Why do we need the Portal?

The E-Enterprise for the Environment Portal is a new user-friendly web platform that will modernize the way the public, regulated community, and environmental co-regulators conduct environmental transactions and access web resources. EPA is working with states and tribes to develop an interoperable portal integrating data and functionality over time to create a dynamic tool for collaboration and innovation.

To learn more about the E-Enterprise Portal you can view this introductory video.

Phase I of the Portal launched in October 2015.

Tell Us What You Think

The Portal will roll out new features and functionality over time, growing to provide a broad suite of resources. After you visit the portal, we invite your comments and feedback on ways to make the site work for you.

Let us know what you like and don’t like, and what you’d like to see integrated. Send your ideas to eportal@epa.gov.

The E-Enterprise for the Environment Portal will:

• Decrease the time and effort needed to perform transactions with EPA, tribal, state, and local governments
• Provide a more consistent way for environmental agencies to interact with regulated entities and the public
• Allow the regulated community and the public to discover the information that is important to them

Portal for Regulated Entities

The portal will be on making transactions with environmental agencies as efficient and effective as possible. In short, the portal will provide smart tools to help regulated entities understand their environmental obligations and associated permitting and reporting requirements and streamline their preparation and submittal of information. These include the effort expended by reporters to:

• Provide information, such as name, address, and US parent company one time for all reporting
• Identify errors or omissions in the entered information.
• Submit data to EPA or other partners.
• Track the status of transactions and respond as needed.
• Efficiently register for access to several services across EPA and state/tribal environmental agencies using one shared identity.
• Help regulated entities understand which reporting requirements are relevant to them (e.g, reports that are currently due and those that will be due) and then guide them thru the reporting process with smart tools.
• Receive improved reporting instructions and monitoring to improve the accuracy of reported information and access to a central help desk.
• Receive notices and updates on system outages and other valuable information.

Portal for the Public

The portal will provide an easier way for citizens, academics, and NGOs to access environmental information tailored to their interests through user profiles. Using the more tailored features of the Portal would be optional (information and data would continue to be available through the EPA website.

Customized information could include:

• Localized information such as ambient environmental conditions, new/modified or renewed permits and local educational and volunteer opportunities.
• Topical information such as new research results, new or revised regulations, program information, and details on specific environmental issues.
• Integration with social media, such as location- or topically-based interest groups.
• Ability to drill through a summary analysis to access the underlying data and metadata.
• Topical and task-oriented navigation.
• Option to subscribe to alerts for new information such as, a new report or regulation.

In addition to providing these capabilities to the public, EPA and its co-regulators intend to evaluate how portal technology can provide opportunities for the integration and consolidation of existing public access tools. The portal could also facilitate citizen science where the public provides EPA and its co-regulators with environmental data gathered through advanced monitoring and other techniques, including those that use smart phone applications.

Portal for Co-Regulators

Regulators will benefit from the portal as well by having easier access to comprehensive information to inform decision-making. In addition, the portal will provide a more targeted way for agencies to communicate with regulated entities and the public.

The following are potential uses of the portal for co-regulators:

• Integrated and consolidated information about a facility and its interactions with environmental regulators, including state and local permits and authorizations.
• Improved data quality through electronic reporting and use of shared services (e.g., substance registry service).
• Ability to send information to a targeted audience such as compliance assistance materials, voluntary program information or research.
• Easier access to state and tribal information.
• Easier access to other topical resources from partner websites.

When can we expect the Portal?

EPA and its co-regulators launched Phase I of the portal in October 2015.  The Portal will be built in phases and implementation will be incremental using Agile methodologies.