With support from E-Enterprise, EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance has convened a Modernization Board (Board) to guide the planning and development of a new Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS). The Board includes EPA and state leaders from Clean Air Act (CAA) and Clean Water Act (CWA) enforcement programs and enterprise information management offices. The Board members developed a Concept of Operations (ConOps) that will help inform high-level requirements, user stories, and analysis of alternatives and that will be used to develop the desired future state for the programs that use the new system.
CHALLENGE
The Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS) – EPA’s principal compliance and enforcement data system – is quickly approaching the end of its lifecycle. Co-regulators need a modern system to effectively and efficiently collect, manage, and share the data that underpin compliance and enforcement programs. A modernized system will lower operation, maintenance, and development costs; deploy shared reusable services to reduce the information technology investment of EPA and states; comply with EPA’s electronic reporting requirements; and be adaptable, flexible, and able to match the speed of EPA and state regulatory changes. This project presents an opportunity for EPA and its partners to take a fresh look at workflows and business needs to ensure that a modernized system can respond to future requirements and takes advantage of modern technologies.
BENEFITS
With support from E-Enterprise, EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance has convened a Modernization Board (Board) to guide the planning and development of a new ICIS. The Board provides a venue for EPA, state, tribal, and local agencies with responsibility for Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System or Clean Air Act stationary source authorized programs to discuss the ICIS modernization work and ensure that needs of and impacts on their organizations are considered throughout the project.
The Board developed a Concept of Operations (ConOps) focused primarily on the issues with the current system and is taking the steps necessary to gather information that will help guide subsequent phases of modernization. The Board wants to ensure that it can:
- Identify major business functions (e.g., workload management) and inputs/outputs that will be supported by a future system that will replace ICIS, and
- Capture business requirements that describe user expectations for a prospective enforcement, compliance, and case management information system.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The Board, established by charter in 2021 under the governance of the E-Enterprise Leadership Council, is comprised of 10 state and local members and seven EPA members representing air and water programs, regions, and enterprise information management offices. The Board held its kickoff meeting in May 2021 and oversaw the development of the ConOps document delivered in March 2022. The Board used the ConOps document to further refine the scope of ICIS modernization in 2023.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The Board will meet regularly to develop a high-level requirements document with functional use cases in 2023, laying the groundwork for future phases.