With 800k Facilities, EPA's ECHO Database Holds News for Your Town

Environmental reporters today have a tool far more powerful than what they had only two years ago: EPA's ECHO data portal. ECHO (Enforcement and Compliance History Online) has improved dramatically during that time, offering more of the kind of "one-stop shopping" that EPA's Envirofacts had been famous for.

ECHO now offers quick, integrated searches of EPA and state data on some 800,000 regulated facilities in the US. It's a convenient way to access inspection, violation, and enforcement information under the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and hazardous waste laws. It's more visual than ever, and includes map interfaces and reports that help you tell your readers and viewers how pollution affects their locality.

ECHO now includes interactive maps that allow you to explore which states have the most permit violators — and also a set of "state dashboards" that allow you to focus on the overview for your state.

Only three weeks ago EPA added a new search feature that allows you to probe violations of drinking water standards by utilities in your area highlighting, the most serious problems. Release.

• ECHO homepage.