Facility Explorer Help

Welcome

Welcome to the Facility Explorer—a data warehouse of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR)—that brings together core environmental information in one place for easy access by DNR staff and the public.

Use it to explore environmental information collected by Iowa DNR to answer questions such as:

• Has DNR had any current or past dealings with a piece of property?
• What environmental permits are held by an industrial facility?
• Where are the potential sources of contamination in my watershed?
• Have there been any violations of any permits at a facility?

Some of these questions can be answered now; others will be answered as it nears completion. Facility Explorer is a constantly growing system. Check out the Current Status and Future Plans.

Use the Map

Moving Around

Ways to Zoom In

Choose one of the following methods:

• Zoom slider :Drag the slider up toward the + to zoom in; or down toward the – to zoom out.
• Mouse: double-click on a point to zoom in one notch toward that point.
• Mouse: roll forward to zoom in; or back to zoom out.
• Zoom To Tab: in the left panel, lets you select an item from the drop-down (such as city, county, address or latitude/longitude).

Move the Map Sideways

• Pan: With the pointer in the default selection position, click and drag the map the desired direction.

Extent Buttons

• Full Extent: Click on to zoom to the full map of Iowa.
• Back Extent: Click on to go back to the last map view.
• Forward Extent: Click on to go to the next map view.

Other Buttons

• Measure:
• Click on. To measure an area, click the area icon, then click on the map at the beginning of the area, roll the mouse to the next vertex of the area and click. Continue until the area has been completed, then double click to obtain the area measure. To measure a line, select the Distance icon, click on the map at the starting point, roll the mouse to the next line point, click again, and continue until finished, then double click to obtain the distance measure.
• To change the units, click on the drop-down arrow and select the units associated with the area, distance or location.
• You can measure the distance of a river or other crooked line by clicking once at each bend, and twice at the end.
• Identify: Click on, then click on the map
• The Location tab provides the information below for the point clicked.
  
• If you clicked on a Facility, then the Facilities tab will display the information below, including the program identifiers and a hyperlink to the Facility Detail page.
  

• Locate Address: Click on, then click on a road to get the estimated address for that point, including street, city and zip code. NOTE: This is only estimated based on the addresses in our road layer. Although you need to be careful to click right on the road, sometimes there will be no estimated address.
• Show Overview Map: Click on to show an overview map of Iowa, with a red box to show where your view is.
• Save Layers in View: Click on to save the layers and view extent. (WILL THIS BE ADDED?)
• In Save View As, type a name up to 12 characters long. (Example: Ames_UST, zoomed to Ames with UST, LUST and Contaminated Sites turned on)
• The view will then be listed under Map Settings as a Saved View . (If you click on that View later, the map will zoom to that area with only those layers turned on that were saved.)
• Map Settings
  

• Scale: Check the box to show the map scale in the lower right corner.
  (Click box again to remove the scale from displaying on the map.)
• Metric Scale: Check this box if you want the scale to display in metric units. (Note: the Scale box must
• also be checked.)
• Zoom Slider: Check the box to display the zoom slider.
  (Click box again to remove zoom slider from the display.)
• Coordinates: Choose one of the 3 buttons for the format of coordinates:
• Latitude, Longitude in Decimal Degrees
  (Example: 41.59181,-93.60606)
• Latitude, Longitude in Degrees/Minutes Seconds
  (Example: 41° 35' 30.5",93° 36' 21.81")
• UTM X, Y Coordinates in NAD83, Zone 15 (easting & northing)
  (Example: 449488,4604634)

Map Layers

More details can be seen as you zoom into the map.

Environmental Facilities

• You must be zoomed in a few notches before Environmental Facilities are available
• Environmental Facilities: This box at the top must be checked to see any of the individual layers in the group.
• Default layers checked on are shown at right.

Display a Layer

• Click in the box to the left to check it AND
• Check every group above it
  -For example, to see Beach Monitoring Sites, all of the following must also be checked:
• Iowa Layers
• Water
• Water Quality Monitoring

-Note in the example at lower right, the Roads and Highways layer will not show because the Infrastructure group box is not checked.

