Permits and Authorizations

Owned by Will Rensmith (Unlicensed)
Last updated: May 07, 2024 by Will Rensmith
4 min read

Overview

Permits are authorizations issued by an agency. While nVIRO uses the term Permit, a permit record in the system could also represent a registration, license, or other type of authorization.

Permits have the following features:

  • A unique permit number. Permit numbering schemes can vary based on permit category and type.

  • A permit category and optional permit type to classify (and sub-classify) the type of permit.

  • A permit status indicating whether it is draft, active, or inactive.

  • A permittee contact indicating the Responsible Party or parties to which the permit is issued.

  • Permit dates including issued, effective, expiration, and termination/closed dates.

  • Permit Schedules—reports or other deadlines imposed upon a regulated entity as a condition of a permit.

  • Permit Conditions—a list of narrative provisions or constraints.

  • Fee Categories that indicate what fees are assessed as part of an annual or other periodic billing process.

  • Other shared attributes such as Events, Documents, Contacts, and Program Components.

Permit information is managed on the Permit Details screen.

Permit Versions

nVIRO stores each version of a permit as a separate record. nVIRO keeps track of the history of each permit over time using versions. The versioning scheme includes three components; permit number, major version number, and minor revision number. For example, for permit ABC0001 v1.2, the permit number is ABC0001, the major version number is 1 and the revision number is 2. nVIRO requires that for a given program area, the combination of permit number, version number, and revision number is unique.

Permit Versions vs. Revisions

A permit change that results in a revision increment (e.g., 1.0 to 1.1) is considered a revision. A permit change that results in a version increment (e.g., v1.0 to v2.0) is considered a new version. It is up to each program as to what type of permit actions should result in a revision versus a new version. nVIRO rules should inform which type of change to use for a given permit change type.

There are two important differences between permit revisions and versions:

  1. Schedules are shared across permit revisions. In contrast, a version increment will close out all schedules from the previous version, and new schedules must be established on the new version.

  2. Permit issue date and expire date are locked on a permit revision. In contrast, a version increment allows for new issue and expriation dates to be entered. When the new version goes into effect, the prior permit version’s terminated date is set to the effective date of the new version minus one day. The effective date of the new version must also be greater than the effective date of the previous version.

Permit Status

Like other statuses throughout nVIRO, permit statuses are divided into three categories: Draft, Active, or Inactive. Status category drives system behavior and allows for additional statuses to be configured.

  • Draft - The permit is not yet active.

  • Active - The permit is active. It is visible to external users, and is available for submission of permit change forms (such as modifications and renewals), is active for annual billing, and schedules related to the permit can be submitted.

  • Inactive - The permit is no longer active, and any unsubmitted schedules that were due before the permit's Inactive Date will remain active. Only users with elevated permissions can set a permit from Inactive back to Active status.

Among these three categories, there are several status descriptions. These statuses may vary by agency.

Status Category

Status Description

Special Considerations

Draft

In Process

This is the default status for all newly created permits.

Active

Issued

In Effect

Expired

Extended

Termination Pending

Closed Pending

Automatic status change will occur as part of a nightly process:

  • Permits in Issued status will become In Effect when the effective date is reached.

  • Permits in In Effect status will become Expired when the expire date is reached if a newer draft permit version does not exist (unless configured not to; see the Permit Categories and Types page for more information).

  • Permits in In Effect status will become Extended when the expire date is reached if a newer draft permit version exists.

  • When a permit goes to In Effect status, all other active versions of that permit automatically have their statuses changed to Superseded. The terminated/inactive date of superseded permit versions is set to one day before the effective date of the permit that supersedes it.

  • Permits in Termination Pending status will become Terminated when the terminated/inactive date is reached.

  • Permits in Closed Pending status will become Closed when the terminated/inactive date is reached.

Inactive

Closed

Terminated

Superseded

Revoked

Not Issued

Expired (Inactive)

Suspended

Permits in an Active status category will become Terminated when the terminated/inactive date is reached.

Permits in an Active status category will become Superseded when a newer permit version or revision enters an Active status category.

A Permit in an Active status category will become Suspended if there are schedule types that have the Set Permit to Suspend Status if not Submitted by Due Date box checked. However users with elevated permissions can set that permit back to Active status.

  • When permits are in a Suspended status, future schedules are hidden from external users. Permit change forms are still made available.

 

Termination Pending and Closed Pending statuses are currently not included in standard releases of nCORE. Here is a sample script for adding these to an nCORE implementation: