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ACRES Release Notes

August 5, 2008 - ACRES v. 3.02.071

Reports & Query – Program Accomplishment Report
A previously reported defect with the Program Accomplishment Report for Assessments Completed has been fixed. The PAR is now correctly counting Pilots in Approved data reports.

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July 31, 2008 - ACRES v. 3.02.070

Data Entry – Environmental Assessment, Cleanup and Redevelopment
Based on user feedback, data validations for environmental assessments, cleanups and redevelopment funding have been updated.

Data Entry – Grantee Home
Based on a reported defect, the Grantee Home screen has been corrected to display only grants associated to the grantee that are not active grants or pilots.

Quality Assurance
A previously reported defect that the 'Edit Funding' link on the Environmental Cleanup screen was broken has been addressed. The 'Edit Funding' link now functions properly.

Database
A new field has been added to ACRES to collect the cumulative grant funding value. The data comes from IGMS and is not editable. The data can be seen on the Funding History screen of the Grant Profile work package using Reports and Query.

Reports & Query - Document Tracking Reports
Based on user feedback, the Document Tracking Report now shows all work packages that have ever had the status of "Received by HQ" regardless of the current status.

Reports & Query – Program Accomplishment Report
A previously reported defect with the Program Accomplishment Report for Pilot accomplishments in draft data has been fixed. The PAR is now correctly returning draft Pilot accomplishments.

Admin – User Administration
A previously reported defect within User Administration to associate a grant has been fixed. The Associate a Grant link on the second screen of User Administration has been fixed.

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June 30, 2008 - ACRES v. 3.02.060

Data Entry and Quality Assurance
Three user-reported defects or user-request enhancements were addressed with this release that improve overall appearance, efficiency, and operability of the data entry search, data entry, and quality assurance screens.

Quality Assurance – Return to Submitter for Clarification
Based on user feedback, the “Rejected – Regional Review” and "Rejected – National Program Review" have been renamed to "Return to Submitter for Clarification". The newly named buttons will function the same as the "Rejected" buttons.

Breadcrumbs
Navigation improvements have been made throughout the system and the breadcrumb links have been removed.

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FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS
Thank you to all who participated in the focus groups and phone calls about ACRES. Based on your feedback and ideas, we will be adding the following features to the system. (Please note: timelines have not been determined as requirements and design are still being defined.)

Thank you again for all of the feedback you have provided and we appreciate and encourage your continued involvement in reporting defects and recommending ways to improve ACRES. Please contact the ACRES Help Desk at acres_help@epa.gov or at 703-284-8212 if you have any questions on any of the above items or to provide feedback.

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June 9, 2008 - ACRES v. 3.02.050

Data Entry
Eleven user-reported defects or user-request enhancements were addressed with this release that improves overall appearance, efficiency, and operability of the data entry search and data entry screens.

Reports & Query – BMS Reports
Based on user feedback, the links to the Old BMS Reports in ACRES have been removed. The old BMS reports will remain available via BMS Query which can be accessed via OBLR’s Intranet site.

Reports & Query – Program Accomplishment Report
A previously reported defect for read-only users using the Program Accomplishment Report criteria selection screen has been fixed. The State dropdown now properly displays the correct list of states.

Reports & Query - Document Tracking Reports
One user-reported defect has been made to the appearance and layout of the Document Tracking Report output.

Navigation – Left Navigation Display
Based on user feedback, a new design for the blue Left Navigation display has been released. This new design will help users more easily identify what screen in ACRES they are viewing.

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May 1, 2008 - ACRES v. 3.02.040

Data Entry
Nine user-reported defects were addressed with this release that fixed the Delete Funding ability, auto-populates the date on the Submission screen, and improves overall appearance, efficiency, and operability of the data entry screens.

Reports & Query - Document Tracking Reports
Four user-reported defects or user-requested enhancements have been made to the appearance, text, and functionality of the Document Tracking Report selection screen and report output.

Request for Participation
We are beginning to focus on making ACRES more useful for Regional and Grantee users. We will be adding new tools and functions and need to know what you want. As each region has different needs and processes, it is important that we hear from ALL regions to ensure our new development meets your needs.

There are two ways for Regions and Grantees to get involved:

Thank you again for all of the feedback you have provided and we appreciate and encourage your continued involvement in reporting defects and recommending ways to improve ACRES. Please contact the ACRES Help Desk at acres_help@epa.gov or at 703-284-8212 if you have any questions on any of the above items or to provide feedback.