Hide a Layer

• Click in the box to remove the check mark.

Identify

For layer-specific details about a point: (THIS MAY BE DIFFERENT)

• Click on the layer name to highlight it. (The name turns gray.)
  
• Click on (Identify)
• Click on the point on the map.
• A box will pop up with details.
• Click Clear at the top of the list to remove the selection highlight from the layer.

Layer Explanations

Find out details about a layer by clicking on to the right of each layer. This will take you to the metadata described in Iowa DNR’s GIS library.

Iowa Layers

Many additional layers are available as shown in the example at right.

Reports

Air Emissions

This report provides a map of facilities with air quality permits, known as Title V, in a given radius, and a table of details about air emissions from those sites. It is useful when gathering information for an air quality construction permit for Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD).

• Follow directions for a Radius Search, and select Air-Title V and Air- Title V / Minor EI for Programs.
• Under Reports, click on Air Emissions. The report will be displayed. (Please be patient—if there are a lot of points, it may take a while.) For each facility found, this report includes
• Facility-wide emission rates (potential and actual for the latest year) for six pollutants
• A list of emission point locations
• The stack parameters and emission units for each emission point
• Emissions from each point in the past two years (for six pollutants)
• To export the data, Select a format (such as Excel) from the drop-down list, and click Export.
  In Excel, each facility will be listed on a separate tab (i.e. Sheet1, Sheet2, etc.)
• To print the report, click on the printer icon on the right.

NOTE: If you want a quick list of only the facilities (not their emission points), do the same Radius Search, but under View Results, select As a List.

Leaking UST

This report provides a map of Leaking Underground Storage Tank sites in a given radius, and a table of details about those sites. It is useful for identifying petroleum-contaminated areas to be avoided when proposing to construct new wells.

• Follow directions for a Radius Search, and select Underground Storage Tank-Leaking for Programs.
• Under Reports, click on Leaking UST. The report will be displayed.
• In the Printer dialog box, select your desired printer, and click on Print.

Well Search

This report provides a map of known wells in a given radius, and a table of details about those wells. It is useful for identifying wells near Leaking UST sites or for finding nearby wells when applying for a Water Use permit. The All Wells layer can only be viewed if you are logged in and have been granted user rights. To request permission to view wells, please go to https://programs.iowadnr.gov/wellsearch/pages/wslogon.aspx.

Steps:

• Zoom to the desired area on the map
• For LUST assessments, follow directions for a Facility Search, using for ProgramID either the LUST # (i.e. 7LTA01--preferred) or UST Registration # (i.e. 198612345). This step will add the ProgramID and associated facility name & address to the report.
• If the UST/LUST numbers are not known or not needed, simply Zoom To the desired area.
• Tip: Try to zoom in to at least the second closest scale. (The base reference map does not display at the closest scale.)
• Follow directions for a Radius Search, and select Underground Storage Tank-Leaking for Programs.
• Tip: Try to click exactly on the UST/LUST point or accurate part of the site to get repeatable results. Slight differences in the center point can result in wells appearing to go in & out of the radius.
• Under Reports, click on Well Search. The report will be displayed.
• In the Printer dialog box, select your desired printer, and click on Print.

Limitations on Data

• UST/LUST: Points are generally at the center or front entrance to a whole site. (They do not represent individual tanks at a site.)
• Most LUST points are within 25 meters, with some up to 100 meters from the desired point.
• Most UST points are with 100 meters, with some up to a quarter mile or mile off.
• All Wells: is a compilation from ten individual well databases for the location, depth, ownership, and origin of well points. The original well databases were developed for a variety of needs, so the additional attributes stored with the original data differ significantly among the databases and no attempt was made to include them in this compilation.

View Map/List View

• To view the sites in the current map as a list, click on List View in the upper right.
  The Facility List will be displayed.
  Note: There are more than 95,000 points in the warehouse.
  To avoid computer slow-down or lock-up, it is wise to view a list for only part of the state at a time.
• To return to the Map and Search page, click on View Map.

Login

Click on login to gain rights to the Facility Maintenance application. This allows users to add/move/edit points, and to view sensitive layers. Iowa’s Enterprise A&A application is used to log in.

