The Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) website is upgraded frequently based on Agency priorities and user requests. New features are described below.

December 2016

New Template and Usage Information Posted

The ECHO website has a new look, consistent with the EPA website as a whole. Functionality remains the same - the changes primarily affected the background, page wrappers, and fonts. Please see information about the EPA website update, and Contact Us if you have questions. Also, a new page regarding site use has been posted. Thank you for your interest in ECHO.

November 2016

New Features Available

ECHO users can now filter facility searches based on EPA EJSCREEN information. While there are many components to EJSCREEN, ECHO offers the ability to select facilities that are located in Census block groups where one or more environmental justice index is at or above the 80th percentile nationally. The new checkbox is available on the All Data, Air, Hazardous Waste, and Water facility search pages in the Demographics section (click "View More Search Options"), and users may also add the information as an optional column in facility search results.

EJSCREEN is an environmental justice mapping and screening tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and approach for combining environmental and demographic indicators. EJSCREEN includes eleven environmental justice indexes that combine demographic indicators with a single environmental indicator. EJSCREEN provides screening-level indicators that do not, by themselves, determine the existence or absence of environmental justice concerns in a given location.

Other recent site updates include bug fixes and usability improvements. Of note, the Indian Country search and display options on the All Data, Air, Hazardous Waste, and Water facility search and results pages have been expanded and clarified to help users understand the source of the underlying data. Additionally, the Total Aggregate Emissions Data table of the Air Pollutant Report has been expanded to include each program displayed in the Emissions Data table as applicable. Please contact us if you have comments or questions.

October 2016

Drinking Water System Search Options Expanded

EPA implemented a set of improvements to the Drinking Water system search to make it more consistent with other site features, such as the facility searches for the other major regulatory programs. New features makes it easier to search for the violator and enforcement action data that were already included in search results and on the Detailed Facility Report. Users can now search for public water systems based on the date of the last informal or formal enforcement action, as well as the number of quarters as a serious violator. Users also can choose to switch the Contaminant(s) in Violation search from violations in the past three years to violations in the most recent quarter.

Additionally, EPA improved the manner in which drinking water violations are displayed by adding a "Status" column on the Detailed Facility Report "SDWA Violations and Enforcement Actions" section. This column displays "Resolved" if the violation is Returned to Compliance, "Addressed" if it is under formal enforcement but not yet Resolved, and "Unaddressed" otherwise. (Individual enforcement actions, including informal ones, will continue to display in the table, as well.) In keeping with the Enforcement Response Policy, five years after the violation's compliance period end date the violation will be labeled "Archived" and will no longer contribute to the Public Water System's overall compliance status. This change ensures that ECHO reports are consistent with criteria used in the Drinking Water Dashboard. 

Other recent site updates include bug fixes and minor enhancements. Of note, the ECHO Facilities map layer is now refreshed on a weekly basis, and a new video tutorial about Comparative Maps and Dashboards was posted. Please contact us if you have comments or questions.

Clean Air Act State Dashboard Activity View Updated

The Air State Dashboard Activity View has been updated to display fiscal year 2015 and 2016 data. The transition between Air national data management systems means that 2011-2014 data are based on legacy system data, while 2015 data and beyond are based on the new national program system of record. As before, the dashboard provides an overview of environmental compliance and enforcement data on a national and state level. All but the most recent year are based on frozen, verified data sets. The most recent year is refreshed on a weekly basis. Please feel free to Contact Us with questions.

September 2016

Clean Water Act Industrial Stormwater Search Released

This new Water facility search interface is tailored to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) industrial stormwater program and makes it easier to find information about facilities that discharge under EPA’s Multi-Sector General Permit for industrial stormwater discharges. It sets the stage for enhanced transparency of new data that will be submitted electronically as a result of NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule implementation. New data available through this interface include certain elements from Notices of Intent for permit coverage, such as information related to stormwater pollution prevention plans. Please note that benchmark limits and exceedances are not yet displayed in ECHO and the goal is to add them later this year. 

