Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEI-2005-0006-0013
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2005-08-11T04:00Z

Frequently
Asked
Questions
about
the
Final
Draft
Environmental
Sampling,
Analysis,
and
Results
Data
Standard
Components
July
26,
2005
The
questions
and
answers
are
arranged
in
three
categories:

·
General
·
Implementation
of
the
Data
Standard
·
Use
of
the
Data
Standard
General
Q1:
What
is
a
Data
Standard?
A1:
A
"
data
standard"
is
a
documented
agreement
among
organizations
that
share
or
exchange
data.
A
data
standard
includes
data
elements,
data
element
definitions,
notes,
formats,
and
XML
tags.

Q2:
How
does
a
Data
Standard
relate
to
a
schema
or
program
specific
implementation?
A2:
EDSC
data
standards,
such
as
ESAR,
represent
the
foundation
for
Exchange
Network
XML
schema
development.
It
is
assumed
that
the
data
element
names,
definitions,
and
groupings
defined
within
the
ESAR
collection
of
data
standards
will
be
used
as
needed
to
develop
data
exchange
templates
for
each
particular
programmatic
exchange.
Data
providers
would
ensure
that
the
proper
mappings
are
complete
and
use
the
appropriate
schema
to
build
the
exchange
file.

Q3:
Who
developed
these
draft
Data
Standards
 
are
they
another
federal
mandate?
A3:
No,
this
is
not
another
federal
mandate.
The
decision
to
develop
Data
Standards,
including
these
Data
Standards,
was
made
jointly
by
US
EPA,
States,
and
Tribes
(
through
The
Environmental
Data
Standards
Council
(
EDSC),
an
organization
that
represents
the
US
EPA,
states,
and
Tribal
entities.
All
recognize
that
sharing
and
exchanging
accurate
data
is
important
and
will
remain
so.
All
recognize
that
the
public
increasingly
expects
and
deserves
to
have
access
to
shared
information.
Together,
they
established
the
Environmental
Data
Standards
Council
(
EDSC)
to
manage
and
guide
the
process.
Action
Teams
are
established
to
develop
several
different
Data
Standards,
including
these
draft
Data
Standards.
2
Q4:
Why
do
we
need
this
"
common
vocabulary"?
A4:
There
are
many
different
environmental
programs,
and
many
different
government
agencies
involved
in
reporting
environmental
data.
Often,
these
different
programs
or
different
agencies
use
different
naming
conventions
and
different
codes
when
identifying
the
same
data.
The
lack
of
a
"
common
vocabulary"
makes
it
difficult
to
share
and
to
integrate
information.

Q5:
What
was
the
business
need
for
developing
these
draft
Data
Standards?
A5:
Environmental
sampling,
analysis
and
results
data
have
been
"
standardized"
in
an
ad
hoc
manner
by
individual
programs/
entities
exchanging
information
for
regulatory
reporting,
monitoring
requirements,
etc.
in
specific
media
(
e.
g.
air,
water,
waste).
Unfortunately,
this
multiplicity
of
ad
hoc
"
standards"
makes
it
difficult
to
aggregate
environmental
data
collected
across
specific
program/
reporting
systems.
Aggregation
of
environmental
sampling,
analysis,
and
results
data
is
critical
in
trends
analysis,
emergency
response,
risk
assessment,
etc.
This
data
standard
is
an
attempt
to
standardize
that
core
set
of
data
elements
that
are
used
by
generators
of
environmental
monitoring
data
to
report
results
regardless
of
the
media
involved.
The
standard
will
enable
the
accurate
and
timely
integration
of
environmental
sampling,
analysis,
and
results
for
secondary
uses.

Implementation
of
the
Data
Standard:

Q6:
Will
my
Agency
(
or
my
program)
be
required
to
use
these
Data
Standards?
A6:
No.
State,
Tribal,
or
local
government
agencies
or
programs
are
not
required
to
adopt
or
use
these
Data
Standards,
or
incorporate
them
into
their
data
systems.
However,
they
may
choose
to
adopt
and
once
Partners
begin
implementing
the
Data
Standard,
it
will
likely
become
the
specified
"
road
map"
for
communications
among
environmental
agencies
exchanging
environmental
information.

Q7:
If
my
program
or
agency
decides
to
implement
these
Data
Standards,
must
it
begin
collecting
information
for
every
data
element?
A7:
No.
These
Data
Standards
provide
a
range
of
data
elements
that
may
be
of
interest
to
programs
and
agencies.
Programs
or
agencies
may
collect
information
for
one
or
more
of
the
data
elements
but
there
is
no
requirement
for
any
program
or
agency
to
collect
information
for
all
data
elements.

