The Environmental Restoration Information System (ERIS) is a Web-based database system for the storage of Army environmental restoration and range field data. It serves as a central repository for the Army installation chemical, geological, and geographical data.

ERIS data is analyzed as part of the decision making process for the funding of various remediation and restoration activities.

ERIS replaced the Installation Restoration Data Management Information System (IRDMIS) application in 2001. Since its release, ERIS has undergone several enhancements to increase the quality and quantity of the reports and the retrieval of data. In November 2003, the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management (ACSIM) signed an implementation guidance memo which required all installations that use Environmental Restoration, Army (ER,A) funds to load their analytical cleanup data into the ERIS application. ERIS helps fulfill the Army's requirement under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)/Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA) to retain environmental data for 50 years.

Users will have near real-time access to all their historical data to conduct such environmental restoration functions as:

• Fate and transport modeling
• Data sorting and screening
• Statistical analysis
• Risk assessment
• Reporting

Among its many program-wide applications, ERIS will:

• Make it easier to identify research and development needs
• Ease the burdens on installations for "data calls"
• Provide consistent and accurate reporting on Installation Restoration sites and projects
• Provide faster access to data for decision support

Organizations conducting environmental work will be able to enter data into the system through easy-to-use data entry screens on the Web site, or through a batch file upload capability. As soon as the data is entered, users will have access to the data via the Web for use in decision-making.

Having a complete historical record of environmental sampling activities at a restoration or range provides decision-makers with the information they need to make smart environmental restoration decisions. To facilitate this decision-making, the Army would like to capture as much historical data as possible. All data from the USAEC's IRDMIS database, ERIS 2.0 and ERIS Range has been converted to the ERIS format.

ERIS v3.0 was released in January 2006, it combined the ERIS v2.0 and ERIS Range databases into one. The ERIS application is continually updated to accommodate new data entry requirements and data retrieval requests. Some of the new enhancements include:

• The ability to define environmental field samples on Army training or firing ranges
• An enhanced geographical information system (GIS) viewer called "Geo-Navigator"
• A custom query-reporting tool with the ability to save parameters and queries for future use
• An interactive "Help" feature for both batch upload and data retrieval and enhanced glossary

The USAEC will consider Engineering Change Proposals (ECP) for upgrades, improvements, and enhancements based on new or modified reporting requirements, training evaluations and user feedback.

The USAEC offers monthly Webinars from your workstation using IBM's Sametime collaboration tool. There are three separate Webinars, an Overview of ERIS, Batch Upload, and Data Retrieval to satisfy different needs. To register for a Webinar, please contact the USAEC helpdesk at (410) 436-1244, or e-mail the IMCOM IT Help Desk.

A Quick Start Guide and the Batch Upload Specification are posted on the ERIS homepage on AERO for those with AKO/AERO credentials.

The Army intends significant environmental data collection for the next several years. ERIS offers the dexterity and sophistication to manage this data, provide decision-makers with powerful analytical tools, and, ultimately, help to ensure restoration success.