overview - national sbeap web viewthe permit wizard is an online tool the regulated community can...

Permit Wizard (Oracle Policy Automation) Design Guide

Table of ContentsOverview.....................................................................................................................................................3

Ongoing Maintenance.................................................................................................................................4

1) "Individual Path" Table....................................................................................................................4

2) "Industry-based Permit Exclusions" Table.......................................................................................7

3) County Contact Table....................................................................................................................10

4) Broken Links (non-contact table links)...........................................................................................12

5) Broken Image.................................................................................................................................12

6) Change to Wording........................................................................................................................13

7) Changes to Logic and Permit Requirements..................................................................................14

Design and Functionality...........................................................................................................................15

1) Design Approach and Philosophy..................................................................................................15

2) Broad Functionality........................................................................................................................16

3) Interview Flow...............................................................................................................................17

4) Rules Design...................................................................................................................................19

5) Permit Category Rules Design........................................................................................................20

Air Permit...................................................................................................................................21

Asbestos Notification.................................................................................................................22

Composting Permits...................................................................................................................23

Construction/Demolition Debris Facility....................................................................................24

Construction Storm Water Permit.............................................................................................25

Hazardous Waste ID Number.....................................................................................................26

Hazardous Waste TSDF Permit..................................................................................................27

Industrial Storm Water Permit...................................................................................................28

Infectious Waste........................................................................................................................29

Landfill Facility Registration.......................................................................................................30

Public Water System License to Operate...................................................................................31

NPDES Permit............................................................................................................................32

Scrap Tire...................................................................................................................................33

Solid Waste Transfer Facility......................................................................................................34

Underground Injection Control Registration..............................................................................35

Wastewater Permit....................................................................................................................36

Wetlands Permit........................................................................................................................37

Future Implementations............................................................................................................................38

Expansion areas.............................................................................................................................38

Reuse of rules................................................................................................................................38

Integration between OPA-based tools...........................................................................................39

Non-Wizard uses for OPA..............................................................................................................39

Overview

The Permit Wizard is an online tool the regulated community can use to determine if their business will need any of the various permits, registrations, licenses, or notifications (collectively referred to as “permits”) required by Ohio EPA. The Wizard directs the user through a series of questions, known as an “interview”, and uses the answers and embedded logic to determine if a permit is required. The interview flow keys on the user’s answers, and a wide number of results combinations are possible.

The Wizard contains paths for the common business/industry types as well as a separate path for individuals who may be using the tool to find occupational licensing requirements or environmental health issues that may overlap with the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, OSHA, etc. To aid those unfamiliar with environmental permitting, most references to EPA regulations and jargon have been purposely omitted wherever possible.

The tool is based on Oracle Policy Automation (OPA), which uses a development interface known as Oracle Policy Modeling (OPM). Much of this guide will assume very basic familiarity with this software. However, for users entirely unfamiliar with the software, the Oracle tutorials (<10 minutes each) are recommended. They can be found at https://cx.rightnow.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6560

https://cx.rightnow.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6560

Ongoing Maintenance

This section is intended to be a guide for Ohio EPA staff who are responsible for ongoing maintenance of the Permit Wizard. Some familiarity with OPA and OPM is recommended for those engaging in this maintenance. However, much of this maintenance is driven by Microsoft Excel tables and much of this guide section will use screenshots and should be usable by those with minimal experience with OPA.

1) "Individual Path" TableThis table governs the so-called "individual path", that is, users who are accessing the wizard on behalf of themselves rather than a business. This table is driven by "reasons for use", with each row being associated with a different reason for use. The following columns (conclusion columns) govern the display on the results page for that individual reason. They contain the page title, paragraph information, and the url an individual can use to get further information.

This table will need to be changed in the case that new individual paths should be added due to a new "reason for use" being desired. This may come up if users suggest that their reason is not covered. This may also need to be maintained if links break or if display information needs to be changed.

The table can be accessed through OPM on the "Rules" tab. It is located under the TablesForMaintenance folder.

