ECMPS Support

The countdown to April 1 continues

As the clock keeps ticking toward the first mandatory reporting period under ECMPS which will begin on Wednesday, April 1, 2009, there is even a shorter time line related to the release of the next version of the Client Tool and the ending of the testing period.

Here are the relevant dates over the next few weeks:

• March 6th  ECMPS Users will begin to be able to use the CAMD Business System to set up their challenge questions. These challenge questions are part of CROMERR, and they must be set up before ECMPS users will be able to submit any data through the Client Tool under the next version. This is earlier than was originally scheduled. Users should be sure to set this up in advance of using the next version of the Client Tool.


• March 9th:  The EPA Host System is closed down in order to begin preparations and data loading for the next release of the Client Tool. The EPA Host System will remain offline until March 17th.


• March 13th:  The ECMPS Client Tool Preview (CTP) ends. The Test EPA Host System will be permanently shut down. All users should begin to use the production version of the Client Tool beginning with its release.


• March 17th:  The next version of the production version of the Client Tool is scheduled to be released on or about March 17th. All existing production users will be required to upgrade to the new version. All new production users will need to download and install the latest version which will be available from the ECMPS Support Web site.

Labels: Preparing for ECMPS, Release Schedule Information

The ECMPS Technical Support Help Desk will be closed on Presidents' Day, Monday, February 16th. Technical support will be available again on Tuesday, February 17th.

The ECMPS Technical Support Help Desk will also be closed on the following upcoming holidays:

• Memorial Day - Monday, May 25, 2009
• Independence Day - Friday, July 3, 2009
• Labor Day - Monday, September 7, 2009

You can view the full technical support holiday schedule here.

Labels: Technical Support

The EPA Host System is again available.

The EPA Host System is currently not available. We currently do not have an estimate as to when the Host will again be available. Please check the EPA Host System Status page for updates as to when the system will be available again.

Instead of focusing on a specific feature of the Client Tool, the latest installment in the library of tutorials is an overview of ECMPS.

The Overview tutorial is now available. The Overview is designed to help someone gain a broader understanding of ECMPS and also to provide a basic understanding of what ECMPS is to someone who is not familiar with the new system for reporting Part 75 data.

This newest tutorial explains the purpose and scope of ECMPS, describes how ECMPS works, and compares ECMPS to the legacy systems. The Overview tutorial also includes instructions for how to begin to use ECMPS, how to load data, and how to submit data to the EPA.

This tutorial, like all of the others, is an interactive, audiovisual presentation which can be viewed in an Internet browser. Also, like the other tutorials, it is designed to provide practical instruction in a format which can be viewed in 12 minutes or less.

To see the complete list of ECMPS tutorials, click here.

Labels: Tutorial

The presentations from the Arlington Stakeholder Meeting have been posted. All of the material which was presented at the November 19, 2008 ECMPS Stakeholder Meeting have been posted on the ECMPS Support Web site.

The presentations are audiovisual presentations broken into the natural sections of the meeting. This allows you to listen to any of the sections of the meeting you would like to listen to rather than trying to find a particular section of the meeting from a longer presentation. These sections of the meeting cover the necessary areas that stakeholders need to understand about ECMPS as we move forward toward the mandatory use of ECMPS beginning with the submission of 2008Q1 data.

In addition, for the first time, the Client Tool demonstration part has been included. The demo covers all of the essential areas of the Client Tool along with practical tips for how to best use the Client Tool to evaluate and submit your data.

Please provide us with any feedback on these presentations using the Tutorials and Stakeholder Meeting Feedback form.

Labels: Stakeholder Meeting

The days of the dinosaur are numbered.*

MDC (and ETS-FTP) are about to be completely replaced by ECMPS.

As many of you know, the legacy data system is nearing the end of its operation. February 15, 2009, will be the last day to submit data using MDC and ETS-FTP. After that submissions of Part 75 data must be done using ECMPS.**

This does not affect sources who have already switched over to ECMPS. For sources who will first submit using ECMPS in April (or July for ozone season only reporters), this means that your data will be moved from the legacy system to ECMPS beginning on February 16, 2009. As currently scheduled, on March 17, 2009, a new version of the Client Tool will be released. At that time, all sources who have not already switched over to ECMPS will be able to access their data through the ECMPS Client Tool.

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* At ECMPS Support, we affectionately refer to MDC (and ETS-FTP) as the dinosaur.

** Any source who needs to submit data using MDC or ETS-FTP after February 15, 2009 will be able to make the submission. However, once the source is able to use ECMPS, the data submitted using the legacy system after February 15, 2009 will need to made in ECMPS in order for that data to be in the official database. The reason for this is that there must be a cut off time in order to give sufficient time for data to be moved from the legacy system to ECMPS.

All sources should work with their EPA ECMPS Analyst in order to keep CAMD informed about submissions which need to take place after February 15th.

Labels: Transition to ECMPS

The ECMPS Support Web site has recently added Twitter to its repertoire of ways for stakeholders to keep informed about the latest technical support news.

Twitter is a micro-blogging service which allows users to send and receive updates that consist of text-based messages of 140 characters or less.

For ECMPS Support, Twitter has been set up to allow stakeholders another way to follow the information which is put out via the ECMPS Support Blog. Currently, stakeholders can sign up to receive updates via email by signing up to subscribe to the ECMPS Support Blog. For many users that may continue to be the best way to receive the updates.

Twitter allows stakeholders the ability to receive updates on their cell phones. When the updates arrive, they are only 140 characters in length, but they include the URL which can be accessed to read the full post. For some stakeholders, this may be a more convenient way to keep up-to-date.

The bottom line is that the same information will be available to stakeholders whether they read the Blog, receive email updates from the Blog, or receive Twitter updates from the Blog. In order to meet the needs of the community of ECMPS stakeholders, the ECMPS Support team wants to provide various ways for stakeholders to keep up-to-date.

To follow the ECMPS Support Blog via Twitter, click here or click on the Twitter icon located on the left hand side of every page on the ECMPS Support Web site. You will be required to provide some information in order to set up a free Twitter account. From there you can set up your cell phone device to receive updates under the Devices tab on the Services page. For more information on how to set that up, click here. Please note that standard charges will be applied to your cell phone for receiving the messages sent via Twitter.