Principles and Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency

Story

Why Doesn't EPA Have a Self-Contained Statistical Unit?

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In the 5th Principles and Practices For A Federal Statistical Agency, under Principal Statistical Agencies it says: This section provides information—primarily from agency websites (see Appendix E) and OMB publications—on 13 of the 14 members of the ICSP, excluding only the Office of Environmental Information in the Environmental Protection Agency, which is not a self-contained statistical unit. The information provided for the 13 agencies includes origins, authorizing legislation or other authority, status of head (presidential appointee, career senior executive service official), budget and full-time permanent staffing levels in 2012 (see U.S. Office of Management and Budget, 2012b:Table 1 and App. B), and principal programs. The agencies are discussed in alphabetical order.

I worked in EPA's Environmental Statistics Division and compiled a knowledgebase of their activities. Earlier I worked in the EPA Center for Environmental Statistics to try to become a Bureau of Environmental Statistics and produced an EPA Ontology State of the Environment Report.

While working in the EPA Center for Environmental Statistics, I helped produce the EPA Guide to Selected National Environment Statistics in the US Government and the Guide to Global Environmental Statistics. I received the EPA Bronze Medal for the former in 1993.

Since Congress never allowed EPA to have a bureau of Environmental Statistics and since the Office of Environmental Information in the Environmental Protection Agency would never allow the Environmental Statistics Division to become a self-contained statistical unit, I decide to spend the rest of my EPA career being a data scientist and applying my statistics and data architecture expertise to analyzing and visualizing as many EPA and government data sets as possible using the premier tool based on S-Plus and Spotfire called Spotfire by TIBCO.

This turned out to be very visionary because now the statistical agencies (e.g. Census) and OMB are actively looking to apply state-of-the-art tool to provide a lot of federal data to analysts and empowering them to use a visualization tool to derive new understandings. See:

http://semanticommunity.info/Data_Science/Free_Data_Visualization_and_Analysis_Tools

I wondered why this is so with EPA not having a self-contained statistical unit, so I asked Dr. Constance F. Citro, Director, Committee on National Statistics, and one of the principal authors of the 5th Principles and Practices For A Federal Statistical Agency, and she replied:

I don’t know the full history, but there were efforts (about 20-25 years ago, I believe) to create a statistical agency (Bureau of Environmental Statistics) within EPA, but these efforts never got anywhere.  I don’t know if the obstacles were in the executive branch, Congress, or both.  One concern, I understand, was that EPA as a regulatory agency was not the appropriate place to house a statistical agency, and there was some initiative to create a cabinet department including EPA and other relevant agencies, including a new statistical agency.  But again, these efforts came to naught.  The person who headed the OMB statistical policy division in the late 1980s and early 1990s decided to include EPA as a member of the ICSP, and his successor (Katherine Wallman) didn’t change that, but, otherwise, there is no unit in EPA that is recognized as a “principal statistical agency.”

MORE TO BE ADDED

Also see: http://semanticommunity.info/Data_Science/Free_Data_Visualization_and_Analysis_Tools/Tableau#Story

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Spotfire

For Internet Explorer Users and Those Wanting Full Screen Display Use: Web Player Get Spotfire for iPad App

Spotfire

For Internet Explorer Users and Those Wanting Full Screen Display Use: Web Player Get Spotfire for iPad App

Research Notes

Open Initiative Homepage
http://www2.epa.gov/open
What Is This?

Federal Facilities Search Results
http://www.epa.gov/fedfac/ffsep/index.htm
http://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cur...753d5b67b1ff56
http://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cur...qryrslt_ff.cfm

Data Inventory and Activities
http://www2.epa.gov/open/data-invent...and-activities
Contact the Open Government Web editor to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.
crawford.tim@epa.gov

EPA's data.gov data set inventory (XLSX)(21 pp, 1 MB)
http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production...y2011q1_0.xlsx
Data Finder
http://www.epa.gov/data/
Is There Anything New Here Since I Did This?

