Submitting Forms
Form(s) Identification
The first step in the submission process is to identify which forms will need to be submitted based on the activities you are attempting to be permitted or the type of approval you are requesting. There are two primary options supporting form selection. These two options include:
Select an Organization: Select the appropriate forms based on the organization (Air, Water, etc.) who issues the form(s) you require.
Searching for a Form: Search for the appropriate forms based on the name (or other properties) of the form you require or by describing the activity you are seeking approval for.
Select an Organization
This area describes how to select an organization from the organization browser and view the organization information page. From an organization, all the forms will be listed and any organization specific instructions/information will be provided:
Steps:
Click on the Select Organization button:
Mouse over the organization list and highlight the desired organization.
Click on the desired organization.
After selecting an organization, the details for the organization will be displayed as well as any forms related to the organization.
Searching for a Form
This area describes how a user will search for a form within the system. Forms can be located by searching for a form using the Form Finder tool and then selecting the form from the Recommended Forms links.
The search tool provided allows you to either search for a specific keyword, or a natural language search in which you type in the activity that you are trying to do, and it will attempt to identify the form you are looking for.
An example of a natural language search is: “I need a form for Drinking Water Eligibility”
Steps:
Click on the Finder link in the header:
Type in keywords you would like to use to identify the appropriate form(s) (example: wind power, wind, offshore) or describe the activity you would like to perform:
Potential matches will begin to appear under the Recommended Forms heading. The forms will be ordered based on applicability to your provided keywords or the activity you described.
Click on the form name link for the form that best matches your needs. Please review the summary of each returned forms to ensure relevance to your specific needs.
Submit a Form
After selecting the form to submit, the wizard will walk the user through the process of providing the information required by the issuing department or program, submitting the form and printing the payment voucher for any associated fees with the form and to paying any applicable fees for the form. Each step included in this process is detailed below.
The sections present for a given form, will depend on the needs and configuration of the form in question.
Please note that a form must be officially certified, submitted by the submitter for it to be available for review by agency staff. The agency will not have visibility or access to draft forms that are not yet submitted. The agency will not review form submissions until any associated fees have been paid in full.
Form Instructions
The Form Instructions provides the user with information specific to the selected form and information pertinent to processing submissions of this form type. Click Begin Form Entry button to start a new online submission.
When available, the user has the option to download a paper based, mail-in, submission form. This option can be utilized by clicking on the Download Mail-In Form button, if visible.
Typically, a user will need to be signed into the system prior to submitting a form. When enabled, the user will have the option to submit a form as a guest (without signing into the system). This option can be utilized by clicking on the submit as a guest link, if visible, which will be displayed where the Begin Form Entry button is normally displayed.
If present, the user can click upon the Upload [Dataset Name] button to select and attempt to upload a compliant XML submission for the form. The selected files format will be validated and if value, the provided data will be populated on to the form. The XML format must be compliant with the form design.
Please reference the nFORM Submission XML Upload Guide for further details.
If present, the user can click upon the Download Mail-In Form button to download a PDF version of the form for offline entry, population and review. This form will be mailed back to the agency as instructed within the form. Note: Processing of these mail-in forms can be slower than when using of the online system.
If present, the user can click upon the Print Blank Form button to download a PDF version of the form that can be used for reference and investigatory purposes only. This form is not intended to be used as a mail-in form and may not be accepted by the agency, if received in this format:
Processing Info Section
If present, the Processing Info section allows the user to provide generic processing information about the form submission, as required and select the fee categorization, if applicable. When comfortable with the information provided and displayed, click Next Section button to move to the data entry sections in the process.
At any time, the Save Progress button can be clicked to save the form submission in its current state and conclude data entry for the time being. The submission wizard can be reopened by clicking on the History link at the top of the form and selecting the Edit button next to the appropriate form submission.
Navigate between sections using the Next Section buttons, at the bottom of the wizard or by clicking on a section name in the left panel:
Data Entry Sections
During the Data Entry Sections of a form submission, you will be required to provide the information as specifically requested by the form. A form will be divided into one or more data entry sections that are relevant to the form in question. The user is not required to be complete a section to navigate to other sections of the form.
To complete data entry, all questions will need to be reviewed and answered with valid entries. All required fields must be entered. Required fields will be marked with a yellow or red asterisk in the upper left corner of the field.
As an indication of the status for each section (sections are listed on the left), the following visual cues are provided by the system:
A white circle represents a section that has not yet been validated.
A black circle represents a section that is currently in use.
A red X represents a section with missing or invalid data entered.
A blue check mark represents a section that has all required information filled out and no invalid entries.