FORMAL ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS For NPDES STATES Welcome to the Formal Enforcement Action module for NPDES State Users. We will demonstrate how Formal actions are entered into ICIS, stress the importance of entering these actions, and discuss the benefits of entering some additional data that is not currently required. Formal enforcement actions are required and when entered into the database with a compliance schedule event, and properly linked to the violations specified in the Order, the status of those violations will automatically change from non-compliant to Resolved Pending on the Quarterly Non-Compliance report. This is a product of the ICIS Customer Support Team. For more information, please contact us at icis@epa.gov

ECHO & OTIS Data Systems Enforcement Compliance History Online (ECHO) www.epa-echo.gov/echo/ Enforcement action information is easily available to the public on the Internet. The Enforcement Compliance History Online referred to as ECHO website has enforcement actions taken by the State or EPA in the last 5 years are displayed on the facility report. As you can see it is very important that this information be available to the public, state and federal agencies.

Formal Enforcement Actions ICIS NPDES Data Entry for NPDES States Formal Enforcement Actions Let’s get started entering a Formal Enforcement Action into ICIS.

Add Formal Enforcement Action To proceed, you must have access to sensitive data. To get sensitive access, you must contact your EPA Regional person to get a copy of the Sensitive Access memo which must be signed by your Supervisor. ICIS User Support is responsible for entering this field and they must get a copy of the signed memo.

Adding A Formal Enforcement Action To begin, open the NPDES drop down menu on the Global Navigation menu and click on ‘State’ either next to Administrative Formal or Judicial (depending on the type of enforcement action being entered). The majority of State issued enforcement actions are Administrative, so this tutorial will focus on the Administrative formal actions. Judicial actions will be entered in the same exact manner, with only minor differences in terminologies which will be pointed out later. Examples of Administrative actions would include Penalties, Compliance Orders, and Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs). Examples of a Judical action would be Consent Decrees, Bankruptcies, Criminal Actions, etc…

Add Formal Enforcement Action A general rule in ICIS is that any field marked with an asterisk must be entered in order to save the record. The Enforcement Action Identifier is a very important field and must be unique for each Enforcement Action. This identifier can only be used one time. For States, the white box is a free form field that you can use to enter your identifier. The Enforcement Action Name is not a required field, but it does come in handy when someone is searching for your enforcement actions and they cannot remember the NPDES permit number. In most cases, the permittee’s name is entered into this field. Special programs such as Storm Water may enter the name of the contractor and the site name. The other fields are not mandatory, but can be used to simplify running reports later on.

Add Formal Enforcement Action Make your selection from the Available types of Formal Enforcement Actions. Highlight the name on the left, click the “Add” button, and then click “Next” .

Add Formal Enforcement Action You will be required to Link your facility to the enforcement action. You MUST link a NPDES ID to the enforcement action. If a NPDES ID does not exist for the facility, you must exit here and enter the permit before the enforcement action can be added.

Add Formal Enforcement Action States have the option of adding Government Contacts. If you do not want to add any Government Contacts, click Next to move on. If you would like to add Government Contacts, click the Manage Contacts button and follow the prompts. Remember you must provide a list of your contacts to your EPA Regional Office in order to be able to link them to any actions in the database. (enforcement actions, inspections, etc).

Add Formal Enforcement Action Enforcement Action Basic Information screen Key Data to save record Other required fields Optional fields Whew…… finally we are on the Enforcement Action Basic Information Screen. Let’s talk about the key data that is required to save your record. As we go down the screen, we may point out other fields that are required data but are not required in order to save the record. The reason some of these fields are not required at first is that ICIS was built so that you can enter your enforcement action when it is drafted. This enables you to pull a report for your managers to show what enforcement actions are currently in draft or in the pipeline being routed for concurrence or waiting to be mailed out. We will also recommend that you enter some of the optional fields also so that you can use this information to simplify reports or to be able to sort in different ways.

Add Formal Enforcement Action Let’s discuss the top portion of the screen. Notice several fields are populated based on the questions you answered before we made it to the Enforcement Action Basic Screen. The Enforcement Action Identifier is required, but if you notice it is hard coded and cannot be changed. The Enforcement action name is optional, but is highly recommended you put one. The other fields are optional. Notice the Linked Facility is displayed because you had linked the facility earlier in the process. I want to point out the Status Data section in the top right. The status will change as you enter additional data for this record. For instance, the Enforcement Action Status will say Enf. Action data entered when you create the record. When you enter the issue date, the status will change to Final Order Issued and when you close the action the status will change to Enforcement action closed.

