STATE OF MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

ELECTRONIC REPORTING FOR WASTEWATER FACILITIES

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE QUESTIONS

Why Electronic DMRs?

Most wastewater facilities are required to submit to the Department a month ly Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) which typically summarizes effluent quality or groundwater monitoring well results. An Electronic DMR (EDMR) simply provides an alternative way for facilities to submit these wastewater reports. Using an electronic proc ess for submitting reports can represent significant labor savings while greatly increasing the timeliness, accuracy, and overall reliability of this information.

What is the E

lectronic Environmen

t al (E 2 ) Reporting System ?

The Department has chosen Elect ronic Environmental ( E2 ) Reporting System as the wastewater electronic reporting application for EDMR file submissions. T he Department has worked with several other states, EPA, and its consultant, enfoTech & Consulting, Inc. to incorporate recent advance s in web technology.

Th is new web application, the E 2 Reporting System, includes advances such as the use of a more modern

file format that can be used

. This newer format, Extensible Markup Language (XML), is a universal file format that is being increas ingly used for transmitting information across the Internet. The system also takes advantage of this newer technology to provide quick and easy to use forms for online data entry. Many of these new features make it be easier than ever to report electronica lly!

What are some of the benefits of EDMRs and the E 2 Reporting System?

1. Save wastewater discharge facilities compliance costs with a streamlined reporting method and readily available computer tools,

2. Save program costs by reducing resources requi red for managing paper

- based DMR reports,

3. Improve accuracy of compliance data by eliminating potential errors that might otherwise be introduced through manual data entry in the database, and

4. Improve the DE

Q wastewater program's overall effectiven ess with faster responses to data analyses, compliance assessment, and decision

- making.

What methods does the E2 Reporting System allow for submitting DMRs?

The E 2 Reporting System provides the following two methods for submitting DMRs:

1. online manual data entry in web forms, and

2. copy and paste daily data from a spreadsheet into an online web form, and

3 . submittal of preformatted XML files that meet the Department’s Electronic DMR Transmission Protocol.

What are the system requirements in order to submit EDMRs using the E 2 Reporting System?

Since the E

2 Reporting System is web based, the only system requirement for a wastewater facility to gain access to the EDMR system is a web browser. For online data entry, there are no additional system

requ irements since you will be able to enter data online, including the ability to save information whichwill be completed on a following day. The E 2 Reporting System includes an integrated process for

completing , signing, and submitting the information that was entered online.

In order to submit EDMR data to the DE Q , the data file must conform to the Department’s Electronic DMR Transmission Protocol. The protocol contains information about the EDMR data format and is available

from the E 2 Reporting System we b site. Wastewater discharge facilities can choose to develop software in

house to generate compatible data files, or purchase commercial software or services to generate these files. It is the wastewater discharge facility's responsibility to ensure that the EDMR data complies with the Department’s EDMR Transmission Protocol.

Computer requirements are:

1

. The XML capable web browser

, Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, and an Internet connection.

What general approach could be used to incorporate an EDMR f ile creating routine in my existing wastewater facility database?

In many cases, our wastewater facilities either purchased database systems or have staff that created some form of a data management system that is currently used to generate printed DMR f orms and data. In many cases, these systems also help with the calculation of annual, monthly or other average values that may need to be reported. In most cases, it will be relatively easily to modify these existing data systems to automatically generate the text files that makeup the electronic DMR. In order to accomplish this, one should refer to the EDMR file protocol document that is available from the Depar t ment’s web site. The EDMR files are simply XML formatted text files that contain your wastewa ter facility’s specific monitoring requirements and the results that you wish to report. Many newer off the shelf office products (e.g., Microsoft Office XP) now have the ability to read and export XML files.

How does the E

2 Reporting System capture an El ectronic Signature?

Electronic signature requirements are being satisfied using unique Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) that are issued to EDMR Certifiers as part of the registration process. In order to obtain a PIN, user’s will have to be the perm ittee or an authorized representative of a wastewater facility. In addition, the PIN holder must sign a notarized agreement with the Department that protects the use and confidentiality of the person’s PIN. This PIN must be entered through the secure Inter net connection when submitting each

EDMR file.

What is the procedure to request a PIN number change?

The E 2 Reporting System provides the flexibility to allow the DEP to change PIN numbers and document the reasons for changes. Potential reasons for chang ing PIN numbers are:

1. The facility’s authorized representative(s) has changed,

2. The facility has a reason to believe that the PIN security has been compromised, and

3. The DE

Q has a reason to believe that the PIN security has been compromised.

Wha t if I sent an EDMR file to the E 2 Reporting System and need to correct the report?

