (CFEIS). 
The new CFEIS will run on a Sun UNIX server using the Oracle7
relational data base management system (RDBMS). The National
Vehicle and Fuel Emission Laboratory (NVFEL), which has operated
and maintained MTS CFEIS, is overseeing the development of CFEIS
by the EPA Systems Development Center (SDC) in Arlington,
Virginia under EPA's Mission Oriented Systems Engineering Support
(MOSES) contract.  

The Facts

Conversion of CFEIS data from the present mainframe platform and
flat file structure to the desired relational database management
system is being carried out concurrently with system development. 
To expedite development activities and to allow concurrent
processing on the old and new platforms, the CFEIS Project Team
has proposed a phased approach for software development. Phase 1
of CFEIS (known as an Initial Operating Version (IOV CFEIS)) will
replicate MTS CFEIS functionalities with relatively minor
modifications for most application subsystems.  Phase 2 of CFEIS
(known as the Vision CFEIS), however, would provide users with
additional capabilities including an interactive environment for
more efficient and streamlined processing.

For VPCD and NVFEL, IOV CFEIS will operate in a 
workstation/server environment, with the server performing both 
database management and X-Windows session management.  Users will 
be able to access the system by selecting a graphical image (an 
"icon") on UNIX, Windows, or Macintosh workstations.  The server 
will be linked to the workstations via X-Windows emulation 
software. 
  
The Emissions data for the 1994 and later model years, Fuel
Economy data for the 1992 and later model years, and all Vehicle
Information MTS CFEIS data will be converted to the new system. 
This conversion includes both a change in how the data are
represented within the system (from the older Extended Binary
Coded Decimal Interchange Format [EBCDIC] used on MTS, to
American Standard Code for Information Exchange [ASCII]), as well
as a new format for organizing the data (relational tables
instead of the MTS flat file format).  Data of a transient
nature, such as report files and intermediate fiels, will not be
converted.  

As part of the development of CFEIS data conversion software,
data reconciliation programs will be developed.  These programs
will compare the converted data which are stored in the CFEIS
Oracle data base with the data stored in the ASCII representation
of MTS CFEIS data files and will produce exception reports.

The Interface

The CFEIS Project Team proposes a forms-based graphical user
interface (GUI) for EPA VPCD system users.  The provision of ad
hoc query capability, already planned for VPCD users of CFEIS, is
proposed for other EPA users as well.  The manufacturers will
continue to drop off and pick up submissions and reports from a
Sun workstation mailbox located on-site in the NVFEL facility
instead of on MTS.  Input will be similar to what was previously
specified in the Data Supplement, but changes to the format are
expected in a number of subsystems.  CFEIS will continue to
process manufacturer data submissions automatically on a periodic
(several times a day) basis, however it will implement a new
strategy for handling erroneous data submissions. 

The Communication

A  general telecommunications and networking architecture has
been specified.  The manufacturers' telecommunications option
chosen for IOV CFEIS is to dial in to a UNIX workstation on the
NVFEL LAN, using the industry standard Point-to-Point Protocol
(PPP) and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) for file transfers. This
will be very similar to the electronic mailboxes presently used
on MTS.  The option offers good security, requiring individual
user IDs and passwords as well as providing access control at the
catalog and file levels.  PPP and FTP are available for PC and
Mac personal computers.  The connectivity required has been
successfully demonstrated at the SDC.  Additionally, the
telecommunications interface will be supplemented by a floppy
disk upload utility, and of course, the traditional paper forms.
The CFEIS Project Team has also addressed internal NVFEL access
to CFEIS. This proposed solution allows EPA NVFEL users to access
IOV CFEIS via Ethernet networks supporting DOS, UNIX, and
Macintosh clients.

The Fortification

Because CFEIS will process confidential business information
(CBI), the security architecture is also an important
consideration in the implementation of the system.  The CFEIS
Project Team has delineated general security requirements and
procedures at the Solaris operating system level and at the
Oracle data base management system level that will provide CFEIS
with C2 level security.  C2 level security relies on managed
password systems, auditing user actions, and tailored information
access controls to ensure CFEIS data will not be compromised.

At present the CFEIS team is finalizing the requirements and
beginning the logical design, with September 1996 as a target
date for conversion to IOV CFEIS.

Points of contact:
EPA:
R. Parsons
(313)  668-4324

October 18, 1995