Q8:
When
will
these
draft
Data
Standards
be
approved
by
the
EDSC?
A8:
The
EDSC
is
expected
to
approve
this
standard
after
reviewing
the
comments
received
during
the
90­
day
comment
period.
That
approval
is
planned
for
December
2005.
3
Q9:
Can
some
programs
within
a
State,
Tribe
or
local
government
follow
these
Data
Standards,
while
others
do
not?
A9:
Use
of
these
Data
Standards
is
not
required,
although
over
time
it
may
become
the
standard
for
sharing
or
exchanging
data
with
US
EPA
national
data
systems,
as
well
as
between
state
agencies.
State,
tribal,
or
local
government
programs
 
especially
those
that
do
not
exchange
data
with
US
EPA,
other
Federal
agencies
or
agencies
in
other
states
 
are
certainly
not
obliged
to
adopt
or
work
within
these
Data
Standards.
The
standards
that
have
been
approved
or
are
being
considered
are
intended
in
the
joint
State/
Tribal/
US
EPA
context
specifically
for
data
exchange
purposes.

Q10:
I
am
in
a
State,
Tribal
or
local
government
agency
and
my
program
doesn't
use
the
same
data
elements
that
are
used
in
these
Data
Standards.
Is
there
an
expectation
that
we
will
change
our
data
elements?
A10:
No.
The
Data
Standard
uses
terminology
intended
for
data
exchange
and
is
applicable
only
after
the
data
you
send
crosses
the
threshold
of
your
organization.
Data
that
is
exchanged
will
need
to
be
mapped
to
existing
data
holdings
or
conform
in
definition,
meaning,
and
format
to
the
Standard.

Q11:
My
US
EPA
program
doesn't
use
the
data
elements
used
in
these
Data
Standards.
Is
there
an
expectation
that
we
will
change
our
own
data
elements?
A11:
Data
standards
are
intended
for
use
in
data
exchange.
US
EPA
programs
may,
as
necessary
(
and
over
time),
modify
the
data
elements
that
they
currently
collect
to
correspond
to
the
data
elements
and
terms
in
these
data
standards.
It
is
usually
more
cost
effective
to
adapt
systems
in
the
proper
phase
of
the
life­
cycle
to
data
standards
than
to
maintain
mappings.
US
EPA
approves
internal
business
rules
to
govern
the
use
of
data
standards.
Waivers
to
data
standards
are
sometimes
issued
in
consideration
of
modernization
and
update
schedules.

Q12:
My
program
currently
uses
the
EDSC
approved
standard
"
Reporting
Water
Quality
Results
for
Chemical
and
Microbiological
Analytes".
How
is
this
standard
related
to
the
ESAR
standard?
Which
standard
do
I
use?
A12:
You
can
continue
using
the
"
Reporting
Water
Quality
Results
for
Chemical
and
Microbiological
Analytes";
however,
ESAR
incorporated
the
functional
requirements
of
the
standard
with
the
intent
of
phase
out.
ESAR
contains
the
core
data
elements
relevant
to
all
environmental
reporting.
The
media
specific
extensions
provide
standardized
data
elements
with
a
media
or
program
specific
focus.
The
EDSC
has
worked
with
the
media/
program
representatives
to
develop
extensions
to
the
ESAR
with
data
elements
specific
to
water,
waste,
air,
etc.
Every
attempt
was
made
to
harmonize
and
cause
the
least
amount
of
variance
with
"
Reporting
Water
Quality
Results
for
Chemical
and
Microbiological
Analytes"
so
that
transition
to
the
new
version
will
be
as
painless
as
possible.
4
Q13:
How
is
the
ESAR
associated
with
other
reporting
specifications
used
by
environmental
laboratories
such
as
the
Staged
Electronic
Data
Deliverable
(
SEDD)?
A13:
Specifications
such
as
the
SEDD
will
require
the
reporting
of
additional
data
as
directed
by
the
specification.
Input
regarding
SEDD
was
provided
during
the
development
of
the
ESAR
standard,
therefore,
needs
for
the
SEDD
have
been
considered
and
incorporated
as
a
part
of
the
core
data
elements
relevant
to
all
environmental
laboratory
reporting
and
the
media
specific
extensions.
The
ESAR
team
worked
with
SEDD
to
develop
the
ESAR
waste
components.

