Regulatory compliance system and method

• US 7,149,701 B2
• Filed: 11/02/2001
• Issued: 12/12/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Jerry L Mckinney 2002 Trust
• Original Assignee: Jerry L Mckinney 2002 Trust
• Inventors: McKinney, Jerry L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Borissov, Igor N.
• Application Number:
  US10/003,633
• Publication Number:
  US 20040019511A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,866 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/8, 705/28, 702/182, 702/183, 702/184, 702/185, 702/187, 702/188, 348/91, 348/143
• US Class Current: 705/7.15
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group

Abstract

The present invention provides an electronic regulatory compliance system and method that permits a regulatory agency to efficiently and accurately monitor thousands of environmental equipment installations, such as homeowner wastewater treatment plants, for compliance with regulatory requirements. The environmental equipment installations may be installed at different locations, operating on different inspection schedules, with different service companies, different owners, of different types, and be of different processing capacity. A personnel detector is preferably utilized to verify the actual physical presence of service personnel. In accord with the invention, each environmental equipment system is connected to a network that logs and time-stamps events that occur at each of the plurality of environmental equipment systems related to compliance with environmental regulations. In a preferred embodiment, a website is generated that permits a regulatory body to quickly view all accounts in noncompliance and automatically generate suitable notices of noncompliance for transmission to responsible parties.

Claims

1. A method for determining regulatory compliance of a plurality of wastewater treatment systems, said plurality of wastewater treatment systems being installed at plurality of different locations, said wastewater treatment systems being serviced by at least one service company having at least one service personnel, there being at least one regulatory body for monitoring said plurality of wastewater treatment systems with respect to timely servicing of said plurality of wastewater treatment systems, and a third party which is an independent non-governmental entity, said method comprising:

installing wastewater treatment equipment for each of said plurality of wastewater treatment systems, said plurality of wastewater treatment systems comprising a multitude of separately owned wastewater treatment systems at a multitude of different physical locations, each of said multitude of separately owned wastewater treatment systems requiring periodic inspections;

installing with said wastewater treatment equipment at least one first sensor adapted for detecting abnormal operating conditions of said wastewater treatment equipment;

installing with said wastewater treatment equipment at least one second sensor adapted for electronically detecting a physical presence of said at least one service personnel;

providing at least one electronic storage by said third party;

detecting abnormal operating conditions for at least one of said plurality of wastewater treatment equipment utilizing said at least one first sensor;

upon said detecting of abnormal operating conditions, electronically notifying said at least one service company of said abnormal operating conditions;

electronically detecting a physical presence of said at least one service personnel said plurality of wastewater treatment systems utilizing said at least one second sensor;

upon said electronically detecting of said physical presence, electronically determining a date of said physical presence of said at least one service personnel;

electronically storing said date of said physical presence in said at least one electronic storage; and

accessing said at least one electronic storage and generating a report for said regulatory body, said report comprising said date associated with said physical presence.

2. The regulatory compliance method of claim 1, wherein said third party provides certification services governing operation of said plurality of wastewater treatment systems.

3. The regulatory compliance method of claim 1, further comprising storing a schedule of said periodic inspections in said at least one electronic storage, and comparing said date to said schedule to provide with said report whether said periodic inspections were timely made.

4. The regulatory compliance method of claim 3, further comprising:

generating a website and providing access to said at least one electronic storage of said third party through said website.

5. The regulatory compliance method of claim 4, further comprising:

generating said report by said regulatory body utilizing said website.

6. The regulatory compliance method of claim 4, comprising selecting a format of said report by a computer of said regulatory body.

7. The regulatory compliance method of claim 4, further comprising:

providing access to said schedule of said periodic inspections through said website to said at least one service company.

8. The regulatory compliance method of claim 1, wherein said step of electronically detecting said physical presence further comprises installing at least one mechanical switch for use as said second sensor adjacent each of said plurality of wastewater treatment systems to be activated by said at least one service personnel.

