ECMPS Support

The 2011 Q3 Reporting period begins on Saturday October 1st. Sources required to report emissions data under the Acid Rain Program (ARP), Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) have 30 days to submit their emissions data to the EPA using the ECMPS Client Tool. (Note, because the 30th day falls on a weekend, the last day to submit will actually be October 31st.)

During this reporting period, the EPA expects to receive over 3,900 emissions data submissions. Given these large number of files that need to be submitted over the next 30 days, we, at technical support, encourage all sources to start working as soon as possible on the evaluation and submission of their data.

Start Early

We want to encourage sources to start early primarily because, with the large volume of submissions expected, if you have questions, you will get a faster response to your technical support request, the earlier in the month that you submit your request. If you wait until later in the month to begin working with your data and you run into problems that require technical support, your request will be added to a much longer queue than if you had submitted the request earlier in the submission period.

Technical Support Information

Information on getting technical support through the resources on the Web site or by submitting a technical support request has all been consolidated in the Web site's Help section. We would like to highlight that, as necessary, FAQs and Known Issues will continue to be updated throughout the submission period. Hours for technical support are listed on the Contact Us page.

Resubmission Requests

Requests to resubmit QA or emissions data should be made using the Resubmission Request Form.

Keep Up-To-Date

To keep up-to-date with ECMPS News items, we would suggest subscribing to ECMPS News.

You can receive the ECMPS News posts via email by subscribing to ECMPS News or adding the ECMPS News feed to your RSS Reader. To subscribe via email, simply enter your email address in the box provided on the upper right part of the ECMPS News page and click the Subscribe button. To receive the RSS feed, click on the RSS feed, which also located at the bottom of every page on the Web site.

Labels: Technical Support

Stakeholders have started to receive emails regarding the Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), which is also referred to as the Transport Rule.

Recently, a second email was sent out as a reminder for sources regarding action which they need to take regarding CSAPR. The contents of this email is also being provided here. Please pass this information on to anyone who needs to take action for designating representatives for affected units.

EPA's Clean Air Markets Division (CAMD) will soon begin allocating allowances for the Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), establishing the Transport Rule (TR) trading programs. The first phase of the TR NOx and SO2 annual programs begins on January 1, 2012. The Transport Rule text, along with a fact sheet and other supporting information, can be found at http://epa.gov/crossstaterule/actions.html.

In order for your TR-subject facilities to receive TR allowance allocations, CAMD must first receive a Certificate of Representation covering these facilities, indicating who the Designated Representative (DR) is for the TR programs. A facility will not be allocated allowances until this requirement is met. Please note that if a source is covered by multiple programs (ARP, CAIR, RGGI or any TR trading program), the DR must be the same person for all these programs.

If you have already assigned your TR designated representatives, thank you. If you have not assigned your TR designated representatives, CAMD encourages you to do so as soon as possible. See http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/business/docs/DRLetterFINAL.pdf for more information regarding assigning designated representatives.

Janice Wagner, Chief
Market Operations Branch
Clean Air Markets Division, U.S. EPA

The 2011 Quarter 3 Release of the Client Tool is now available.

For details about what was included in this release, consult the Release Notes.

In order to use the Client Tool, you must be a Designated Representative, Alternate Designated Representative, or an ECMPS agent for a Representative. In addition, you must have a CAMD Business System (CBS) user name, current CBS password, and have completed a CROMERR Subscriber Agreement Form.

All current users of the Client Tool will be prompted to upgrade to this latest version the next time that each user logs in to the EPA Host System. For more information about the Update Service which updates the Client Tool, watch the Update Service tutorial.

All new users of the Client Tool should download and install the 2011 Q2 version of the Client Tool and then perform the update to the 2011 Q3 version. Users are urged to follow all instructions on the Web site and to consult the Installation Guide for step-by-step instructions on how to install the Client Tool.

In order to insure that all technical support questions are tracked and answered, EPA has requested that all technical support questions, including installation questions, be submitted to ECMPS Technical Support.

Labels: Release Schedule Information

Due to some migration updates taking longer than expected, the 2011 Q3 version of the ECMPS Client Tool has not yet been released. It is anticipated that the release will take place in the morning on Thursday, September 15, 2011. When the release is available, a post will be added to ECMPS News indicating that the 2011 Q3 version of the Client Tool is available.

Labels: Release Schedule Information

In observance of Labor Day, the ECMPS Technical Support Help Desk will be closed on Monday, September 5th. Technical support will be available again on Tuesday, September 6th. However, note that beginning on Friday, September 9th and continuing until the release of the next version of the Client Tool, which is scheduled for Wednesday, September 14th, there will be no access to the EPA Host System.

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

• Veterans' Day - Friday, November 11, 2011
• Thanksgiving Day - Thursday, November 24, 2011
• Friday after Thanksgiving Day - Friday, November 25, 2011

You can view the full technical support holiday schedule here.

Labels: Release Schedule Information, Technical Support

As usual, an ECMPS Client Tool update is scheduled to occur in the month prior to a reporting month. The 2011 Q3 software update is scheduled to be released on September 14, 2011. At that time, the latest version of the Client Tool--the 2011 Q3 version--will be made available.

In order to complete the deployment of the latest version of the Client Tool, the EPA Host System will be unavailable from Friday, September 9th until Wednesday, September 14th when the new version is released. During that time, users will only be able to use the Client Tool "offline".

Labels: Release Schedule Information