Environmental Progress - Summer 2004

IEPA Connects With Illinois Citizens

Website is key interactive tool

Technology and the wonders of the World Wide Web have given us new and exciting tools to share information in faster and more interactive ways.

In recent months, we have taken a number of steps at Illinois EPA to use that technology to share information more efficiently with citizens, students, the regulated community and others, and to help implement Governor Rod Blagojevich's commitment to making state government more accessible and accountable.

While IEPA continues its traditional core responsibilities of permitting, inspections, and compliance and enforcement of state and federal laws that apply to industry, wastewater and drinking water treatment plants, landfills and other regulated facilities, we are also seeking to interact more with individual citizens and groups. A cleaner and healthier environment in Illinois depends on the actions and choices of us all —not just those taken by industry and government.

As more homes and workplaces go "online," the Internet is a great way of reaching out. We have added a number of more convenient new features to our web site.

One is the "Citizens Information Center" which provides quick access to a variety of useful environmental information, services such as nearby recycling and safe disposal locations, practical "green tips" for daily living, a special section on "Green Schools" that includes Governor Blagojevich's Clean and Healthy Schools Initiative, and links to databases with information on environmental conditions in your community. There are also links to special sections on our web site for kids and teachers.

Complementing the Citizens' Information Center is the new "Environmental Facts Online" (ENFO). This site helps direct access to more specific interactive databases and information on contaminated sites undergoing cleanup, locations of toxic releases and other potential contamination, drinking water quality, and water quality evaluations for groundwater, lakes and streams, and enforcement orders.

In most cases, entering a zip code or city will access information of interest to you as a citizen or in your professional or business capacity. For example, simply by entering counties or names of their community water supply, a consumer or local official can access useful information from the new Drinking Water Web Portal on our web site. The companion Source Water Assessment site can be used by county or local health departments, to determine if private residential wells in the area are at risk or to zoom into a map of drinking water supply wells and overlay this information with potential or known contamination sources.

In addition, environmental complaints may now be filed online through the web site, speeding up assignment to our field offices around the state for follow-up investigations. We are also very pleased about the participation in the online "SEP Bank" in which individuals and organizations have proposed Supplemental Environmental Projects—worthwhile activities in their area that potentially can be funded as part of environmental enforcement case settlements.

In addition, the many Agency publications are also available online, including of course, this one, Environmental Progress, the IEPA's quarterly magazine, which is complimented by dozens of more targeted publications and reports meeting a variety of special needs and topics. Our Office of Community Relations also works extensively with individuals and community groups on site-specific issues, providing numerous fact sheets available on the Internet, as well as meeting with citizens in small and large groups. We also answer thousands of email inquiries each year that come through the web site.

For those who do not have ready access to the Internet, there is also a toll-free IEPA "Environmental Helpline" — 1-888-EPA(372) -1996 — that I encourage anyone to use whenever they have a question or need assistance.

We really do want to hear from you and we need your suggestions and feedback on how we can serve you better and work together for continued "environmental progress" in Illinois. Please do not hesitate to email us through the website or call the helpline with your ideas.