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**MEMORA NDUM** 
TO: Public Record for the NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule

EPA Docket Number EPA

- HQ

- OECA

- 2009

- 0274 (www. regulations.gov )
FROM: Carey

A. Johnston, P.E. USEPA/O ECA/OC ph: (202) 566 1014 johnston.carey @epa.gov
DATE: 17 November 2012
SUBJECT : Description of the NPDES Program [DCN 0005]
As authorized by

the Clean Water Act, the 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. For example, NPDES permits control municipal and industrial so urces of wastewater pollution. NPDES p ermits ty picall y require monitoring and reporting , and limit a facility ’s discharge of specific chemicals, bulk parameters, and flow to ensure the protection of water quality

. With very

few exceptions ( e.g., 40 CFR 122.3), point sources require NPDES permit authorization to discharge

. The requirement for permit authorization applies to , among other discharges, the discharges from concentrated animal feeding operations that discharge or propose to discharge (40 CFR 122.23), concentrated aquatic animal production facilities (40 CFR 122.24), aquaculture proje cts (40 CFR 122.25), silviculture (40 CFR 122.27) , and certain storm water discharges (40 CFR 122.26, 122.32). NPDES permit authorization is required for discharges from certain municipal separate storm sewer s ys tems (MS4s) , storm water discharges associat ed with industrial activity , and storm water discharges from construction sites with certain acreage thresholds (40 CFR 122.26(c)). Additional storm water discharges also may be designated on a case

- by

- case basis and require d to be authorized under an NPDE S permit (40 CFR 12 2.26(a)(9) ). In general, facilities are categorized as municipal or non

- municipal (a.k.a., “industrial”). In addition, EPA has developed criteria to determine which of the sources should be considered “major” facilities. The distincti on was made initially to assist EPA and states in setting priorities for permitting and compliance and enforcement activities. The regulations at 40 CFR 122.2 define major facility

as, “any NPDES facility

or activity

classified as such by

the Regional Admi nistrator, or in the case of approved state programs, the Regional Administrator in conjunction with the [s]tate Director.” All facilities that are not designated as majors are considered non

- major facilities. Through guidance, EPA has established working definitions for POTW and nonmunicipal major facilities 1

. For POTWs, major facilities are those that have a design flow of one million gallons per day or greater or serve a population of 10,000 or more or

1 S ee “ Procedures for Revising the Major Permit List ” <www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/owm0364.pdf> and “ Delegation of Updates to Major/Minor Lists ” www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/owm0142.pdf

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cause significant water quality impacts. Non

- POTW di scharges are classified as major facilities on the basis of the number of points accumulated using the NPDES Permit Rating Work Sheet

. 2 The worksheet evaluates the significance of a facility using several criteria, including toxic pollutant potential, flo w volume, and water quality factors such as impairment of the receiving water or proximity of the discharge to coastal waters. Historically , EPA has placed greate r priority on major facilities, and has required authorized states to provide more information about the compliance status of these dischargers. Specificall y, EPA policy created the expectation that the permitting authority enter DMR information from “major discharges” into one of two EPA databases (PCS or I CI S

- NPDES ). 3 NPDES permit authorization to discharge may be provided under an individual NPDES permit, which is developed after a process initiated by a permit application (40 CFR 122.21), or under a general NPDES permit, which applies to one or more categories of dischargers (e.g., oil and gas extraction facilities, seafood processors)

. (40 CFR 122.28(a)(2)). Authorization to discharge under a general NPDES permit ty pically occurs upon submission of a “notice of intent” (NOI) to be authorized under the permit (40 CFR 122.28(b)(2)), though submission of a notice of intent is not required for certain types of discharges under certain circumstances (40 CFR 122.28(b)(2)(v)). NPDES permits may

be issued by

EPA or b y a state, territory , or tribe authorized by EPA to implement the NPDES program. Currently , 46 states and the Virgin Islands have been approved b y EPA to administer the NPDES program as well as the general permits program ; no tribe is currentl y approved to administer the NPDES program. States may also receive authorization from EPA to admi nister the pretreatment program and the biosolids program, two NPDES subprograms. In addition, states may receive approval to regulate federal facilities. Currently , 36 states have been approved by EPA to adminis ter the pretreatment program, 8 states h ave been approved b y EPA to administer the biosolids program , and 42 states and the Virgin Islands have been approved by EPA to regulate federal facilities

. 4 EPA administers the NPDES program in states , territories, and tribes that have not applied for or received approval to implement the program. Under CWA § 402(a)(3), the NPDES permit program administered by EPA is subject to the same terms, conditions, and requirements as appl y to a state permit program under CWA § 402(b). In the early

years of the NP DES program, EPA and the states focused on reducing pollutants from specified large municipal and industrial point sources, also known as major facilities. In order to support development of appropriate permit limits and conditions, issuance of effective p ermits, compliance monitoring, and appropriate enforcement actions, EPA developed measures to track, on a nationwide basis, the information necessary to measure, evaluate and report on these efforts. Over the last twenty

- five ye ars, these efforts to establ ish

2 See www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/owm0116.pdf

. 3 See (see DCN 0023 and 0007

- Permit Com pliance System (PCS) Policy Statement and ICIS Addendum to the Appendix of the 19 85 Permit Compliance System Statement) 4 See EPA’s website ( http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/statestats.cfm) for the mo st current listing of NPDES program authorization.3

significant pollutant controls have resulted in important pollutant discharge reductions from traditional major sources. Although large municipal and industrial point sources continue to be significant sources of pollution, analy sis has shown that sm aller point sources also contribute significant amounts of pollutants to our nation's waters. Nonmajor facilities are generally smaller sources and are often regulated under general permits rather than individual permits. In many cases, nonmajor facilities use pollutant control measures based on operational activities rather than on implementation of pollutant control technologies, which are measured with numeric effluent limits on pollutant discharges. The universe of nonmajor dischargers is very large compared to the number of major dischargers . The universe of nonmajor dischargers also includes some large volume discharges that had not previously

been regulated with the same ty pes of individual permits used to regulate discharges from major facilities.
E PA is moving toward evaluating water pollution issues on a watershed basis, as it has become clear that the nonmajor municipal and industrial dischargers and storm water dischargers in violation may

have significant impacts individually or collectivel y in specific watersheds. The most recent state reports submitted under CWA § 305(b) and compiled b y EPA in the National Water Quality

Inventory

Reports indicate the growing significance and link between these nonmajor sources and impairments in water quality, particularl y from precipitation

- induced or "wet weather" point sources of pollutants. 5 These sources include discharges of storm water associated with industrial activity including construction, discharges from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs ), and overflows from combined sewer s ys tems (CSSs) and s anitary sewer s ys tems (SSSs). Under Section 305(b) of the CWA, states have consistently reported wet weather point sources as contributors of water quality impairment to U.S. surface waters. Storm water discharges may

include a variety of pollutants, such as sediment, oil and grease, chemicals, nutrients, metals, and bacteria. Discharges from CAFOs often include nutrients, organic matter, pathogens, and trace metals. Overflows from combined and separ ate sanitary sewer sy stems pose a significant threat to public health and the environment due to high concentrations of bacteria from fecal contamination, as well as disease

- causing pathogens. The pollution controls for wet weather sources are often best m anagement practices (BMPs) rather than traditional end

of

- pipe controls. These wet weather sources are high priorities for EPA’s enforcement and compliance program and have been for over a decade.

5 http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/cwa/305b/index.cfm