 | Vol. 6 No. 3 Winter 1998 |
| A Newsletter About New Jersey's Water Quality Programs |
This online database can be used by the public and environmental professionals to gain a multimedia perspective on regulated facilities. |
Envirofacts operates within EPA's main web site (www.epa.gov). Its chief purpose is to make all EPA information that is subject to the Freedom of Information Act, including regulatory, spatial and demographic data, accessible to federal, state and local regulators, citizens and private industry. Through site maps and text reports, the general public and EPA's 17,000 employees can use Envirofacts to track information such as hazardous waste, air and water emissions, and toxic releases. The site receives approximately 100,000 hits per month.
Through the Envirofacts database, users generate queries by filling in the ZIP code, city, state or county fields in an easy-to-use, on-line form. The query generates a list of facilities that match the criteria. Users then select a facility to receive a detailed environmental profile with information such as the toxic chemicals the facility released over the last year and air emission estimates for pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Act. Users can also create queries by typing in a specific facility or company name. Regulators can use this information to track non-compliant companies by regularly checking permit status to ensure compliance with permit limits, while the public can determine what discharges are being released in a community or by a company.
Recently, EPA added more functionality to Envirofacts by including geographic information systems (GIS) spatial and demographic data. Users can now create maps of their data, adding an extra dimension to their research.
Log on and check it out at: 
For more information, please contact Pat Garvey, Envirofacts Manager, EPA Enterprise Information Management Division, at (202) 260-3101 or via e-mail at garvey.pat@epamail.epa.gov.