Analyzing and Accessing Information
OEI serves as the Agency focal point for improving access to environmental information for external and internal users. OEI develops and provides access to powerful sets of analytical tools to empower EPA and the American public to make informed decisions about protecting human health and the environment. In addition, OEI provides the necessary technology infrastructure to support EPA's public and internal Web sites. As a part of this service, OEI is responsible for the organization, search services, and navigational aids to ensure that customers are able to find and use the Agency's immense holdings of information.
Indicators Initiative
Through the Environmental Indicators Initiative, EPA is able to report on trends in environmental conditions and their impact on human health and the nation's natural resources.
Toxics Release Inventory
The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program annually collects TRI data and makes it accessible to the public through various products and the Internet. TRI contains information on releases and other waste management activities of nearly 650 toxic chemicals and chemical categories.
Geospatial Analytical Tools
OEI develops and provides access to powerful sets of web-based geospatial analytical tools to help decision-makers and citizens answer common questions, examine critical problems, and discover potential solutions for environmental protection and human health issues.
Window to My Environment (WME) is a mapping application that provides interactive maps and tools to answer popular questions about environmental conditions affecting air, land and water in a user's community. Users can search by demographics, bodies of water, or population density. WME also provides hotlinks to state or federal information of the areas searched.
EnviroMapper provides access to several EPA databases to provide users with information about environmental activities that may affect air, water, and land anywhere in the United States. EnviroMapper for Envirofacts provides users with the ability to map various types of environmental information from the Envirofacts databases, including air releases, drinking water, toxic releases, hazardous wastes, water discharge permits, and Superfund sites for areas of interest.
TRI Site Locator Tool combines interactive maps and aerial photography to help TRI reports obtain accurate latitude and longitude coordinates of their facility. Locations can be found with the address or the facility name.
Envirofacts
Envirofacts provides electronic access to multi-media data and information resources.
EPA National Library Network
The EPA National Library Network provides access to information about the environment and related scientific, technical, management, and policy information.
Response to Frequently Asked Questions and Comments:
OEI manages comments and questions received from the general public through links available on the EPA home page and throughout the top levels of the Web site.
EPA Web Site Customer Satisfaction Survey
To continue efforts to improve EPA's Web site performance, OEI assesses the level of customer satisfaction with the accessibility and ease of using EPA's Web-based information.