System for managing regulated entities

Details System for managing regulated entities System for managing regulated entities

2000-03-20

2001-07-03

Alam, Hosain T. (Department: 2172)

Data processing: database and file management or data structures

Database design

Data structure types

C707S793000, C707S793000, C705S001100, C705S007380, C705S028000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06256640

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a system for managing regulated entities using a database of information on the regulated entities and, more particularly, to a system for administering environmental protection laws and regulations using a database system architecture having integrated data management.
2. Description of the Related Art
In today's society, there are many government regulatory agencies at the federal, state and local levels. One of the most complex areas of regulation is environmental protection, where numerous laws have been passed and regulations promulgated affecting many kinds of activities of individuals and organizations.
Historically, environmental regulatory agencies have been organized into units that implement separate and distinct regulatory programs, e.g., air pollution control, surface water pollution control, hazardous waste disposal control, etc. In most agencies, each of these program offices has been responsible for meeting its own data management needs, including maintaining information describing each of its regulated entities and each of its regulatory activities, e.g., developing permits, conducting site inspections, and taking enforcement actions with respect to the regulated entities.
Most environmental agencies have not established standards for data system design, thereby allowing program-specific data systems to be created entirely independently of each other, often without any reference to data management methods used elsewhere in the agency. Similar situations can be found in other types of regulatory agencies. One of the results of this splintering of responsibility for data management is that insufficient funds and technical expertise necessary for sophisticated systems have been applied to data management at regulatory agencies, resulting in a patchwork of small, databases developed and maintained by staff who are not computer professionals. This situation in turn severely hampers the ability of agencies to establish and enforce cross-program consistency in policies and work processes, and it makes it very difficult to assemble all available information on a regulated entity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to reduce the time and effort for a regulatory agency to issue permits and licenses, determine compliance and take enforcement action against violators.
It is another object of the present invention to facilitate production of permits and other regulatory actions that encompass multiple program areas or regulations all affecting a single regulated entity, such as a refinery or municipal solid waste landfill.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide timely and accurate responses to information requests by reducing the time and effort required to determine the status of a permit or enforcement action in response to inquiries from an applicant, other governmental employees, or the public.
It is yet another object of the present invention to reduce data collection efforts by regulatory agencies and the regulated community.
It is a yet further object of the present invention to increase the speed and accuracy of data analysis and reports across program areas within a regulatory agency, including access to program-specific data by agency staff in other program offices.
The above objects can be attained by a system using a database structure, embodied on at least one computer accessible medium, to manage information on regulated entities, the database structure comprising a primary level identifying regulated entities, optionally associable with a geographic location, and a secondary data level identifying subject items of the regulated entities subject to regulation. The information on the regulated entities is managed by creating a joint-usage database having this database structure; adding permit data to the joint-usage database by referencing at least one of the subject items for one of the regulated entities, so that a permit can be generated for the at least one of the subject items; adding operational data to the joint-usage database with reference to the at least one of the subject items for the one of the regulated entities, where the operational data is obtained from monitoring reports of operation of the at least one of the subject items; and accessing the joint-usage database when necessary to enforce the permit.
To maximize flexibility, some data may be stored in program-specific tables separate from the joint-usage database, each program-specific table supplementing the information in the joint-usage database with information related to only a single program area. The program-specific tables do not contain any general information describing a regulated entity or any other information inconsistent with the information stored in the joint-usage database. When program-specific information is created for a regulated entity, the software that displays the information about the regulated entity to a user automatically accesses the program-specific tables and displays data related to the regulated entity that is stored in the program-specific tables and the joint-usage database.
In addition to the data describing regulated entities and subject items, the joint-usage database includes a requirements library specifying standard regulatory requirements applicable to the regulated entities and cross reference records relating characteristics of the subject items to the requirements in the requirements library. The requirements library is used to automatically generate a draft permit after a user has specified the subject items to be included in the permit. The requirements identified by the cross reference records for a permit are stored in a used requirements table from which a report is generated as the permit. The used requirements table can contain requirement identifiers used to access the text of the requirements in the requirements library, or the actual text of the requirements.
Inspection checklists are automatically generated from checklist language stored in the requirements library. Like the requirements text in the permits, the checklist language can be obtained using the requirement identifiers. Inspections performed using the inspection checklists are one source of operational data of the subject items' operation. Other reports obtained by monitoring the operation of the subject items, including reports produced by persons associated with the regulated entities, provide additional operational data, all of which is stored in the joint-usage database or, if necessary, one or more of the program-specific tables. A regulated entity's compliance with its permit can then be determined using the information stored in the joint-usage database and program-specific tables.
These together with other objects and advantages which will be subsequently apparent, reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.


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Ending the Method 21 Pape

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