Protecting Your Identity
Your identity is unique, so protecting it is important. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection's Electronic Submission System, or ESS,
requires individuals to prove their identity and be responsible for their actions when submitting information about certain permit and license applications and
compliance data. That's why it's important to never share your user ID or password information with anyone for any reason.
To connect to ESS, you'll first need to create an account. If you own a company, you'll need to send a Security Authorization Letter to the
DEP to assign security for ESS to your individual employees and consultants. For more information, see the Security and Sign Up Guidance sections
of ESS web page. Once you've entered your name and work information in the registration form, you'll receive an email with your user name and a
temporary password that you'll need to reset when you first log in.
Remember, ESS accounts are for individuals only.
Once you establish a user ID for the system, it stays with you - whether you work for one company or multiple companies or even change companies over time.
Information entered under your user ID and password is always connected to you personally, and that's why it's so important to protect your user ID
and password information.
The U.S. EPA has additional CROMERR requirements for some applications and data types, such as NPDES regulated operations, the
Division of Air Quality and AST/UST, and uses a third-party system, LexisNexis, to verify your identity. To apply, you must provide LexisNexis with your home address,
phone number and the last four digits of your social security number.
That information is compared to the LexisNexis database, which contains things like utility bills, pay stubs, property and credit records,
to verity your identity. It's important to note, the DEP neither collects nor sees the personal information you submit to LexisNexis.
Remember, your ESS logon and passwords are your unique identifier for the system and you are responsible for protecting them.
Allowing someone else to use them may also be a violation of West Virginia and federal laws.
The Importance of Your Identity
The DEP in coordination with US EPA requires you to
prove your identity and be responsible for your actions.
Your identity in the form of login id and password is how
we assign responsibility in our Electronic Submission
System (ESS).