Increasingly, federal environmental managers are turning to information technology for efficient programmatic, policy, and technical tools for hazardous materials management. DPRA keeps pace with emerging information technology, and from it, creates powerful environmental solutions for our clients.

From modeling complex environmental processes and developing GIS-enabled Internet tools, to designing and implementing enterprise records management solutions, DPRA puts the power of IT to work to deliver timely and accurate information to environmental decision-makers.

Our reputation for creative, lasting environmental IT solutions is based on the combined skills of our talented environmental and IT experts. By ensuring that DPRA's IT solution is based on a comprehensive understanding of our client's environmental problem, we get the job done right, and we get it done right the first time.

DPRA offers consulting services in the following areas, independently or as part of a comprehensive environmental services package:

Our clients include the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Defense (DoD), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). DPRA also provides general data management and reporting services based on existing hazardous waste management systems or as part of the development and design of new systems for effective management of hazardous waste.

Our approach and examples of our successes in each area are described briefly below.

Program Management Systems

The deluge of information available today can be unmanageable without the correct tools. DPRA produces IT solutions that makes information easily accessible, facilitating reporting and analyses for a wide range of end-users. DPRA applies a strategic and holistic approach to program management systems that produces state-of-the art IT solutions; solutions enhancing and serving our clients' missions and business processes.

  • The Michigan Manifest Tracking System makes hundreds of thousands of manifest records available to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and ten district offices via LAN/WAN connections.

  • The Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) System is a tool that automates the process of government cost estimation for certain environmental programs. It also provides automated tracking support for contractor negotiations and management of awards and costs that is required for contractor services with the government.

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Scientific Applications and Modeling

In environmental management as in other management situations, the interrelationships between resources, constraints, and management options often defy simple analysis. On the technical side, single-factor interactions between chemical, hydrogeologic, or other scientific variables may be well understood, but not the ultimate effects on outcomes of all variables as they work together.

DPRA develops and operates models and other scientific applications to provide clients with effective tools to analyze and solve otherwise intractable problems. Examples include hazardous waste fate and transport modeling, regulatory impact modeling, and transportation modeling.

DPRA's approach emphasizes (1) close and ongoing involvement with the client to establish mission objectives and operational constraints and (2) systematic development procedures that begin with a clear system identification and end with a workable, tested, and validated application in the hands of clients trained to use it effectively.

  • The Regulatory Economic Impact Analysis Model is an Internet-based computer model for estimating the economic impacts of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) proposed Hazardous Waste Identification Rule (HWIR). The model allows the user to perform sensitivity analyses on treatment and disposal cost savings by varying model parameters, such as chemical concentration level, treatment trains, and treatment costs, across varied HWIR regulatory options.

  • The Joint Flow and Analysis System for Transportation (JFAST) is a multi-modal transportation analysis model used by the U.S. Transportation Command and the Joint Planning Community to determine transportation requirements, perform course of action analysis, and project delivery profiles of troops and equipment by air, land, and sea.

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Internet and E-Business Technologies

The Internet has quickly evolved from an information resource to the means by which much of business is conducted and managed. DPRA offers fully integrated services to assist companies and government agencies in re-engineering business processes and redesigning them in an efficient, distributed fashion using Internet and Intranet technologies. These services include web application development and implementation; web hosting; and web site layout, implementation, and maintenance.

  • The Hazardous Waste Manifest e-Business Pilot Program is an e-business solution to reduce the paperwork, record keeping, and reporting burden on the waste management industry with respect to the requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

  • The DoD's Rocky Mountain Arsenal Web Site and Home Page, designed and implemented by DPRA, was voted by the Rocky Mountain News as one of the "100 Great Colorado Web Sites" in 1999.

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Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Just a few years ago, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) were largely regarded as tools for making eye-catching maps, and perhaps layers of maps with varying attributes. Rapid advances in technology have greatly expanded the utility of GIS and the scope of application of these spatial data management tools.

Using current software, DPRA can now create mapping capabilities that are fully integrated into computer applications for any business sector that deals with spatial data, including applications accessible via the Internet. Moreover, through creative layering and geo-referencing of all forms of digital data, DPRA can create powerful analytical, management, and communication tools.

  • The Naval District Washington GIS Solution provided web-enabled and integrated spatial tools supporting the environmental cleanup programs at this site.
  • The Environmental Protection Agency Region V GIS Solution provided a web-enabled, interactive GIS tool supporting EPA public outreach regarding the location and condition of hazardous waste disposal sites in states comprising EPA Region V.

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Data Management and Reporting

DPRA's information technology services were founded on the need for environmental data management and reporting. DPRA has managed large databases for the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies since 1982. Collecting, storing and reporting data that is useful to both the occasional user (upper management) and the everyday user (data entry staff) is a challenge that DPRA has successfully fulfilled many times.

  • The Environmental Protection Agency Region V RCRIS Menu System provided a wide variety of reports including standard management reports, comprehensive reports, and data verification reports.

  • The Department of Army's Rocky Mountain Arsenal is an enterprise wide electronics records management solution involving over ten million documents.

 

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