Electronic Submittal and Evaluation of Compliance Monitoring Data

The Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) is partnering with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to create a data management system to store and analyze the laboratory data provided by coal operators to comply with requirements for pre-mining characterization of background hydrologic conditions, quarterly monitoring, and NPDES reporting. The internal agency portion of The Risk Based Data Management System (RBDMS) for Water application is a desktop application that encompasses the laboratory information management system, water quality, source water assessment components, and links to the other databases. Deployed in 2006, this application features an integrated GIS and statistical and graphical reporting system.

In Phase 2 of application development, industry operators’ third-party laboratories will be able to upload electronic data deliverables via the Web in a format compatible with the EPA’s schema for water quality (http://www.epa.gov/storet/wqx.html). The submitted information will be replicated to internal agency servers after passing several tiers of quality control checks. The Web application also will feature secure data entry screens for watershed volunteers and field inspectors to use in collecting organic, inorganic, and physical water quality parameters and water source data such as well and spring construction details, water well test data, surface sample source details, surface water flow measurements, waste stream source details, and abandoned and active mine source details such as seeps, impoundments, sediment ponds, and underground mine intercepts. Aquifer, watershed, usage categories for ground and surface water, and geographic information also will be tracked, as will laboratory and field test methods and observations. Sophisticated workflow and automated notifications will flag the occurrences of regulatory deadlines, permit violations, and analytical parameter exceedances. The status of electronic submittals and the resulting data will be queryable via the Web and accessible to both industry and to the public.