Add Formal Enforcement Action We are scrolling down to the middle part of the enforcement action basic information screen. Notice the Federal Statutes Violated is a required field, but it is automatically populated for States. You must make a selection on the Programs Violated field. You can multi-select by holding the Ctrl key and then highlighting the choices with your mouse. If you would like to identify actions for wet weather or pretreatment, you should choose them as one of the programs violated. Priorities are optional for the states. There are fields for Court Information and the respondents (Judicial actions refer to them as defendants) in your case. It is important to know that when your records migrated from PCS, the Docket Number (PLFN) was moved over to the Court Docket Number field. The Enforcement Action Identifier for actions migrating from PCS to ICIS will have an “N” in the first character and the number is random. Contacts – they are optional, but you can see how they will display on the record and if you need to contact that person with a question about the case, it would be a very useful field.

Add Formal Enforcement Action The fields on the bottom part of the screen displayed here are optional for States. You will also notice that the User Defined fields are available for you to track additional information specifically for your state. Item 1 is a yes/no checkbox, fields 2 & 3 are short data fields, 4 & 5 are date fields, and the 6th field is a memo field.

Add Formal Enforcement Action There is a comment field available for your use also. Just to let you know that any comments put in the User Define Fields or in the comment field is available to the public. We do have a place for Sensitive comments that will not be released to the public and we will discuss them a little later on.

Add Formal Enforcement Action Once the Enforcement record is saved, you have additional menu items for access to enter Sensitive Comments, Milestones, Sub Activities, Related Activities, and Final Orders

Add Formal Enforcement Action Sensitive comments are optional. Select the “sensitive comments” hyperlink to add comments. You can add as many comments as you’d like. These comments are always sensitive, even after issuance of the action itself.

Add Formal Enforcement Action Type in your sensitive comments. Enter the author. Note that the user id of the person entering this information and the created date is included as part of the record.

Add Formal Enforcement Action Milestones – These are some of the more important dates that could take place when issuing a Formal enforcement Action. As you look down the screen, the dates must be in order with the exception of the Enforcement Action Date Entered. In other words, you cannot close an Order before you issue it. Any of the milestones that have a line under them can be edited on this screen. If they do not have an underline, you have to edit that milestone in another area. You will notice there is an NPDES Closed and an Enforcement Action Closed milestone. ICIS was build for multi-media programs. Due to the importance of closing out your action for purposes of the Quarterly Noncompliance Report, it was necessary to add an NPDES Closed date. State actions when closed for NPDES could be closed out here on the Milestones screen. This will automatically populate the NPDES closed date for you. We will discuss the NPDES Closed Date again in the Final Order.

Add Formal Enforcement Action The enforcement action resolution type is not required, but could provide some additional information about this enforcement action. If your enforcement action is combined with or Superseded by another enforcement action it is important to enter the Enforcement Action Identifier from the other formal enforcement action to show the relationship.

Add Formal Enforcement Action Sub Activities – This information is not required, but may be beneficial you for tracking additional information related to your enforcement action. Click on Add sub activity on the top right.

Add Formal Enforcement Action An example of a Sub Activity that is used frequently is the date the Certified Mail Receipt was signed by the facility. If you have other items you would like to add to this list, just contact ICIS User Support. There is a “Planned” date and an “Actual Date”. You can create reports to look for any sub activities that were planned but have not completed yet. This can help you to manage your work.

Add Formal Enforcement Action Related Activities – You have the ability in ICIS to link an activity such as an inspection (Compliance Monitoring) to a specific enforcement action. This is optional for states. I clicked on the “Related Activities” hyperlink and then “Link Activity” to get to this screen. A list of inspections will appear so you can link the appropriate inspection.

ICIS Customer Support at (202) 564-7756 or icis@epa.gov If further assistance is required please contact Your Assigned System Administrator or ICIS Customer Support at (202) 564-7756 or icis@epa.gov THANK YOU! If you need further assistance please contact the your System Administrator or the ICIS helpline at (202) 564-7756 or at icis@epa.gov