Also, a new Data Downloads feature allows users to download the Water datasets by state under 'Download Data by Jurisdiction'. The data download files are large data sets that may be of particular use to academics and analysts. An ECHO goal is to provide data as broadly as possible, and these files, along with the web interface and services, offer a variety of ways to consume EPA's enforcement and compliance data. This feature responds to user requests to separate the Water Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) datasets into smaller files. Other recent site updates include minor bug fixes. As always, feel free to Contact Us with questions. 

August 2016

Usability Improvements and New Service Documentation Released

Several improvements were made to the popular Detailed Facility Report to further enhance its utility, including better default ordering of compliance monitoring and enforcement tables, ability to sort on additional tables, elimination of the need to scroll horizontally on most monitors, and addition of Air agency column in the Three Year Compliance Status by Quarter table. 

Drinking Water documentation was added to the ECHO REST Services Documentation page, providing interactive descriptions and generation of the REST services used to provide data for ECHO's Drinking Water System Search. Web services allow developers to design custom applications utilizing a live feed of data from ECHO. An ECHO goal is to provide data as broadly as possible, and these services, along with the web interface and bulk data downloads, offer a variety of ways to consume EPA's enforcement and compliance data. 

Other changes include improved facility search results documentation regarding impaired waters data, two new Enforcement Case Search optional columns related to Supplemental Environmental Projects, facility search results approximated locational map icons for facilities that are missing latitude/longitude data, and bug fixes.

May 2016

Clean Water Act Discharge Monitoring Report Data Set Posted for 2016

The Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Data Set for Fiscal Year 2016 has been added to the Data Downloads page. The data download files are large data sets that may be of particular use to academics and analysts. An ECHO goal is to provide data as broadly as possible, and these files, along with the web interface and services, offer a variety of ways to consume EPA's enforcement and compliance data. Other recent site updates include minor bug fixes.

April 2016

Effluent Charts Web Services Documentation Posted

The new ECHO REST Services Documentation page provides interactive descriptions and generation of the REST services used to provide data for ECHO's Clean Water Act Effluent Charts. Web services allow developers to design custom applications utilizing a live feed of data from ECHO.

Other recent site updates include bug fixes and minor enhancements. Federal Fiscal Year 2014 data were added to the Pesticide Dashboard. Additionally, information about whether a facility is in an Air Non-Attainment Area for Sulfur Dioxide was added to the Detailed Facility Report, as were direct links to Arkansas Clean Water Act discharge permit documents. Please contact us if you have comments or questions.

March 2016

ECHO Enforcement Case Search Enhanced

EPA's public criminal case information has been integrated into ECHO's EPA Enforcement Case Search. While public information about criminal enforcement has been available on EPA's website, it was separate from the civil case data available through ECHO. This significant enhancement allows ECHO users to access all public EPA case data in one place without needing to know whether enforcement actions were civil or criminal in nature. Users can now enter a geographic region of interest on the Case Search form and receive a map and a list of all public EPA cases that meet their criteria.

Also, additional columns of data are available to add via the "Customize Columns" feature on the search results page: Date Final Order Lodged, Date Enforcement Action Closed, Enforcement Outcome, and Cost Recovery Awarded. Please contact us if you have comments or questions.

ECHO Mobile Experience Enhanced

In November 2015, ECHO facility features were optimized for display on mobile devices. Recent updates include usability enhancements and the option to switch between the mobile view and the full version of the site. Links are provided at the bottom of each page. While we recommend staying on the mobile view while using a phone, feedback indicated that users wanted the option to access the full functionality of the site.

Other website updates include general usability improvements and bug fixes. A common user request has been implemented - the header row on the facility search results data table now stays in view as a user scrolls through the list. Also, sorting on several facility search results columns has been adjusted so that fields with no values always sort to the bottom of the list.

February 2016

Clean Water Act Annual Noncompliance Report Released with Other Enhancements

The Clean Water Act Annual Noncompliance Report for 2014 was posted on the ECHO Annual Reports page. The Annual Noncompliance Report provides valuable information about the state of compliance among individually permitted non-major facilities regulated by the Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.

