To reengineer compliance processes and implement service-wide E-Government solution to support compliance with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA requires that federal agencies involve the public in any decisions that impact the environment. Information must be made easily accessible so that interested and affected parties may contribute opinions, feedback, etc.

The National Park Service hired Aquilent to design a Web-based tool to make environmental information easily accessible to public officials and citizens to allow public participation in decision-making process. Aquilent created the Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) system, a collaborative, Web-based tool designed to facilitate NEPA compliance in the areas of conservation planning, environmental impact analysis, and informed decision-making. This tool supports the following activities:

• Project planning
• Compliance tracking
• Comment analysis and response
• Public communications, including

• Communication of plans, meetings, and status
• Comment submission and correspondence tracking
• Comment analysis and response tracking

PEPC offers the following features to assist with NEPA compliance:

• NEPA environmental screening questionnaire
• Site visit scheduling, task tracking, and issue mitigation
• Consultation tracking

The National Park Service has received many benefits from PEPC including:

• Reduced project delays through improved management and project planning
• Increased environmental analysis and compliance efficiency
• Improved efficiency in receiving and addressing hundreds of thousands of public comment
• Improved relationship with constituents