A guide to the most useful databases and Web sites
on the environment
By Russ Clemings
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One guiding principle of investigative reporting is to develop a documents frame of mind. In other words, whatever the subject, remind yourself somewhere there must be a relevant document.
Take this idea one step further and you may also want to develop a database frame of mind. Somewhere there is a database where all of those documents are collected and summarized. Your job is to find that database, analyze it and, where appropriate, use it as a guide to underlying documents that deserve more attention.
Here is a quick guide to some of the most useful environmental data sources—some familiar favorites, and some you might not have heard of before.
As you read it, keep in mind that the federal government is not the only source of environmental data. EPA and other agencies frequently delegate primary enforcement and data collection responsibilities (called "primacy") to states. For example, all states and territories except Wyoming and D.C. have primacy for drinking water programs under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Unless you need data from multiple states, you may find it faster and easier to get data directly from the state.
- Here are some pointers from EPA on getting state data: www.epa.gov/echo/more_state_data.html.
Further, although some data is readily available from agency Web sites, formal requests under FOIA or state public records laws may be needed to get other data or entire datasets. For guides to using both, see the FOIA section of SEJ's home page, www.sej.org/foia, and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press www.rcfp.org, especially the sections on electronic records.
- EPA's master list of databases, with more than 200 entries: www.epa.gov/epahome/abcdata.html
If you can't find something here that nobody else has worked with, you aren't trying.
- Collections of data from multiple EPA systems: Envirofacts (query and map data from EPA systems dealing with waste, water, toxics, air and other topics): www.epa.gov/enviro/
- Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO; retrieve inspection, violation and enforcement data across multiple EPA systems): www.epa.gov/echo/index.html
- AirData (air pollution monitoring data): www.epa.gov/air/data/index.html
- Air Facility System (compliance and permit data for stationary air pollution sources, such as factories): compliance/data/systems/air/afssystem.html
- Biennial Reporting System (data on facilities that handle or manage hazardous waste): www.epa.gov/enviro/html/brs/
- Substance Registry System (EPA's central repository of data on chemical health and environmental effects): www.epa.gov/srs/index.html
- Grants Information and Control System (master list of entities receiving EPA grants): www.epa.gov/enviro/html/gics/gics_query.html
- Permit Compliance System (water pollution discharge permits): www.epa.gov/enviro/html/pcs/index.html
- Safe Drinking Water Information System (monitoring and enforcement data for public drinking water systems): enviro/html/sdwis/sdwis_query.html
- Toxics Release Inventory (reports of toxic chemicals released to air, water and other media): www.epa.gov/tri/
Other sources of EPA data:
- OMB Watch's RTK-Net (easy place to download big chunks of TRI and other major EPA databases): www.rtk.net/
- Environmental Defense's Chemical Scorecard (user-friendly system for looking up EPA data and related information): www.scorecard.org/
Data from other agencies:
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission (inspection reports, enforcement actions, etc.): www.nrc.gov/info-finder.html
- National Library of Medicine's TOXNET (repository of data on health effects of chemicals): www.toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory: www.nwi.fws.gov/
- USFWS Endangered Species: www.endangered.fws.gov/
- NASA's Global Change Master Directory (more than 15,000 descriptions of earth and environmental science data sets and services): www.gcmd.nasa.gov/
- U.S. Coast Guard National Response Center (oil and chemical spill reports and data): www.nrc.uscg.mil/fpoa.html
Other places to look for environmental data:
- NICAR's database library: www.ire.org/datalibrary/
