S3613

An Act establishing an online Statewide tracking system for certain permits, licenses, certifications, and form applications and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. Within one calendar year of the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the Office of Information Technology shall establish an online Statewide tracking system for certain permits, licenses, certifications, and form applications issued by principal departments in the Executive Branch of State government, and any agencies, commissions, boards, bureaus, and offices under the purview of such principal departments. The Office of Information Technology shall be responsible for creating the network necessary to maintain the system and providing the computer software, hardware, and security necessary to ensure that the system is accessible only to principal departments, and any agencies, commissions, boards, bureaus, and offices under their purview, as provided in this section. The system shall be the official State repository for information regarding permits, licenses, certifications, and form applications.

b. The Statewide application tracking system shall include, but need not be limited to, the following features:

(1) the ability to assign a unique application number to each permit, license, certification, or application submitted and entered into the system;

(2) interactivity among the principal departments, and any agencies, commissions, boards, bureaus, and offices under their purview, such that these entities shall have immediate electronic access to all or selected records in the system to receive or transmit all or selected files in the system and to print or review all or selected files in the system;

(3) the ability to permit any principal department, and any agencies, commissions, boards, bureaus, and offices under their purview, to enter information relating to the status of a permit, license, certification, or form application on an expedited basis at the time the information is obtained, and to permit the Office of Information Technology to provide technical support to do so whenever needed; and

(4) any other functions that may be deemed necessary by the Office of Information Technology to implement the provisions of this section.

c. The Statewide application tracking system shall include, but need not be limited to, the following information for each application:

(1) the application number;

(2) the name of the applicant, if applicable;

(3) the name of the facility, if applicable;

(4) the department and the agency, commission, board, bureau, or office, if applicable, responsible for processing and issuing the permit, license, certification, or form application;

(5) the type of program requiring the permit, license, certification, or form application;

(6) the type of permit, license, certification, or form application;

(7) the number assigned to the issued permit, license, certification, or form application, if applicable;

(8) the locality where the permit, license, certification, or form application will be issued upon approval;

(9) the received date of the request for the permit, license, certification, or form application;

(10) the status of the permit, license, certification, or form application; and

(11) the date on which the permit, license, certification, or form application is expected to be issued or completed, which may be revised by the appropriate department, agency, commission, board, bureau, or office, as necessary.

d. Each head of a principal department in the Executive Branch of State government shall be responsible for assessing which permits, licenses, certifications, or form applications shall be included in the Statewide application tracking system, including any permits, licenses, certifications, or applications that are issued by agencies, commissions, boards, bureaus, and offices under the purview of such principal department.

To determine which permits, licenses, certifications, or form applications will be included in the Statewide application tracking system, the head of each principal department shall consider the following factors:

(1) the quantity of each type of permit, license, certification, or form application requested in a calendar year;

(2) the average duration of the approval process for each type of permit, license, certification, or form application;

(3) the ease or difficulty of approving a request for each type of permit, license, certification, or form application; and

(4) any other factor that the head of each principal department deems necessary to make such determination.

e. The head of each principal department in the Executive Branch of State government, or their designee, shall be responsible for submitting and updating the information contained in the Statewide application tracking system in a timely manner in a method to be determined by the Office of Information Technology.

f. All principal departments in the Executive Branch of State government, and any agency, commission, board, bureau, or office under their purview, shall cooperate fully with the Office of Information Technology and the Chief Technology Officer to implement the provisions of this section.

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes an online Statewide tracking system for certain permits, licenses, certifications, and form applications.

Under the bill, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) has one calendar year to establish an online Statewide tracking system for certain permits, licenses, certifications, and form applications issued by each principal department in the Executive branch of State government, as well as any agencies, commissions, boards, bureaus, and offices under their purview. The OIT is responsible for creating the network necessary to maintain the system and providing computer software, hardware, and security.

At a minimum, the Statewide application tracking system must have the ability to assign a unique application number to each permit, license, certification, or form application submitted and entered into the system; interactivity among the appropriate principal departments, including immediate electronic access to records in the system to receive or transmit files in the system and to print or review files in the system; and the ability to permit an appropriate entity to enter information relating to the status of a permit, license, certification, or form application on an expedited basis and to permit the OIT to provide technical support.

Additionally, the bill provides a list of information that is required to be collected and displayed in the system for each application, such as the application number, the department, the received date, the status, and the estimated date of completion.

Under the bill, the head of each principal department in the State Executive branch will be responsible for assessing which permits, licenses, certifications, or form applications are to be included in the Statewide application tracking system, including any issued by agencies, commissions, boards, bureaus, and offices under their purview.

At a minimum, when making the determination, the head of each principal department must consider the number of each type of permit, license, certification, or form application requested in a calendar year; the average duration of the approval process for each type of permit, license, certification, or form application; and the ease or difficulty of approving a request for each type of permit, license, certification, or form application.

The bill states that all principal departments, and any agency, commission, board, bureau, or office under the purview of such department, must cooperate fully with the OIT and the Chief Technology Officer.