For any new rows ("reasons for use") that are added to the table, a corresponding entry must be added on the interview tab on the "Non-Business" screen. They can be added after selecting the drop down input and clicking the "Values" button.

After the changes are made, the changes should be uploaded to the repository, then the new version should be deployed or should go through the Ohio EPA approval process (based on role). Please follow approved procedure on redeployments. Changes will be reflected live immediately after redeployment.

2) "Industry-based Permit Exclusions" TableThis table governs the exclusion of question categories related to specific permits, based on the user's indication of their industry. The intent is that users who belong to specific industries are not presented with questions for a permit for which they are highly unlikely to ever require. This serves the dual purposes of ensuring that a user does not get accidently flagged for an unnecessary permit, and it significantly shortens the question path that an average user will have to walk through. Note it is also possible to use this construct to make the wizard evaluate ONLY ONE permit type, as is the case for Air Permit Only and Wastewater Only, by setting all other permits to be excluded.

Note: Each row (industry) on this table will EXCLUDE from evaluation any questions related to the columns (permits) marked with FALSE. It will INCLUDE any marked with TRUE.

This table will need to be changed if a given industry is found to be incorrectly flagged for exclusions or if some tweaking is desired to the exclusions. It may also be changed if the agency desires to add a new industry or permit only path to the tool.


For any new rows (Industries or Permit-Type Only) that are added to the table, a corresponding entry must be added on the interview tab on the "Industry" screen. They can be added after selecting the drop down input and clicking the "Values" button.

3) County Contact TableThis table governs the local contact information (Name, Ph. Num., and URL) for the Ohio EPA, per division. These include district office as well as Ohio EPA contact. These contact appear in two places during the interview: On the summary screen, associated with a positive permit finding or advisory in that division; On the form, displayed with positive findings and at the bottom all district office contacts will be listed.

This table will be changed where a contact needs to be maintained due to a change in ph. num., URL or any other information, or where a contact is found to be inaccurate.


No other changes need to be made to the interview in the case of a change to a value on this table.


4) Broken Links (non-contact table links)Broken links will be located on the interview tab, under the "Results" screen. To correct a link, access the interview tab, Results screen. Double click the text where the broken link is located and change the link to the desired, working link.

5) Broken ImageIf an image is not displaying, it is likely the path is bad because it has changed. Correct it by double clicking the image in the interview tab and entering the new path.

6) Change to WordingA change to question wording or help text can be made by navigating to the screen that contains the text on the interview tab, and double clicking the element to which the change should be made.

Note: A major change that goes to the substance of a question should also be accompanied by a change to the rule governing that question. For example, in the below screenshot, if the wording were changed from "25 Individuals any 60 days per year" to "50 Individuals any 60 days per year", that should be accompanied by a rules change. This change should be made by an individual with some OPA experience. However, if for example the change were just to write out the word "Twenty-Five", that would require no rules change.

For a change to Results Page wording, follow the same procedure as listed above under "Broken Links"

7) Changes to Logic and Permit RequirementsIt is recommended that changes to logic and permit requirements be made by staff with OPA experience. These changes will require new rules or changes to existing rules and should be considered and planned on a case-by-case basis. These are generally not part of ongoing maintenance, but rather should be treated as bug-fixes or expansions.

For best practices and advice in using OPA and OPM, consult Oracle documentation at http://documentation.custhelp.com/euf/assets/devdocs/february2015/PolicyAutomation/en/Default.htm

http://documentation.custhelp.com/euf/assets/devdocs/february2015/PolicyAutomation/en/Default.htm

http://documentation.custhelp.com/euf/assets/devdocs/february2015/PolicyAutomation/en/Default.htm

Design and Functionality

This section is intended to be a guide to the design, design philosophy, and functionality that underlies the Permit Wizard. This section is for agency staff who would like to understand why design decisions were made, and who want to understand what functionality is present in the tool. Contained in this section is a high level summary of functionality, as well as matrices and diagrams that were used in the creation of the tool. Finally, as an appendix, rules documents that govern the tool at launch have also been included.

