Maricopa County, Arizona Selects Accela Automation To Support Air Quality Objectives

Maricopa County, AZ - Maricopa County, Arizona has selected Accela Automation from Accela, Inc. to help track and manage permitting processes associated with air quality and pollution control. The solution will be deployed as an enterprise software application in the county's Community Development and Air Quality departments.

By upgrading to the Web-based technology of Accela Automation, Maricopa County can easily extend its enterprise to manage Air Quality department permitting and support its goal to meet and surpass federal air quality standards.

The Air Quality department is charged with monitoring six pollutants: carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, lead, and particulate matter measuring less than 10 micrometers in diameter (PM10) and less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5). It issues permits in six categories:

• Dust: from construction, vacant lots, and processing plants. Considered a PM10 pollutant -- a health concern because it can be inhaled and accumulated in the respiratory system --"fugitive dust" from unstable or disturbed dirt surfaces is the county's greatest challenge in meeting federal air quality standards.
• General: covering pollutants originating from such operations as dry cleaning, fuel-burning, graphic arts, and vehicle finishing.
• Open Burning: covering agricultural burns for disease or pest control, and for use in fire abatement or watershed rehabilitation.
• NESHAP (National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants): largely associated with asbestos removal or demolition.
• Title V: named for Title V of the federal Clean Air Act, and covering major sources of emissions like power plants.
• Non-Title V: covering emission levels below Title V thresholds but still considered significant, such as those from gasoline plants, internal combustion engines, and surface coating operations like roofing.

Beyond managing permitting, Accela Automation also enables customized reporting to help the county evaluate its air quality programs and provide regular updates on improvements to federal oversight agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

"As the Regional Development Services Agency Technology Manager for Maricopa County, I am excited to partner with Accela in the upgrade of our existing permitting application to Accela Automation, Accela GIS, and Accela Wireless," said Gordon Jennings, technology director for Maricopa County. "I feel that upgrading to Accela's new suite of software offerings is consistent with Maricopa County's overall philosophy of continued quality improvement. I view this move as the vehicle through which Maricopa County RDSA will be able to provide the best enterprise level permitting services to the citizens of Maricopa County for the next several years."

"We are looking forward to working closely with Maricopa County and empowering them with the technology to achieve their air quality objectives," said Maury Blackman, Accela's president and CEO. "The County has been a long-time Accela customer, and we appreciate having this opportunity to support their upgrade to Accela Automation and demonstrate its versatility to other jurisdictions who may have similar air quality control objectives."

Maricopa County also selected additional Accela products that expand and enhance the functionality of Accela Automation:

• Accela Wireless is a mobile government software application that allows government staff to perform their jobs from the field for inspections, code enforcement, work orders, and service requests. Optimized for Intel Centrino Mobile Technology, Accela Wireless is compatible with PDAs, laptops, and Tablet PCs running on the Microsoft Pocket PC, Windows 2000, or Windows XP operating systems.
• Accela GIS seamlessly integrates with Accela Automation to provide powerful real-time visual analysis to enhance land-use, zoning, and infrastructure data. It allows creation of multiple map layers, automated map analysis, parcel and asset inventory management, direct editing of GIS data or files, and auto-distribution of information to mailing lists. It is built on the ArcIMS platform by ESRI.
• Accela Citizen Access provides real-time, direct access via the Internet to agency permit and land management activities. Online permit applications can be configured to allow citizens and businesses access to apply and pay for permits, schedule inspections, check the status of a permit or inspection, or print an approved permit directly from the Internet, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Accela IVR provides 24-hour, voice-recognition access to permit and inspection services, enabling staff and citizens to request, check and verify permit applications and inspections from a touch-tone phone, at any time.

SOURCE: Maricopa County