9. The regulatory compliance method of claim 1, wherein said step of electronically detecting e said physical presence further comprises installing an electronic reader for use as said second sensor adjacent each of said plurality of wastewater treatment systems to be activated by a respective identifier carried by each of said at least one service personnel.

10. The regulatory compliance method of claim 1, electronically determining whether a respective service contract between at least one owner of said plurality of wastewater systems and said at least one service company has been timely renewed.

11. The regulatory compliance method of claim 10, further comprising:

electronically generating notices of noncompliance to said at least one owner of said plurality of wastewater systems when said service contract has not been timely renewed.

12. A regulatory compliance system operable with a plurality of wastewater treatment systems at a plurality of different physical locations, said wastewater treatment systems being serviced by service personnel of at least one service company, there being a regulatory body for monitoring said plurality of wastewater treatment systems with respect to timely servicing of said plurality of wastewater treatment systems, said system comprising:

an electronic monitor at each of said plurality of wastewater treatment systems comprising at least one first sensor adapted to detect abnormal operating conditions of wastewater treatment equipment and to electronically transmit signals representative of said abnormal operating conditions if said abnormal operating conditions occur;

a physical presence detector comprising at least one second electrically operated sensor adapted to detect a presence of said at least one service personnel at each of said plurality of wastewater treatment systems;

at least one clock for determining a date of a detected abnormal operating condition and a date of a detected physical presence of said service personnel at each of said plurality of wastewater treatment systems;

at least one storage member for electronically storing said date of said detected abnormal operating condition and said date of said detected physical presence of said service personnel and for storing a maintenance inspection schedule for said plurality of wastewater treatment systems; and

at least one processor programed for accessing said at least one storage member and generating at least one report for said regulatory body, said report evidencing said time of said detected physical presence of said service personnel for determining timely compliance with said maintenance inspection schedule.

13. The regulatory compliance system of claim 12, further comprising:

a computer network operated by a third party which is an independent non-governmental entity and does not sell or repair or own said plurality of wastewater treatment systems, said computer network being operable for communicating data from said at least one storage member with at least one computer of said regulatory body.

14. The regulatory compliance system of claim 12, wherein said date comprises a time of said detected physical presence of said service personnel at each of said plurality of wastewater treatment systems.

15. The regulatory compliance system of claim 12, wherein said at least one storage element is utilized for storing names of a plurality of different owners for said plurality of wastewater treatment systems.

16. The regulatory compliance system of claim 15, wherein said at least one storage element stores address information for contacting said plurality of different owners.

17. The regulatory compliance system of claim 12, further comprising at least one server operated by a third party which is a non-governmental entity, said at least one server being programmed to generate a website.

18. The regulatory compliance system of claim 17, wherein said website is operable for generating information comprising compliance with scheduled inspections and timely repairs for said plurality of wastewater treatment systems.

19. The regulatory compliance system of claim 17, wherein said website is operable for generating information comprising failure to renew service contracts along with address information for transmission to responsible parties for said plurality of wastewater treatment systems.

20. A regulatory compliance system operable with a plurality of environmental equipment systems, said plurality of environmental equipment systems being serviced by service personnel, there being a regulatory body for monitoring said plurality of environmental equipment systems, said system comprising:

at least one first electronic monitor physically positioned at each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems for automatically producing and communicating a first signal representative of abnormal operating conditions for said plurality of environmental equipment systems;

at least one second electronic monitor for detecting and communicating a second signal representative of a physical presence of said service personnel at each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems;

a receiver for electronically receiving said first signal and said second signal;

at least one data storage in electronic communication with said receiver operable for electronically storing dates of occurrences of said first and second signals and for electronically storing a schedule of required inspections of said plurality of environmental equipment systems and for storing names of responsible parties for said plurality of environmental equipment systems; and

at least one network server programmed to generate a website accessible by said at least one computer of said regulatory body, said website comprising selectable options for generating reports.

