Data sharing has become an increasingly important aspect of sound environmental management. States, Tribes, Territories, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) together face the critical challenge of sharing information among themselves and with their respective stakeholders and public. Data standards are fundamental to the seamless exchange of data and they help improve the ability of partners (internal and external) to exchange data efficiently and accurately. They also assist secondary data users understand, interpret, and use data appropriately.

Data Standards are documented agreements on representations, formats, and definitions of common data. Data standards improve the quality and share-ability of environmental data by:

• Increasing data compatibility
• Improving the consistency and efficiency of data collection
• Reducing data redundancy

Environmental data standards provide a common vocabulary for citizens, local governments, states, tribes, federal agencies and private sector organizations to communicate about environmental data.

The Exchange Network Leadership Council (ENLC) will consider development and adoption of a data standard to improve environmental data sharing among partners, when there is an environmental management business reason and partners are ready to lead the development. The ENLC supports development of environmental data standards either through the formation of an ENLC-sponsored Action Team or through Independent External Authorities (e.g., recognized standard-setting bodies like ISO or Tribal-State-Federal organization, etc.). The ENLC conducts technical and public reviews of the standards it adopts.

The mission of the Exchange Network is to offer efficient and consistent ways for environmental data trading partners to exchange information. Data standards facilitate that process. The ENLC establishes priorities for developing data standards where data standards offer value in achieving environmental results. The Exchange Network Operations Board (NOB), chartered by a partnership between States, U.S. EPA, and Tribes through the ENLC, manages an inclusive Data Standards Life-Cycle process for developing data standards. In consultation with its partners, the NOB identifies program content and technical experts to develop the draft data standards. Next, the NOB facilitates technical and public reviews of the drafts by States, Tribes, federal agencies, and other interested parties. The NOB ensures resolution of comments on draft data standards, supports the technical drafting of final data standards documents, and facilitates timely communication with the ENLC on status and issues during standards development. The ENLC then reviews and determines whether the data standard should be adopted. The NOB manages the timely posting of information to the web site.

history

Data sharing is an important aspect of sound environmental management. States, Tribes and the U.S. EPA together face the critical challenge of sharing information among themselves, their respective stakeholders and the public. The State-US EPA Information Management Work Group (IMWG), formed in March 1998, recognized the importance of developing a common vocabulary (data standards) for citizens, local governments, States, Tribes, Federal Agencies and Private Sector Organizations to communicate about environmental data.

The IMWG established a state-tribal-federal organization -- the Environmental Data Standards Council (EDSC) in 1999 -- to oversee a consensus-based process for developing and promoting environmental data standards (defined as documented agreements on data element formats and definitions).  The EDSC established twenty-four data standards during its tenure.  The IMWG in 2005 transferred the responsibility for overseeing the consensus-based process to the new state-tribal-federal organization – the Exchange Network Leadership Council.  This integrated the Exchange Network technical standards with data standards and ensures that they are integral to the environmental data shared on the Exchange Network.