Office of Program Support (OPS) Performance Reporting and Quality Assurance staff are responsible for coordinating, implementing and maintaining the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s (IDEM) work plan in agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA); collecting, organizing, and reporting IDEM metrics, and overseeing the development and objectives outlined in IDEM’s quality management system.
- Performance Partnership Agreement:
- The Performance Partnership Agreement (PPA) is the work plan for the agency (IDEM) to receive federal funding through the Performance Partnership Grant (PPG). The PPA is the biannual agreement that identifies program specific priorities and mutual areas of interests between IDEM and the U.S. EPA, Region 5. The purpose of the PPA is to determine a specific list of program elements for primary focus, to develop a general plan of action for each element listed, to describe the roles and responsibilities of each agency in addressing each element, and to set the terms of the agreement. PPGs allow states to combine program grants into a single grant with a single budget, which reduces administrative costs for both agencies, provides flexibility to direct resources toward the highest priority environmental problems, and supports cross-media initiatives.
- Quality Management Plan:
- Because IDEM receives some federal funding, it is subject to the requirements for financial assistance to state governments per 40 CFR 35, and the “Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State and Local Governments,” per 40 CFR 31. The U.S. EPA Order 5360.1A2, establishes that all organizations conducting environmental programs funded by the U.S. EPA must establish and implement a quality management system. IDEM’s quality management system ensures that data gathered by agency staff or surrogates for use in the decision-making process – as well as the resulting decisions themselves – is reliable, defensible and if need be, repeatable by others. IDEM Quality Assurance staff are responsible for developing and implementing a quality system in line with U.S. EPA requirements, starting with a Quality Management Plan (QMP).
- Agency Metrics:
- The Indiana Governor’s Office promotes transparency by sharing with the public downloadable data from all state agencies. IDEM’s Metrics and Key Performance Indicators are reported to the Governor’s Office on a monthly basis to evaluate agency performance. IDEM’s Quality Assurance staff coordinates data collection, review, and submittal for this monthly report.
Other information related to IDEM funding, annual reports, and general agency information is available on the About IDEM webpage.