21. The regulatory compliance system of claim 20, wherein said receiver and said at least one data storage and said at least one network server is operated by a third party which is a non-governmental entity.

22. The regulatory compliance system of claim 20, further comprising at least one computer program operable to determine noncompliance with said schedule of required inspections and for generating noncompliance reports indicating noncompliance with scheduled inspection requirements for said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

23. The regulatory compliance system of claim 20, wherein said selectable options comprise an option to provide noncompliance reports indicating failure to renew a service contract.

24. The regulatory compliance system of claim 20, further comprising selectable printing options accessible by said regulatory body for printing notices of noncompliance with said schedule of required inspections and for transmission to said responsible parties for said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

25. A method for determining regulatory compliance of a plurality of environmental equipment systems, said environmental equipment systems being serviced by service personnel, there being a regulatory body for monitoring said plurality of environmental equipment systems, said method comprising:

creating at least one electronic connection from each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems to at least one monitoring computer positioned remotely from said plurality of environmental equipment systems;

providing at least one electrically operated first sensor at each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems to detect abnormal equipment operating conditions;

providing at least one electrically operated second sensor to detect a physical presence of said service personnel at each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems;

operatively connecting at least one transmitter to said at least one first sensor and said at least one second sensor for transmitting signals over said at least one electronic connection indicative of said abnormal equipment operating conditions and said detected physical presence to said at least one monitoring computer;

electronically connecting between said at least one monitoring computer and at least one computer of said regulatory body for transmitting signals indicative of said abnormal equipment operating conditions and said detected physical presence and

generating a report for said regulatory body comprising said detected physical presence at said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

26. The regulatory compliance method of claim 25, wherein said step of electronically connecting further comprises:

electronically connecting said at least one computer of said regulatory body to a network.

27. The regulatory compliance method of claim 25, further comprising:

generating reports on compliance with scheduled inspections and timely repairs for said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

28. The regulatory compliance method of claim 25, further comprising:

storing a date for each said detected physical presence of said service personnel at said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

29. The regulatory compliance method of claim 25, further comprising providing a third party which is an independent entity for operating said at least one monitoring computer.

30. The regulatory compliance method of claim 29, further comprising storing names of parties responsible for said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

31. The regulatory compliance method of claim 25, further comprising storing a schedule of required maintenance inspections for each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

32. The regulatory compliance method of claim 25, farther comprising:

storing at least a date of each said detected physical presence of said service personnel at said plurality of environmental equipment systems; and

generating reports of noncompliance with scheduled inspections and timely repairs for said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

33. The regulatory compliance method of claim 25, further comprising:

generating noncompliance notices indicating failure to renew a service contract.

34. The regulatory compliance method of claim 25, further comprising:

generating a record of when said environmental equipment system starts initial operation for a first time or after a shutdown wherein repairs are made utilizing data produced by said at least one second sensor.

35. A method for determining regulatory compliance of a plurality of environmental equipment systems, said environmental equipment systems being serviced by service personnel, there being a regulatory body for monitoring said plurality of environmental equipment systems, said method comprising:

electronically generating digital data by electronic sensor equipment at each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems, said electronic sensor equipment being adapted for detecting abnormal operation of environmental equipment and a physical presence of said service personnel;

electronically collecting and storing said electronically generated digital data from said plurality of environmental equipment systems;

producing a website and posting said electronically generated digital data from said plurality of environmental equipments onto said website; and

accessing said website by said regulatory body whereby said regulatory body can determine dates of detection of said abnormal operation of said environmental equipment and said regulatory body can determine dates of detection of said physical presence of service personnel at said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

36. The regulatory compliance method of claim 35, further comprising:

providing access to said website by at least one service company whereby at least selective of said digital data from said plurality of environmental equipment systems is retrievable by said at least one service company.

37. The regulatory compliance method of claim 35, further comprising:

providing that said regulatory body utilizes said digital data for generating reports.