Q14:
The
ESAR
data
standard
does
not
contain
some
data
elements
that
my
program
is
required
to
report
to
EPA.
How
will
this
be
addressed?
A14:
The
ESAR
is
a
core
set
of
cross­
media
data
elements.
Every
attempt
was
made
to
make
the
ESAR
standard
complete
for
routinely
exchanged
environmental
media
data.
If
there
are
elements
that
are
not
included,
it
is
assumed
that
you
would
agree
on
the
exchange
format
and
definitions
with
your
partner(
s).
The
ESAR
exchange
model
is
an
excellent
template
for
all
kinds
of
information.
As
need
arises,
it
is
assumed
that
additions
will
be
made
to
the
exchange
and
to
the
standard
if
appropriate.

Q15:
Are
these
Data
Standards
the
basis
for
a
new
data
system
design?
Will
we
have
to
change
our
existing
data
system
to
conform
to
it?
A15:
The
answer
for
State,
Tribal
and
local
government
agencies
is
No.
These
Data
Standards
are
more
like
a
dictionary
to
help
translate
or
exchange
data
from
any
one
data
system
to
any
other.
Use
of
these
Data
Standards
does
not
require
any
non­
US
EPA
agency
or
program
to
change
its
current
data
system.
When
data
is
exchanged
from
one
system
to
another,
these
Data
Standards
will
provide
the
necessary
information
to
ensure
that
data
from
a
given
field
in
the
sending
system
are
"
mapped"
to
the
correct
location
in
the
receiving
system.
Local
system
designers
may,
once
they
choose
to
use
these
data
standards
for
data
exchange,
elect
to
modify
their
system
(
perhaps
in
the
context
of
a
previously
planned
system
modernization)
in
order
to
create
the
capability
of
exchanging
data
that
conforms
with
these
standards.
US
EPA
will
incorporate
the
Data
Standard
as
its
own
data
systems
are
modified
and
updated.

Q16:
We
are
planning
to
update
(
one
or
more
of)
our
current
data
system(
s).
How
can
these
Data
Standards
be
of
help
to
us
in
this
effort?
A16:
These
Data
Standards
provide
guidance
to
programs
and
agencies
on
naming
conventions
and
relationships.
Using
this
information,
you
can
update
your
system(
s)
so
that
it
is
in
conformance
with
the
standard,
thus
facilitating
data
exchange
between
your
system(
s)
and
other
systems
that
manage
environmental
data.
5
Q17:
Are
there
any
federal
funds
available
to
help
States,
Tribes,
or
local
government
agencies
that
implement
federal
programs
if
they
choose
to
update
their
systems
to
enable
them
to
communicate
more
easily
using
the
ESAR
Data
Standards?
A17:
Yes,
although
such
funding
is
not
linked
directly
to
these
Data
Standards
development
effort.
US
EPA
has
and
will
continue
to
provide
grant
funding
to
assist
other
levels
of
government
that
implement
federal
environmental
programs.
Such
assistance
has
often
been
used
by
grantees
to
help
develop
and
update
data
management
systems.

Q18:
What
does
this
standard
have
to
do
with
the
Exchange
Network
I
keep
hearing
about?
And
I
thought
everything
was
supposed
to
be
in
XML
 
is
this
XML?
A18:
The
Network
concept
relies
upon
common
"
Data
Exchange
Templates"
(
DETs)
expressed
in
"
XML,"
and
exchanged
based
on
common
protocols.
The
data
elements
in
these
data
standards
contain
XML
tags.
XML
schema
components
will
be
developed
for
all
of
the
modules
in
ESAR
and
will
be
available
on
the
Exchange
Network
web
site
in
the
XML
registry
at
http://
www.
exchangenetwork.
net.

Use
of
the
Data
Standard:

Q19:
Who
will
use
these
Data
Standards?
A19:
All
government
agencies
involved
in
environmental
sampling,
analysis
and
results
activities
are
encouraged
to
use
these
standards
when
and
if
they
share
or
exchange
data
with
other
partners.
They
are
also
encouraged
to
use
them
as
a
tool,
if
they
are
planning
to
update
or
enhance
their
own
existing
data
systems.

Q20:
Will
US
EPA
be
issuing
rules
for
use
of
these
Data
Standards?
A20:
No,
at
least
not
in
the
sense
of
issuing
formal
regulations
to
be
used
by
everyone.
US
EPA
will
develop
Business
Rules
for
using
the
data
standard
within
their
systems.
Information
on
the
standard
will
be
available
through
the
EDSC
website
(
www.
envdatastandards.
net).

Q21:
Will
these
Data
Standards
be
open
for
revision
in
the
future?
How
will
the
Standard
be
maintained?
A21:
Yes.
There
is
every
reason
to
expect
that
adjustments
or
revisions
will
be
necessary
in
the
future
as
new
or
existing
programs
or
agencies
determine
the
need
to
exchange
additional
data
elements
not
provided
in
the
current
standard.