This posting summarizes current information about CERS Data seeding.

Cal/EPA was ready to accept seeding data from CUPAs beginning on May 8, 2012 and has completed seeding for one CUPA (Fremont) and is performing test runs for 4 others. Cal/EPA wishes to encourage CUPAs to perform their CERS data seeding as soon they are ready, as Cal/EPA IT staff can only conduct data seeding on a maximum of 2-4 CUPAs per week. It will not be possible for all CUPAs to seed their data if too many wait until the last three months of this year. Please make every effort to seed early (in coordination with your software provider, of course). Based upon recent seeding efforts, Cal/EPA is finding most CUPAs do have some percentage of the seeding data records requiring further attention before their seeding can be initiated. Please plan for this additional time/effort.

With Cal/EPA releasing the first phase of data exchange (EDT) in early August, CUPAs with software providers could anticpate the following:

• All Decade clients that will NOT have a local reporting portal for Unified Program data and DO NOT not plan to modify business data in EnvisionConnect could begin their data seeding in August.
• Decade clients that will NOT have a portal but DO plan to modify business data in EnvisionConnect can also begin in August as long as they wait to make business data changes until after the second phase of EDT is released in early December.
• Accela clients may be able to follow a August or after seeding schedule depending on the status of Accela efforts once their EDT contract with Cal/EPA is established (probably in August/September).
• Garrison clients will probably seed later in the year depending on the status of the Garrison CUPA clients and Garrison's progress with their EDT contract.
• ANY CUPA planning to collect facility submittals via their local reporting portal will not be able to begin EDT until after the second phase of EDT is released in early December so there is a good chance these CUPAs will not be able to seed business data in 2012.

During July-September Cal/EPA will accept seeding files from ANY CUPA that is ready to seed on a first-come, first-served basis. During Q4 2012 Cal/EPA will only accept seeding from the CUPAs shown on the Q4 seeding schedule. The schedule is posted at http://cers.calepa.ca.gov/TempDocs/Seeding/CERSDataSeedingSchedule.pdf . There are 40 CUPAs scheduled to seed during Q4 2012, which is the absolute maximum Cal/EPA's IT staff can handle. Cal/EPA encourages any of the Q4 CUPAs to seed their data earlier if possible.

If you are scheduled to seed in Q4 please plan to have your data ready for seeding by mid to late October to allow time for file cleanup as mentioned above. Data seeding will stop by mid-December, regardless of whether all Q4 data seeding has been completed. During the first three months of 2013 there will be too much business submittal activity and associated support needs on Cal/EPA's IT staff to permit seeding during this period, so CUPAs that have not been seeded by mid-December will have to wait until approximately April 2013.

Please direct general questions about data seeding and the schedule to Dan Firth (dan.firth@calepa.ca.gov), and specific technical questions to Chris Allen (chris.allen@calepa.ca.gov).

Anticipated questions:

What happens if your agency does not seed CERS and you don?t have a local portal?
Your businesses will need to create their own files in CERS if one does not already exist and they will need to enter their own data in time to meet their next regular reporting timeline. Many CUPAs and PAs are planning to assist their businesses to do this (More than a dozen agencies have already decided not seed business data at all). At that time the business or the local agency representative can enter business data that was originally planned to be seeded. One side benefit to a business creating their own facility file in CERS is that the local agency will not need to process any business access requests for those facilities as the business user creating the file is automatically assigned lead user status.

What happens if your agency does not seed CERS and you do have a local portal?
The same as above except that your businesses will be able to create their facility file in either CERS or your local portal.

What can a CUPA that has a local portal do to seed CERS before mid-December?
The CUPA would need to disallow business access through the local portal until the CUPA?s local data systems can exchange submittal data with CERS. Those EDT services will not be available until December 2012.

What happens if the CUPA seeds business data in April 2013?
The CUPA would exclude seeding data for any business files where the business has modified the file after 1/1/13.