Intranet Web Site for Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) Renewal EIS

EVS uses the Web and e-mail to facilitate collaborative preparation of a large-scale environmental impact statement (EIS).

Need/Opportunity

• Online tools and information needed to conduct EIS analyses
• Online reference and EIS document repository
• Secure access for staff at remote locations

The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is responsible for developing an EIS for renewal of the federal grant of right-of-way for TAPS, the 800-mile pipeline (and related facilities) that transports crude oil from Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope to the ice-free port of Valdez. Argonne National Laboratory's Environmental Science Division (EVS) was selected by BLM as the main contractor for preparation of this large, complex, EIS (referred to as the TAPS Renewal EIS). The EIS process involves collaborative effort between 20+ staff members at four different permanent locations and on travel. EIS staff need convenient, secure access to a variety of data, documents, and services required to prepare the EIS. They also need to be informed quickly and efficiently about EIS news and events.

Approach

• Create secure project web site
• Provide automated news and calendar functions
• Provide reference and working draft document archives
• Allow access to GIS data, maps, and photos
• Provide technical resource links and personnel contact information
• Create e-mail-based notification system for project updates

The TAPS Renewal EIS Intranet web site is a secure, permanent information resource for project staff, regardless of location. It has been designed specifically to support the preparation of an EIS, and provides a variety of services and information resources useful to EIS staff. It includes repositories for downloadable reference documents and EIS draft documents; calendar and news; GIS data, maps, and photos; web links to relevant technical information resources; and contact information for project and sponsor personnel.; Web and e-mail-based notification is used to inform staff about project updates, document additions, meetings, and other project-related items.

The site can be administered remotely via the Web, and project staff have the ability to upload documents, calendar events, news items, and personal information themselves, without relying on system administrators. Some functions, such as uploading EIS draft documents, are reserved for system administrators. This flexible administrative approach maximizes project staff involvement while retaining administrative control over key functions.

Results

• Intranet site launched August 2001
• Functionality will expand as EIS progresses
• Serves as template for future projects.

The TAPS Renewal EIS Web Site was launched August 2, 2001, to coincide with the beginning of the public scoping period for the EIS. Since launch, the site has been used routinely by project staff. The site will continue to evolve during the development of the EIS and will be adapted for use with future EVS EIS projects.

Benefits

• Provides essential information to staff anywhere, anytime.
• Fosters staff collaboration
• Reduces document distribution costs
• Provides timely notification of events
• Reduces project management costs

The TAPS Intranet web site makes critical information available conveniently to project staff regardless of time or location. It fosters collaboration because it provides staff with shared access to key documents and information, and to each other's work. It keeps staff up to date on meetings and project events. It greatly increases the efficiency of document distribution and reduces project management costs by reducing needless communication and reducing barriers to staff collaboration.