Locus Introduces Software to Automate NPDES Discharge Monitoring Reporting

Companies can use Locus’ cloud-based EIM software to streamline their DMR process, reduce costs, and mitigate risk

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 20 May 2013 — In response to industry and customer demands to streamline Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) reporting under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program, Locus Technologies (Locus), the leader in cloud-based environmental compliance and information management software, has expanded its award-winning Environmental Information Management (EIM) software to automate the generation of DMR reports.

Locus’ EIM DMR solves the problem of expensive, labor-intensive manual report generation by completely automating the process. The NPDES requires that permit holders report self-monitored pollution results with a DMR. These reports are often due monthly, and collecting and reporting information such as analytical chemistry of pollutants, flow velocity, total maximum daily load, and other parameters make generating DMRs a time-consuming process. For companies that have to report on 100 or 1,000 facilities, manually producing a DMR also becomes a major operational expense.

Thanks to Locus’ new software offering, once arranged in EIM, companies can generate DMRs within minutes in the approved formats, using validated data. Companies can set up EIM for all permitted facilities and realize immediate cost and time savings during each reporting period. Relevant data are directly uploaded to the system, reviewed and validated, then reported in the proper formats.

“NPDES DMR reporting and other water-quality management issues represent a potentially huge area of risk and cost for businesses. Automating generation, quality control, and submittal of DMRs should be part of the environmental strategy of any organization, just like reducing one’s water or energy usage already is,” said Mr. Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus. “Leaders who establish water-quality transparency for their companies before others do, and who formulate specific and measurable targets with respect to water footprint reduction, can turn this into a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Locus software can help them carve out those increased operational efficiencies.”

Locus’ SaaS EIM enables companies to manage and organize all their water-quality data on a larger and more comprehensive scale using cloud-based computing and storage, replacing spreadsheets and the local, homegrown databases typically used to generate DMRs. Locus’ innovative enterprise software model also employs mashups—applications that integrate data or functionality from multiple sources or technologies—offering the potential to completely revolutionize the way a corporation manages its water data.

Over the last 15 years, Locus has focused on water-quality issues; the company has built a world-class team of experts with deep domain knowledge in the field. Locus’ EIM is successfully deployed at thousands of sites worldwide and contains organized water quality information at hundreds of thousands of locations. The DMR software complements Locus’ existing suite of cloud-based software.

Locus Technologies Receives 2012 EBJ Business Achievement Award

Environmental Business Journal Recognizes Locus for Growth and Innovation for the Seventh Time

San Francisco, Calif., 21 January 2013 — 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 record-breaking seventh time.

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 2012. Locus was recognized for continuing to enhance its position in the energy, sustainability, and compliance software markets by growing its Fortune 100 and Department of Energy (DOE) customer lists, and also pursuing and achieving essential certifications and reports.

In 2012, Locus had its best year yet in terms of expanding its software offerings and diversifying its customer base across many new industries. Locus added two of the three world’s largest chemical companies to its list of customers this year, and also one of the largest companies in the agribusiness industry, expanding Locus’ impressive penetration in the food and biotech industries. Locus also welcomed two DOE research laboratories to its list of customers, and signed a contract with the Honolulu Board of Water Supply that opened the door to water quality management for water utilities.  In the private sector Locus signed numerous new customers including Kelly-Moore Paint Company, Jack Engle & Co. and the University of Texas at El Paso.

Other notable accomplishments for 2012 include a 100 percent renewal rate for Locus’ carbon verification services administered under the California AB 32 program, and several Locus staff members being certified as carbon offset verifiers by the California Air Resources Board. In order to assure its growing list of customers that they can trust Locus with their data, Locus pursued and obtained Service Organization Controls reports, both SOC 1 (SSAE 16) and SOC 2. Locus also became an approved contractor with the federal General Services Administration (GSA) for a range of services, and was recognized by Verdantix, one of the top industry analysts, as one of 12 leading environmental management software suppliers globally.

“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 proud to be selected for the seventh time for the prestigious EBJ Information Technology award in environmental business,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus. “I believe our success is due to our cutting edge technology that has been tested in the Cloud longer than any other in our space, the domain knowledge of our team, and their dedication to the company’s mission to organize environmental, sustainability, energy and related compliance information in a single integrated enterprise software offered via the Cloud. I thank and congratulate the entire Locus team, and our customers who entrusted Locus to put their data in the Cloud, for making this award possible.”

