My story with the EPA
Washington D. C., USA: Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters
Step One: Give up your rights
I sent a letter to the EPA requesting a company number and within two weeks received a response via email with a company number and an additional contact. Yay. The next step is to get an establishment number. The form is not available online so the other option is to register with the EPA central data exchange, CDX. It will be best to get on the central data exchange anyway, despite my aversion to massive databases of this type.
The warning notice below is posted and must be agreed to before I could access the CDX. I don’t care for the notice or tone, particularly item 6 as I feel that the term “U.S. Government information” is not specific and could allow for seizure at any time. For example, my house stores the letter I received from the EPA with my company number on it. Is that letter government information? Can my house be seized at any time? Am I giving consent for the government to search all my email at any time without notice? I was disheartened by the warning from the EPA. Who works for who? What is this world coming to? Why is everything so askew? But I just kept going, I didn’t want this to be the end of DIATOMS, because, dear reader, I know you want and need them. So, I registered for the CDX.
The userID for the EPA Central Data Exchange is your Email
A critical piece of information you need to be successful when registering with the EPA CDX is to know that UserID is created BY YOU, the registrant, the first time you sign in. USE your email. It does not say this anywhere in the instructions. I figured this out by reading everything associated with the help, eventually determining that they need your email somehow and in context email and UserID seemed to be related. Then I just tried putting in my email and the form went right through. Now I need to print the signature page, sign it, and mail it to the EPA. Then I should be approved in the CDX to proceed with the request for an establishment number.
What does the photo have to do with the post?
The EPA is like Okra stems, red covered in green. And, for those that don’t get my obscure humor: here is the “get it?” The EPA is like Okra stems, red (COMMUNIST!!!) covered with green (environmentalism).
Want to learn more, check out the EPA Pesticide Program website: https://www.epa.gov/pesticides
Warning Notice
In proceeding and accessing U.S. Government information and information systems, you acknowledge that you fully understand and consent to all of the following:
- you are accessing U.S. Government information and information systems that are provided for official U.S. Government purposes only;
- unauthorized access to or unauthorized use of U.S. Government information or information systems is subject to criminal, civil, administrative, or other lawful action;
- the term U.S. Government information system includes systems operated on behalf of the U.S. Government;
- you have no reasonable expectation of privacy regarding any communications or information used, transmitted, or stored on U.S. Government information systems;
- at any time, the U.S. Government may for any lawful government purpose, without notice, monitor, intercept, search, and seize any authorized or unauthorized communication to or from U.S. Government information systems or information used or stored on U.S. Government information systems;
- at any time, the U.S. Government may for any lawful government purpose, search and seize any authorized or unauthorized device, to include non-U.S. Government owned devices, that stores U.S. Government information;
- any communications or information used, transmitted, or stored on U.S. Government information systems may be used or disclosed for any lawful government purpose, including but not limited to, administrative purposes, penetration testing, communication security monitoring, personnel misconduct measures, law enforcement, and counterintelligence inquiries; and
- you may not process or store classified national security information on this computer system.
Privacy Statement
EPA will use the personal identifying information which you provide for the expressed purpose of registration to the Central Data Exchange site and for updating and correcting information in internal EPA databases as necessary. The Agency will not make this information available for other purposes unless required by law. EPA does not sell or otherwise transfer personal information to an outside third party. [Federal Register: March 18, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 52)][Page 12010-12013].