EPA List of Substances
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/iris/index...ist_type=alpha
Download Excel
Could Build LOD Tables of Rest

EPA's Environmental Dataset Gateway (EDG)
https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/main/home.page
Download EPA's Geospatial Data
https://edg.epa.gov/data/
What Are All of These?

CNSTAT’s 122nd meeting will be held October 24-25, 2013, in the NAS main building at 2101 Constitution Ave., NW.  This meeting will feature a public seminar and luncheon with statistical agency heads on the 25th.

Stephen Fienberg, the Maurice Falk university professor of statistics and social science at Carnegie Mellon University, will deliver the 23rd Morris Hansen lecture, Thursday afternoon, October 3, 2013, at the USDA Auditorium, Washington, DC. His topic is “Envisioning the 2030 Census,”

Please see the C-SPAN web site for announcements of upcoming C-SPAN Washington Journal sessions on “America by the Numbers,” which feature interviews with federal statistical agency heads and senior staff.  The programs highlight trends and allow the public to call in or email their views.  Links to videos of previous C-SPAN ABTN programs is available at the same site. 

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/topic/ABTN

CNSTAT Public Seminars and Other Symposia
http://sites.nationalacademies.org/D...3#.UdYjxDsY7Sh

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Daily Digest Bulletin

Source: June 20, 2013 Email

The people have spoken: what green apps people want
06/20/2013

Ever wonder what environmental apps people want? We’ve done some market research so you understand where the demand is. It’s getting easier than ever to convert ideas into green apps.

We asked people to suggest ideas for green apps, then to “like” their favorites (see the favorites at http://www.epa.gov/mygreenapps/ideas.html and click on the button for “Show Popular Ideas”). For the top four ideas, we found related apps that already exist so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel (http://blog.epa.gov/data/2013/06/green-app-ideas/). Finally, we found EPA data you can use to convert these ideas into apps (http://www.epa.gov/mygreenapps/Ideas%20for%20Apps%201-11-13.xlsx).

So we’re challenging you to make some of these apps! You know what people want, what apps are already out there, and what data can be used to make the apps. If you need help, just contact us at greenapps@epa.gov.

Here are some events and opportunities you may want to know about:

My Air, My Health Challenge Winners are Announced: The objective of the challenge by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency was to develop a low cost, real-time personal digital device that measures health effects of harmful air pollution. The team of David Kuller, Gabrielle Dockterman, and Dot Kelly won the $100,000 grand prize! See details at http://challenge.gov/HHS/372-my-air-my-health-challenge.

NIEHS-NCATS-UNC DREAM Toxicogenetics Challenge: The objective of this challenge is to obtain a greater understanding about how a person's individual genetics can influence cytotoxic response to exposure to widely used chemicals. It is being led and organized by scientists from Sage Bionetworks, DREAM, the University of North Carolina, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. The challenge will close on September 15, 2013, and the top-scoring team(s) will be announced at the November, 2013 DREAM Conference (www.iscb.org/recomb-regsysgen2013) in Toronto, Canada. http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130611-901905.html

International Space Apps Challenge: Results: On April 20-21, over 9,000 people around the world participated in the known galaxy's largest mass collaboration ever - the International Space Apps Challenge. You can see the incredible work they created and check if they need help with coding or marketing. http://spaceappschallenge.org/

National Day of Civic Hacking: On June 1-2, over 11,000 individuals engaged in the National Day of Civic Hacking in 95 events, 38 states, 83 cities, and 2 territories. You can see the list of 26 challenges from federal, state, and local governments at http://hackforchange.org/challenges and see if you can coordinate with teams as they flesh out their ideas. http://hackforchange.org/

REST API Service is Available for Safe Drinking Water Data: The newly expanded REST Application Programming Interface (API) services for Envirofacts Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) data were recently made available. These new SDWIS services represent an expanding catalog of special Envirofacts data services that build upon the core Envirofacts REST API service. Get familiar with the Envirofacts API here: http://www.epa.gov/enviro/facts/services.html. See the REST API for SDWIS here: http://www.epa.gov/enviro/facts/otherdata.html.

A new, web-based application is transforming the way Scotland’s public bodies display their information about Scotland’s environment. 