The Environmental Business Journal is a business research publication that provides high-value strategic business intelligence to the environmental industry. The 2012 EBJ awards will be presented at a special ceremony at the Environmental Industry Summit XI in Coronado, Calif., March 6-8, 2013. The Environmental Industry Summit is an annual three-day event hosted by EBI Inc.

Locus Featured in 12 Environmental Management Software Developers to Watch

Enablon, IHS and SAP have emerged as key application providers for forward-thinking businesses looking beyond compliance for ways energy and resource conservation can make them more competitive.

Locus’ CEO to present Cloud Solution for Environmental Information Management for Railroad Industry at the Railroad Environmental Conference at University of Urbana-Champaign.

Environmental, Energy, Emissions, and Compliance Management in the Cloud presented by Locus’ CEO, Neno Duplan.

RailTec, University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign

Abstract of Original 2012 Presentation Follows:

As they go about the lengthy, tedious, expensive and very often dirty job of decontaminating polluted industrial sites, environmental consultants bill their clients by the hour, capturing…and then completely controlling…the superabundance of project-related environmental data that underlies remediation strategies. As a result of this process, a “consultant-centric model” has dominated the field of corporate environmental data management.  This is primarily because environmental data is not integral to the daily functioning of a company, and because the quantities and complexities of the data produced are enormous.  So company managers are generally quite comfortable with letting their consultants do all the querying, analysis, reporting…and then storing the data.

And since the consultants derive increased billing hours from controlling their clients’ data, the ultimate incentive for them is a renewed or extended contract, an outcome which, though certainly not guaranteed, is optimized by their control of the data.

But change is coming.  The environmental data management practices of corporations and their consultants are undergoing a profound transformation as new Web-based software provides a low-cost means of making available the critical information that organizational decision makers need not only to better understand and manage their overall environmental liabilities but also to improve their operations by analyzing the valuable data.  While environmental data is collected primarily for compliance reporting, when mined with the right tools it can also be used to point to weaknesses in data gathering and processing operations and provide valuable information on how to eliminate or reduce these.

A new “company-centric” environmental data management model now offers a remote data repository situated in the Internet “Cloud” and equally accessible in real time to all, including both the client and its consultants.

Cloud computing is a software outsourcing model that offers great promise for managing environmental, energy, emissions, and compliance  information of any type. It is slowly making its way into companies that have to manage large quantities of data and meet routine compliance requirements. The model fits the way environmental information needs to be managed through mashups (applications that integrate data or functionality from multiple sources or technologies), and has the potential to completely upend the way railroad industry  organize, manage, and report their environmental and energy data and information. Companies that have large portfolios of sites and facilities can use Cloud computing as a very low-cost means to take control of their mission-critical environmental data and information, gain new functionality and capabilities, and at the same time circumvent the involvement of their IT department if they so desire.

Cloud-based data management can completely replace existing stand-alone data systems and reporting tools to provide a comprehensive integrated solution to the railroad industry’s one of the most vexing problems—the centralization and management of complex data pertaining to contaminated water, groundwater, soil, and air.

At many contaminated transportation sites or at facilities and other sites contaminated with hydrocarbons, Cloud-based information management systems already provide market-tested solutions that were rapidly deployed and provide a high level of functionality and data security, an extensive set of QA/QC standards, and scalability.

The Cloud provides a platform for the complete electronic processing of analytical data, emissions data, compliance activities, and sustainability data beginning with the upload of electronic data deliverables from labs, and terminating in state-mandated or federal regulatory exports and reporting. When companies use such Software as a Service (SaaS) models, they eliminate most of the difficulties associated with the management of complex data sets while offering the opportunity for more rapid customization of data reporting to meet the changing needs of the industry.

2012 EPRI Groundwater Protection Workshop Wrap-Up

The most significant discussions focused on the recent Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) guidance to combine Underground Piping and Tank Integrity efforts with the Groundwater Protection program as a whole.

Locus will be presenting at the 2012 EPRI Groundwater Protection Workshop on June 27-29, 2012 in Orlando, FL

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.

Managing Hydrofracking Data in Cloud

There is little dispute in both scientific and business communities that groundwater protection and water usage in general at hydrofracking sites provide the biggest challenges for this young and promising industry.

Read full article here.

Locus presents at Groundwater Resources Association Symposium on Compounds of Emerging Concern

GRA is pleased to announce its symposium on compounds of emerging concern in groundwater.

EBJ Business Achiever of the Week: Locus Technologies

EBJ is the leading source of business intelligence in the environmental industry. EBJ provides a strategic overview and an independent perspective on market trends and business strategy in a monthly publication.