The Illinois Emergency Management Agency - Internet Filing and Retrieval System
|
Challenge
The Illinois Emergency Management Agency (“IEMA”) is responsible for the implementation of the Illinois Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act ("IEPCRA"), as well as the Illinois Chemical Safety Act, and the Hazardous Materials Emergency Act.
Under IEPCRA, Illinois companies that house certain quantities of hazardous substances at their site, are required to annually report this information to IEMA, the Local Emergency Planning Committees ("LEPC"), and the local fire departments. Approximately 8,000 companies meet these reporting requirements by filing an emergency and hazardous chemical inventory form ("Tier Forms") with each of the required entities (approximately 13,000 filings).
IEMA inputs basic information from these forms into a database for reference. An additional challenge for IEMA is that all of the 105 LEPCs, and many of the fire departments, are voluntary organizations and lack the support for electronically capturing the data from the forms they receive. IEMA needed a new system to deal with the multiple reporting requirements and a slow manual reporting process.
Solution
IEMA contracted Bronner to develop a turnkey Internet Filing and Retrieval System. This system enables each facility to file its Tier Form information via the Internet and, in turn, allows LEPCs and fire departments access to the data. Bronner began by evaluating the system requirements and IEMA's current infrastructure and capabilities. Bronner chose Lotus Domino™ based on its security, scalability, reliability, and rapid development environment. The system was designed utilizing Javascript, Lotuscript, HTML, and Notes Formula language.
Results
Bronner successfully developed the Internet Filing and Retrieval System to replace IEMA's manual, paper-based system. Companies required to report hazardous materials can log on to the IEMA web site and file on-line, or submit electronic files to IEMA. LEPCs and local fire departments can log on and search for information or download files. In addition, the general public has the ability to search any non-confidential data located within the system. Overall the system eliminates the need for multiple filings, meets the legal requirements, is easy-to-use, accelerates the filing process, and makes information available in real-time.