Recent website updates include usability improvements and bug fixes.

• Links from the Detailed Facility Report to Sanitary Sewer Overflow event reports have been added when such reports are available in the Clean Water Act program system.
• Facility search form controls have been adjusted to provide easy access to related website features. A "Related Tools" link has replaced the "Clear All" button above the Search Criteria Selected box. Now to reset the search form, click the white "x" next to "Search Criteria Selected".
• On the Air, Hazardous Waste, and Water facility search forms, a control has been added under the "Facility ID Number" option so users can choose whether to search by program system ID or by EPA registry ID. Program system ID is the most commonly searched ID type on these forms, so that is the default selection; however, some users have asked to be able to search by the ID numbers used in the Agency's Facility Registry Service, which links various related system ID numbers together.

Please contact us if you have comments or questions.

January 2016

Drinking Water Dashboard Enhanced

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Dashboard (Drinking Water Dashboard) has been enhanced. A new "Advanced View" option lets users see graphs "filtered" on the basis of public water system type or size, source water category, or EPA Region. Another enhanced function is the user's ability to analyze the information sorted for all Indian country, for Indian country in a particular EPA region, and on a tribe-by-tribe basis. The Drinking Water Dashboard puts five years of drinking water compliance and enforcement data at the fingertips of anyone with Internet access. As before, the SDWA Dashboard provides an overview of how EPA, the Navajo Nation, and implementing states regulate public water systems. The dashboard offers information on the type and size of public water systems, on-site visits, and system violations. The public can use information on the dashboard to monitor the number of enforcement actions undertaken and the number of systems returned to compliance. The enhanced Drinking Water Dashboard continues EPA's commitment to sharing data with citizens in formats they can understand and use. 

December 2015

Pesticides Dashboard Enhanced

EPA released a new Pesticide Worker Protection Dashboard with interactive charts that present a summary of key enforcement and compliance information related to the Worker Protection Standard (WPS) program under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The WPS is aimed at reducing the risk of pesticide poisoning and injury among agricultural workers and pesticide handlers. The WPS dashboard presents information on the regulated community and answers questions like: how many facilities in the United States employ workers covered by the Worker Protection Standard, how many have been inspected, and how many violations have been found and enforcement actions taken by states, tribes, and/or EPA.

Additionally, the Drinking Water Search now offers the ability to search for public water systems based on specific contaminants that have been in violation within the past three years. Please feel free to contact us with questions or suggestions.

November 2015

ECHO Optimized for Mobile Devices

Select ECHO features are now optimized for display on mobile devices:

• Facility Search
  • The new "Use My Location" feature searches for facilities within approximately three miles of the user's current location.
    • Note: This feature is not available for the drinking water search type.
  • Users can also search for facilities based on any location or Facility Name or ID.
     
• Facility Search Results
  • Search results are displayed on a map by default.
    • Note: Facility results for drinking water searches are only presented in a List View.
  • Alternatively, users can switch to a List View that lists facilities and displays a grid that illustrates a facility's quarterly compliance status for all applicable statutes.
    • Note: Only the facility name and other inspection statistics (if available) appear for facilities that do not have compliance status data.
  • Users can adjust their search from the results page to search on a new location and/or Facility Name or ID, or to change the search type.
     
• Detailed Facility Report
  • The Detailed Facility Report displays an enhanced view on mobile devices with a grid that indicates the facility’s quarterly compliance status.
  • By default, the mobile display for the Detailed Facility Report includes the facility’s locational, regulatory, and compliance information.

September 2015

Enforcement Case Search Updated

The Enforcement Case Search has been enhanced so that users have a choice of how to search by name. By default, users may search the case name, defendant name, and/or facility name for search terms in any order. The enhancement allows users the option to search for exact matches or names that begin with a search term.

Facility Search Results Excel Download Available

The option to download search results as an Excel file is now available on all ECHO Facility Searches. The Excel download is currently available for search results with up to 10,000 records.

