Locus acquires GSA contract to offer Cloud-based environmental and energy software to federal customers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 7 May 2012 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in Cloud-computing enterprise software for environmental, energy, air, water, and compliance management, has been awarded the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) General Purpose Commercial Information Technology Equipment, Software, and Services Schedule 70 Contract Number GS-35F-0370Y. Locus acquired the GSA contract to offer its award-winning EIM and ePortal software through a simplified acquisition channel to federal, state, and local government agencies across the country.

The GSA is responsible for improving the government’s workplace by managing assets, delivering maximum value in acquisitions, preserving historic property, and implementing technology solutions. The U.S. government has an urgent need for a centralized system to manage environmental data at its own sites (at agencies like the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, OSHA, or NRC), or to manage large environmental, sustainability, and compliance data streams submitted by private industry to regulating agencies such as the EPA, NRC, or DOT. Most environmental data are not submitted electronically under the legacy system, mostly due to technical limitations of the current platforms. Locus’ Environmental Information Management (EIM) will serve to help disparate government agencies to receive more data electronically and to manage and organize those huge environmental datasets that are currently scattered among many different systems.

Legacy systems have prevented government agencies from realizing cost savings through more efficient technologies; however, many governmental agencies, such as the EPA, DOE, and DOD, should see immediate benefits from implementing the Cloud-based software.

Locus environmental information management platforms have been deployed for more than 15 years by some of the world’s largest companies. Several DOE sites already use Locus software to manage their environmental data and have tested the scalability of the software within agency systems. Governmental agencies now can use the same system that has offered significant cost savings to organizations in the private sector by automating processes of data acquisition, management, and reporting. With the Locus system, governmental agencies will be able to focus time on actually reviewing incoming information for exceedances rather than on the laborious process of data input and analysis of spreadsheets and custom-built applications.

“Locus has been providing high-quality software solutions to the private sector for more than a decade, and has a demonstrated history of efficient and accurate software, excellent customer service, and a fair and transparent pricing structure. The time has come for governmental agencies to embrace Cloud computing and benefit from a centralized enterprise system,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus. “Locus ePortal and EIM, offered in a multi-tenant government instance, will allow U.S. federal, state, and local agencies to rapidly deploy the latest environmental and energy management software.”

EPRI is happy to announce the third annual coordination of the EPRI Groundwater Protection Workshop with the NEI Radioactive Effluent Technical Specifications/Radiological Environmental Monitoring Programs(RETS/REMP) Workshop.

Locus among the first to be accredited by California Air Resources Board

SAN FRANCISCO 19 April 2012 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in web-based environmental compliance and information management software, has been accredited by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to provide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions verification services. Locus is one of a select few companies to obtain this accreditation.

Locus has provided verification services since 2010 for dozens of reporting entities. Recent amendments to the CARB regulation have prompted the regulators to retest and recertify all verifiers to ensure thorough understanding of the new regulations. Locus verifiers passed the first round of re-certification, in which less than half of previously certified verifiers were re-certified. Locus verifiers were also re-approved to complete verifications under all three specialty sectors, including transactions, oil and gas, and process emissions. Locus is approved to begin the verification process immediately for the 2011 reporting year. Verification of that data is due 1 September 2012.

The GHG verification services cover facilities in California that are regulated by the California Air Resources Board. Locus is accredited as a verification body through CARB and has lead verifiers certified in all reporting sectors. While verification is a requirement this year through AB 32, companies are also using third-party verification to promote their brands and the accuracy of their emissions information.

“We are very pleased to receive this confirmation that our verification staff are among the top experts in the field of greenhouse gases. Locus continues to expand its carbon practice at a rapid pace. Coupled with our carbon software services and domain expertise in all three key AB 32 reporting sectors in California, Locus is becoming a partner of choice for all companies wishing to be credible in their carbon reporting practices,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.

The DoD Environmental Data Quality Workgroup is pleased to announce the 9th annual DoD Environmental Monitoring & Data Quality (EMDQ) Workshop.

