US Code. 33 USC § 1342 - National pollutant discharge elimination system
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/33/1342
Clean Water Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Water_Act
"As authorized by the Clean Water Act, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States."
http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/
Chapter wac173-220 WAC, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit Program
https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/summarypages/wac173220.html
"Permits - Point Source Pollution
The state of Washington, Department of Ecology, Water Quality Program, is delegated by the U.S. EPA as the state water pollution control agency, responsible for implementing all federal and state water pollution control laws and regulations. Wastewater and stormwater discharges are regulated primarily by wastewater discharge permits, which stipulate specific limits and conditions of allowable discharge.
A wastewater discharge permit is required for disposal of waste material into "waters of the state," which include rivers, lakes, streams, and all underground waters and aquifers. A wastewater discharge permit is also required for certain industrial users that discharge industrial waste into sanitary sewer systems. A wastewater permit may be required for facilities that have stormwater runoff to surface waters.
This website has information on general permits and individual permits, and other- permit information including the Permit Writer's Manual, car wash guidance manual, water quality data, and wastewater discharge permit fees.
A link to EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) application forms can be found on the permit application forms page. You will also find links to Washington's state wastewater discharge permit applications."
Source of Above
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/permits/
EPA Information
"As authorized by the Clean Water Act, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States. Point sources are discrete conveyances such as pipes or man-made ditches. Individual homes that are connected to a municipal system, use a septic system, or do not have a surface discharge do not need an NPDES permit; however, industrial, municipal and other facilities must obtain permits if their discharges go directly to surface waters.
In most cases, the NPDES permit program is administered by authorized states. Since its introduction in 1972, the NPDES permit program is responsible for significant improvements to our nation's water quality."
Compliance Monitoring
EPA conducts inspections of facilities subject to the regulations to determine compliance. EPA inspections involve:
- reviewing discharge monitoring reports
- interviewing facility personnel knowledgeable of the facility
- inspecting the processes that generate and treat wastewater
- sampling wastewater discharges to navigable waterways and other points in the generation or treatment process
- reviewing how samples are collected and analyzed by the laboratory (More on theQuality Assurance Study Program)
NPDES inspection protocols can be found in Chapters 1 - 7 of the NPDES Compliance Inspection Manual.
The Clean Water Act NPDES Compliance Monitoring Strategy for the Core Program and Wet Weather Sources (PDF) (28 pp, 367K, About PDF) provides inpsection frequency goals for the core NPDES program and for wet weather sources including Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO), Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO), Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO), and Storm Water.
EPA Memorandum of Understanding with US Coast Guard: Collaboration on Compliance Assistance, Compliance Monitoring, and Enforcement of Vessel General Permit Requirements on Vessels (PDF) (11 pp, 298K, About PDF)"
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/monitoring/programs/cwa/npdes.html
"National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Compliance Inspection Manual"
The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Compliance Inspection Manual (PDF)(802 pp, 9.79MB, About PDF) July 2004 provides guidance on NPDES inspections of wastewater treatment plants, storm water industrial and construction sites, pretreatment facilities, biosolids handling and treatment facilities, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), municipal wastewater collection systems (combined and separate from storm water) as well as pollution prevention and multimedia concerns. These procedures are fundamental to the NPDES compliance program and provide inspectors with a method for conducting inspections.
Civil Investigations
Civil investigations are defined as an extraordinary, detailed assessment of a regulated entity’s compliance status, which requires significantly more time to complete than a typical compliance inspection (i.e., several weeks, as compared with one or a few days). Investigations may be warranted when an inspection or record review suggests the potential for serious, widespread, and/or continuing civil or criminal violations, from a continuing pattern of citizen complaints, referrals from another agency, or from studies conducted by the regulating agency inferring a potential compliance problem.
NPDES Permit Program Basics
- Overview
- Water Permitting 101 (PDF) (11 pp, 41K) - Overview of the NPDES permitting process
- NPDES Strategic Plan (PDF) (19 pp, 785K) - The Water Permits Division's Strategic Plan of goals and key actions on protecting the nation's waters through effective NPDES permits - FY 2001 and beyond.
- Statutes and Regulations
- Clean Water Act - Text of the Clean Water Act
- NPDES Regulations - Explanation of Federal regulations and links to the NPDES regulations
- Other Federal authorities - An overview of the primary federal laws that also apply to the NPDES permit program
- Program and Permit Review
- Permit Quality Review (PQR) - Assess state or regional implementation of the NPDES program.
- Permitting for Environmental Results (PER) Strategy - Presents a coordinated and integrated management system that when fully implemented will produce a nation-wide NPDES program that is more efficient and focuses on environmental results.
- Water Quality and Technology-Based Permitting:
- Overview - Describes both approaches to developing limits in NDPES permits, as well as an overview of the standards-to-permits process
- Watershed Permitting - Describes NPDES permitting within the context of larger watershed efforts.
- Water Quality Trading Policy - EPA’s Water Quality Trading Policy describes flexible approaches to meeting water quality requirements
- Water Quality Trading Toolkit for Permit Writers - Provides detailed information on how to apply the Trading Policy when designing and implementing water quality trading programs.
- Web-based Water Quality Trading Training - Provides Web-based presentations covering the material presented in the one-day water quality trading training workshops.
- Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) - Draft National Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Implementation Guidance (PDF) (109 pp, 1.09MB), Overview of WET
- Secondary treatment - Describes the technology-based requirements for municipal sewage treatment facilities
- Effluent guidelines - Describes the technology-based requirements for industrial and other non- municipal facilities
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