August 2015

New Features Released

ECHO facility searches are even more powerful with new features added based upon user requests. On the Water facility search:

• Search for facilities by entering a partial permit ID number.
• Search for facilities that have had a specific pollutant in violation under the Clean Water Act.
• Find facilities that discharge pollutants potentially contributing to a waterbody impairment.
• Add information on annual pollutant loading amounts to Water search results.

Other enhancements include:

• All facility searches now allow users the ability to search for facilities by partial program ID numbers and to more easily use autocomplete functionality to populate many search options.
• Search for facilities that have never been inspected/evaluated under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, or Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
• Search for Air or Hazardous Waste facilities that have reported Risk Management Plans under the Clean Air Act.
• Additional water quality data is displayed on the Detailed Facility Report.
• An ECHO Tool Guide provides tips on which tools to use for specific analyses.

More enhancements are planned for the fall. Please let us know what features you’d like to see.

June 2015

ECHO Release 2.4.1

EPA released additional ECHO features, including a beta Air Pollutant Report and the option to search for facilities that have reported Risk Management Plans under the Clean Air Act. The Air Pollutant Report, which displays emissions data from EPA's various reporting programs, is available from All Data and Air facility search results. Read the complete announcement.

May 2015

Clean Water Act Effluent Charts Video Tutorial Posted

A new video tutorial has been posted. It provides a look at the many features of the Clean Water Act Effluent Charts.

ECHO Release 2.4

EPA released ECHO Version 2.4, featuring updated Clean Air Act stationary source data and a tailored search interface. This interface brings back the final missing popular feature from the retired ECHO website. Also, EPA released the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Dashboard (Pesticides Dashboard). Read the complete release announcement.

April 2015

Drinking Water Dashboard Launched

Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) dashboard, a user-friendly website that presents data about violations and the compliance status of public water systems. The dashboard contains interactive charts and graphs that provide information regarding the compliance of public water systems with federal drinking water regulations, as well as enforcement actions.

February 2015

ECHO Video Tutorials Posted

New video tutorials have been posted - one introduces the Detailed Facility Report and a followup details the report's compliance and enforcement data and error reporting feature.

January 2015

Two New Features

New enhancements include a link to state documents and an EPA Case Summary keyword search. Detailed Facility Reports now include links to documents, such as Clean Air Act Title V permits, posted on the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services website. We hope to expand to include other states. Additionally, the EPA Enforcement Case Search now includes an option to search for keywords from case summaries (under the Case Attributes section).

December 2014

Additional Facility Name Search Options Available

The All Data, Water, and Hazardous Waste facility searches have been enhanced so that users have a choice of how to search by Facility Name. The original option of searching for names that contain all the search terms in any order remains the default, but users can choose instead to search for exact matches or names that begin with a search term.

Other recent website updates include usability improvements and bug fixes. A more robust Watershed search was added to the Water Facility Search, and the "Popular Features" box on the home page was changed to "Help" so that more documents of interest to users could be available from the home page.

November 2014

Clean Water Act Annual Noncompliance Report Released with Other Enhancements

The Clean Water Act Annual Noncompliance Report for 2013 was posted on the ECHO Annual Reports page. The Annual Noncompliance Report provides valuable information about the state of compliance among individually permitted non-major facilities regulated by the Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. 

Additionally, the web service that supports the All Data facility search has been published on ECHO's Web Services page, allowing developers to design custom applications utilizing a live feed of data from ECHO. Recent website updates include usability improvements and bug fixes. Of note, facility/case search form controls (on All Data, Hazardous Waste, Water, and EPA Enforcement Case) have been adjusted to make it clearer when more search options are available - click "View More Search Options" above the form or "View More" within each section to see additional search options. Also, a custom date range selector has been added to the Hazardous Waste and Water facility searches for the "Time Since Last Inspection" and "Formal Enforcement Actions" search options.

October 2014

Clean Water Act Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Pollutant Loading Tool Updated

The Clean Water Act DMR Pollutant Loading Tool has been enhanced and Version 2.0 released.