 

SEPA Director David Pirie said: “Scotland’s Environment Web and Spotfire present a tremendous opportunity to make a real difference to the environment. It’s about bringing people together and working collaboratively. Displaying information from a number of sources, all on one map, is something we wouldn’t have been able to do in the past. Spotfire allows us to do that seamlessly, making the raw data available and allowing the community to choose how they want to use it.”

Scotland’s Environment Web project is leading the way in developing digital technologies to help the public discover more about Scotland’s environment. Scotland’s Environment Web, a partnership of public sector organisations in Scotland, is using Spotfire, a visual data analysis tool, to overlay multiple sets of environmental data that different organisations hold, and present that data in an accessible and useable form. The first Spotfire app to be released is on water quality, and is designed for users with varying levels of knowledge; from members of the general public, to education, local authorities, planners and professionals. Several more applications are planned over the coming months.

The water application will show the overall quality of all surface water in Scotland, and a summary of how many and which water bodies have improved or deteriorated over time. Users will find more detail on each individual stretch of water monitored. A map of Scotland will show what condition our waters are in. This can then be filtered, allowing the user to interrogate and analyse the data, which can be exported for use in reports and presentations, either in map, graph or table form.

Spotfire provides users with a platform which will make complex environmental data much easier to access and understand, allowing them to focus the information to their area or level of interest. Importantly for the user, it is all web-based and can be used on the Scotland’s Environment website without the need to download any additional tools.

Search for Spotfire

Source: http://www.environment.scotland.gov.uk/site_pages/search.aspx?q=Spotfire&sort=

Leading-edge approach

Source: http://www.environment.scotland.gov....e_Approach.pdf (PDF)

Hazel McFarlane is Corporate Communications Officer at the Scottish

Environment Protection Agency

By Hazel McFarlane

Putting Scotland at the forefront of sharing information, prioritising problems and involving citizens

Environment, Spring 2013 // connect // 41

Visit http://www.environment.scotland.gov.uk

 

‘It’s an opportunity to get understanding out of raw data and find the issues that matter the most’

 

In this digital age, Scotland’s Environment Web (SEWeb) is leading the way in developing digital technologies which will help the public to find out more about Scotland’s environment.

 

People expect more from information provision than simply reproducing books and publications on screen. They want interest and interactivity – to be able to visualise information spatially and in other ways to find out what is important. This is truer than ever when it comes to Scotland’s environment, and the scientific data and information which is collected, researched, analysed and used.

 

SEWeb’s innovative approach, providing access to data and information in a digital format, brings together information on Scotland’s environment so that it is easily available and in a useable form. Jointly funded by the European Union’s LIFE+ programme and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and with input and support from a number of partner organisations across Scotland, the SEWeb project is committed to developing a modern and dynamic approach to presenting information. It aims to move away from static reports, to a website where unprecedented access to the most up-to-date environmental information is available. The leading-edge approach that SEWeb is undertaking will be of benefit to a range of audiences, including policymakers, the education sector, young people and the wider public.

 

David Pirie, Director of Science and Strategy at SEPA, says: “The environment is all interconnected. What happens in one area has a consequence for another and therefore the science and research we do needs to be multidisciplinary and joined up. We needed a way for partners to interact and bring data together and then to make that data accessible and communicate it. SEWeb achieves all of that.”

 

Ed Mackey, Unit Manager for Knowledge and Information Management at SEWeb partner, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), agrees and says the partnership aspect of SEWeb is fundamental: “More than ever before we need to work together to use our expertise, knowledge and other resources to best effect. SEWeb adds value through a shared understanding of environmental opportunities and constraints founded on common access to a comprehensive and trusted evidence base.”

 

Developing technology to aid the collection, analysis and interpretation of environmental data is at the forefront of SEWeb. The web is a more dynamic place than a few years ago. By providing information in a vibrant, interactive way the information becomes more engaging and more likely to change behaviour as a result. There are a number of tools which SEWeb and its partners are developing in their mission to make environmental data more accessible.

