US EPA Facility Data as a Web Service

1
US EPA Facility Data as a Web Service

• A Pilot Project of the CIO Councils XML Web
  Services Working Group
• Presented to
• EPA GIS Workgroup Spring Meeting
• Friday, April 11, 2003

2
Todays Problems Facing Government IT Managers

• Todays business demands IT agility.
• To maximize value on investment, we must optimize
  todays assets, leaving room to adapt to
  innovative new technologies.
• Must focus on growth and scalability while
  restraining costs.
• Reduce IT complexity.
• Seamlessly integrate disparate internal systems.

3
The Web Services Solution The Concept

• Have a computer provide a service on the World
  Wide Web transmit output across the Web in XML
  for consumption by another computer.
• Service is rooted in XML, a widely accepted
  industry standard.
• Web Services an emerging, open standards-based
  technology for connecting disparate business
  applications.
• Build application using multiple XML Web Services
  from various distributed sources, packaged
  together.
• This way, distributed applications and other
  digital assets can work together, seamlessly.
• Packaged as a single entity, to the user it
  appears as one portable, interoperable and
  flexible application.
• Web Services are likely to become the most
  heavily utilized distributed component
  architecture.

4
Web Services Cost-Effective, Standards-Based
Software Data Exchange

• Web Services
• Are an emerging application interface technology,
  
• Allow different machines to easily exchange data
  with one another,
• Do not require additional, proprietary
  third-party software or hardware,
• Are language, platform, and vendor-independent,
  and
• Are effective.

5
XML Benefits

• XML
• Is an open industry standard.
• Enables developers to describe data being
  exchanged between PCs, smart devices,
  applications, and Web sites.
• Because data is separate from format and style
  definitions, it can be easily
• organized,
• programmed,
• edited, and
• exchanged
• between any number of Web sites, applications and
• devices.

6
Technical Benefits

• Provides a simple, reliable way to blend existing
  systems with new applications and services.
• Based on industry standards, allowing easy
  integration.
• Communicated over the existing HTTP
  infrastructure.
• Allows rapid application development.
• Eliminates code duplication, encourages code
  reuse.
• Is transformable to any format.
• Can be utilized within your enterprise, or from
  external sites.

7
E-Government Business Benefits

• Much information that has been locked up in
  centralized databases will now be accessible.
• Web Services integrate, extend and enhance
  dynamic business functions and enhance customer
  service.
• By enabling back-end, legacy, database, and other
  enterprise applications to exchange data with any
  other application, Web Services allow
  collaborative enterprises to deploy new
  technology while extending the functionality and
  value of mature technologies.
• Proprietary data formats and protocols can
  continue unchanged while interoperability and
  productivity increases.
• Can create new Web services or encapsulate
  existing applications as Web services.
• Web Services run through industry standard
  protocols and offer the potential of eliminating
  the need for proprietary hardware, software, and
  network protocols, ensuring platform
  independence.
• Lower investment costs/increased ROI through
  increased productivity.

8
Facility Registry System (FRS) Pilot ProjectTo
Web Service-Enable FRS Data

• Upon completion, this data will be available in
  XML format to all current and future applications
  without any changes to the Web Service.
• Existing Internet infrastructure will be used.
• Applications can use all of the data or just keep
  the portion they are interested in.
• Use of the Web as a delivery mechanism and XML as
  the delivery format will succeed because it
  offers interoperability, ubiquity, a low barrier
  to entry, and wide industry support.
• E-Government goals are realizable.

9
Facility Registry System (FRS) Overview

• What is FRS?
• A centrally managed database that identifies
  facilities, sites or places subject to
  environmental regulations or of environmental
  interest.
• What is the scope?
• As of July 2002, FRS has over 1,133,484 unique
  facility records linking to over 1,497,987
  program interests such as
• Toxic Release Inventory Submitters (all years
  1987 - 1999)
• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
  Information (RCRAInfo)
• Risk Management Plans (RMPs)
• Permit Compliance System (PCS) - Majors and
  Minors
• Biennial Reporting System (BRS) 1995/1997
• Aerometric Information Retrieval System
  (AIRS)/AIRS Facility Subsystem
• Comprehensive Environmental Response,
  Compensation, and Liability Information System
  (CERCLIS)
• State master records from Pennsylvania, Utah,
  Mississippi, South Carolina, Nebraska, Minnesota,
  Ohio, Indiana, and Maryland

10
Three Phased Approach

• Clean up the data
• Web Service-enable the data
• Discover new uses and reap the benefits

11
Phase One Clean Up the Data

• Initially, the FRS data would be cleaned up using
  a (one time) batch process.
• There would be no point in Web service-enabling
  bad data, so the best approach would be to clean
  it all up first, then proceed with the rest of
  the project.
• Updates could be performed on a regular basis.
  This frequency has yet to be determined, it could
  be done incrementally1 monthly (at a minimum),
  weekly, or nightly. Eventually the system could
  move toward continuous, real-time updates.
• 1 Phase Two will discuss incremental updates in
  more detail

12
Phase Two Web Service Enable the Data

• Create an XML Web Service which uses HTTP as a
  delivery mechanism and XML as a delivery format.
  This service would output XML data in response to
  requests from other applications.
• One such request could be, Give me all of the
  information that you have that is associated with
  a given zip code.

13
Architectural Overview
14
Demonstration

• Java command line program accessing the Web
  Service (command and results)
• Stand alone" Java Desktop Client application
  accessing the same Web Service.
• Simple Web application accessing the same Web
  Service. This JSP/Servlet combination displays
  the same data as Demo 1 in a Web Browser.

• Displays "raw" XML in a Web Browser.
• "Raw" Envirofacts XML displayed in a Web Browser.
  
• "Raw" Qsent XML displayed in a Web Browser.

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Demonstration, Continued

• Envirofacts data in another format (this uses XSL
  functions to count the number of records and
  number the table)
• Qsent data in an HTML table (Qsent Data has a
  blue background).
• Qsent Data as a numbered list (XSL functions are
  used to count the number of records and number
  the list).

• A Web application which uses the Web Service to
  get XML from both Databases and displays the
  differences.
• Zip code differences are displayed (only
  differing fields are displayed).
• Web applications retrieving XML from the Web
  Service and using XSL to transform the XML into
  another format (in this case, HTML).
• Envirofacts data in an HTML table (XSL can make
  transformation decisions based on the data being
  transformed. Here, Envirofacts data has a purple
  background).

16
Incremental Updates

• One possible example of the update process
• For each item on the Qsent Add, Update, Delete
  list, Qsent would run a query against the Web
  Service to see if there was a match in the FRS
  data.
• When a potential match is found, Qsent XML will
  be sent to the Web Service for consideration.
  Validation processes will be performed, which
  could result in the data being appended, or
  possibly trigger another verification process
  (manual or electronic).

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Phase Three Discover New Uses Reap the Benefits

• This highly valuable (and now highly accurate)
  data is now available in a standard format (XML).
• Output from the Web Service can be used as is, or
  transformed into any other format (HTML or even
  different XML) as needed.
• Countless new and exciting applications can
  access this data to achieve E-Government
  initiatives. Such as
• GIS Mapping applications, or
• A VoiceXML application, which performs a
  reverse-911 function.

18
In Closing

• Web Services and XML promise to offer a seamless
  way of integrating, transporting, and connecting
  centralized data and disparate business
  applications while retaining use of existing HTTP
  structure.
• The EPA could utilize this to achieve
  E-Government goals while constraining expenses.
• This would be done by
• Cleaning up the data,
• Web Service enabling the data,
• Performing incremental updates
• The EPA will also be able to expand this service
  into new uses as desired.