September 2014

Civil Enforcement Case Search Updated

Two advanced search options were added to the Civil Enforcement Case Search (Enforcement Program and National Priority Area). Also, the search results page now has a Case Summary panel on the right side that shows additional information about any case selected in the data table.

ECHO Release 2.3

EPA has completed ECHO release 2.3, featuring a Hazardous Waste (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) Facility Search and Civil Enforcement Case Search. These searches bring back popular features from the old ECHO website. Read the complete release announcement.

July 2014

Downloads added to Effluent Charts

Clean Water Act effluent charts, accessible after running a Water facility search, now have several options for downloading data. A "Download All Data" link toward the top right of the screen gives you a comma-separated file (.csv, which can be opened in Excel and other similar software) of all effluent data available from ECHO for that permit. The "Download Data" link just above each chart or table provides a comma-separated file of the effluent data for the chosen pollutant and outfall. Finally, a picture of the chart itself can be downloaded in one of several formats by clicking "Download Chart" to the right just above a chart.

June 2014

ECHO Release 2.2

EPA has completed ECHO release 2.2, featuring a Clean Water Act facility search and effluent charts (which will be getting a few more improvements). The Water facility search brings back popular features from the old ECHO website, along with some enhancements like searching for facilities based on both compliance status and type of pollutants discharged.

Read the complete release announcement.

May 2014

First ECHO Video Tutorial Posted

The first in a series of ECHO video tutorials has been posted. This tutorial introduces users to facility searching.

April 2014

Updated National Data Download Files Posted

EPA has released updated national data download files. Not only have the files been updated for the first time in the new ECHO system, but they now can be updated much more frequently (formerly annually) as part of ECHO's weekly refresh process. In addition, files were added for several years of Clean Water Act Discharge Monitoring Report data.

Clean Water Act 2012 Annual Noncompliance Report Released

Additional compliance information about non-major facilities regulated by the Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System is available for 2012. The 2012 Clean Water Act Annual Noncompliance Report was posted on the site, and data from the report were added to the 2012 Water State Dashboards. 

More ECHO Updates

EPA has added new search options to the All Data facility search, along with other improvements.

• The All Data Advanced Facility Search allows users to search for facilities:
  • located near tribal land or near a specific tribe
  • regulated under a specific Clean Air Act Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) Subpart.
• Additional optional columns of data are available on the All Data facility search results page under Customize Columns:
  • In Indian Country
  • Facility Type (by statute)
  • Greenhouse Gas Releases (total CO₂ metric tons).
• Minor enhancements/bug fixes
  • Modify Search button on facility search results retains criteria from home page quick searches
  • Moved to 2012 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data
  • Added more links to help documentation from search results and Detailed Facility Report
  • Implemented template hint for Internet Explorer browser to use "standards" mode (rather than "compatibility" view)
  • Standardized date formats on All Data facility search results.

​Read the 2.1.1 release announcement.

March 2014

ECHO Release 2.1

EPA has completed ECHO release 2.1, featuring a drinking water system search. The Drinking Water Search allows users to search for public drinking water systems based on their location, system characteristics, and compliance history. Drinking water reports provide information about sanitary surveys, violations, enforcement actions, and for the first time, violation points that summarize the degree of noncompliance at a system and whether violations have been returned to compliance or are continuing uncorrected.

Read the complete release announcement.

Facility Summary panel added to facility search results page

Clicking on a facility row in the facility search results data table now opens a Facility Summary panel on the right side of the page. This panel offers a quick visual snapshot of the compliance/enforcement record at the facility.

February 2014

EPA Case Report Launched

A major report has been rebuilt in the modernized ECHO website. The Enforcement Case Report provides greater detail about EPA formal enforcement actions and penalties under a wide variety of environmental statutes. When a case report is available, it is linked from the facility search results page and the Detailed Facility Report. (An EPA case-specific search is coming in summer.) Other features recently added:

• On the facility search results table, clicking on the "Mapped" icon zooms the map to the facility location.
• Additional details are provided on the facility search results page in the CAA Current Compliance Status and CWA Current Compliance Status columns when a facility has a significant violation.
• A few improvements were made to the printed version of the Detailed Facility Report.