38. The regulatory compliance method of claim 35, further comprising:

generating reports of noncompliance with scheduled inspections and timely repairs for said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

39. The regulatory compliance method of claim 38, further comprising:

generating noncompliance notices indicating noncompliance of said scheduled inspections and timely repair regulations for said plurality of environmental equipment methods, said noncompliance notices including names of parties responsible for said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

40. The regulatory compliance method of claim 39, wherein said noncompliance notices comprise address information for contacting said parties.

41. The regulatory compliance method of claim 35, further comprising storing data used for communicating with parties responsible for said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

42. The regulatory compliance method of claim 35, wherein said digital data further comprises maintenance scheduling for said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

43. The regulatory compliance method of claim 35, further comprising:

electronically determining a time of said physical presence of said service personnel at said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

44. The regulatory compliance method of claim 35, further comprising:

generating noncompliance notices indicating failure to renew service contracts.

45. A method for determining regulatory compliance of a multitude of separately owned environmental equipment systems with respect to timely servicing of said multitude of separately owned environmental equipment systems, said multitude of separately owned environmental equipment systems being serviced by service personnel, said method comprising:

electronically detecting abnormal operation of environmental equipment at each of said multitude of separately owned environmental equipment systems utilizing at least one equipment malfunction sensor mounted at said multitude of separately owned environmental equipment systems;

detecting a physical presence of said service personnel at each of said multitude of separately owned environmental equipment systems utilizing at least one service personnel presence sensor;

electronically utilizing at least one clock to determine at least a date for said detected abnormal equipment operation and at least a date for said physical presence of said service personnel at each of said multitude of separately owned environmental equipment systems;

electronically collecting dates of detected abnormal operation and said physical presence of said service personnel at said multitude of separately owned environmental equipment systems; and

electronically generating accumulated reports relating to said operational data, said personnel data, and said clock data.

46. The compliance method of claim 45, further comprising:

electronically storing scheduled inspection requirements requiring said physical presence of service personnel for each of said multitude of separately owned environmental equipment systems.

47. The compliance method of claim 45, further comprising

administrating at least said step of electronically collecting dates of detected abnormal operation and said physical presence of said service personnel at said multitude of separately owned environmental equipment systems by an independent entity as a third party.

48. The compliance method of claim 45, further comprising:

generating a website and accessing said website by a regulatory body.

49. The compliance method of claim 45, further comprising:

generating reports of noncompliance with scheduled inspections and timely repairs.

50. The compliance method of claim 46, further comprising:

generating notices of noncompliance with said scheduled inspection requirements.

51. The regulatory compliance method of claim 45, further comprising:

generating a record of when said multitude of environmental equipment systems starts initial operation for the first time.

52. The regulatory compliance method of claim 51, further comprising:

detecting an initial physical presence of said service personnel for said initial operation.

53. The compliance method of claim 45, further comprising:

generating noncompliance notices indicating failure to renew service contracts.

54. A method for determining regulatory compliance of a plurality of environmental equipment systems for monitoring said plurality of environmental equipment systems with respect to timely servicing of said plurality of environmental equipment systems by a plurality of service companies, a regulatory body for monitoring said plurality of environmental equipment systems and an independent third party entity, said method comprising:

installing environmental equipment for each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems;

installing a first electronic sensor for detecting abnormal operation of said environmental equipment;

electronically detecting said abnormal operation of said environmental equipment;

said third party storing dates of said detected abnormal operation of said environmental equipment;

providing a second electronic sensor for detecting a presence of service personnel at each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems;

electronically detecting said presence of said service personnel at said environmental equipment systems;

said third party entity storing dates of said detected presence of said service personnel at each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems; and

generating reports utilizing said dates of said detected presence stored by said third party entity.

55. The regulatory compliance method of claim 54, further comprising:

producing a website and accessing said website to obtain said dates of said detected presence and said dates of said abnormal operation by said regulatory body.

