ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a review of the progress to date in computerization of Title III data. The discussion is divided into two parts: computerization of section 313 and computerization at the state and local levels. As computers became available, the sheer quantity of information they were managing compelled them to computerize. Environmental Protection Agency was well aware of the concern about data quality from the outset, especially because Title III prohibited the agency from requiring facilities to create "new" data in order to fill out Form R. Once the data are computerized, however, the costs of additional activities such as aggregation and analysis are very small, especially if the database software is easy to use. If each agency were to enter into its computer those portions of the data that were most needed, however, many of the benefits of computerization would be overwhelmed by the large costs of data entry.
