The Washington Commission recently completed the first phase of an introduction of geographic information system (GIS) technology into the agency. This was intended to solve a specific business problem and to lay the groundwork for solving other business problems through the use of GIS technologies.

The Washington Commission has a history of managing certain data, especially that pertaining to solid waste certificate authorities, in a geographic format. During the seventies, the commission employed a cartographer to maintain maps of solid waste certificate areas. For the past twenty years, however, these data was maintained in text, as descriptions of metes and bounds. Over time, these descriptions became unmanageable. Several efforts to begin using computer technology to solve this problem made little progress.

In late 1998, a combination of management will, available funds, and technological advances in the GIS field created the conditions to allow a further attempt to spawn a project to make a recommendation for consideration.

The Study

A cross-sectional team of staff, including Information Services personnel, studied the geographically-oriented business problems and the geographic analysis technology available to help solve them. The team released its report in April, 1999. In it, the team recommended:

• that the agency make a commitment to GIS technology;
• a strategy for introducing GIS technology into the agency through a focus on the solid waste certificates;
• initiation of a project to convert solid waste certificates into GIS format;
• that the agency pursue business process changes and certificate administration reforms to ensure that geographic data becomes a part of the regulatory record, ensuring that it is effectively maintained; and
• adoption of ArcView as the particular GIS product to use, as most other state agencies using GIS used this product and local consulting and support services are available.

• identify overlapping authorities (although the Commission is obligated by its rules to notify certificate holders of overlapping authorities);
• answer, in some cases, a consumer's simple question: Here's my address, what is my garbage company?
• identify municipal annexations (which remove territory from a certificate's area);
• identify areas not being served; and
• track additions, deletion, or transfers of authorities between companies.

• put certificate authority areas into GIS format;
• run quality assurance checks on the resulting areas;
• and develop specialized analytical tools to use on that data.

The work remaining to the agency includes identifying issues with the boundaries between the certificates, resolving those issues, and changing the maps to correspond to the changes.

Future Steps

For simple changes, the agency has the tools and expertise, now, to make them itself. As long as the authorities do not change shape, but only change hands between companies, the agency can be self-sufficient with its GIS expertise. As this is the usual situation, the agency can go some way on what it has accomplished with this project. In order to completely integrate solid waste tariff proceedings and GIS data, more equipment and expertise will be necessary, including the purchase of Arclnfo software and hiring the expertise to operate it.

In addition to solid waste regulation, the agency has an opportunity to act as a state repository for GIS information about interstate gas transmission pipelines for the federal Office of Pipeline Safety (USDOT, Research and Special Projects Administration). Also, the state legislature is considering a requirement that the agency develop a GIS system to include gas pipeline information for intrastate transmission and distribution.

Other sections in the agency have expressed interest in benefiting from the work already done to develop GIS capability and in adding value to that effort by working in other uses for GIS technology and expertise. Among these are:

• consumer complaint analysis;
• rail accident analysis - operational and crossing;
• transportation routes (the Commission regulates some busses and private ferries);
• telephone exchange area mappings; and
• other service area identification.