The Environmental Data Standards Council (EDSC) is a partnership among EPA, States and Tribal partners to develop and agree upon data standards for environmental information collection and exchange. The Council seeks to promote efficient sharing of environmental information between State, EPA and Tribal partners through the development of data standards. More information about the EDSC is available on the EDSC website at www.envdatastandards.net.
The EDSC was formed by the resolution of the State/EPA Information Management Workgroup in November 1999. This resolution grew out of a proposal from the Data Standards Strategy Action Team to the State-EPA Information Management Workgroup. The EDSC has ten members consisting of four state, four EPA, and two Tribal representatives.
The Council will identify those areas of information for which having standards will render the most value in achieving environmental results, prioritize the areas, and pursue the development of data standards. The Council will involve Indian Tribes and Nations, other state and federal agencies, business groups, non-governmental organizations, and other interested parties as the standards are developed.
Action Teams meet to develop draft data standards that are publicly reviewed before consideration by the EDSC as final standards. Both draft and final standards can be found on the EDSC website.
Data Standards Discussion Forum for Action Team Members
The Council has selected the Website for Ideas and Solutions on Environmental Information and Regulatory Innovations (WISER) as the forum for discussions on candidate data standards. Action Team members can post and respond to messages, post and download documents, and find out about planned Action Team activities. WISER is accessible to all team members and will enable them to disseminate information and discuss issues related to standards development.
Click here to Access WISER (http://www.ecos.org/wiser/). 
Commenting on Data Standards
Users can comment on the data standards posted by the EDSC by using the form at the bottom of any data standard page.
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