Environmental Business Journal Recognizes Locus for Record Sixth Time for Growth and Innovation

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 23 January 2012 — Locus Technologies (Locus) announced today that
Environmental Business Journal® (EBJ) granted the company the award for Information Technology in
the environmental and energy industry for the sixth time in last 10 years. No other company has earned
this prestigious ranking in Information Technology more than three times in the past 10 years.
Locus is one of 50 companies EBJ has honored for revenue growth, acquisitions, innovative project
designs, technology applications, new practice areas, social contributions, and industry leadership in
2011. Locus was recognized for its continued innovation and ability to predict market shifts from data
management exclusively at environmentally impacted sites, to carbon, to energy, and finally water quality
management for business operations in general.

Specifically, Locus Technologies stood apart from the industry for achieving 56 percent revenue growth in
2011 and a 20 percent increase in staff. Locus won a significant multi-year contract to manage more than
40 years of environmental data at the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Los Alamos National Laboratory
Locus also signed up DOE’s Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1 in southern California, expanding Locus’s
DOE customer base. Locus opened a new office in Asheville, North Carolina, and established a GIS
center of excellence. New customers in 2011 included Kodak, Arizona Public Service, Southern California
Edison, Energenic, Roca Honda, and multiple mining customers, such as Stillwater, Denison, Geovic, and
Strathmore.

Locus also entered a new market, the food industry, signing up such companies as Del Monte Foods,
Safeway, and Sugar Cane Growers. Locus entered into a strategic business alliance with
ChemADVISOR, Inc. that will provide Locus customers with direct access to a world-class chemical
database for environmental compliance, regulatory frameworks, and waste disposal needs. Locus also
introduced what it is referring to as the industry-first iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch application for field data
collection, called eWell.

“In what is widely regarded as a stable market, a number of companies exceeded the norms of low
single-digit growth with double-digit growth or ambitious ventures into new practice areas or technology
development,” said Grant Ferrier, president of Environmental Business International Inc. (EBI, San
Diego), publisher of Environmental Business Journal. “Locus continues to influence the industry with its
forward-thinking product set and eye for customer needs.”

“We are very pleased to be selected for the sixth time for the prestigious EBJ Information Technology
award in environmental business. No other company has accomplished anything close to this level of
recognition,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus. “And I think the reason is that no other
company comes close to matching Locus’ domain knowledge, longevity, and depth of experience in
developing integrated environmental and energy enterprise software in the Cloud. The culture here is to
put the customers first at all times and lower their operational costs while addressing global concerns
around sustainability and climate change. My hat is off to our incredibly dedicated team of developers and domain experts. This honor goes to them and I thank and congratulate the entire Locus team and our customers who entrusted Locus to put their data in the Cloud to make this world a better place.” The Environmental Business Journal is a business research publication that provides high-value strategic business intelligence to the environmental industry. The 2011 EBJ awards will be presented at a special ceremony at the Environmental Industry Summit X in Coronado, Calif., March 14-16, 2012. The Environmental Industry Summit is an annual three-day event hosted by EBI Inc.

 

ABOUT THE EBJ BUSINESS ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
In October-December 2011, Climate Change Business
Journal solicited nominations for the EBJ Business Achievement Awards. Nominations were accepted in
200-word essays in either specific or unspecified categories. Final awards were determined by a
committee of EBJ staff and EBJ editorial advisory board members. (Disclaimer: company audits were not
conducted to verify information or claims submitted with nominations.)

 

ABOUT EBI
Founded in 1988, Environmental Business International Inc. (EBI, San Diego, Calif.) is a
research, publishing and consulting company that specializes in defining emerging markets and
generating strategic market intelligence for companies, investors and policymakers. EBI publishes
Environmental Business Journal®, the leading provider of strategic information for the environmental
industry, and Climate Change Business Journal®, which covers nine segments of the Climate Change
Industry. EBI also performs contract research for the government and private sector and founded the
Environmental Industry Summit, an annual three-day event for executives in the environmental industry.

