The information presented in the "File Naming Conventions" section of this README.TXT file indicates names of the various BRS data flat files. To effectively use this data you will need to understand how the data is structured and how the structures map to the data collection forms. The document "User Instruction Manual For The: 1997 Biennial Reporting System Data Flat Files" presents the necessary structure and mapping information. The "User Instruction Manual For The: 1997 Biennial Reporting System Data Flat Files" is in the file BRS97FF.PDF. Please note that this is an Adobe Acrobat PDF file, and you must view it using the Adobe Acrobat reader. The "1997 Hazardous Waste Report Instructions and Forms" is in the file BRS97IF.PDF. Please note that this is an Adobe Acrobat PDF file, and you must view it using the Adobe Acrobat reader. The Flat File index is contained in the FFINDEX.PDF file. Please note that this is an Adobe Acrobat PDF file, and you must view it using the Adobe Acrobat reader. The Adobe Acrobat readers are available through Adobe's Web site at http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html About The Data ====================================================== Legislative Authority: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) Sections 3002 and 3004. Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA) Regulatory Authority: ===================== Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 40 How Collected: ============== These data flat files contain the Biennial Report (BR) data for reporting year 1997. Biennial Report data are collected by states from RCRA Treatment, Storage and Disposal (TSD) Facilities and RCRA Large Quantity Generators (LQGs). Collection, validation and verification of the BR data is the responsibility of RCRA authorized states. EPA does not modify the data reported by the states. Any questions regarding the information reported for a RCRA handler should be directed to the state agency responsible for the BR data collection. Reporting Universe ================== RCRA TSD and/or LQG information ONLY. EPA deletes from a state's BR data submission any handler that is not either a RCRA TSD or a RCRA LQG. This determination is made by examining the data values reported on form IC. Generator Status is reported on form IC, Section VI, Block A. Reporters having a generator status value of 1 are considered LQGs. RCRA TSD status is reported on form IC, Section VII, Block A (RCRA storage) and Block B (RCRA treatment). Reporters having either a RCRA storage status of 2, 3, 4, or 5, or a RCRA treatment status of 3 are considered TSDs. The RCRA generator status is found in field #11 in the S2 data file at column position 162. The RCRA storage status is found in field #17 in the S2 data file at column position 222. The RCRA treatment status is found in field #18 in the S2 data file at column position 223. Data Files and Structure ================================================================ The file BRS97FF.PDF is the "User Instruction Manual For The: 1997 Biennial Reporting System Data Flat Files" and presents the structure and mapping information necessary to read the data correctly. Nineteen (19) ASCII data files are provided. Two of the data files contain information used to verify the integrity of the other seventeen (17) files. The first is the CONTROL (CL) file consisting of one record for each of the 17 data files. The control file provides record counts for each of the files containing reported data. The second is the FILE STATISTICS (FS) file which is a text file containing three reports with record frequencies by File-ID, by File-ID and State, and by State and File-ID. The file USOHTY97.BRS is the handler total (HT) file This file provides the National Biennial Hazardous Waste Report quantity totals for each handler in the data files: RCRA Waste Generated, Received, Imported from other States, Managed on site, Received and Managed, Shipped off site, and Waste Exported to other States. The sixteen (16) remaining files contain the reported data. The reported data is organized in non-delimited ASCII files. These files are a relational representation of the data in third normal form. Each ASCII data file consists of fixed length records. The fields within each record are defined by their starting and ending column positions. The file layouts for these files are contained in the user instruction manual described above. The BR ASCII data files are organized in groups based on the Forms used by the National Hazardous Waste Report as follows: Control File = File CL File Statistics = File FS Nat. Rpt. Quantity Totals = File HT Form IC = Files S1, S2, S3 and S5 Form GM = Files G1, G2, G3, G5, G6, G7, and G8 Form WR = Files R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 Over the past several BRS Reporting cycles sections of data and entire Forms have been removed from the Biennial Hazardous Waste Report. These actions result in Flat files being dropped from the BRS database. To maintain flat file consistency over the years, the EPA does not renumber its flat files. Below is a list of the flat files that have been removed: The S4 Flat File was discontinued effective with the 1993 Biennial Report due to the removal of the SIC code section from Form IC. The G4 Flat File was diccontinued effective with the 1993 Biennial Report due to the removal of the CAS Numbers and Concentration Quality Ranking for the reported waste section from Form GM. The G9 Flat File was discontinued effective with the 1995 Biennial Report due to the removal of the waste minimization activity section from Form GM. The T1, T2, T3, and T4 Flat Files were discontinued effective with the 1997 Biennial Report due to the removal of Form PS from the 1997 Hazardous Waste Report. The M1, M2, M3, M5, M6, and M7 Flat Files were discontinued effective with the 1997 Biennial Report due to the removial of Form WM from the 1997 Hazardous Waste Report. The M4 Flat File was discontinued effective with the 1993 Biennial Report due to the removal of the CAS Numbers section from Form WM. File Naming Conventions ======================= The flat file names use the following naming conventions: USOxxY97.BRS Where xx = The Flat File ID BRS97FF.PDF is the "User Instruction Manual For The: 1997 Biennial Reporting System Data Flat Files" and presents the necessary file structure and mapping information.