Solutions
Regulator-centered Workflows for Modern Environmental Review and Permitting
RTI’s Applicability and Requirements Technology (ART) is an AI-assisted, human-directed workflow for the timely mapping of project plans to federal statutory and regulatory requirements. ART is designed to help federal agencies make faster, more transparent, and more defensible decisions in environmental review and permitting.
Our reproducible, administrative records–based approach is built on a preservation and development (P&D) framework that prioritizes four dimensions of public wellness:
- Clean environment
- Job prospects
- Innovation
- Strong community bond
This approach keeps AI-assisted workflows grounded in the same statutes, regulations, and evidence that governed decisions before AI. Outputs are traceable to the regulatory text, organized using modern technologies, and supported by evidence transparently linked to law. When every major decision has trade-offs, RTI’s ART makes those trade-offs visible.
Multi-agency Compatibility
ART is designed for use across multiple federal agencies with different missions, regulatory frameworks, and program requirements:
- Portable SAR/RAR structures
- Configurable retrieval logic
- Configurable output layers
- Applicable across NEPA-implementing agencies
ART can perform any structured, repeatable administrative task that requires identification, retrieval, and organization of information against defined regulatory requirements:
- Completeness screening of permit applications at submission
- Structured administrative record preparation
- Deterministic identification of missing regulatory content
- Consistency checks across recurring filing formats
- NEPA reviews and Resource Report mapping
ART aligns with CEQ service delivery standards, including business process modernization, workflow automation, and minimizing timeline uncertainty. It also supports minimal functional requirements, including automated project screening and case management tools, improved document and administrative records management, and data standards implementation.
How ART Supports Federal Agencies
ART is designed to support any structured, repeatable administrative task that requires identification, retrieval, and organization of information against defined regulatory requirements.
Representative Use Cases
- Completeness screening of permit applications at submission
- Structured administrative record preparation
- Deterministic identification of missing regulatory content
- Consistency checks across recurring filing formats
- NEPA reviews and Resource Report mapping
How ART Aligns with CEQ Standards
Service Delivery Standards
- Business Process Modernization
- Workflow Automation
- Minimizing Timeline Uncertainty
Minimum Functional Requirements
- Implement Data Standards
- Automated Project Screening
- Automated Case Management Tools
- Improved Document Management
- Administrative Record Management
- Adopt Common or Interoperable Agency Services
RTI's ART workflows organize Act- and CFR-based decision records.
The ART Framework for Preservation and Development (P&D)
ART is built to support balanced, transparent, and defensible federal decision-making that considers environmental preservation and community development side-by-side.
Every decision has trade-offs. RTI helps make those trade-offs visible.
Four-Dimensional Public Wellness Framework
- Clean environment
- Job prospects
- Innovation
- Strong community bonds
Every decision has trade-offs. RTI's ART workflows make them visible.
Case Study: NEPA Application
RTI’s ART demonstration for CEQ’s Permitting Innovators Open Call was based on a NEPA-relevant administrative task associated with an interstate pipeline docket. The demonstration illustrated how ART supports deterministic mapping of statutory and regulatory requirements to sponsor-submitted materials.
The demonstration applied ART workflows to a defined administrative review task and produced structured outputs suitable for expert review.
- 44-document docket premise
- Assignment of a defined administrative task
- Structured SAR/RAR reference registers
- Deterministic retrieval of responsive content
- Sentence-level compliance mapping
- Reviewer-ready output tables
Multi-Agency Compatibility
ART is designed to support use across numerous federal agencies with different missions, regulatory frameworks, and program requirements.
- Program-specified statutory attribute registers and regulatory attribute registers
- Configurable workflows tailored to agency-specific review processes
- Configurable retrieval logic and output layers
- Applicable across NEPA-implementing agencies and other requirements-based review programs
RTI’s Institutional Capacity for Review and Permitting
RTI International is a U.S.-based scientific research institute with a multidisciplinary staff of more than 1,000 engineers, scientists, and economists with experience supporting federal, state, and local environmental review and permitting programs.
- Air quality
- Water resources
- Waste management
- Social and economic impact analysis
- Environmental compliance
- Regulatory analysis
Contact — RTI CEQ/NEPA Help Desk
All federal agency inquiries regarding ART or related RTI capabilities are routed through RTI's ART help desk to ensure consistent intake and rapid response.
The RTI CEQ/NEPA Help Desk acknowledges all inquiries within 5 business hours.
Meet the Experts
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Shelley Schneider
Shelley Schneider
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Jennifer Hoponick Redmon
Jennifer Hoponick Redmon
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Donna Womack
Donna Womack
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Jeffrey Coburn
Jeffrey Coburn
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Stephen M. Boone, P.E.