First ECHO Service Published and New Features Added

Public web services support the ECHO website, and they will be available to web developers. The service that supports the Detailed Facility Report has been published on ECHO's Web Services page, allowing developers to design custom applications utilizing a live feed of data from ECHO.

The latest site enhancements include:

• "Add More" button added to Facility Name search option (allowing searches for multiple facility names)
• Discharging into Impaired Waters facility search option enabled
• Minor adjustments to facility search form (state search box “All” option added, and Watershed and Federal Agency boxes are wider)
• Some improvements to mobile phone home page and navigation appearance (more to come)

January 2014

More Enhancements Released

On January 22, three features were added to ECHO.

• On the facility search results page, a field for Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) ID number was added to the Customize Columns option.
• Also on the facility search results page, an option was added to allow users to view only the map. Also, both the map and the data table expand vertically when the other is hidden. (Please note: we are troubleshooting a new issue with facility icons disappearing from the map when it expands vertically. We will have that fixed as soon as possible.)
• The "Print" option on the Detailed Facility Report now allows printing of the full report. Further improvement is coming to the printed report in the near future.

December 2013

ECHO Updates

On December 23, several known issues were corrected.

• On the All Data Search (and Advanced Facility Search), the Clear All link was implemented, allowing users to remove all of their selections from the form at once.
• On the facility search results page, the map formerly did not zoom in on facilities that were located outside of the continental U.S. Now the map centers as appropriate on Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories.
• Clean Air Act Emissions Inventory System and Greenhouse Gas Reporting Tool ID numbers were added to the Detailed Facility Report.

First Set of Enhancements Released

On December 6, several features were added to ECHO, including access to program-specific data on the facility search results page.

• Facility search results Customize Columns option includes many additional columns of data, including air, water, and waste-specific counts of inspections and actions.
• Users can change the base map to satellite imagery, among other options.
• Facility search form retains search criteria when the Modify Results button is clicked on the facility search results page.
• Search criteria are displayed on the facility search results page.

ECHO 2.0 Launched

The modernized version of EPA's Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) website, the Agency’s primary website for providing public access to regulatory compliance and enforcement data, was launched on December 3. ECHO is a go-to resource for information about environmental inspections, violations, and enforcement actions for more than 800,000 regulated facilities. The original site launched in 2002 and use increased steadily, providing answers to 2 million queries per year regarding environmental compliance and enforcement data.

President Obama cited ECHO as a model for transparency for other federal agencies to follow, and modernization helps the Agency meet requirements of recent transparency-related executive orders. The data in ECHO are updated every week and simplified navigation makes it easier to find information of interest. It’s built on a modern, flexible platform, allowing for improved mapping, viewing on mobile devices, and machine-readable data/web services. The new system also opens up greater possibilities for data transparency and integration in the future.

The central features of this release are cross-statute (multimedia) facility searching and state comparative maps and dashboards. Program-specific searching – like air, water, waste - and other features will be phased in to ECHO throughout 2014 until all key features from the previous system are replaced. A list of issues with the new site is maintained on the site's Website Known Issues page. Information about the modernization process also is maintained on the site. Send feedback to EPA about the site by clicking ECHO's Contact Us link.

November 2013

Improvements Made to ECHO Beta Version

Throughout November, the beta version of the new Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) website, which was released on Oct. 23, 2013, is being improved to address known issues and user feedback. Improvements include Safe Drinking Water Act compliance and enforcement data access from the All Data Search, filling out the Detailed Facility Report data, addressing formatting concerns on the facility search results page, adding optional columns for display on the facility search results page, and bug fixes.

October 2013

Beta Version of Modernized ECHO Website Released

A beta version of the new Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) website was released on Oct. 23, 2013. The legacy version of ECHO remains available until December 3, 2013, for testing and transition purposes. Please see the ECHO Modernization Information page to learn about project plans, schedule, and upcoming webinars.  For testing purposes, please note the known issues that will be addressed as soon as possible.  The list will be updated as issues are addressed or any new ones are reported.