S-EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office Of Water
(4203)
EPA 833-R-96-007
March 1994
NPDES Permit Issuance
Flexibility Policy In
Watershed Permitting
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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
MAR 1 3 J996
OFFICE OF
WATER
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
FROM:
TO:-
NPDES Permit Issuance Flexibility policy in Watershed Permitting
Michael B. Cook, Director
Office of Wastewater Management
Regional Water Program Directors (Region 1-10)
Purpose
The purpose of this memorandum is to follow-up on the NPDES Watershed Strategy..
issued on March 21, 1994, and to address one of the major watershed permitting implementation
issues raised by Regions and States. Permitting authorities have expressed a need for flexibility in
meeting permit issuance requirements during the transition to a watershed approach. EPA
Headquarters recognizes the challenge involved in such an undertaking and has developed an
outline of measures designed to help facilitate a smooth transition to a watershed permitting
system.
Background
Currently, many permitting authorities issue major and minor NPDES permits on a five
year cycle with priority afforded to individual permits, independent of the goals and priorities for
the watershed in which it is located. In many cases, major permits must be given priority for time
and resource commitments over minor permits simply because of their designation as majors,
without regard to their relative environmental impact or importance. The NPDES Watershed
Strategy emphasizes the need to revise the current implementation system and recognizes the
importance of issuing permits within the context of a watershed management framework.
Decisions about point source controls should be based on an overall assessment of environmental
priorities and concerns within a basin. States accomplish this goal by developing a basin
management plan and by assuring that permits are issued in accordance with the priorities and
management strategies described in the plan. This type of permitting system emphasizes permit
development for both major and minor permits that pose a significant environmental threat to a
basin or watersheds within the basin. Also, it allows States to place the permitting program
within the context of an overall statewide watershed management framework by coordinating
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permitting with other key water management programs. In order to facilitate this process, many.
permitting authorities choose to synchronize permit reissuance dates by basin such that all'
NPDES permits within a basin are reissued at approximately the same time.
Issue
EPA recognizes that many States will implement the NPDES Watershed Strategy in an
incremental fashion. This process will require identifying and assessing all basins, setting goals
and priorities for each basin, and developing and implementing management strategies designed to
restore and protect water resources and meet the goals set for each basin. EPA recognizes that
not all basins will receive the same level of attention, and that resources will be allocated based
upon the needs of each basin. The time to move through an entire cycle of identification,
assessment, priority setting, and management strategy development for each basin will vary from
State to State. Therefore, the time required to develop a permit issuance system with
synchronized permitting will vary from State to State. EPA expects that permit issuance backlogs
will increase in the short term as permitting authorities administratively extend some expired
permits to allow their reissuance dates to coincide with those of other permits in the same basin
but this backlog should decrease after the permitting authorities adopt and implement a watershed
approach.
A permit issuance backlog for both major and minor permits will be acceptable in
situations where the permitting authority shows demonstrated progress toward implementing a
watershed permitting approach. A demonstration of progress will include:
(1) Established Statewide geographic management units (i.e., major basins and
watersheds or sub-basins nested within the major basins);
(2) A cycle of activities for basins (e.g., monitoring, assessment, prioritization,
management strategy development) and a schedule for implementation by basin,
and
(3) A plan and schedule for synchronized permit issuance or reissuance.
EPA expects that there will be some initial backlog while setting up and implementm« a
plan and schedule for synchronized permit issuance, but the permitting authority's plan and "
schedule must address and eliminate the initial permit backlog in a reasonable time period In no
case should this period exceed 10 years. The pian and schedule should be established in
consultation with the respective EPA Regional office and should become part of the State EPA
Partnership Agreements.
EPA recognizes that the amount of backlog attributable to the initial years of
implementing a watershed permitting system will vary from State to State since there are many
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State-specific and site-specific factors that will affect this new approach to permitting. Therefore,
we are not prescribing a specific percentage for allowable backlog. Rather, discussions of
allowable backlog should be part of Partnership Agreements between each State and their
respective EPA Regional office.
Minimizing and Reducing Backlog
In developing their permit issuance plans and schedules, permitting authorities should
recognize that some permits may not need major revisions at time of reissuance. Also, there may
be opportunities to develop and use general permits to relieve some of the permit issuance burden.
Permitting authorities should include these opportunities in their basin plans and permit issuance
schedules where appropriate.
New dischargers will need to be permitted within the synchronization system and,
therefore, their first permit issuance may require a permit term considerably less than five'years.
In addition, some of the initial permit backlog associated with synchronizing permits may be
relieved by reissuing some, existing permits for less than a five year term. For example, some
States have chosen to synchronize permits within a basin through a combination of short-term
permit issuance (three to five years) and administrative extensions of less than three years.
EPA sent an earlier, draft version of this policy to Regional watershed permitting contacts
for review and comment. They, in turn, provided copies to some States for review. Comments
received from Regional and State personnel have been addressed in this final policy. - Please share
this policy with your States to make them aware of the continued emphasis on issuing permits in
the context of a watershed management framework. The Permits Division at EPA Headquarters
continues to work on guidance to assist you with integrating the NPDES program into an overall
watershed management framework. Should you have any questions, please contact Deborah
Nagle of my staff at 202-260-2656.
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