REGNET projects: Formalizing Laws and Regulations for Automatic Situational Analysis Kincho H. Law (CEE), Gio Wiederhold(CS), Jim Leckie(CEE), Barton Thompson(Law), Mike Genesereth (CS), et al, Stanford University Stanford, CA Acknowledgement: The slides are based on the research work by various students in the Civil and Environmental Engineering and Computer Science Departments, Stanford University

The Public and Scientific Problem Regulations are established to protect the public Many organizations set regulations Regulations greatly constrain businesses actions Interpretation of regulations is costly and inconsistent Regulations are written in natural language They are often incomplete, sometimes conflicting The objects being regulated are often encoded Many levels of translation are needed 12/2/2018 Regnet intro

Applications investigated Objectives: check compliance Disabled access: participants: architects, building owners, the disabled & the federal and local governments Waste disposal: generators, haulers, sites & the governments – protecting us There are 100’s of other areas 12/2/2018 Regnet intro

General REGNET Process Capture texts from legal and agency sources Establish ontologies to formalize meaning Translate texts into processable forms provides intermediate access Extract rules in terms of applications validate and compare rules Apply rules to design or processes Display results, typically graphically, to participants 12/2/2018 Regnet intro

Scope and Emphasis To develop a formal but practical infrastructure to enhance the access and retrieval of government regulations Pilot research application focuses on regulations for assuring, for the handicapped, accessibility to buildings and safe egress in emergencies 12/2/2018 Regnet intro

Relating Analysis Results to Code Document On-Line Code Checker : Relating Analysis Results to Code Document 12/2/2018 Regnet intro

Code Document Entity and violation 12/2/2018 Regnet intro

Wheelchair (Robot) Model Performance-Based Evaluation: Motion Planning 13” 46” 33” 26” Wheelchair (Robot) Model 12/2/2018 Regnet intro

Example Path Width Definition ADAAG Definition: 4.3.3 Width. The minimum clear width of an accessible route shall be 36 in (915 mm) except at doors (see 4.13.5 and 4.13.6). If a person in a wheelchair must make a turn around an obstruction, the minimum clear width of the accessible route shall be as shown in Fig. 7(a) and (b). Alternate Definition: Variances will be allowed for accessible route configurations that adhere to the ergonomic and anthropometric parameters set forth in this document that can be demonstrated visually, either manually or computationally. 12/2/2018 Regnet intro

Recommendations to the Owner and Agencies Remove men’s bathroom stall partitions Make all rooms “Usable” Widen door openings Rearrange room furniture Alternative definition of the Accessible Route Alternative definitions of route components Performance-based allowances Explicit Statement relating: Accessibility to Functionality of Spaces 12/2/2018 Regnet intro

Information Flow in Hazardous Waste Regulation Compliance Checking Collaboration among generators, services, and regulators. Regulator TSDF Explanation and interpretation for Codes Regulation codes Records of waste streams Instructions for how to conduct compliance checking Compliance records for hazardous waste Generator 12/2/2018 Regnet intro

Users Regulator Regulator TSDF TSDF Generator Generator Proposed Distributed Information Management System for Hazardous Waste Compliance Checking Users (Critics, Public) Regulator (Federal EPA) Regulator (State EPA) Information Brokerage Reporting and compliance checking info management Information security management Regulation code information management TSDF TSDF Generator Generator 12/2/2018 Regnet intro

Hierarchical Structure with Embedded Links in Regulation Provisions Section 262.11 Hazardous waste determination. …… (a) He should first determine if the waste is excluded from regulation under 40 CFR 261.4. (b) He must then determine if the waste is listed as a hazardous waste in subpart D of 4 0 CFR part 261. …... 12/2/2018 Regnet intro

A System Architecture for Hazardous Waste Compliance Checking 12/2/2018 Regnet intro

RegNet Research Motivations and Goals What is an appropriate model for a information management system for compliance checking? How to build such a system How to deal with the conflicting objectives? Research goal Developing information management frameworks that can improve the efficiency of regulation compliance and facilitate the compliance process. 12/2/2018 Regnet intro