Legal & Governance

Data Sources and Methodology Notice

Last updated: October 10, 2026

This notice explains, in plain language, what information CLEAR displays, where it comes from, and its limitations. It supplements the Terms of Use, which govern your use of CLEAR, and the Privacy Policy, which explains how personal information is handled.

About CLEAR

CLEAR is a public, informational tool that brings together environmental and public-health information for a selected place. It is developed by PulmHealth LLC and made available by PulmHealth Foundation, a Colorado nonprofit corporation, for public, noncommercial use. CLEAR is provided for education, research, and screening. It does not provide medical advice, a regulatory determination, or a legal opinion.

Information Displayed by CLEAR

CLEAR distinguishes several kinds of information, and displays them differently:

  • Measured information — a pollutant reading reported for a particular monitoring location and time.
  • Reference records — facility or hospital identity and location information that is not itself an environmental measurement.
  • Derived context — location, distance, recency, comparison, or other context calculated from available records.
  • AI-assisted explanations — summaries or explanations generated from source-linked evidence.

Monitoring Networks and Sensor Providers

Basemap. Protomaps and OpenStreetMap contributors. This is reference cartography, not environmental or health data.

Hospitals. CMS hospital reference information. These are facility identity and location records, not live operational, capacity, or clinical feeds.

Air-monitoring observations. Current air-monitoring observations displayed on CLEAR are reported by government monitoring programs, research networks, community monitoring initiatives, and sensor providers. Examples represented in the data include observations distributed through AirNow and observations from AirGradient, Clarity, Love My Air Denver, Carnegie Mellon University, BEACO2N networks, HabitatMap, and others. CLEAR accesses these observations through OpenAQ and preserves available provider, station, instrument, parameter, unit, and timestamp information. These examples are illustrative, not exhaustive, and naming a program, network, or provider here does not mean it endorses CLEAR. Monitoring locations may be operated by different government agencies, universities, research programs, community networks, and sensor providers, and their measurements may differ in method, siting, calibration, averaging period, quality control, reporting cadence, and accuracy. CLEAR does not independently certify a monitor's regulatory status, calibration, accuracy, or suitability for enforcement.

Facilities. EPA Facility Registry Service reference records. Registry membership does not itself establish emissions, permit status, violations, regulatory status, or current operations. The other facility layers on the map are described under Facility Context Layers below.

Facility Context Layers

What these layers are. The “Facilities” group on the CLEAR map shows where certain kinds of facilities are listed in public government records. CLEAR calls this Facility Context. It is location context only. A facility shown on the map is a record of where a source says a facility of that kind is. It is not a measurement, an emissions estimate, a permit or compliance status, an inspection result or a health-risk indicator. Being near a facility does not show that the facility caused any measured environmental condition.

The group contains these layers. A layer appears only when it has published records.

  • EPA FRS facilities. Registry records from the U.S. EPA Facility Registry Service.
  • Power & Energy.
  • Industrial.
  • Data centers.
  • Transportation.
  • Waste & Materials.
  • Water & Wastewater.
  • Agriculture / Processing.
  • Warehousing & Logistics.

Hospitals and schools keep their own map controls and are not part of this group.

Type is not the same as program participation. A facility’s type (for example, a mine or a landfill) is kept separate from its participation in a regulatory program (for example, reporting to an EPA program). Program participation can be listed on a record for context. It is not a facility type. It does not indicate emissions, permits, violations or compliance status. One facility may legitimately appear in more than one layer when separate sources support each role. CLEAR does not merge or rename records from different sources because they share a name, an address or a nearby location.