56. The compliance method of claim 55, further comprising:

access to said website for said plurality of service companies.

57. The compliance method of claim 54, further comprising:

providing an electronic connection to a regulatory body such that said regulatory body selectively generates reports on said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

58. The compliance method of claim 54, further comprising:

generating reports of noncompliance with a schedule of required maintenance for said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

59. The compliance method of claim 55, further comprising:

generating noncompliance notices indicating failure to renew service contracts for maintenance of said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

60. A compliance system for a plurality of environmental equipment systems operable for monitoring said plurality of environmental equipment systems at a plurality of different sites and with respect to timely servicing of said plurality of environmental equipment systems by service personnel, there being at least one regulatory body for monitoring said plurality of environmental equipment systems with respect to timely servicing of said plurality of environmental equipment systems, said system comprising:

environmental equipment installed at each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems;

a first electronic sensor for detecting abnormal operation of said environmental equipment installed at each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems;

a second electronic sensor adapted to verify a physical presence of service personnel at each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems; and

at least one processor configured for collecting and storing data comprising dates of said detected abnormal operation and dates of said physical presence of said service personnel at each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems, said at least one processor comprising at least one storage element, said at least one processor being further configured for communicating said data from said at least one data storage element to at least one computer of said regulatory body for determining whether said plurality of environmental equipment systems are timely serviced.

61. The compliance system of claim 60, further comprising at least one data storage member configured to store said data, said data further comprising schedules for required maintenance of said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

62. The compliance system of claim 61, further comprising:

an independent entity for administering said at least one data storage member.

63. The compliance system of claim 60, wherein said data comprises names of a plurality of different owners for said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

64. The compliance system of claim 63, wherein said data comprises address information for contacting responsible parties for said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

65. The compliance system of claim 60, further comprising at least one network server programmed for generating a website and for posting onto said website said data comprising dates of said detected abnormal operation and dates of said physical presence of said service personnel at each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems, said at least one network server being configured for responding to inquiries from to said at least one computer of said regulatory body.

66. The compliance system of claim 65, wherein said website comprises selectable options for generating noncompliance reports that show noncompliance with scheduled inspection requirements and timely repair requirements for said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

67. The compliance system of claim 60, further comprising:

means for generating a record of when each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems is placed in operation for the first time or after being shut down for repairs.

68. A method for determining regulatory compliance of a plurality of environmental equipment systems, said plurality of environmental equipment systems being serviced by at least one service company having service personnel, there being a third party entity and a regulatory body for monitoring said plurality of environmental equipment systems with respect to timely servicing of said plurality of environmental equipment systems, said method comprising:

installing environmental equipment for each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems;

installing a first electronic sensor for detecting abnormal operation of said environmental equipment;

installing a second electronic sensor adapted to detect a physical presence of said service personnel at each of said plurality of environmental equipment systems;

electronically detecting said abnormal operation of said environmental equipment;

upon detection of said abnormal operation or said physical presence, electronically transmitting corresponding data;

electronically receiving said data by at least one computer of said third party entity;

electronically storing said data; and

electronically reporting from said third party to said regulatory body about timely servicing of said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

69. The regulatory compliance method of claim 68, further comprising:

connecting at least one computer of said regulatory body to said at least one computer of said third party.

70. The regulatory compliance method of claim 68, further comprising:

generating reports of noncompliance for said plurality of environmental equipment systems, and sending said reports to said at least one service company and to parties responsible for said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

71. The regulatory compliance method of claim 68, further comprising:

generating reports concerning compliance with scheduled inspections and timely repairs for said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

72. The regulatory compliance method of claim 68, further comprising:

electronically storing a date of said physical presence of said service personnel at said plurality of environmental equipment systems.

73. The regulatory compliance method of claim 68, further comprising storing names of parties responsible for said plurality of environmental equipment.