xvEPA
20W 4001
August 1990
Office of Water (EN-335)
Permit Compliance
System
Executive Summary
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This Executive Summary of the Permit Compliance
System (PCS) briefly describes the information that PCS
contains and the capabilities of PCS to support the
diversified needs of its users.
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I
BACKGROUND
1
To meet the informational needs
of the National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) program under the
Clean Water Act, the
Environmental Protection
Agency Office of Water
Enforcement and Permits
(OWEP) developed the Permit
Compliance System (PCS) for
tracking permit, compliance, and
enforcement status.
PCS is a computerized
management information system
for automated entry, updating,
and retrieval of information on
NPDES permit-holding facilities.
Under the NPDES program, PCS
keeps extensive records on more
than 65,000 active water-
discharge permits that have been
issued to facilities throughout
the nation.
Each permit record may contain
many items of information,
which:
identifies and describes the
facility to which the permit
has been granted
specifies the pollutant
discharge limits for
that facility
records the actual amounts
of pollutants measured in
the facility's waste water
discharges
tracks the facility's history
of compliance with
construction, pollutant
limits, and reporting
requirements
PCS is designed using a data
base management system
(DBMS) called AD ABAS
(Adaptable Database). DBMS is
an advanced concept in computer
system data structure and
storage. PCS resides on the EPA
IBM mainframe computer
located in Research Triangle
Park, North Carolina. Users
throughout the country may
access PCS through EPA's
telecommunications network.
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FUNCTIONS OF PCS
Functions of PCS include:
Maintenance of an
inventory of all NPDES
permit applications and
permit issuance statuses
for approximately 65,000
active permittees.
Forecasting of due
dates for reports
related to compliance
schedule events.
Maintenance of inspection-
related information.
Maintenance of effluent
limitations contained in
NPDES permits.
Maintenance of effluent
self-monitoring data of
permittees (Discharge
Monitoring Reports).
Automatic detection of
effluent and compliance
schedule violations.
Maintenance of data on
enforcement actions and
automatic generation of
the NPDES Quarterly
Noncompliance Reports.
Production of
management reports
relating to all of the above
information; these reports
allow regulatory
authorities to maintain an
overview of the progress
of the NPDES program.
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WHO PCS SUPPORTS
PCS is a dynamic system that
supports the NPDES program at
the state, regional and national
levels. The system has been
enhanced over the years to better
support the diverse needs of
its users.
Within the 10 EPA regional
offices and 38 NPDES states,
PCS supports over 600 state/
regional/headquarters users.
These users are made up of
enforcement, permit, data
processing, and planning
personnel, and program
managers.
With its flexible reporting
features, PCS supports requests
for information from Congress
and state legislatures, as well as
Freedom of Information requests
submitted by the public.
The development of the system
has been directed by the PCS
Steering Committee. This
committee and its companion
User Group are made up of state,
regional, and headquarters
representatives who continually
explore indepth the technical data
processing and management
informational needs of States
and EPA.
^S Supports Over 600 Users Nationwide
PCS is a National System
with over 600 users in ten EPA
regions arid-38 delegated states.
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PCS US AGE
1
As the national inventory for
NPDES permit issuance and
compliance/enforcement data,
PCS has earned the confidence of
users in EPA regional offices and
its delegated NPDES states. At
present, PCS is one of EPA's
largest computer systems, with
more than 12 million individual
records in its data base. The 12
million records are populated
with more than 200 million
fields of information.
PCS is also currently one of
EPA's most widely used
computer systems. More than
seven thousand data retrievals
take place monthly and nearly
six million data changes
occur annually.
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PCS Performs Thousands of Data
Retrievals Monthly
(per thousand)
1988
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199O
TTie state, regional, and headquarters PCS users request an average of more than seven
thousand data retrievals monthly and submit an average of nearly six million data
changes annually. Since its inception PCS has continually grown, as demonstrated by
the increase in the number of records it stores.