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March 28, 2008 - ACRES v. 3.02.030

Quality Assurance
Three user-reported defects were addressed with this release that fixed data validations and the display of data on the QA: Property Information screen.

Data Entry
More than ten user-reported defects were addressed with this release that fixed data validations, display of data on the Review & Submit screen, allowed for weekend dates to be selected from the calendar icon, and clarified on-screen directions.

User Administration
A previously reported defect that ACRES was not properly saving data within the User Administration screens has been fixed. All user data is now being saved to ACRES.

Property and Grant Search
A previously reported defect that extra blank character spaces in search fields prevented records from displaying in the Search Results screen has been fixed. If an extra blank character space is entered in the search fields it will no longer impact the search query.

System Security
A previously identified defect regarding the webpage that is displayed when a users ACRES session timed out has been fixed. When a session times out, the user will be automatically directed to CDX to login.

ACRES Workgroup
The Measures and ACRES Development and Enhancements (MADE) workgroup is being formed to discuss and prioritize all modifications to ACRES and changes to Brownfields Program Measures. MADE will meet quarterly at the end of the BEAM call and discuss how ACRES enhancements can help regional staff with work load and reporting needs and provide updates and an opportunity to comment on any new Program measures. OBLR would like at least one person from every region participate on this workgroup. We are planning to hold our kickoff meeting at the Brownfields 2008 conference in Detroit.

Request for Participation
We are beginning to focus on making ACRES more useful for Regional and Grantee users. We will be adding new tools and functions and need to know what you want. As each region has different needs and processes, it is important that we hear from ALL regions to ensure our new development meets your needs. There are several different ways for Regions and Grantees to get involved:

Participate in a phone interview (about an hour, scheduled at your convenience) with Marcy Jacobs from SRA International. (if interested, email Marcy Jacobs, marcy_jacobs@sra.com)

Be part of a focus group - the first will take place at Brownfields 2008 in Detroit (one for Regions, one for Grantees) (if interested, email Marcy Jacobs, marcy_jacobs@sra.com)

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March 3, 2008 - ACRES v. 3.02.020

Reports & Query - Program Accomplishment Report for Draft Data
A new version of the Program Accomplishment Report is now available in the Reports & Query module that allows users to query data in ACRES Draft. This report pulls draft data that has been newly entered into ACRES and not yet approved.

Data Entry - 'See All Property Data' Link
Based on user feedback the 'See All Property Data' link now appears on the property data entry screens. This link appears when the property record being worked on is targeted by more than one grant in ACRES and displays all of the accomplishment data entered previously for the property.

Data Entry - Property Search
Based on user feedback the ACRES property id has been added to the property search screen. Users can now search for a specific property using the unique property id assigned by ACRES.

Data Entry - Add Grant
Based on user feedback explanatory text has been added to the Add Grant screen clarifying which grant records cannot be added to a grantee users My Grants display on their home screen. In addition, grantees users were unable to add a closed grant to their My Grants display. This restriction has been removed and grantees can now add any grant awarded in 2003 and forward to their My Grants display.

Admin - User Administration
User Administration screens now allow for a designation between a Data Reviewer and the Primary Contact for a grant. This enhancement will allow a user to be listed only as a contact for the grant but does not perform Regional Review of work package data. The user assigned as the Data Reviewer for a grant is responsible for Regional Review of work package data. With this release all Primary Contacts have been set as the Data Reviewer. If you need assistance in getting Primary Contacts and Data Reviewers setup correctly for grants in your region please contact the ACRES Help Desk.

Admin - User Administration
A previously reported defect that the search result count was counting incorrectly and multiple records returned for each user has been fixed. The count of users in the search results and each user only displays once in the search results.

Home - Regional Status Filters
A previously reported defect that the filter for the Regional Status display was not functioning properly has been fixed. The filter for work package status and work package owner now works correctly.

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February 20, 2008 - ACRES v. 3.02.010

Reports & Query - Document Tracking Report
A new report is now available in the Reports & Query module that allows you to view all documents received by HQ on a real time basis. Users can query for all documents received in an entire region or for a particular grant using the grant number. Users can also query documents within a particular status in the work flow from 'Received by HQ' to 'Approved & Transferred' and/or query for set date range determined by the user. All results can be exported to MS Excel for analysis. In addition, with Document Tracking in ACRES a submitted document will be connected to a work package for easier tracking of information sources (only available for documents added to ACRES from this point forward).

Note: The biweekly "All Documents Received" spreadsheet will no longer be sent. The information from that file can be pulled using the Document Tracking Report in ACRES. If you have any questions on how to do so please contact the ACRES Help Desk.

