Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEI-2005-0009-0004
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2005-08-16T04:00Z

Reformatting
and
Revision
of
Chemical
Identification
and
Latitude/
Longitude
Data
Standards
Frequently
Asked
Questions
August
19,
2005
A.
General
Questions
1.
What
is
the
data
standards
revision
process?
Data
standards
are
not
static.
They
will
continue
to
evolve
as
needs
change
and
areas
of
information
evolve
and/
or
grow.
A
call
for
a
revision
of
a
standard
can
come
to
the
Environmental
Data
Standards
Council,
from
subject
area
experts
or
from
data
standards
experts.
When
a
request
for
revision
of
a
standard
is
received,
a
group
knowledgeable
in
the
domain
area
is
organized
to
review
the
standard.
A
draft
revision
is
presented
to
the
EDSC
and
then
revision
goes
through
a
technical
review
of
30­
60
days
depending
on
the
extent
of
the
recommended
changes.
After
the
resolution
of
comments,
the
revision
is
either
posted
in
the
Federal
Register
(
if
the
revisions
are
minor),
or
sent
to
the
Federal
Register
for
a
45­
day
or
more
public
review
(
if
the
revisions
are
extensive).

2.
Why
are
data
standards
being
reformatted?
There
are
several
reasons
why
we
felt
it
was
important
to
reformat
the
older
data
standards.
 
The
EDSC
has
adopted
a
more
modular
implementation
of
data
standards
and
many
of
the
older
data
standards
are
not
constructed
in
this
format.
Modularization
or
the
creation
of
data
blocks
enables
data
standards
to
be
more
flexible
and
allows
pieces
of
the
data
standard,
or
data
blocks
to
be
extracted
and
reused
as
needed.
 
It
provides
clarity
to
users
if
they
can
expect
the
same
look
and
feel
throughout
all
the
data
standards.
In
essence
we
are
standardizing
data
standards.
 
The
new
format
is
the
standard
format
used
by
most
national
and
international
standards
organizations.

3.
Why
have
the
data
standards
been
"
modularized"?
Modularization
is
the
creation
of
data
blocks
of
like
data
elements
within
the
standard.
For
example
an
"
address"
data
block
would
have
data
elements
for
street
number,
street
name,
city,
state,
postal
code,
and
if
needed,
country
code.
The
block
can
be
used
wherever
address
information
is
needed.
This
process
has
been
compared
to
building
with
"
Lego"
blocks.
The
modules
or
blocks
can
be
extracted
from
the
data
standard
used
and
reused
as
needed
in
various
configurations.
This
reuse
creates
an
economy
of
design
effort
and
ensures
conformity
to
data
standards.

4.
What
is
the
relationship
between
data
standards
the
Core
Reference
Model
and
Shared
Schema
Components?
2
The
Core
Reference
Model
provides
a
high
level
depiction
of
major
groupings
of
environmental
data
used
during
data
exchange
and
creates
reusable
building
blocks
of
shared
XML
schema.
The
Exchange
Network
Shared
Schema
Components
are
a
product
of
the
Core
Reference
Mode.
It
provides
groupings
of
related
data
elements
and
data
blocks
referred
to
as
Major
Data
Groups,
to
more
fully
describe
business
areas,
functions
and
entities
where
partners
have
an
environmental
interest.

Shared
Schema
Components
 
Are
reusable
XML
schema
that
organize
related
data
elements
common
to
multiple
environmental
data
flows
 
Incorporate
Environmental
Data
Standards
Council
(
EDSC
data
standards
for
data
element
grouping,
data
element
names,
and
definitions
 
Facilitate
the
creation
of
XML
schema
for
environmental
data
flow
and
improve
the
quality
of
exchanged
data.

Once
the
review
of
the
revised
data
standards
is
completed,
the
Shared
Schema
Components
will
be
available
in
the
XML
registry
found
at
http://
www.
exchangenetwork.
net.

5.
Will
any
of
the
other
standards
be
revised?

Yes,
review
and
revision
is
an
important
part
of
the
data
standards
process.

Discussions
between
U.
S.
EPA
and
States
are
likely
to
lead
to
the
revision
of
other
standards
in
the
future.
Revisions
most
likely
require
formation
of
an
Action
Team.
.
It
is
envisioned
that
work
in
standardization
in
geographic
information
may
require
revisiting
the
Latitude
and
Longitude
Data
Standard.

The
EDSC
web
site
http://
www.
envdatastandards.
net
will
keep
you
informed
of
all
data
standards
news.

6.
When
do
I
have
to
conform
to
the
revised
data
standards?

Everyone
should
conform
to
the
new
data
standards
as
soon
as
it
is
practical
to
do
so.
Final
shared
schema
components
will
implement
the
final
standards
revisions.
This
means
that
they
will
be
used
in
developing
new
Exchange
Network
Flow
Schema
and
incorporated
into
revisions
of
existing
Exchange
Network
Flow
Schema.

B.
Data
Standard
Specific
Questions
1.
What
are
the
major
changes
to
the
Chemical
Identification
Data
Standard?

The
major
change
is
the
addition
of
one
data
element
"
Chemical
Preferred
Acronym
Name".
This
is
not
a
mandatory
element
and
only
gives
users
the
3
option
of
using
it.
Also
several
definitions
were
rewritten
to
add
clarity.
The
standard
was
also
reformatted
into
the
new
data
standards
template.

2.
What
are
the
major
changes
to
the
Latitude/
Longitude
Data
Standard?

The
permissible
values
lists
for
the
data
elements
"
Reference
Point"
and
"
Reference
Point
Name"
were
expanded
to
include
38
specific
values.
These
values
are
not
mandatory
and
the
more
generic
permissible
values
remain.
The
standard
was
also
reformatted
into
the
new
data
standards
template.

C.
Implementation
Questions
1.
Why
have
some
of
the
XML
tags
in
the
data
standards
been
changed?

All
XML
tags
were
reviewed
and
harmonized
with
the
Exchange
Network
XML
Design
Rules
and
conventions.
Many
of
the
XML
tags
in
the
data
standards
had
been
created
prior
to
the
issuance
of
XML
Design
Rules.
In
addition
XML
tags
were
introduced
at
the
data
block
level,
previously
only
data
elements
had
been
given
XML
tags.

2.
Where
can
I
access
XML
schema
components?
Once
the
review
of
the
data
standards
is
completed,
the
shared
schema
components
will
be
available
in
the
XML
registry
found
at
http://
www.
exchangenetwork.
net.

3.
Am
I
required
to
use
all
the
elements
to
be
in
conformance
with
the
data
standard?

No,
you
can
use
only
those
data
blocks
or
data
elements
that
you
have
a
business
need
to
use.
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