13!vl
12M
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PCS Record Volume Increases Yearly
(per million)
1988
1989
199O
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WHAT PCS:
1
The PCS data base is an
automated file of NPDES
permits. In 1990, there are more
than 65,000 active NPDES
permits being tracked by the
system. Additionally, PCS
contains historical information
for over 50,000 inactive permits.
The information stored for each
permit is grouped into 13
categories or data types.
Within each data type, there are
individual pieces of information
called data elements or fields.
Presently, 571 data elements are
defined within PCS.
The PCS data types are:
PERMIT FACILITY general
information for a facility, such
as facility name and address,
type of facility, industrial
classification, etc.
PERMIT EVENT information
to assist in tracking events that
relate to permit issuance, including
the date of the permit issuance, the
date of the permit expiration,
comments, etc.
COMPLIANCE SCHEDULE
milestone event information that
may be required of a facility,
including submitted facility plans,
end of construction dates, hired
certified operator, etc.
COMPLIANCE SCHEDULE
VIOLATION information
regarding violations of the
compliance schedule, such as
failure to meet a milestone date,
failure to submit required reports,
date violation resolved, etc.
OUTFALL SCHEDULE
discharge monitoring reporting
schedule information and
descriptions of outfall locations,
including initial EPA and State
submission dates, types of effluent
waste, pipe location, etc.
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THE 13 PCS DATA TYPES
PERMIT LIMITS effluent
parametric limit requirements
associated with each outfall of a
facility, including the parameter,
quantity and concentration average
and maximums, concentration
minimums, etc.
DISCHARGE MONITORING
REPORT detailed information
on reported measurement values
for effluent limits, including those
that are in violation of established
limits for the permit. Information
contained includes the type of
violation (if any), concentration
and quantity values, QNCR
indicators, etc.
SINGLE EVENT VIOLATION
detailed information on
violations not related to compliance
schedules or effluent limits, such
as the violation event code,
date of violation, date violation
resolved, etc.
ENFORCEMENT ACTION
detailed information about
enforcement actions taken in
response to violations, such as
the events in violation, the
enforcement action type and the
date taken, administrative penalty
information, etc.
INSPECTION information
gathered at inspections performed
at a permitted facility, such as the
performing inspector, inspection
scheduling information, inspector
comments, etc.
PRETREATMENT AUDIT/
PCI detailed information
about pretreatment that was
gathered during an inspection or
audit, such as pretreatment
coordinator name, annual
pretreatment budget, number of
significant industrial users not
inspected, etc.
PRETREATMENT
PERFORMANCE SUMMARY
information gathered as a part
of the Pretreatment Annual
Report, such as the number of
administrative orders issued,
number of judicial actions taken,
amount of penalties, etc.
EVIDENTIARY HEARING
information concerning
evidentiary hearings, which are
held when permittees wish to
appeal or negotiate limits or
compliance schedule
requirements, including
evidentiary hearing event type,
date hearing was granted,
settlement date, etc.
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Relationships Between
PERMIT FACILITY DATA
PIPE
SCHEDULE
DATA
PARAMETER
LIMITS
DATA
COMPLIANCE
SCHEDULE
DATA
ENFORCEMENT
ACTION
DATA
MEASUREMENT
VIOLATION
DATA
COMPLIANCE
SCHEDULE
VIOLATION
DATA
ENFORCEMENT
ACTION
KEYS
SINGLE
EVENT
VIOLATION
DATA
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PERMIT FACILITY DATA
PRETREATMENT INSPECTION PERMIT
SUMMARY | DATA EVENT
DATA DATA
PCI AUDIT
DATA
EVIDENTIARY
HEARING
DATA
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PCS CAPABILITIES
The informational needs of
PCS users are as diverse as the
users themselves. Their needs
range from detailed, facility-
related data required by state
and regional compliance
personnel, to statistical summary
data required by program
directors to gauge overall
program effectiveness.
With its conversion to AD ABAS
in 1985, PCS achieved new
flexibility, speed, ease of use, and
responsiveness that significantly
augmented its value as a resource
and management tool for
administration of the water
enforcement and permit program.