Reports & Query - Grant Profile Information Summary Screens
A previously reported that grant funding history was not displaying correctly on the Grant Profile Information summary screen has been fixed. Funding history for a grant now displays correctly.

Data Entry - On-Screen Property Data Entry Instructions
Based on user feedback the on-screen instructions on the 'Environmental Assessment,' 'Environmental Cleanup,' and 'Redevelopment & Other Leveraged Accomplishments' data entry screens have been revised to clarify which fields are required.

Database - Recipient Name Renaming
Based on user feedback the recipient name field in ACRES has been updated to have the locality name come first. For example, the 'City of Boston' has been re-named 'Boston, City of' or the 'Town of Hartford' has been re-named 'Hartford, Town of'. All applicable grant records have been updated and users will see the re-named grants in the Search Results screen in Data Entry or Reports & Query.

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January 3, 2008 - ACRES v. 3.01.120

Job Training Archive
A previously reported defect that displayed data incorrectly in the JT data archive has been fixed. All data now displays correctly in the archive.

Data Entry & Quality Assurance
A series of small changes have been implemented in the Data Entry and Quality Assurance modules to improve operability and efficiency. Changes include fixing broken links and buttons, setting defaults, and fixing bugs that previously prevented data from being edited and/or saved.

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December 10, 2007 - ACRES v. 3.01.110

Administrative Tools - User Administration
An improved User Administration tool has been released that combines User Admin and Contacts Admin. This enhanced tool allows Data Coordinators to have better control over users in their region - to control access, update information, or add new users. Using an improved Search function, Data Coordinators can now search for Users to prevent any duplication. In addition, Data Coordinators can manage the grant contact associations so that ACRES remains up-to-date for grant contacts.

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November 13, 2007 - ACRES v. 3.01.100

Data Entry - Redevelopment and Other Leveraged Accomplishments
A previously reported defect that duplicated leveraged redevelopment funding data has been fixed. Redevelopment data now displays correctly on the data entry screen.

Data Entry & Quality Assurance
Data entry and quality assurance users now have the ability to cancel an accomplishment deletion request. If an accomplishment is accidently flagged for deletion by the user, they can cancel the request without using the Submission Notes.

Release Notes & ACRES Website
You can now directly access past Release Notes or go straight to the ACRES public Web site from inside ACRES. Look for the new footer at the bottom of every screen to access these resources.

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October 29, 2007 - ACRES v. 3.01.091

Home - My QA Tasks
A column for 'Submitted By' has been added that displays the name and organization of the user whom submitted the data for review.

Data Entry - Grant Profile Information
Fields that are imported from IGMS have been designated as ready only and the data can not be edited in ACRES. As a reminder, if you see an error in a data field that is supplied by IGMS it must be corrected in IGMS first. The updated IGMS data will then be uploaded into ACRES at the beginning of the next quarter.

Data Entry - Property Profile Data Validations
New data validations have been placed on the Predominant Past Use, Future Use, and Types of Greenspace field to ensure accurate data entry of acreage and property usage.

Data Entry - Property Highlights
A previously reported defect that prevented the property display of the Property Highlights text field has been fixed. Property Highlights comment text now displays correctly on the Property Highlights data entry screen and the Review & Submit screen.

JT & PPF Archive
A previously reported defect that prevented users from accessing the JT and PPF archives has been fixed. Users can now access the archived data submissions when needed.

Visual Design
The look and feel of ACRES is being regularly evaluated and improved. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are being implemented throughout the system for more control and flexibility in the future.

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October 10, 2007 - ACRES v. 3.01.090

Reports & Query - Program Accomplishment Report
This new report allows users to query property specific accomplishments in ACRES with filters for fiscal year, grant recipient, state, and region. Data for this report is refreshed nightly. More information regarding this new report and upcoming training will be forthcoming.

Data Entry
All data entry users now have the ability to request the deletion of accomplishment data. All deletion requests must be approved in Regional Review and National Program before the data will be removed.

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September 13, 2007 - ACRES v. 3.01.080

Data Entry - Institutional Controls Data Validations
New data validations have been built into ACRES requiring responses to the questions on the Institutional Controls data entry screen based on grant type. Data entry users will be notified on the Review & Submit screen if they have not passed this validation.

Print Screen
This new feature in ACRES allows users to print any screen from their web browser window.