Shrink/Enlarge Sections

• To shrink the left panel and enlarge the map to stretch across the screen, click on the border separating the map and search panel and drag to the left.
• To shrink the map and enlarge the left panel, click on the border and drag to the right.

Labels

There are 2 ways to get the name or label for a point:

• When zoomed in to the 3rd notch on the Zoom slider (or closer), all the points are automatically labeled.
• Click on Identify, then click on the point to see the facility name on the Facilities tab.

Search & Zoom

Facility Search

In the left Search panel, click on the Facility tab.

• You may search for a combination of one or more of:
• Name: Type in the name of the Facility (site).
  Click on the drop-down arrow to select:
  Starts With, Exact or Contains.
• Program: Click on one or more programs.
  Click on And (instead of Or) if you want a site to have all the selected programs.
• ProgramID: Type in the program identifier (such as permit number, or site ID).
  Click on the drop-down arrow to select:
  Starts With, Exact or Contains.
• View results: Click on As a List if you prefer to see the results as a table instead of On a Map.
• Click on Search .
• For On a Map, the resulting sites will be displayed as pushpins.
  Hover your mouse over a pushpin to display its label.
• For As a List, the Facility List will be displayed.
• Click on Clear results / map, to remove the pushpins.

Owner Search

In the left Search panel, click on the Owner tab.

• You may search for a combination of one or more of:
• Org.: Type in the name of the organization that owns the facility; OR
  Individual: Type in the first or last name if an individual owns the facility.
  Click on the drop-down arrow to select:
  Starts With, Exact or Contains.
• Program: Click on one or more programs.
  Click on And (instead of Or) if you want a site to have all the selected programs.
• View results: Click on As a List if you prefer to see the results as a table instead of On a Map.
• Click on Search .
• For On a Map, the resulting sites will be displayed as pushpins.
  Hover your mouse over a pushpin to display its label.
• For As a List, the Facility List will be displayed.
• Click on Clear results / map, to remove the pushpins.

Zoom To

In the left Search panel, click on the Zoom To tab, and select one of the following from the drop-down list. Then for most items, type or select the item from a drop-down list, and click on Zoom To.
Exceptions are described below.

• County
• City: These are a list of Standard Cities for Iowa which include incorporated cities and the preferred city for each zip code area. (For small “towns” not in the list, use the Place Name search.)
• Place Name: These are from the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) which contains topographic map names; developed by the US Geological Survey. You can search this to find small towns, cemeteries, churches, lakes, etc.
• Type in part of the name, and wait for a drop-down list of names that contain that value.
• Click on an item from the list.
• Township/Range/Section: Example: 79N 02E 30
• Township # (Tier): include N
• Range: include W/E and if it is one digit, include the leading zero
  Note: all counties in Iowa are W except Jackson, Clinton & Scott, and parts of Dubuque & Muscatine.
  
• Address
• Iowa House
• Iowa Senate
• US House
• Field Office
• Watershed Name: This includes names from HUC 8, 10 & 12.
• Type in part of the name, and wait for a drop-down list of names that contain that value.
• Click on an item from the list.
• Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC): can be 8, 10 or 12 digits.
• UTM (X/Y )Coordinates: X(easting) is a 6-digit number, and Y (northing) is a 7-digit number
  (Example: 449488,4604634)
• Latitude,/Longitude: in Decimal Degrees (Example: 41.59181,-93.60606)
  Note: the Longitude must be negative.

Radius Search

In the left Search panel, click on the Radius tab.

• Radius: Type in the desired radius and
  select the units from the drop-down list.
• Program: Click on one or more programs.
  Click on And (instead of Or) if you want a site to have all the selected programs.
• View results: Click on As a List if you prefer to see the results as a table instead of On a Map.
  The Facility List will be displayed.
• Click on Set Center Point
  (The cursor will change to a cross-hair.)
• Click on the map for the center of the search circle.
  The map will show a circle with pushpins for the results.
• Click on Clear results / map, to remove the circle & pushpins.

Facility List

The Facility List is returned after either doing a Search As a List OR clicking on List View .