The system is fully functional and accepts both original submissions and revisions to those submissions.

The E 2 Reporting System automatically identifies subsequent submi ssions and flags these as revisions.

When can I begin submitting EDMR’s for my facility?Once the E2 Reporting System is placed in prod uc tion, wastewater permit holders interested in

participating in the electronic data transmission program should visit the E 2 Reporting System web site to obtain additional information. In many cases, facilities may wish to start by entering information using the online functionality of the E 2 Reporting System. The online data entry system creates a fully populated

XML fil e that contains all of the necessary DMR data. If a facility wishes to automate the creation of electronic DMR files for submittal, the permittee should review the XML schema requirements that are part of the Department’s EDMR Transmission Protocol.

From there, the facility should consider their existing data management systems and determine the steps they must take to establish a process for generating XML files. In many cases, the XML files created using the online entry process will provide an excellent reference for checking your ability to generate a pre

populated XML file.

Who can (or must) submit DMR data electronically?

Participation in electronic reporting for wastewater DMRs is voluntary. A permit holder wishing to participate must register to u se the system and the certifiers must sign an Electronic Signature Application Agreement.

How can I find out more?

Additional information is being made available on the Department’s web site.E2 REPORTING SYSTEM TECHNICAL QUESTIONS

The password I rece ived may be difficult to remember. Can I change my password?

Yes. The Department will initially issue you a password after creating your account. The first time you log in, you will be prompted to enter your old password, along with your new password. The new password should be something that will be easily remembered, and must be at least 8 characters in length. After clicking Save changes, you will be prompted to login again, using your new password. You will be e

mailed notification of this change

.

How can I view information about a facility that I am associated with?

Upon successfully logging into the system, on the left hand side, there are icons for each functional area of E2 Reporting System. Click on Facility Information in order to see whi ch facilities that you may be creating EDMRs. To see detailed information about a particular facility, click on the blue “i” to the left of the facility name. To view information about another facility, choose from the drop

- down at the top of the

page.

There is a gray bar at the top of the screen, just below the DMR tab. What does the “Facility: Cerfify: # View: #” mean?

For each facility that you are associated with, you have been assigned either a Certifier role or a Viewer

Role. Certifiers can create, certify, and submit EDMRs using E2 Reporting System. Viewers can create EDMRs, but cannot certify and submit the file. Both Certifiers and Viewers can view reports that have been submitted for a facility that they have been associated with. The information on the status bar displays the number of facilities that you have Certifier or Viewer privileges for. For example, Facility: Certify: 2 View: 1, means that you are associated with three facilities, two of which you act as Certifier,

and one t hat you are a Viewer for.

How do I preview or print my reporting requirement for a particular permit?

Click on the Reporting Requirements & Forms icon to the left. Using the tabs, select the type of report you are interested in, such as Summary DMR, or Daily DMR. Select the Facility and Permit Number from the drop

- downs at the top of the screen. Within the grid, find the month that you wish to preview the reporting requirement for, and click the icon in the View Form column. This will bring open a new browser that has two tabs labeled Form and XML. To preview the reporting requirement, click on Form. To print, right click on the form and select print.

The Preview Requirements window has appeared after I selected View Form. Can I edit the

informatio

n that is displayed through this window?

No. The Preview Requirements browser window is for displaying information only. There are two tabs, Form and XML at the top of this window. By clicking on the XML tab, you can see all of the actual XML

that is u sed to display the Form tab. Information within the XML cannot be edited within this window either. In order to do any editing of information, click on either the Download icon, or the Online Entry

icon.

How do I create an EDMR?

E2 Reporting System has three options for creating an EDMR. Users can manually enter data through an online web form, copy and paste daily data into the bottom of the web form, or they can download a template XML file and create their own EDMR. Depending on the needs and resou rces of your facility, you may choose any of these options.How do I fill out a web form?

In Reporting Requirements and Forms, after selecting the Facility and Permit Number, click on the icon in the Online Entry column that corresponds to the month you would like to create an EDMR for. This will open a new browser window. At the top of the web form, some of the information has been filled in for you, depending on the information that has been supplied by the Department. Other fields have text boxes, radio buttons and drop

- downs for you to select and fill in.

Some fields have restrictions associated with them, such as date fields. All date fields must be filled in using the following format, CCYY

- MM

- DD. For example, January 22, 2003 would be writt en 2003

- 01

- 22. Also, all drop

- downs must be populated. Near the bottom of the page is the certification area, which must
be filled in, and a comment area.

At any point, you may click the Save button and close the browser. When you are ready to contin ue with filling out the form, again, click on the Online Entry icon. The data that you had previously filled in should

be there.

