ITR/IM-SII: A Distributed Information Management Framework (REGNET) for Environmental Laws and Regulations

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project will develop a formal, but practical information technology infrastructure to make government regulations more effectively available to the public. The topic area is hazardous waste management. Federal and California state environmental protection agencies will be engaged in the project. The infrastructure to be developed will include distributed data repositories, and also tools to locate, merge, compare, and analyze the information. Project phases are 1) textual storage, 2) semi-structured indexed storage, 3) means to resolve semantic ambiguities, 4) cross-referencing appropriate for automated access from relevant legal documents, and 5) on-line compliance checking of government regulations. This is an interdisciplinary project with the involvement of experts in law, computer science, and civil/environmental engineering. =================================================