How CLEAR decides that a record belongs in a layer. Each record shows its classification basis: the source, the release, the source’s own identifier, and the rule CLEAR applied. CLEAR uses these terms:

  • Listed. A government inventory of that facility type lists the facility. CLEAR represents the inventory as published.
  • Designated. A government agency designated the facility as that type in its own records. Examples: Virginia DEQ’s data-center designation; a CAFO designation in an NPDES permit.
  • Reported. The facility, or a program reporting for it, reported an industry code that meets a fixed, published CLEAR rule.
  • Reviewed. A named CLEAR reviewer individually checked the record against the cited public records and recorded a decision before publication. A review can allow or prevent publication. It never changes the evidence a record rests on, and it is a review of records, not an inspection of the facility.
  • Quality-checked. Before a layer was published, a CLEAR reviewer checked a structured sample of 80 of its records against the source records, covering identity, type, status, provenance, publication eligibility and source links. The layer was accepted only with zero critical errors. The sample checks how faithfully CLEAR represents the source. It is not a statistical estimate of accuracy and not a check of the facilities themselves.
  • Not independently verified. CLEAR does not inspect facilities, visit sites or survey locations. No record in any Facility Context layer has been independently verified on the ground, including records that were individually reviewed.

CLEAR does not use names alone, artificial intelligence, probabilistic or fuzzy matching, OpenStreetMap, commercial directories or secondary compilations to place a facility in a public layer. Records whose evidence falls below a layer’s publication threshold are kept internally and are not shown. That is not a finding that the facility is not of that type.

Status (lifecycle). Where a source reports a facility’s status, CLEAR shows it in a small set of terms: proposed, approved, under construction, operating, inactive, closed or cancelled. CLEAR maps a source’s own status value to these terms only through a published rule, and only where the meaning fits without interpretation. In every other case the status is unknown.

  • An unknown status carries no map mark and does not mean inactive, closed or low confidence.
  • CLEAR never infers that a facility is operating from its presence in an inventory, an industry code, a permit, a registration or a nearby record.
  • The source’s original status value is shown beside CLEAR’s term, labelled “as reported”.
  • A date is shown as the date a status began (“since”) only when the source supplies that meaning. Today that is the MSHA mine status date only.
  • A dataset, survey or publication-cycle date is shown separately as a “source date”. It is never the date a status began.

Where facilities are drawn.

  • Coordinates. A facility is drawn at the coordinate its source reports. CLEAR does not move, geocode, snap or substitute a coordinate, and does not copy a location from another source. A drawn point is a source-reported location, not an independently verified one. Where a source’s coordinate is too coarse to mark a facility, describes an area rather than a site, or fails a published consistency check against the county or state the same source reports, the record is kept but is not drawn. Its record states why.
  • Groups at broad scales. At broad map scales, records are grouped on a fixed map grid. The number on a group is a count of records in that map area. It is never a measure of intensity, emissions, capacity, severity or risk, and the group’s position is not the location of any particular facility. Zooming in shows the individual records.
  • Colors. Facility symbols use neutral black-and-white treatments. They do not use the colors CLEAR uses for environmental conditions.
  • Hidden by default. Some published records are hidden by default and can be shown with a checkbox in the layer’s row: abandoned mines in Mining & Extraction, and private-use landing facilities in Transportation. Hidden by default does not mean excluded.

EPA FRS facilities

  • Source. U.S. EPA Facility Registry Service (FRS).
  • What it means. A registry record that a facility is known to EPA programs. Registration is not a permit or a finding. FRS records are not classified by type in this layer.
  • Status. None shown. Registry presence does not establish current operation.
  • Relationship to the other layers. Several layers link their records to FRS registry records through identifiers the sources themselves carry. Those links are shown as supplemental relationships, never as the record’s identity.

Power & Energy

  • Source. U.S. Energy Information Administration Form EIA-860, final annual release (2025 final release). The monthly EIA-860M is not used.
  • Classification. Listed. A plant in the EIA-860 generator inventory (rule fc-pe-eia860-inventory v1). The EIA plant code is the record’s identity; linked FRS records are supplemental.
  • Type shown. Primary technology by operable nameplate capacity (rule eia-860-plant-technology v1).
  • Level of checking. Quality-checked (80-record sample, zero critical errors). Not individually reviewed. Not independently verified.
  • Status. Each generator’s EIA status is preserved. The plant’s status is rolled up conservatively: any operating generator makes the plant operating; mixed or contradictory statuses give unknown; closed requires the whole plant to be retired (rules eia-860-generator-status v2 and eia-860-plant-role v2). Generator statuses are listed on the record.
  • Limitations. Capacity and characteristics are as reported to EIA. A plant with no usable EIA coordinate is not drawn; CLEAR does not supply one.

