Aspect's data management and database development team is helping our clients and project mangers get ready for substantial changes coming to the Washington State Department of Ecology's EIM System in the summer of 2013.
EIM is a vast, searchable, statewide database that stores environmental data from projects all over the state--and many of the projects that Aspect Consulting is involved with (voluntary cleanups [VCP], Agreed Orders [AO], NPDES stormwater monitoring, landfills, and other) are required to submit data to EIM. For good reasons, the formatting and metadata requirements for getting data into the database are specific and stringent and it is critical that our quality control and processing routines that prepare data for EIM remain up-to-date, efficient, and cost-effective for our clients.
Aspect has already begun preparations for these changes and we've begun assisting clients who will be affected.
From Ecology:
This coming July, we are preparing for some big changes to the Environmental Information Management System (EIM). These changes will affect data submittals and system availability – so we are letting you know early to give you plenty of lead time. We have spent the last year and a half analyzing the Results template for efficiency and usability. This template hasn’t been looked at comprehensively since we incorporated the SEQQUAL sediments database in 2007. We got rid of 15 little-used fields. We renamed some fields to make them more intuitive. We split out some fields that had been pigeon-holed in others. In all, we have a net loss of 11 fields! See attached grid of changes. More information about valid values and field descriptions will be coming soon.
We will also be making minor changes to the Locations template. We will soon be sending more information about this as well.
Additionally, we are improving our search pages – both the underlying technology and the features. We are moving to an all-in-one tabular search page similar to our Groundwater Search page. The map search will also be improved. It will be more integrated with the tabular search. This means you will be able to see more information directly from the map, something users have been asking for.
Please note - you will not be able to use the existing Results and Locations templates after the changes occur. Please start planning for this now! We have a planned cutoff date of July 3, 2013 for the last submittals with the existing Results and Locations templates. Only the current Results and Locations templates can be used until this time. Our data coordinators will need to process your batches before we launch the changes. During this time, EIM will be shut down to all data submittals (July 4th - July 30th). Please don’t wait until the last minute!! Once the changes have been launched, we will be having state-wide classroom and webinar training. This is currently scheduled for September.
Key Dates:
July 3: Cutoff date for EIM submittals using current Result and Location templates
July 4 - 30: EIM shut down to data submittals
August 1: EIM reopens for business with revised Result and Location templates and new Search
September: Statewide classroom/webinar data submittal training
Please note: EIM Search/Download and MyEIM will be available the entire time. They will be updated with new data through July 19th. The revised Search and MyEIM will roll out August 1st.
If you need help getting ready for the changes to EIM or are in need of making your first EIM submittal, contact Parker Wittman to see if Aspect can help.