ECMPS Support

One of the more frequently asked questions we receive at ECMPS Support is related to retrieving data. Specifically, users ask questions that in some way are related to the Retrieve module in the Client Tool.

This post is made in an effort to clear up some of the confusion about the Retrieve Module. The most important thing to take away from this post is that you most likely should never need to use the Retrieve Module.

Let's cover some basics about the Retrieve Module. The Retrieve Module is used to retrieve data from the EPA Host System to the local Client Tool database. All of the data which are retrieved are official data which have been submitted to the EPA through the legacy systems (MDC and ETS-FTP) or through the ECMPS Client Tool. The Retrieve Module interface allows users to select whether to retrieve monitoring plan, QA, or emissions data.

The most fundamental thing to remember about the Retrieve Module is that it should very rarely be used. It is available when absolutely necessary, but that will not be very often. In fact, most users may never need to use the Retrieve Module.

There are three primary reasons for NOT retrieving data.

1. All of the historical data which you need for evaluating and submitting new data is already in the Client Tool. After you complete the initial synchronization which occurs at the end of the installation, your Client Tool database will contain all of the data which you need to begin submitting data. After that point, the Client Tool will keep you up-to-date with any data you need through the synchronizations that take place during logging in to the EPA Host System.


2. If you retrieve historical data, you will have to evaluate that data which may result in evaluation errors. There are a variety of reasons for these evaluation errors including new requirements or stricter tolerances. However, because these data have already been submitted to the EPA, it is not necessary to evaluate the previously submitted data. In other words, the moment you retrieve historical data, you are making it subject to the current set of evaluation checks, which unless you need to do for resubmission purposes, is most likely going to result in frustration and unnecessary work.


3. Retrieving data which you do not need will simply fill up your database with unnecessary data. As your database fills up, you may notice a decrease in performance.

Is there ever a reason to retrieve data? The most likely reason that a user would retrieve data is for purposes of resubmission. For example, if some piece of data was not correctly reported for a historical QA test, the test could be retrieved, the data corrected, and the test resubmitted to the EPA Host System. (Note that resubmission for QA test data requires permission from the EPA.)

The bottom line is that the vast majority of users should NOT be using the Retrieve Module.