1) Design Approach and PhilosophyThe Permit Wizard was designed with various goals in mind, including:

The paths through the wizard should be governed by the industry of the user Wherever possible, the various permit paths through the interview should be short, and

have early questions that can exclude users from certain permits entirely, so as not to ask unnecessary questions

While internal Ohio EPA divisions will be maintained to an extent, questions and results should not remain entirely siloed to their internal EPA division. (e.g., "Construction" category questions are inter-divisional, but are all related to new construction projects).

Contacts should be maintainable and local (county based) The Permit Wizard is intended to be anonymous (although also usable by a logged in user) The help text and question wording should be kept as simple and non-technical as possible,

even if original rule language must be sacrificed for understandability. However, questions that are only asked to users in a very specific situation may be more complex (e.g., a user with FOG interceptor may be asked technical questions about it).

The results screen should contain positive findings, as well as advisories even in situations where there was no positive permit finding.

The form should contain only positive permit findings, but also contain additional "going forward" information for a business. It should also list all contacts and new business help if applicable.

Non-business users should be addressed by the tool, but the Permit Wizard is oriented more toward a business user.

2) Broad FunctionalityInterview: The Permit Wizard walks a user, either business or individual, through a series of

dynamically selected questions. These are based on the user's previous entries.

Results: The Results screen contains a list of findings for the user based on the user's entries during the interview. It contains the local contacts associated with those findings. It contains information related to the findings. It also contains a link to the form.

Form: The form is a downloadable PDF that contains a summary of positive permit findings made by the wizard. It also contains information related to the findings and local contacts. It contains static "roadmap" information and a summary of high level information entered by user. It contains all local contacts by division.

Industry: The industry of a user will govern what categories of permits they are considered for. This means that categories of permits (e.g. Solid Waste Transfer Registration) will be excluded if the user is in an industries that is highly unlikely to need that permit.

Contacts: Contacts are maintained via an Excel rules table and are based on the user's county. For a user that elects not to provide their county, they are advised that they will not receive this contact information.

Individuals: Individuals (non-businesses) are walked through a very short process where they select their "reason for use" and are then presented with a procedurally generated screen that details what they should do, and provides a link to continue their process externally to the tool. These reasons are maintained via an Excel rules table.

3) Interview FlowThe interview process follows a general flow, although any given user will likely follow a unique path through it. The chart below is a general summary of the interview flow. Full size chart is also included in the appendix

The general order is as below:

a. Screening

The interview process first takes users through a "screening" process, wherein users are asked broad questions about their business and activities. This screening process is under the "Welcome" and "Detail" stages on the interview. The information gathered here is used to help narrow down the user's path in the latter part of the interview.

For example: a user who is in the "Golf Course" industry based on the screening will not be later presented with questions relating to Hazardous Waste Permits.

Another example: a user who indicates they are doing construction or renovation will be later presented with questions relating to removing asbestos, demolishing buildings, etc.

Part of this screening process is also to present users in specific industries with advisory information (currently, "Other" and "Construction Demolition/Debris"). Note: "Other" category businesses will be presented with ALL permit category questions.

b. Activity Questions

These are questions relating to a specific activity that the user indicated they engage in during the screening process. At present, these activities are limited to Construction/Renovation Questions.

c. Policy/Permit Category Question Subflows

These questions relate to specific policy or permit categories, and are dynamically selected as detailed above in "Screening". See "Permit Category Rules Design" below for a thorough explanation of these subflows per permit category. This section will take the majority of a user's time with the tool.

d. Results and Form

Results is the final screen that will be presented to a user. It contains all findings and advisory a user had determined. It also contains a link to the form. The form is a downloadable PDF that contains a summary of positive permit findings made by the wizard. It also contains information related to the findings and local contacts. It contains static "roadmap" information and a summary of high level information entered by user. It contains all local contacts by division.

