PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management has announced that the public can now view individual sewage disposal system (ISDS) application information via Rhode Island's e-government portal, www.RI.gov.
The service is free, and allows homeowners, builders, designers, installers and anyone else interested in an application to track the progress of a proposed septic system as it travels through the design, permitting and installation steps. The website is available 24-hours a day and the information is updated daily.
A user can query by town, street address, owner name or designer name to help locate information about the status of a building site's septic permit. Users can also find out if a new home they are intending to buy has a permit or, if they want to build on a site, who the active designers are in that community. The website lists the date and nature of all major actions including the date the permit application is received and the date the system is conformed or determined ready for use. The service is intended to help the public become better and more efficiently informed about permit actions taken by DEM and how DEM conducts its work.
DEM receives about 1,600 applications a year for new systems, and about 1,100 applications for repair or replacement of old systems. All new applications are available on line, as are tens of thousands of historical applications dating back to 1992 when the computerized database tracking system was first developed for internal DEM use.
"The online service is a boon to everyone who is interested in keeping track of their pending applications," said DEM Director Jan Reitsma. "It was a natural program for e-government, to which we are extremely committed, and it has been developed with virtually no added costs to the public."
The ISDS status check service is the second service DEM has made available to residents through e-government. The first, boat registration renewal, has been available on RI.gov for the past three months. It was the first public service offered by RI.gov, the state's centralized web portal, and one of the first government sites nationally to offer boat registration renewal services.
DEM hopes to provide additional services, such as hunting and fishing license applications, beach passes, campground reservations, and permit applications through e-government in the future.
RI.gov is a collaborative effort of the state Department of Administration and New England Interactive (NEI) to create an Internet gateway for business and individuals to obtain government-related information as well as to interact with Rhode Island government electronically. The state last year entered into a long-term, zero-dollar contract with NEI to provide the e-government services. Funding comes solely from transaction and/or subscription fees associated with some services, such as boat registration renewal. However, the ISDS status check service is offered at no charge.
To access the ISDS information, go to www.ri.gov or to DEM's website, www.state.ri.us/dem, and click on "ISDS Permit Search" on the homepage.
Gail Mastrati 222-4700 ext. 2402 Stephanie Powell 222-4700 ext. 4418