 

These include ‘Spotfire’ and a new interactive map search tool. It is a visual data analysis tool which can read data from any source, and multiple sources, all at once. It is web based and can be used without the need to download additional tools. It will allow users to interactively interrogate data using various forms of presentation including maps, tables and graphs. All data can be exported for use in reports and presentations.

 

 

Through ‘Spotfire’, SEWeb provides users with a platform which will allow them to analyse and view multiple levels of data on the environment, allowing them to filter the information to their area or level of interest. Each application will vary in its complexity and therefore the audiences it is most suitable for. The first to be released will be a water quality application which is designed for users with varying levels of knowledge, from members of the general public, to the education sector, local authorities, planners and professionals. The second application on climate change projections, however, will use complex data which will be aimed towards industry professionals.

 

 

Similarly, a new interactive map search tool called the Land Information Search (LIS) will be hosted on SEWeb. This tool will give information about any land designations or features in any chosen area, for example, special protection areas or woodland grant schemes. The LIS will be an updated version of the current tool which was created by the Forestry Commission and its development will be led by SNH. Ed Mackey from SNH says: “LIS recognises that information is a dynamic property and that the constituency of interests in it is diverse. By creating a ‘level playing field’ of readily accessible environmental information it saves time and money, for example, in development planning or environmental assessment.” He adds: “It makes efficient use of information, for differing and interrelated purposes, in ways that will benefit the operation of government, business, education and research, and the interested citizen.” The application can be used to identify any designations or sensitivities which may affect a potential project.

 

So how does this advanced approach benefit its key audiences? For the education sector, SEWeb is a useful tool in aiding teaching and research methods for environmental subjects. John Isaacs, lecturer at Abertay University, has been involved in the project and can see the benefits from an educational perspective. “Using this type of technology will allow teachers and students to find the information they are looking for much more easily. “Teachers will be able to find appropriate course material without having to trawl through in-depth reports and similarly students will be able to find the information they require for reports and assignments which is relevant and unbiased.” This highlights one of the key benefits of the way the information is presented on SEWeb; it is neutral so that the user can fully interpret the meaning for themselves.

 

Young people have been identified as being the most receptive to web-based information and an important audience. The project has been working with pupils from Stirling High School to gain insight and ideas as to how the website could help and support young people to get more involved in Scotland’s environment. The young people went on to produce prototype resources including a game, mobile phone app, youth pages on the website and social networking.

 

Gregor MacMillan, one of the students who took part, says: “We decided that a game would be the best way to get other young people interested because we all play games online and, once they started playing it, protecting the environment for fun, they’d have that same stuff in their head for real too. I’m really proud of what we’ve done, I never thought we’d get the chance to actually make the prototypes for real, so that’s been fantastic.” SEWeb intends to launch some of these prototypes in 2014.

 

Helping the public to better understand, protect and improve Scotland’s environment is key to SEWeb. As well as ‘Spotfire’ and the LIS, SEWeb is also developing tools and resources to help people measure and monitor their own environment. Citizen science, or public monitoring, is about public involvement in data collection and analysis. The significant increase in personal access to smart phones and tablet computers extends the scope and uptake of citizen science data gathering.

 

SEWeb will promote public monitoring in Scotland and encourage members of the public and the education sector to get involved in this type of data gathering. It will provide a toolkit of resources for new and developing projects, a searchable register of opportunities, and demonstrate how the data which is collected can be used to develop an understanding of the environment. A newly developed public engagement section will be launched on SEWeb in summer 2013.

 

SEWeb provides an authoritative and up to date account of the state of Scotland’s environment. It will continue to broaden the range of data, the way it is presented and increase accessibility. The web is becoming more graphics based, more intuitive and is increasingly being built around applications that allow people to draw on raw data and display it in the way they find most beneficial and this recent trend is likely to continue.

 

SEWeb will put Scotland at the European forefront of sharing environmental information, prioritising problems and involving citizens in assessing and improving their own environment, with a number of exciting developments and changes coming to the website over the coming year. “I think it’s a fantastic public resource,” says David Pirie. “It’s a tremendous opportunity to make a real difference to the environment. It’s an opportunity to allow us to engage with people, get the knowledge and understanding out of all our raw data and find out about the issues that matter the most.”