Two Industry Leaders to Address a Growing Need for Integrated Regulatory and Chemical Management

SAN FRANCISCO, CA and PITTSBURGH, PA., 9 January 2012 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in web-based environmental, energy, and compliance software, and ChemADVISOR, Inc., the leader in regulatory products, chemical databases, and regulatory compliance needs, announced today the signing of a formal partnership between the two premier environmental software companies. The popular ChemADVISOR Chemical Regulatory database will be integrated into and offered as a module within Locus’ award-winning ePortal via a Single Sign On (SSO).

ChemADVISOR maintains the List of Lists (LOLI) database, which contains almost 4,000 regulatory lists from around the world. These lists are useful for material safety data sheet (MSDS) preparation and other regulatory compliance needs. Data sources include inventories, physical properties, and toxicity data, as well as data necessary for U.S. and international environmental, health, and safety compliance.

ChemADVISOR will refresh the LOLI database through the Locus ePortal to ensure the lists continually reflect the most up-to-date information in the industry. Locus ePortal customers who subscribe to the LOLI database will have seamless access to a fast, reliable, and cost-effective way to search for regulatory information on specific chemicals and chemical groups. They will have an efficient way to perform an occasional regulatory check on a chemical that is managed and reported from one of Locus’ ePortal modules without needing to log into a separate application. Customers will be able to for search CAS numbers by chemical name, PMN number, EINECS, number and more.

“With the integration of ChemADVISOR into ePortal, customers will have even more comprehensive tools to manage all aspects of their regulatory compliance, energy and water usage, water quality, air emissions, greenhouse gas reporting, and health and safety through one online portal,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus. “More than half a million records on hundreds of thousands of chemicals can be searched in seconds. Customers can check chemicals against ChemADVISOR inventory lists, extensive sets of health and safety regulations and advisory sources, or both, all while in ePortal performing other compliance tasks. They can compare chemicals at their facility to regulatory frameworks that are associated with those chemicals and may be relevant to their sites. That is very powerful because it saves times, reduces risk of non-compliance, and improves regulatory diligence.”

Included in ePortal will also be The Transportation Database that contains all of the information from the U.S. Department of Transportation, ADR, ADN, RID, Canadian TDG, IATA, ICAO and IMO hazardous materials tables in a database format. This list includes proper shipping names, packing groups, CFR notations, synonyms, and more.

“Using the Locus ePortal, integrated with the ChemADVISOR database, clients can take a more holistic view of their enterprises, which can enable them to manage their compliance expenditures and operational costs more effectively. The industry needs integrated solutions that allow fewer people to manage more using less. That was the main impetus behind our decision to join forces with Locus and offer an integrated solution in the Cloud,” said Andrew Dsida, President and CEO of ChemADVISOR.

“Indeed, the market has lacked an integrated solution that brings many-if not all-environmental, energy, water, and other compliance and consumption requirements under a single portal infrastructure and sign-on online,” added Duplan. “With the addition of ChemADVISOR to ePortal, customers now have the integrated system, similar to ERP, that will manage all environmental, energy, water, and other sustainability needs.”
ABOUT ChemADVISOR
Since 1986, ChemADVISOR, Inc. has been the chemical industry’s indispensable source of Environmental Health Safety & Transportation information. Specializing in providing regulatory consulting services, products and training, ChemADVISOR has a solution ready to meet your compliance needs. Our LOLI database is the largest and most comprehensive regulatory database available, providing a single source of world-wide regulatory information at your fingertips.

For more information, visit www.chemadvisor.com or email info@chemadvisor.com.

“Shortly afterward, I left the consulting company I was working for and kind of forgot about the whole business of data management for environmental projects until 1996.” – Neno Duplan

The Environmental Protection Agency is set to make final new air-pollution standards for coal-fired power plants by mid-December, sparking disagreement among power companies about how quickly aging coal plants need to be pushed offline.

The EPA wants to give coal-fired plants three years to comply with the new standards—either by shutting down or going through expensive retrofits—with the possibility of a one-year extension.

The maintenance of baseload power is likely to be appropriate in many locations, meaning some coal fired and natural gas fired plants will not be de-commissioned. However, the likelihood of investors preferring the lower costs of green energy will mean that they will replace most sources.

