NPDES Program Management and Oversight
Program and Permit Quality Review (PQR)
EPA uses the PQR process to assess whether NPDES permits meet the applicable requirements in the Clean Water Act (CWA) and environmental regulations. During each PQR, EPA reviews a sample of states' NPDES permits to reflect a cross section of a state’s permitting authority. EPA Headquarters will also review permits issued by EPA regional offices for states without NPDES authorization and other areas where EPA regional offices issue NPDES permits. These reviews evaluate the following:
- permit language,
- fact sheets (documents explaining the rationale for permit conditions),
- calculations,
- supporting documents in the administrative record, and
- state permitting program initiatives.
Through this review mechanism, EPA promotes national consistency and identifies successes and opportunities to improve NPDES permit programs.
Permit Backlog Reduction Efforts
Under the CWA, EPA and states with authorized NPDES programs issue NPDES permits with terms no longer than five years. Permittees discharging under an individual permit that wish to continue discharging beyond the five-year term must submit a complete application for permit reissuance at least 180 days prior to the expiration date of their permit. If the permitting authority receives a complete application but does not reissue the permit prior to the expiration date, the existing permit is "administratively continued." The NPDES regulations also state that any person proposing a new discharge shall submit an application at least 180 days before the date on which the discharge is to commence.
Timely issuance and reissuance of NPDES permits is important as it can provide greater certainty to the business community and ensure that permits improve environmental protection by reflecting the most recent scientific information. EPA continuously works to increase efficiencies in permitting processes to decrease the NPDES permit backlog and encourages authorized NPDES permit programs to do the same.
EPA tracks the NPDES permit backlog for both EPA-issued and state-issued permits, including individual and general permits. Applications for new individual permits are considered backlogged if not issued or denied within 365 days of receipt of the complete application. Existing permits (both individual and general) are considered backlogged if the permit is in need of reissuance but the permitting authority does not reissue the permit by or before 180 days after the expiration date. For general permits, EPA tracks the number of facilities covered by permits considered backlogged.
- View NPDES Permit Status Reports for EPA's current NPDES permit backlog.