Industrial

  • Source. U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), basic data files (reporting year 2024).
  • Classification. Reported. The facility reported to TRI a primary NAICS code in manufacturing (31–33), excluding food and beverage manufacturing (311, 312), which belongs to Agriculture / Processing (rule fc-in-tri-reported-naics v1).
  • Level of checking. Quality-checked (80-record sample, zero critical errors). Facilities whose TRI forms report different primary industry codes were reviewed individually before publication. Those whose evidence did not establish the industry group shown were withheld. Not independently verified.
  • Status. Unknown: TRI reports no facility status.
  • Limitations.
    • TRI covers only facilities above its reporting thresholds, so the layer is not a complete list of manufacturing sites.
    • Reporting to TRI is program participation, not a finding.
    • Where a facility’s TRI forms report more than one primary code, all reported codes are shown. The industry group shown is derived from one of them as a display convention, not as a determination of which code is correct.

Data centers

  • Sources.
    • Virginia Department of Environmental Quality air-permitting site records (a data-center designation).
    • U.S. EPA Facility Registry Service and EPA ICIS-Air (reported industry codes).
    • For records outside Virginia, cited public records, as below.
  • Classification. Either designated (Virginia DEQ identifies the site as a data center, rule fc-dc-va-deq-designation v1) or reported (a reported industry code NAICS 518210 or SIC 7374, rules fc-dc-reported-code v2 and fc-dc-icis-air-reported-code v1). Each record names its basis, for example “State regulator record” or “Reported industry code”.
  • Level of checking. Reviewed: every Data Center shown was individually reviewed by a named CLEAR reviewer before publication.
    • For records outside Virginia, the review also required a cited public record or the operator’s own published facility page that identifies a data center at the reviewed address, with the EPA-reported address matching and the coordinate lying within, or no more than 50 meters outside, the corresponding ZIP code area and county.
    • Review does not change the evidence a record rests on. It does not establish physical inspection, precise coordinate verification or current operation.
    • Not independently verified.
  • Data centers in EPA program records (a separate layer). Records for which two EPA programs report the industry code for data processing and hosting (NAICS 518210 / SIC 7374), at an EPA-reported location consistent with the record’s own ZIP code area and county, with no contradiction, duplicate or hold recorded against the record (rule SC-DC v1). Each was checked by a named CLEAR reviewer against those EPA records before publication. CLEAR has not confirmed that a data center operates at each location. These records are shown in their own layer and are never counted in the individually reviewed layer.
  • Status. For Virginia records, the status reported by Virginia DEQ, mapped through a published rule (for example DEQ “Planned” is shown as proposed). For other records the status is unknown. An EPA air-program “operating” status is shown only as the air program’s own status and is not treated as confirmation that a data center operates.
  • Not shown.
    • Records supported only by a name, or only by industry codes reported to waste or workplace-safety programs.
    • Records whose evidence has not been reviewed, or whose review was deferred or withheld.
  • Limitations.
    • A data-center classification is not a statement about the facility’s energy use, water use, emissions or environmental effect.
    • Coordinates are as reported by EPA FRS or by Virginia DEQ.

Transportation

  • Source. U.S. Federal Aviation Administration National Airspace System Resource (NASR) airport file, 28-day publication cycle (the cycle effective date is shown on each record).
  • Classification. Listed. Airports, heliports, seaplane bases, gliderports, ultralight flightparks and balloonports in the FAA file (rule fc-tr-faa-nasr-inventory v1). This layer covers landing facilities only. Facilities outside the United States and Puerto Rico are not shown.
  • Level of checking. Quality-checked (80-record sample, zero critical errors). Not independently verified.
  • Status. FAA “Operational” is shown as operating and “Closed Permanently” as closed. “Closed Indefinitely” is unknown (rule faa-nasr-airport-status v1). The NASR cycle date is the date the file was published, not the date a status began.
  • Hidden by default. Private-use landing facilities. They are published and can be shown with “Show private-use landing facilities”.
  • Limitations. The point is the FAA airport reference point as reported.

