Ohio EPA Web Site Undergoes Major Facelift

If you visit other Ohio state agency Web sites, you’ve likely noticed that many have the same look and feel. Starting August 28 when you go to Ohio EPA’s site, you will see that our Web pages have been redesigned to match this format.

The new Web site design was required of all Cabinet-level agencies so users could easily recognize when they are visiting a State of Ohio Web site. We also took advantage of this redesign effort to reorganize and clean up of many of the pages within our site. This should help users more quickly find the information they are looking for. However, as with any major change, there will be a period when users may be frustrated that they are not able to find information through previously bookmarked links or paths they used previously.

New Domain Address

Although having a new look will take some getting used to, perhaps the biggest change associated with the new Web site design will be our Internet domain address, which will change from www.epa.state.oh.us to www.epa.ohio.gov. In addition, the new Web design software creates pages with an extension of .aspx rather than the former .html format. As a result, users will experience broken links and have problems accessing pages that they have previously bookmarked. We have designed a custom 404 error page to help redirect users to the information they are looking for.

Help for Users

To help internal and external users find the information they are looking for, each division and office has created a Web site redesign page. These pages include information about their new design and note locations of commonly requested information.

The New Design

First, the cardinal banner and left tan navigation bar are gone. Instead, all pages within the Agency’s Web site now have the same top ‘leaf’ banner and associated links.

The "Translate this Web Site" link on the top left corner of the banner takes users to Google™ Translate, where they have the option of entering text or the address of a Web page for translation. There are 42 languages available to choose from.

To search Ohio EPA’s Web site for a specific term or topic, use the search box on the upper right corner of the banner on any of our Web pages.

To go to the State of Ohio’s home page, click on the ohio.gov logo. To quickly return to Ohio EPA’s home page, click on Environmental Protection Agency in the top banner or on Ohio EPA Home in the left navigational bar.

The "Air", "Land" and "Water" links in the top banner will take you to the Division of Air Pollution Control and summary pages of the divisions that handle land-and water-related issues at the Agency.

To see news releases, check out the public meeting calendar or look for information about agency actions, click on the "News" link.

The "Home" link in the banner will take you to the home page of the division or office whose page you are currently on.

Use the "Answer Place" link to quickly find answers to some of the more commonly asked questions that Ohio EPA receives each day. Through the Answer Place, you may also ask general questions about the Agency. You may access the Answer Place by clicking on the link located in the top banner of any of Ohio EPA’s Web pages.

The regulated community may find our Permit Wizard helpful. This Web-based tool is designed to help businesses identify applicable regulations and appropriate contacts to ensure that they remain in compliance with Ohio’s environmental regulations. To access the Permit Wizard, click on the link located in the top banner of any of Ohio EPA’s Web pages.

Directly under the banner, users will find the division/office name and page topic. The division/office name is in red and the topic or program information is in blue. This should help quickly orient users to the owner of the page and the information presented. 

The "Agency Links" and "Learn More About links are the same on all Ohio EPA Web pages. The "Learn More About" section includes links to various topics based on the season and focus of Agency programs and priorities. These items, which will be updated periodically, were previously highlighted through individual icons on the Agency’s home page.

On division/office pages, the top of the left navigation area contains division/office specific links and topic links. To quickly return to the division/office home page, click on the "Home" link in the top banner or left navigation area. To see a list of staff members, click on the "Contacts" link. If you need help finding information on the redesigned designed pages, click on the "Web Site Redesign" link within the division/office links.

Contact information for the division/office is located on the bottom of each Web page. General Web pages will have the main Agency contact information. The Emergency Response Hotline phone number should be used to report environmental spills or emergencies. Use the e-mail link in the contact footer if you are unsure who to contact with a Web-related or program question. Click on the Ohio EPA logo in any contact footer to go to Ohio EPA’s home page.

The footer is the same on every Web page. The links in the footer take users to Ohio EPA's home page, a brief description about the Agency and information about Ohio EPA's online privacy statement.

The "Feedback" link in the bottom footer can be used to report Web page problems or send a question to the Agency's Web manager.

The "Directions" link takes users to a page with addresses, phone numbers and links to the central office and all district offices. The page also has links to contact information for each county in Ohio.

The "Contact Us" page contains general contact information for the Agency including phone numbers for each division, district and office.