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Speed Increase in the Transaction Process between NMFS and Constituents
The most substantial benefit that is gained by switching to an electronic process for issuing permits is a speed increase in all parts of the transaction process between NMFS and its constituents. The most noticeable speed increase is seen in the time it takes to transmit an applicant's data to a regional office for processing. Since the paper applications are currently sent via postal mail, there exists a bottleneck in the processing process due to the amount of time that a permit application spends in transit. Once an applicant has filled out an online application form and paid any associated processing fees in NPS, the applicant's information is sent directly to NPS' Processing Module for permit processors to begin working on, eliminating the mailing time needed for a paper permit application.
Furthermore, the time that it takes to review and process a permit request will also be reduced because processors will no longer have to perform data entry for applicants who elect to submit their application electronically. This is especially beneficial for applicants who have never been issued a permit and are not in the system. Even in the case where an applicant chooses to submit their information on a paper application form, if the applicant is already in the system all of their information can be prefilled on to any of the online forms that have been defined for use by a region. Also, applications that are submitted online go through multiple validations, to ensure that the form is complete and the data is in the correct format.
NPS also provides an easy way for permit processors to review the information that was submitted by the applicant and see the information that was submitted the last time they applied for the permit. Since all of the permit information is stored in one system, NPS' search feature makes finding any necessary historical information and relationships between the different "Core Entities" (vessels, individuals, businesses, and permits) quick and easy. Although the review and permit processing processes will not be instantaneous, NPS will help reduce the time it takes to complete these activities by running any automated checks (GCEL checks, Do Not Permit checks, Deceased Person Inquiry check, and others) that were defined to be executed for the permit for which the applicant is applying.