Waste & Materials

  • Source. U.S. EPA Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) Landfill and LFG Energy Project Database (September 2024 release).
  • Classification. Listed. A municipal solid waste landfill in the LMOP database (rule fc-wm-lmop-inventory v1). Generator status under hazardous-waste rules and catch-all waste program codes are not used to classify a site as a waste facility. This layer covers municipal solid waste landfills only.
  • Level of checking. Quality-checked (80-record sample, zero critical errors). Not independently verified.
  • Status. LMOP “Open” is shown as operating, “Closed” as closed, and “Unknown” as unknown (rule lmop-landfill-status v1). Opening years and actual or expected closure years are shown as reported by EPA LMOP. Expected closure years are presented as reported by EPA LMOP and are not independently validated by CLEAR. For an open landfill, the source’s closure year is labelled “Expected closure year (source-reported)”. For a closed landfill it is labelled “Closure year (source-reported)”. CLEAR does not correct, cap or reinterpret these values, including unusually distant future years, and does not use them as status dates.
  • Limitations.
    • EPA states that LMOP coordinates are approximate (some mark a landfill’s centre, some its entrance).
    • Coordinates too coarse to mark a landfill are not drawn.
    • Where an EPA FRS record linked to a landfill carries the name of a gas project or an operator, that name does not replace the landfill’s LMOP name.

Water & Wastewater

  • Source. U.S. EPA Clean Watersheds Needs Survey 2022 (CWNS), national data set, 2022CWNS_NATIONAL_Sept2026 distribution. The survey describes conditions as of 1 January 2022.
  • Classification. Listed. A facility of type “Treatment Plant” in the CWNS (rule fc-ww-cwns-inventory v1). This layer covers wastewater treatment plants only; drinking-water facilities are not yet included.
  • Level of checking. Quality-checked (80-record sample, zero critical errors). Not independently verified.
  • Status. CWNS records planned changes, not facility status.
    • A plant reported as “New” is shown as proposed.
    • Every other reported change type is unknown (rule cwns-treatment-plant-change v1).
    • Inventory membership or “No Change” does not establish current operation.
    • A planned abandonment is flagged but does not establish closure.
    • The survey date is shown as a source date, not as the date a status began.
  • Source descriptions. Where the CWNS record includes a free-text description, it is shown verbatim under “Description (as reported to CWNS; not used by CLEAR to set status)”. CLEAR does not use it to set status, type, identity or location.
  • Limitations. Coordinates that represent an area rather than a plant are not drawn.

Agriculture / Processing

  • Source. U.S. EPA ICIS-NPDES permit data, through EPA’s ECHO data download (2026-10-04 data).
  • Classification. Designated. The facility’s NPDES permit carries the concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) component assigned by the permitting authority, and at least one such permit is current in EPA’s data (rule fc-ag-npdes-cafo-designation v1). CLEAR keeps the permitting authority’s designation as recorded and does not reinterpret it from a facility’s name or apparent business. Facilities whose CAFO permits have all ended are not shown. This layer currently covers NPDES-permitted CAFOs only. Food and beverage processing facilities are not yet included.
  • Level of checking. Quality-checked (80-record sample, zero critical errors). Not independently verified.
  • Status. Unknown. A permit’s status describes the permit, not whether the operation is active, so CLEAR shows no operating status for these records.
  • Limitations.
    • Most CAFOs do not hold NPDES permits, so the absence of a marker does not mean no CAFO is present. EPA’s 2024 CAFO status report counts about 21,000 CAFOs nationally, of which about 6,800 hold NPDES permits.
    • The point is the facility or permit-holder location recorded with the permit and may not mark the animal production area.
    • Points inconsistent with the county the permit reports (or, where no county is reported, the state or territory) are not drawn (rule fc-ag-npdes-reported-geography-consistency v1).
    • A permit record does not establish a compliance status, an inspection, emissions, discharges or any environmental effect.