The new rules will make some coal powered plants to shut down as it will not be economical to retrofit them. They will most likely be replaced by the new plants powered by natural gas. Renewables will pick some slack, but that is negligible in the big scheme of things. Unfortunately, US nuclear industry is still not ready to come back. We will probably wait another 10 years, and at that time probably buy nukes from Chinese who will perfect new technology and get experience building AP1000 reactors (AP1000® pressurized water reactor or PWR. It is the only Generation III+ reactor to receive Design Certification from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)) long before we put one on the drawing board permitting process.

But in summary, EPA is moving to regulate climate change via The Clean Air Act, and because of the coal power plants shut down we may very well meet the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill–aka the American Clean Energy and Security Act, ACES, H.R. 2454. The bill would put a cap on emissions of greenhouse gases, and would require high-emitting industries to reduce their output to specific targets between now and the middle of the century. The bill covers 85 percent of the overall economy, including electricity producers, oil refineries, natural gas suppliers, and energy-intensive industries like iron, steel, cement, and paper manufacturers. Emission cuts would start in 2012 and EPA is right on track.

The goals for U.S. emission reductions, below 2005 levels are 3 percent cut by 2012; 17 percent cut by 2020; 42 percent cut by 2030; more than 80 percent cut by 2050. We may achieve 2020 goals with retrofitting and shutdowns of coal powered plants and slowing economy. We will not meet other goals without injecting nuclear power.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a schedule to develop standards for wastewater discharges produced by natural gas extraction from underground coalbed and shale formations. No comprehensive set of national standards exists at this time for the disposal of wastewater discharged from natural gas extraction activities, and over the coming months EPA will begin the process of developing a proposed standard with the input of stakeholders – including industry and public health groups. Today’s announcement is in line with the priorities identified in the president’s Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future, and is consistent with the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board recommendations on steps to support the safe development of natural gas resources.

Currently, wastewater associated with shale gas extraction is prohibited from being directly discharged to waterways and other waters of the U.S. While some of the wastewater from shale gas extraction is reused or re-injected, a significant amount still requires disposal. As a result, some shale gas wastewater is transported to treatment plants, many of which are not properly equipped to treat this type of wastewater. EPA will consider standards based on demonstrated, economically achievable technologies, for shale gas wastewater that must be met before going to a treatment facility.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under industry pressure, is expected to ease an air quality rule that would require power plants in 27 states to slash emissions, said the Wall Street Journal. It appears that changes are needed because the original rule from July 2011 required steep reductions too quickly. This summer the administration, pressed by industry, forced the EPA to abandon an air-quality rule to curb ozone-forming smog. The agency also has delayed a rule on greenhouse-gas emissions.

The power-plant rule affects about 1,000 plants, requiring them to cut sulfur dioxide by 73% and nitrogen oxide by 54% from 2005 levels. Reductions must begin in January 2012, with compliance by 2014. Companies are expected to install new pollution controls or switch from coal to cleaner-burning natural gas.

The EPA plans to allow certain states and companies to emit more pollutants than it previously permitted. EPA spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said, “While we don’t have anything to announce at this time, EPA often makes technical adjustments … because data, including data in some cases provided by industry, turns out to be incorrect, outdated or incomplete.” It is interesting that EPA is using the real world and real time data and information to fine tune the rule. This is welcome news for both industry and environmental groups as it shows that future rule making will rely more on actual data and less on politics.

The move comes amid a backlash over the rule enacted last July, which the EPA has said will protect public health and prevent up to 34,000 premature deaths. Critics contend it will cost jobs, increase power costs and threaten electric reliability.

The EPA changes are expected to allow for emissions increases ranging from 1% to 4% above the July requirement, depending on the pollutant, said the WSJ. The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule is intended to reduce smog-forming chemicals emitted from power plants that often drift into other states. The pollutants can cause heart attacks and respiratory illnesses.

When the rule is in place some utilities are planning to shut down a portion of their operation in order to comply. Some states have attacked the rule and sued the EPA, saying the regulations are unnecessary and dangerous.