Quality Assurance - Grant Profile Information Work Packages for Pilots
The QA process for Grant Profile Information work packages for Pilots has been enhanced. Enhancements to the QA: Grant Profile Information screen more clearly show that there are three screens to review.

Visual Design
The look and feel of ACRES is being regularly evaluated and improved. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are being implemented throughout the system for more control and flexibility in the future.

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August 16, 2007 - ACRES v. 3.01.070

Data Entry - Grant Profile Information Screens
Fields for which data is provided from IGMS are no longer required for work package submission. As a reminder, if you see an error in a data field that is supplied by IGMS it must be corrected in IGMS first. The updated IGMS data will then be uploaded into ACRES at the beginning of the next quarter.

Data Entry - Property Search Screen
A previously reported defect that prevented the address search field from searching properly when adding a new property has been fixed. When adding a new property, users can now search on the property address to make sure the property does not already exist in ACRES.

Data Entry - Property Search Results Screen
A previously reported defect that prevented all of the search criteria from appearing on the Search Results screen has been fixed. All of the search criteria entered by the user will now appear on the Search Results screen.

Visual Design
The look and feel of ACRES is being regularly evaluated and improved. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are being implemented throughout the system for more control and flexibility in the future.

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July 23, 2007 - ACRES v. 3.01.060

Data Entry - Redevelopment and Other Leveraged Accomplishments Screen
A previously reported defect that resulted in an error when attempting to add or edit redevelopment funding has been fixed. All data entry users can now add or edit redevelopment funding in ACRES.

Data Entry - Review & Submit for Property Work Packages
A previously reported defect that prevented the 'Unknown' option for the 'Is Cleanup Required?', 'Are Institutional Controls Required?' and 'Are Institutional Controls in Place?' from saving and appearing on the Review & Submit screen has been fixed. If 'Unknown' is selected for one of these fields the data is properly saved and displayed on the Review & Submit screen.

Data Entry - Review & Submit for Property Work Packages
A new feature in ACRES allows data entry users to return directly to their Home screen from the Review & Submit screen in the event the work package is not ready for submission. This new feature will save all data and take the user back to the Home screen.

Data Entry - Review & Submit for Job Training Performance Measure Work Packages
A previously reported defect that resulted in leveraged funding from Job Training grants being duplicated on the Review & Submit screen has been fixed. Leveraged funding from JT grants now only displays once on the Review & Submit screen.

Quality Assurance - Comment Text in all Work Package Types
A new feature in ACRES will compare comment text and highlight the revised text so that QA users do not need to read all the text to determine the revisions.

Quality Assurance - Editing Redevelopment and Other Leveraged Accomplishments
A previously reported defect that prevented QA users from editing the 'Number of Cleanup and Redevelopment Jobs' on Redevelopment and Other Leveraged Accomplishments screen has been fixed. QA users who wish to edit this data element now have the ability to do so.

Reports & Query - JT Archive
All users with access to the Reports & Query module now have access to the JT Archive to view JT data as is at the time of submission in ACRES.

ACRES Home
A previously reported defect that the 'Since' column on the Home screen is not sorting properly has been fixed. The 'Since' column will now sort by the age of the work package.

Visual Design
The look and feel of ACRES is being regularly evaluated and improved. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are being implemented throughout the system for more control and flexibility in the future.

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June 11, 2007 - ACRES v. 3.01.051

Reports & Query - PPF Archive
The view of the Reports pages was out of alignment. This has been fixed.

Quality Assurance
The Edit screens accessed from the Quality Assurance Edit page previously indicated that the user was in the Data Entry Mode, as opposed to continuing a Quality Assurance Function. This has been corrected and it now indicates that you are performing a Quality Assurance function throughout the process of editing information.

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June 4, 2007 - ACRES v. 3.01.050

ACRES Public Internet Site
OBCR has launched a new page on their website for ACRES-related information. The website will have the updated ACRES User Guide, Training Schedule, and Quick Reference Guides as well as a link to the CDX Login page. The ACRES website can be found at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/pubs/acres/acresinfo.htm

ACRES Help
The ACRES Help links are now page-specific. When a user clicks on Help from any screen they will be taken directly to the ACRES Help file for that screen.

Workflow
A previously reported defect that prevented some work packages from changing from 'Ready for Regional Review' to 'Regional Review' has been fixed. Work packages now travel through the workflow correctly.

Reports & Query - PPF Archive
The PPF Archive is now accessible through the Reports & Query module. The PPF Archive displays all previously submitted and approved PPF data since December 2006.

Data Entry - Property Search
A previously reported defect on the data entry search screen has been fixed. The search function has been updated to be inclusive of all properties meeting the search criteria.

