Electronic submission and tracking of permit applications

The Secretary shall research, develop, and implement an electronic system to allow the electronic preparation and submission of applications for permits and requests for jurisdictional determinations under the jurisdiction of the Secretary. The electronic system required under paragraph (1) shall address— The Secretary shall seek to incorporate the electronic system required under paragraph (1) into existing systems and databases of the Corps of Engineers to the maximum extent practicable. The electronic system required under paragraph (1) shall provide for the protection of personal, private, privileged, confidential, and proprietary information, and information the disclosure of which is otherwise prohibited by law. The electronic system required under subsection (a) shall— enable an applicant or requester (or a designated agent) to track the status of a permit application or request in a manner that will— All permit decisions and jurisdictional determinations made by the Secretary shall be in writing and include documentation supporting the basis for the decision or determination. The Secretary shall prescribe means for documenting all decisions or determinations to be made by the Secretary. The Secretary shall maintain, for a minimum of 5 years, a record of each permit decision and jurisdictional determination made by the Secretary, including documentation supporting the basis of the decision or determination. The Secretary shall explore and implement an appropriate mechanism for archiving records of permit decisions and jurisdictional determinations, including documentation supporting the basis of the decisions and determinations, after the 5-year maintenance period described in paragraph (1). The Secretary shall make the records of all permit decisions and jurisdictional determinations made by the Secretary available to the public for review and reproduction. The Secretary shall provide for the protection of personal, private, privileged, confidential, and proprietary information, and information the disclosure of which is prohibited by law, which may be excluded from disclosure. The Secretary shall develop and implement, to the maximum extent practicable, the electronic system required under subsection (a) not later than 2 years after December 23, 2022. The Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate a quarterly update describing the status of the implementation of this section. The requirements described in subsections (c), (d), and (e) shall apply to permit applications and requests for jurisdictional determinations submitted to the Secretary after December 16, 2016. This section shall not preclude the submission to the Secretary, acting through the Chief of Engineers, of a physical copy of a permit application or a request for a jurisdictional determination.