For a monthly DMR, the facility selected may have multiple monitoring groups associated with it. To navigate to another mo nitoring group, either select the monitoring group from the drop

- down at the top left corner of the web form, or scroll down to the bottom of the web form and click on Save and next ‡ , or fl

Save and back..

Once you have finished filling out the entire w eb form, and you are ready to submit the file, click on

Finished and generate submission file. You will be prompted through a wizard

- like process that will lead to the Submit Reports window. Enter the PIN that has been provided to you, read the certifica tion statement, check on the I Certify, and click Submit File. The status of your submission will be displayed on the screen, and also will be sent to you via email. Next you will be prompted to download the file that you just submitted. This file is fo r record

- keeping purposes at your facility.

How do I copy and paste daily DMR data?

In Reporting Requirements and Forms, select the tab labeled Part B

– Daily. A fter selecting the Facility and Permit Number, click on the icon in the Online Entry column that corresponds to the month you would

like to create a Daily EDMR for. This will open a web form in a new browser window.

At the same time, open up your spreadsheet application, such as Microsoft Excel . Compare the parameters listed at the top of the web form with those listed on your spreadsheet. Move the columns in your spreadsheet as necessary to make them consistent with the web form. Starting with the actual daily data, highlight from the upper left hand corner of your daily data, but do not hig hlight the parameters or date/number. Select copy. Scroll down to the bottom of the web form, and paste the data into the large text box below the label Convert Data. Click on the Convert button. Scroll up and make sure that the data had copied and pas ted successfully.

Once you have finished filling out the entire web form, and you are ready to submit the file, click on Finished and generate submission file. You will be prompted through a wizard

- like process that will lead to the Submit Reports wind ow. Enter the PIN that has been provided to you, read the certification statement, check on the I Certify, and click Submit File. The status of your submission will be displayed on the screen, and also will be sent to you via email. Next you will be pro mpted to download the file that you just submitted. This file is for record

- keeping purposes at your facility.

How do I clear the tabular fields on a web form that uses copy and paste?

To clear out the fields that appear in the daily data section of the web form, scroll down to the bottom of the web form, and click on Convert. This ‘paste’ the empty text in the text field into the tabular fields.How do I download a template EDMR file?

In Reporting Requirements and Forms, a fter selecting the Facility and Permit Number, click on the icon in

the Download XML

column that corresponds to the month you would like download. You will be prompted for the location to save the template file. The template file contains all of the information that is displayed w hen using the View Form function. It can be thought of as a blank DMR form. The parameter and facility information has been filled in for you. Using a separate utility that may be provided by your facility, you may use this template to create your submi ssion file, by populating the data elements in the

XML file.

How do I submit an EDMR file?

On the menu to the left, select Submit Reports. The first step asks you to locate the file from your local machine, and select it using the Browse button. Ente r the PIN that has been provided to you, read the certification statement, check on the I Certify, and click Submit File. The status of your submission will be displayed on the screen, and also will be sent to you via email.

How can I view or print an ED MR that has been previously submitted?

On the menu to the left, select View Reports. Select the facility and time range that you are interested in, and click Get Reports. Below the search criteria a list of reports will be displayed along with some othe r file details, such as type of report, submission date, etc. Select a report by clicking on the icon to the far left, in the Report column. The View Report Result screen will open in a new browser window. Click on the Form tab to see the completed repo rt. Right click and select Print to print.

This window is similar to the Preview Requirements screen, in that it has the Form and XML tabs. It differs in that it has a Chain of Custody tab, which provides detailed information about the submission,

such as certifier details, submission date, acknowledgement date, and confirmation number. Also, a checksum validation is performed, to insure that the file that was submitted has not been altered in any way. All times, (except the checksum validation time, w hich is the local server time), are displayed using Coordinated Universal, or Greenwich Mean, Time. Click on the UTC to see a conversion table.

After I submitted a file, I received an email that there were errors in my submission. What do I do?

Upon su bmission, E2 Reporting System checks to see if the file that you are submitting is a valid XML file, and that it conforms with certain Departmental and System rules. The information within the email you received will indicate the type of error that has be en encountered. The most common errors involve data formats. For example, all dates must be entered as CCYY

- MM

- DD, all times must be entered HH:MM:SS. One of the best ways to ensure that your file will be valid is by using the web form. The web form ha s built in fields that allow only certain values to be entered, by utilizing drop

- downs for Frequency, Units, etc. Also E2 Reporting System checks the file that you have submitted against the reporting requirements that you have downloaded. If you change a permit limit value, for example, the system will reject your file. For a detailed list of reporting errors, refer to the user manual provided by your department. Once you have corrected the issues, re

- submit your file.