As stated in the National Permits System's (NPS) Scoping Document, NPS is a web based system designed to promote permitting standards at an agency level and assist with the collection, processing, and storage of commercial and recreational fishing permits data. NPS is actually two applications, a "Back-Office" application that is used by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) employees to process incoming permit data and a "Public Web Site" application that is used by NMFS' constituents to view permit related information and apply for permits online. Since NPS collects the same data that is collected by the current permitting process by mimicking the various paper permit application forms in use, most of which are required by law to collect an applicant's signature, NPS needs to be able to collect signatures as well.
Moving to an agency wide electronic system for the collection and processing of permit data has many beneficial and practicable benefits in the form of increased efficiency, accessibility, and reliability over the current paper and region specific systems in use. By allowing NPS to collect an applicant's information over a secure network connection, processors will be able to focus on processing the information, rather than having to transcribe the information from a paper application form to a local system and then process the information. Since NPS can also perform validations on the forms it mimics, the system can ensure a higher level of data integrity, further increasing processors' efficiency and productivity as they will no longer have to send applications back to an applicant for clarification. Furthermore, storing all of the agency's permit information in one electronic system will increase the accessibility to the data across the agency, make reporting simpler, and help foster agency wide standards.
The Electronic Signature Business Plan is the second phase of a four phase process to allow NPS to collect electronic signatures. This phase is designed to show why allowing the system to allow an applicant to use an electronic signature is beneficial to NMFS and its constituents. The business plan also discusses the current process that NPS will replace, the demand for electronic signatures in NPS, how NPS plans to implement electronic signatures, the various costs and benefits, and an implementation plan outline. The remaining two phases in implementing electronic signatures in NPS are:
- Evaluation and Approval of the Business Plan
- Implementation of the Electronic Signature Process