4) Rules Design

Policy Rules:

The Permit Wizard utilizes individual rules documents for each "category" of permits. These are, at present, all Microsoft Word documents. For example, all permits related to Scrap Tire Permits are contained in one document. There is also a document for interpretive rules that do not relate to any single rule. Find more details in the section "Permit Category Rules Design" below. Rules docs included in appendix

Procedural Rules:

Procedural Rules on this tool serve a few major purposes. The categories below will detail the general documents to find the procedural rule in. However, if the reader would like more information about the details of the rules, they should consult the actual rules documents. Included in appendix

Interview and Industry Flow: Rules in this document govern the industry chart permit exclusions as well as general flow of screens where needed.

Label Visibility Rules: These rules govern where static text or links should be hidden/shown based on user responses. This mainly concerns the Results page and form.

Screen Rules: These rules govern screen visibility attributes, e.g., displaying a composting feedstock type screen only if the user is flagged for needing a category of composting permit.

5) Permit Category Rules DesignRules matrices were used in the initial design and structuring of rules categories. These matrices are included below and in the appendix. Please note: In some cases, details on these rules matrices will be different than the Permit Wizard as developed. However, these should serve as good guidance for the design approach that was taken with each category.

Rules for individual permit categories are maintained in separate documents. They are also included in the appendix.

For the most accurate and complete version of rules do not consult matrices – Please see Rules documents on current hub version or in appendix.

Below is an alphabetical listing of permit categories with their corresponding rules matrix. Note that some categories contain multiple permits and determinations.

Air Permit

Rules Matrix. Full size available in appendix.Note: This is a large ruleset due to exemption coverage. Please see rules doc.

Rules doc: Air Permits. Available in appendix.

Asbestos Notification

Rules Matrix. Full size available in appendix.

Rules doc: Asbestos Notification. Available in appendix.

Composting Permits


Note: This has changed since design and is now more thorough on exemptions. Please see rules doc.

Rules doc: Composting Permits. Available in appendix.

Construction/Demolition Debris Facility

Rules Matrix. Full size available in appendix.This is a "Industry Flagged" Category

Rules doc: Construction/Demolition Debris Facility. Available in appendix.

Construction Storm Water Permit


Note: This has changed since design and is now more thorough on exemptions. Please see rules doc.

Rules doc: Construction Stormwater. Available in appendix.

Hazardous Waste ID Number


Rules doc: Hazardous Waste ID Number. Available in appendix.

Hazardous Waste TSDF Permit


Rules doc: Hazardous Waste TSDF. Available in appendix.

Industrial Storm Water Permit

Rules Matrix. Full size available in appendix.Note: Structure has changed and finalized since design. Please see rules document.

Rules doc: Industrial Storm Water. Available in appendix.

Infectious Waste

Rules Matrix. Full size available in appendix.Note: Structure has changed significantly since design. Additionally, Hazardous Waste Generator has been added to this category. See rules Document.

Rules doc: Infectious Waste. Available in appendix.

Landfill Facility Registration

Rules Matrix. Full size available in appendix.Note: Title on the design matrix is incorrect. Correct title is Landfill Facility Registration.

Rules doc: Landfill Facility. Available in appendix.

Public Water System License to Operate

Rules Matrix. Full size available in appendix.This category also includes PWS expansion and Private Water System Advisory, these categories were added after design.

Rules doc: Public Water System License to Operate. Available in appendix.

NPDES Permit

No Rules Matrix. This category was added after design.

Rules doc: NPDES Permit. Available in appendix.

Scrap Tire


This category contains many permit types. Structure has changed since design. See rules doc.

Rules doc: Scrap Tire. Available in appendix.

Solid Waste Transfer Facility


Incinerator Permit was excluded during development.

Rules doc: Solid Waste Transfer Facility. Available in appendix.

Underground Injection Control Registration

Rules Matrix. Full size available in appendix.Structure changed slightly since design. See Rules doc.

Rules doc: Underground Injection Control Registration. Available in appendix.

Wastewater Permit

Rules Matrix. Full size available in appendix.Large category of exemptions. See rules doc.

Rules doc: Wastewater Permits. Available in appendix.