• Facility List table: The top table contains a list of facility sites. Click on the Facility ID hyperlink to go to its Facility Detail page.
• Feature List table: The bottom table contains a list of features at a site, such as treatment plants, discharge outfalls, Leaking UST areas, or wells.
• Save As Excel: Click on this to save a table to Excel.
• Results per page: Click on an underlined number to change the number of results displayed on each page.
• View Map: Click here to return to the Map Home.

Facility Detail

There is a Facility Detail Page for each Facility Site.

• The top section contains:
• Facility Name and address.
• Owner
• State Facility ID: a unique identifier assigned by the DNR data warehouse
• Federal Facility ID: a unique identifier from US EPA’s Federal Registry System (FRS). Click on the hyperlink to find out more from the FRS Facility Detail Report.
• Location information & static maps
• Aliases: includes the various Facility Names used by different programs

• Program Information
• Each program has a row of summary of information
• Some have hyperlinks in the last column which provide more details.

• Industrial Codes

• Compliance Links:
• This does not show the complete compliance history at a site, both due to lack of historic data in the database, and no information on compliance actions taken by DNR’s central office.
• Field Office Compliance Summary: links to Iowa DNR’s Field Office Compliance Database which contains information on recent assistance, complaints, inspections, reports, and deficiencies.
• EPA Enforcement and Compliance History Online hyperlink
• Enforcement Actions: If compliance escalates to administrative orders or compliance orders issued by legal staff, it will be reported here in the future.
• Features: Includes brief information on items located at the facility such as treatment plants, discharge outfalls, wells, and leaking UST areas.

Report An Error

If you see data on Facility Explorer for a site that you believe is incorrect, you have the ability to report an error. Some examples may include: the facility name is wrong, the owner is incorrect, the site’s location is not correct. When you report an error, you should also if possible identify the correct information. Errors that are reported will be routed to contacts in the appropriate program area for further review and correction if needed. The contact person will respond to you within seven days to let you know about the outcome of their review. It is therefore very important that you provide your contact information, as well as detailed identification for the site.

To report an error, click the “Report Error” link at the top of the Map or Site Detail page. You then will complete the form that appears with as much detail as possible.

Your first and last name and email are required. If you can identify the DNR program that the site is associated with in the DNR Program dropdown menu, please select it. Also, if you know the programID (usually a permit, registration, or facility identifier), please enter that. If you do enter a programID, a selection from the DNR Program drop down will also need to be made. The State Facility ID is a nine digit identifier that appears in the top section of the Site Detail page of Facility Explorer. The Federal Facility ID is a twelve digit number that also appears in the top section of the Site Detail page. In the Error Description input box, enter a detailed explanation of the incorrect data, as well as what you believe the correct data to be. Finally, click the Submit button to complete the submission of the report.

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I find the name for a point?
A: See Labels.

2. How do I remove or clear programs selected in the Search Program list?
A: Hold down the [Ctrl] key on your keyboard and click on the highlighted program; OR
Click on Clear results / map.

3. I have searched for a Facility Name, but can’t find it. What options do I have?
A: Try using a shorter part of the name, and select Contains in the drop-down.
OR if you know about where it is, try zooming in to the area on the map, and look for a point which might have a different name.

4. I am having trouble clicking on an item from a drop-down list. What should I do?
A: Click exactly on the word in the list, not on the space next to it; OR
Click on the list’s down arrow, and type the first letter of the word you want to select or the key with the down arrow.

5. What do I do if something stops working in the application?
A: Usually your web browser just hasn’t been able to track everything it should, so you need to refresh it or restart it. Below are some ways to refresh the application you use to browse the Internet.

Internet Explorer 7/8
(You must use at least version 7.0 or higher.)