Warehousing & Logistics

  • Source. U.S. EPA Facility Registry Service, program-reported industry codes (2026-09-08 release).
  • Classification. Reported. FRS lists a primary NAICS code for warehousing and storage (4931xx), reported by a program other than EPA’s hazardous-waste (RCRAInfo) or OSHA programs (rule fc-lg-frs-reported-naics-4931 v1). No national government inventory of warehouses exists. Trucking and courier facilities are not classified here.
  • Level of checking. Quality-checked (80-record sample, zero critical errors). Records with more than one reported primary industry code are held until individually reviewed. A record without a usable source location cannot be accepted. Not independently verified.
  • Status. Unknown: the source reports no facility status.
  • Limitations. Industry codes in FRS reflect facilities known to regulatory programs. A reported code does not establish a permit, a compliance status, an inspection, emissions or any environmental effect. Points that lie outside the county the FRS record reports (or, where that county cannot be matched, outside the reported state) are not drawn (rule fc-lg-frs-reported-geography-consistency v1); the record is kept.

How CLEAR Presents Information

  • CLEAR organizes information from multiple identified sources into a consistent, location-based presentation.
  • CLEAR preserves available source, provider, location, observation-time, parameter, unit, and attribution information.
  • CLEAR applies validation and normalization controls intended to support consistent presentation.
  • Measurements are not automatically scientifically equivalent merely because they are displayed using the same parameter or unit.
  • CLEAR uses distance, availability, and recency as contextual factors when presenting nearby monitoring information.
  • Any confidence or context indicator CLEAR shows is an interpretive aid, not a measurement-accuracy score, exposure estimate, health-risk probability, regulatory conclusion, or statistical confidence interval.

AI-Assisted Explanations

Some CLEAR features may use artificial intelligence to organize, summarize, or explain source-linked evidence. AI-assisted explanations are generated separately from the underlying measurements and public records, can be incomplete or incorrect, and do not replace the underlying records or professional review. Review the underlying sources, and consult qualified professionals for decisions that matter, before relying on an AI-assisted explanation.

Important Limitations

  • Measurements may originate away from the location you selected.
  • Conditions at the selected location can differ from conditions at the monitor.
  • Instruments, methods, averaging periods, detection limits, calibration practices, siting, maintenance, and quality controls can differ between monitors.
  • Information may be delayed, corrected, incomplete, unavailable, or outdated.
  • A nearby facility record does not establish that the facility caused a measurement.
  • Wind direction, proximity, compound overlap, a statistical association, modeled context, or AI-generated text does not independently prove exposure, source contribution, causation, regulatory noncompliance, or that a facility was operating at a particular time.
  • CLEAR is not a substitute for medical, legal, engineering, environmental, emergency, or regulatory advice.
  • CLEAR output should not be the sole basis for a medical, legal, regulatory, employment, insurance, housing, credit, educational, emergency, or other high-impact decision.

Sources, Attribution, and No Endorsement

CLEAR integrates information from governmental, scientific, public, licensed, and other identified sources. Coverage, recency, accuracy, and permitted uses vary by source. Source names and marks identify provenance only. No agency, institution, standards body, map provider, or data provider endorses CLEAR, PulmHealth LLC, or the Foundation unless an express written endorsement is identified.

Monitoring data accessed through OpenAQ. Original provider attribution and applicable data licenses remain in effect.

Facility Context layers use records from U.S. EIA, U.S. EPA (FRS, TRI, LMOP, CWNS, ICIS-NPDES, ICIS-Air), the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and, for some Data Center records, the cited public records and operator publications named on each record. Naming a source identifies provenance only and does not mean the source endorses CLEAR.

Corrections and Contact

We welcome substantiated reports of inaccurate displays, broken provenance, or other concerns. A correction request does not guarantee that content will be changed or removed. Public records may need to be corrected by the agency or provider that issued them. To report a suspected error or ask a question, email info@pulmhealthfoundation.org or use our contact form, and identify the page, record, source, and reason for your request.

Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Use of CLEAR is subject to the Terms of Use. Our Privacy Policy explains how personal information is handled.

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