Do You Need an Environmental Data Management Plan?
The ROI of Governing Your Data with a Plan
A Data Governance Plan is a governing document that defines the policies, standards, and accountability framework for your environmental data.
What does that mean?
If you work in mining, energy, or environmental remediation— really any industry handling environmental data — you’re constantly collecting, reporting, and sharing information that has real-world consequences. You can have the best management system in place, but if you don’t have rules for how decisions are made, who is responsible, and why the standards exist, your data is at risk of being inconsistent, non-compliant, or untrusted.
Two types of plans can help with that: a data management plan and a data governance plan. A data management plan is the “how.” A data governance plan is the “what” and the “why.” What are the policies? Why are these standards in place? Who enforces them? What does compliance look like?
You can have them as separate documents, or you can combine them.
Components of a Data Governance Plan
Policies and Standards — What rules govern your data? This includes metadata requirements, controlled vocabularies, reporting formats, and security standards.
Roles and Accountability — Who owns the data? Who stewards it? Who approves data releases? Governance removes the guesswork by spelling out accountability.
Quality Controls — How do you ensure accuracy, completeness, and timeliness? How do you resolve errors? Governance creates a consistent framework, instead of ad hoc fixes.
Security and Compliance — What are the access rules? How is usage tracked? Governance defines not only who has permission, but how compliance with State agencies, EPA, or other regulatory requirements is maintained.
Lifecycle and Preservation — How long is data kept? How is it archived so it’s still usable 20 years later? Governance keeps data credible and trusted long after the original project ends.
Interoperability — How do you make sure data works across systems, labs, and agencies? Governance sets the standards for interoperability and integration.
Four Benefits of a Data Governance Plan
If the idea of creating a governance plan doesn’t spark excitement, let’s walk through the value it delivers. Much like a management plan, a governance plan is not about paperwork — it’s about preventing chaos, mistrust, and costly mistakes.
Here are four concrete benefits:
1) Compliance: Stay Aligned with Regulators
Governance plans show regulators and funding agencies that you’re serious about compliance. By defining the standards upfront, you reduce the risk of penalties, resubmissions, and loss of credibility with stakeholders.
Example: When an EPA auditor reviews your project, being able to point to your data governance plan — with defined quality thresholds and approval workflows — demonstrates that your process meets federal QA/QC expectations. This reduces the risk of penalties, resubmissions, and loss of credibility with stakeholders.
2) Accountability: Clear Ownership of Data
How many times has a question about data led to finger-pointing or confusion? With a governance plan, ownership is clear. Everyone knows who to go to, who approves changes, and who ensures standards are met.
Example: If chloride results seem inconsistent, governance makes it clear whether the lab, validator, or project manager is responsible for investigating. Everyone knows who to go to, who approves changes, and who ensures standards are met.
3) Trust and Transparency: Consistent Quality
Whether the work is happening in Denver, Dubai, or Dublin, governance ensures everyone is following the same playbook. This builds trust inside and outside the organization, because consistent rules produce consistent, reliable data.
Example: Field staff using electronic field collection forms in multiple states follow the same controlled picklists and SOP references — ensuring consistent terminology across thousands of samples. This builds trust inside and outside the organization.
4) Long-Term Value: Protecting the Record
Environmental data doesn’t disappear when a project ends — it often transitions to long-term monitoring. A governance plan ensures your data investment remains credible, secure, and usable for decades.
Example: When a remediation project transitions from cleanup to stewardship, well-defined governance ensures that future analysts can still interpret historic sampling events and trace analytical results back to original methods and labs.
Bottom-Line Benefits
Strong data governance plans don’t just support compliance — they safeguard your credibility, preserve your data, and strengthen decision-making. They reduce silos, eliminate ambiguity, and ensure that everyone operates under the same clear set of rules.
Simply put: a governance plan is the backbone of trustworthy data. It makes sure your information is Visible, Accessible, Understandable, Linked, Trusted, and Secure (VAULTS) for the long haul.
You can read the first article in this series here.
You can learn more about our environmental data governance and management services here.
And if you’re ready to put accountability, trust, and structure behind your data, ddms can help you develop a governance plan tailor-made for your organization. Reach out for a conversation today.