· Quick Refresh: OR [F5] (uses cached items)

· Moderate Refresh: [CTRL]- or [CTRL]-[F5] (ignores cached items and gets everything from the server)

· Major Refresh:

• Close & reopen Internet Explorer
• Tools>Delete Browsing History
  including Temporary Internet Files and History

Firefox 3

Go to Tools  à Clear Recent History à  Check Cache, Browsing & Download History and Cookies (will clear Saved Views; do not clear Cookies if you want to keep saved views)

Sample Searches

1. Search for a particular facility in my town:
1. Do a Facility Search for the name of the facility.
2. OR Zoom to > City > For: (select city)
3. OR Zoom to > Place Name > For: (type in town)
   
   
2. Search for all the Animal Feeding Confinements in Hamilton County:
1. Zoom to >County> For: Hamilton
2. In Layers in the left panel, click off all the check boxes under Environmental Facilities, and check on the box for Confinement.

Limits of the Data

Accuracy of Point Locations:

• Points have been located using a variety of methods with a wide degree of accuracy. Efforts to improve accuracy are ongoing.
• The goal is 25 meter accuracy.
• Sample methods include:
• GPS: 15 m (good)
• Interpolation from an aerial photo: 25 m (good)
• Address Matching: 100 m or about 1 block (fair)
• Center of Square Mile Section: 1140 m (poor)

Environmental Compliance

• Compliance Data is only starting to be populated, and is not yet complete. (See Compliance Links on the Facility Detail page.)
• Only compliance actions taken by Iowa DNR are included. Some environmental programs are NOT regulated by Iowa DNR, including RCRA & Underground Injection (US EPA), Aboveground Storage Tanks (State Fire Marshall), and those parts delegated to local authorities (such as air quality permitting delegated to Polk County and Linn County).
• Permits from Iowa DNR’s Environmental Services Division which are NOT in Facility Explorer include: Construction permits for water or wastewater treatment, floodplain, dam safety, 401/404 Water Quality Certification, private well construction permits or asbestos.
• Facility Explorer is based on facilities, not people or organizations. Therefore, it does not include certification programs, such as for contractors, operators or labs.

Current Status

Facility Explorer will currently allow the public to view facility information for the following Iowa DNR programs.
Click on the hyperlink to find out more about each program.

• Air Quality (Title V operating permits, construction permits, emissions inventory, Permit By Rule Spray Booths, and Feed Mills)
• Animal Feeding Operations (construction permits, confined animal feeding operations [CAFOs], open feedlots, and facilities where a manure management plan [MMP] is required)
• Contaminated Sites (including Brownfield, CERCLA, Chapter 133, and Land Recycling Program)
• Emergency Response—Spills (includes Spill Incidents which has 1 point per incident, and Spill Materials which may have multiple points per incident)
• Emergency Response—Tier II Chemical Storage
• Solid Waste (landfills and other sanitary disposal projects, associated land application permits, appliance demanufacturing permits, and special waste authorizations).
• Underground Storage Tanks [UST] (and Leaking UST sites)
• Wastewater (NPDES permits for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants and general permits for storm water)
• Water Supply (public water supplies for drinking water and water use allocation)
• Field Office: items that originate in a Field Office (such as complaints that have resulted in a Notice of Violation) instead of the Central Office programs (such as permits).
• MAC (Manure Application Certification for commercial applicators)
• Floodplain (Floodplain Permits)
• AST (Above ground storage tanks from the Fire Marshal’s office)
• Mining and Processing (Wastewater General Permit #5)

In addition, facility information from EPA programs include:

• Hazardous Waste—RCRA
• Emergency Response—Risk Management Plans

• Emergency Response—Toxic Release Inventory

Future Plans

• Wastewater General Permit #4 (onsite septic systems)
• PWTS (Public Well Tracking System)
• Wastewater and Water Supply Construction Permits

Potential other programs, which may be considered for integration with the Facility Explorer, include:

• Section 401 Water Quality Certifications
• Dams
• Private wells
• Asbestos Abatement

Frequency of Update

Data is transferred to the data warehouse nightly. Certain enforcement action data is available to the public only after the action has been completed. Every effort is made to ensure the quality of the data recently acquired. Historical data has been subject to less quality check.

Contact

• If you have questions about the Facility Explorer application, please contact keith.zediker@dnr.iowa.gov.
• If you have questions about a specific facility or permit, please contact staff in that program by referring either to the Facility Detail page or links to the DNR website.