Everyone wants to live in a clean environment and have a healthy family. Federal agencies such the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture work closely with tribal, state, and municipal partners to monitor compliance with environmental regulations and enforce compliance when they are identified. The U.S. Environmental Enforcement Agency is responsible for monitoring over 40 million facilities, from large industrial campuses to wastewater treatment plants in cities and farms.
Enforcement of environmental laws is crucial for human health and safety. However, enforcement can be difficult due to the sheer volume of facilities and the scope of the oversight required. Many enforcement agencies lack the technology resources required to efficiently manage their core activities. Field inspectors still use pen & paper to collect information. Experts rely on human-generated spreadsheets for data tracking and analysis. Mobile inspection capabilities are often limited to simple electronic data collections, so inspectors must still create reports manually. Regulators may spend hours analyzing past inspection findings, which can lead to them spending more time inspecting other facilities.
It is becoming more important that environmental regulators have all the technology they need to effectively do their jobs. The following five technology priorities could be used to increase the effectiveness of the enforcement community in environmental matters.
1. Mobile inspectionsMobile inspection apps are able to eliminate manual, paper intensive, desk-dependent data entry. Agencies using mobile solutions have seen significant productivity improvements of at least 50% in core inspection functions.
Inspectors can easily capture inspection results using their tablets and smartphones. Digital data can be compiled at the source and inspectors can easily create corrective actions reports that can be reviewed with the facility after the inspection is over. Faster reporting can mean faster corrective action. Inspectors also have the advantage of being able to access data from previous inspections in the field. Inspectors can now access historical records digitally to be more precise in their inspections, identify high-risk areas, and work more efficiently.
2. Remote inspections COVID made it possible for many government inspections to be conducted remotely. Agency workflows are being developed that allow inspectors to collaborate via virtual inspections using online meeting tools. Inspectors can use video calls to communicate with facility managers and collect data, capture images, and gain additional insights into facility performance just like they would in person.
Remote inspections enable enforcement agencies to better target inspector assignments according to their expertise. Experts from other states could join a virtual remote inspection to offer further insight or advise on remediation. Remote inspection processes are also beneficial for facilities as they can upload documents or prove compliance in real-time. This eliminates the need to manually send data or exchange documentation.
3. Unmanned aerial system.UAS technology allows environmental enforcement agencies remote access to data. UAS technology, such as small unmanned aircraft and drones, allows for faster and safer response to emergency situations. Drones may be more cost-effective than aerial inspections or in-person inspections in some cases. If an agency wants to monitor a site over time (e.g. targeted environmental justice sites), the return on drone investment can often be substantial. This allows researchers and regulators to access data that would otherwise have been prohibitively expensive to collect with the same frequency.
In the environmental space, proofs of concept using UAS and drones are gaining momentum. Agencies cite use cases for emergency response, mapping, and inspections in a report by the Environmental Council of the States titled 2021 Modernization of the State Environmental Agency Using Unmanned Aerial Systems for Improved Environmental Results. Agencies are looking to integrate UAS programs with internet-of-things solution, such as thermal/infrared sensor to gain greater insight into changes in a geographic area as a result forest fires and other natural disasters.
4. Artificial intelligence and machine learning.Inspections are routinely scheduled today because of evidence of possible violations, in response to a citizen complaint or other factors like time elapsed from last inspection. This reactive approach could be replaced or enhanced by an AI-powered, risk-based, data-driven model.
Enforcement agencies could use AI and ML to identify trends, prioritize inspection activities based on risk, and tap into the wealth information in past inspection reports, photos, videos, and satellite images. Inspectors can identify potential non-compliance by combining data from different sources, such as satellite imagery and air sensor data. AI-based complexity scoring is a tool that can be used by agencies to assign the best personnel to an investigation or inspection.
5. Tailored, integrated and customized solutionsNew technology investments can bring significant productivity gains, but mobile apps, remote inspection capabilities and UAS investments, as well as AI/ML investments, are only the beginning. To better integrate their end-to–end enforcement business processes, environmental enforcement agencies must continue to develop their IT solutions. Integration between permitting, enforcement, and compliance systems is the greatest barrier to scaling up the use data across the enforcement process. To harness the power and potential of data, systems need to be more tightly integrated with seamless workflows between connected systems.
Agencies should include capabilities that provide historical data across core business processes for inspectors at the edge. This is even when they are located far away and their mobile devices may not be available. Inspectors and enforcement personnel can spend less time focusing on data collection and more on problem solving when they are equipped with data-driven insight.
Greg Slusher is the project lead/senior advisor at CGI Federal. Vivek Mehta, founder and CEO of ARInspect.