Admin - Change Owner
The Change Owner function in the Administration module has been updated. The property name is now included in the unique ID to assist in determining which work packages need to be re-assigned.

Visual Design
The look and feel of ACRES is being regularly evaluated and improved. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are being implemented throughout the system for more control and flexibility in the future.

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April 23, 2007 - ACRES v. 3.01.040

ACRES Session Timeout
All users will get a pop-up warning if idle within ACRES for too long. If you receive this warning you have five minutes to resume your session. If you wait more than five minutes after receiving the pop-up warning you will be automatically logged out of ACRES. Please note, that if this happens any un-saved data will be lost.

TBA Property Data Entry - Environmental Assessment
When the 'EPA TBA Funding' option is selected on the Environmental Assessment Data Entry screen, the Funding Source/Provider field will automatically populate with EPA.

Quality Assurance - QA: Property Information
A previously reported defect that prevented the 'Predominant Past Use' data from displaying on the QA: Property Information screen has been fixed. The 'Predominant Past Use' now displays correctly on the QA: Property Information screen.

Home Screen - 'Since' Column
A previously reported defect that the 'Since' column on the Home screen was not sorting correctly has been fixed. The 'Since' column on the Home screen now sorts work packages correctly by date.

Property Data Entry - Contaminants & Media
The order of contaminants on the Contaminants & Media data entry screen now matches the order that they appear on the Property Profile Form.

Grant Profile Data Entry - Data Validation Removal
The following fields are no longer required for submission of a Grant Profile Information work package - Grant Recipient Name, Grant Number, DUNS #, Grant Award Date, Initial Project Period, and Funding Source. Grant Profile Information work packages can be submitted without data in these fields.

Data Entry - Grant Home
Based on user feedback, the state the grant is located in now displays on the Grant Home screen for easier identification of the grant.

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April 9, 2007 - ACRES 3.01.031

Quality Assurance
A reported defect that prevented some users from being able to open a work package to perform Regional Review has been fixed. Users who experienced this problem received the EPA Dynamic Web Error page when attempting to open a work package. All work packages in the status of Regional Review or Ready for Regional Review are now accessible.

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March 28, 2007 - ACRES v. 3.01.030

Introducing the Reports & Query Module!
The Reports module and Query module have been merged into one for a more seamless way to view data saved in ACRES. Users will no longer have to toggle between modules to view data; all data is available through the new Reports & Query module.

Reports & Query - Management Summary Report (MSR) for Superfund-funded TBAs
A previously reported defect preventing data from displaying properly on the MSR for Superfund-funded TBAs has been fixed. The data on this report now displays correctly.

Data Entry - Job Training Performance Measures
The Job Training Performance Measures data entry screens have been updated to mirror the Job Training Reporting Form.

Reports & Query/Data Entry - Search Results
The Property Name column on the Search Results screen has been reformatted. The Property Name column now displays as a bulleted list of property names for each Grant. The Property Name column only appears if criteria are entered into the Property fields on the Search screen.

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March 13, 2007 - ACRES v. 3.01.021

Query Module
A reported defect that prevented some users from viewing the Pilot Performance Measure Table and Comments through the Query module has been fixed. All users are now able to view Pilot Performance Measure and Comment data through the Query module.

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February 28, 2007 - ACRES v. 3.01.020

Data Entry - Navigation
The left navigation box on all data entry screens has been re-ordered to separate out the Review & Submit link.

Data Entry/Quality Assurance - Error Message
The ACRES error message has been modified to give users more information when an error has occurred.

Quality Assurance - QA: Property Information Screen
A previously known defect regarding the display of data for the IC and State & Tribal fields has been fixed. These two data elements now display correctly on the QA: Property Information screen

Home Screen
An additional filter has been added to the Regional Status display box. Users can now filter work packages assigned to a specific Owner.

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January, 17, 2007 - ACRES v. 3.01.010

Reports Module
Changes have been made to the Reports module. EPA Regional users will only be able to generate reports from draft data for their respective region; additionally they will be able to generate reports for approved data for all regions.

Data Entry - Grant Home Screen
The following changes have been made to the Grant Home screen: - The Properties portion now displays up to 25 properties instead of 10; and - The Grant Home screen anchors to the property record selected in the Search results if there are more than 25 properties for the grant.

Data Entry - Property Geographic Screen
A previously reported defect regarding the saving of Latitude and Longitude data has been fixed. All data entered on the Property Geographic data entry screen now saves.

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