Wetlands Permit

No Rules Matrix. This category was added after design.

Rules doc: Wetlands Permit. Available in appendix.

Future Implementations

Ohio EPA staff will need to identify specific policy areas where it would be most valuable to expand OPA-based solutions. These determinations are best made by policy experts and SMEs.

The current Permit Wizard had as a major goal that the interview path not grow so long that users would quit midway. This meant trying to keep the process under 15 minutes. However, with individual "focused wizards", the agency can address more in depth a user's situation as it relates to specific permit categories.

Before any new implementation is considered, please consult the best practices guide at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/apps-tech/policy-automation/learnmore/policymodelingbestpracticeguide-1371173.pdf

Expansion areas

Areas of expansion that have been discussed or proposed include:

Wastewater permit-only wizard that covers all possible exemptions, as well as does a deeper dive into some requirements that were simplified for sake of brevity in the larger wizard.

Air permit-only wizard. This would be similar to Wastewater in its construction. Scrap tire-only wizard that covers requirements and exemptions not covered by the wizard. Industrial Storm Water Permit-oriented wizard. This may also cover other construction and

renovation-oriented permits and registration. For sake of brevity, the wizard does not go as far into depth as may be possible on these construction permits, but a focused wizard could be designed ONLY around the case where the user is planning a construction or renovation, asking more in-depth questions and covering requirements more completely.

Other specific policy wizards have been mentioned.

Reuse of rules

While rules are not "plug and play" in the sense that they can simply be lifted from one rulebase to another with no further alteration, they are reusable in the sense that whole rules or rule structures can be borrowed for use in another rulebase, assuming a user who is competent in OPA.

Here, rules from the Permit Wizard should be a strong launch point for more focused wizards where the Ohio EPA decides to expand. Policy rules have been intentionally separated into their

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/apps-tech/policy-automation/learnmore/policymodelingbestpracticeguide-1371173.pdf

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/apps-tech/policy-automation/learnmore/policymodelingbestpracticeguide-1371173.pdf

own documents, making it easier for a future implementer to identify rules that have already been used for a specific category, and use those rules as a starting point for the new rulebase.

Integration between OPA-based tools

How various OPA applications relate to each other is flexible, assuming there is no need for web-based communication between the tools.

One possibility that has been mentioned is that the welcome screen of the Permit Wizard might contain links to new rulebases that are developed that focus on a single or a few permit types. For example, if an in-depth wastewater permit is created, the welcome screen to the permit wizard might include text like "Looking for information only about Wastewater Permits for a disposal system? Click Here for an in-depth evaluation." This link would redirect the user to the focused tool. This system would allow users who found their way to the Permit Wizard tool who are really only focused on a specific permit or sub-group the ability to quickly find their way to the correct tool without wasting time on the wider-breadth Permit Wizard.

Links to the individual permit rulebases can, of course, be linked and accessible separate the Permit Wizard welcome screen. They can and should be linked individually where appropriate elsewhere on the Ohio EPA website.

Non-Wizard uses for OPA

While Ohio EPA has primarily been focused on OPA as a tool to create "wizards", and this application could still be expanded, there are other prominent uses of OPA, including:

- Electronic form checking- Call center assist applications (RN agent applications). Batch Processor - Handling

large amounts of data and interacting with databases- Detecting case inconsistency- Fraud detection (detecting suspicious patterns)- Integration with other systems (BPM/Siebel for example)- Complex (funding, tax) calculations.- Using the Interview Service, which runs outside a wizard and feeds in questions and

results to another application. Offers improved security and customizability.- And many other applications...

For Ohio EPA, the most immediately useful of these applications may be the first two: Electronic form checking and call center / customer contact assistance.

Electronic form checking allows users to answer questions which will eventually prepopulate a form, and will have built in validation of responses.

Call center assistance mean existing or new OPA applications can be used to ensure call centers give consistent responses in a guided, interview style setting. These can be deployed as RightNow agent applications.

overview - national sbeap web viewthe permit wizard is an online tool the regulated community can...

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