Specifically, PCS offers:
Flexibility - PCS provides
multiple data entry and
reporting systems. This offers
each user the most
accommodating method of
entering information into and
gathering information from the
data base.
Speed - When information is
needed quickly, the availability
of "on-line" processing allows
an individual's informational
needs to be described with a
few simple keyboard
commands, transmitted directly
to the computer and answered
on a screen display in seconds
instead of hours or overnight.
Ease of Use - The direct
"dialogue" between the user
and PCS is an effective
teaching tool that builds users'
skills and confidence quickly
by providing immediate
reinforcement of successful
procedures and immediate
identification of errors through
screen messages. As a result,
new users can draw on a wide
range of data in their first
session. Management
personnel, who do not use PCS
daily, are offered processing
capabilities that allow
information to be retrieved
quickly and easily.
Responsiveness - With
increasing proficiency in
system use, the user can
exercise increasing control
over the selection and format
of data requested from PCS.
The experienced user can begin
to design reports tailor-made
to specific applications at his
own pace.
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Direct "Dialogue" Communication
PROCEDURE
COMPLETED
SUCCESSFOLLY
PCS offers flexibility, speed,
ease of use, and responsiveness
to each user.
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Uiolation Detection Processing
PERMIT
FORM-
DMR
FORM-
ENFORCEMENT
FORM.
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RCTION
QUARTERLY NONCOMPLIANCE REPORT **QNCR**
VIRGINIA
NAME
LOCATION
| NPDES NUMBER GRANT LIMIT VIOLATION ENFORCEMENT
INSTANCE OF NONCOMPLIANCE RNC DATE ENFORCEMENT ACTION DATE STATUS
MCP SCHEDULE AO-EO
DOCKET NUMBER:88-18
BOD, 5-DAY
SOLIDS, TOTAL
(20 DE 001A 12/31/87-05/31/89
SUSPENDED 001A 12/31/87-05/31/89
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L
.VIOLATION DETE
PCS identifies and tracks
polluters of the Nation's
waterways through automated
violation detection processes.The
system automatically reviews
millions of records each month
and determines the compliance
status of each facility according
to the requirements in the
individual permit.
Compliance Schedule
Violations are automatically
determined as PCS reviews
compliance schedule events
and reporting schedules set by
the appropriate permit issuing
authority.
Discharge Monitoring Report
(DMR) Effluent Limit
Violations are automatically
determined by PCS when a
Discharge Monitoring Report
is received and information
regarding the report is entered
into the data base. PCS checks
the DMR limit information
for completeness and
determines whether measured
concentrations and quantities
exceed the limits set in
the permit.
Discharge Monitoring Report
(DMR) Reporting Violations
are based upon the DMR
outfall schedules set in the
permit. A reporting violation is
automatically generated if a
DMR report is due but has not
been submitted by a facility.
Single Event Violations are
maintained within the data
base. These violations are not
related to compliance schedules
or parametric limits. These
violations are usually entered
into the PCS data base by state
or regional NPDES personnel.
Reportable Noncompliance
Violations (RNC) are
determined automatically. For
each facility, PCS reviews
compliance schedule, single
event, Discharge Monitoring
Report reporting, and
Discharge Monitoring Report
effluent limits violations and
associated enforcement actions,
determining the significance of
each violation and the
compliance status of the
facility. All reportable
noncompliant facilities and
their associated violations are
reported on the Quarterly
Noncompliance Report.
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PCS DATA ENTRY
I
To ensure the quality of data
entered into PCS, each update
transaction passes two levels of
edit checking. The first level
verifies the completeness and
validity of data in each
transaction. Required fields are
checked for values, numeric
fields are checked for numbers,
code fields are verified against
valid PCS values. The second
level verifies the transaction's
relationship to existing data for
that facility. For example:
An outfall schedule record
cannot be added unless the
facility record exists.
A parameter limit record
cannot be deleted if
associated discharge
monitoring report
records exist.
Accepted transactions are
placed into a holding file to be
processed in the next semi-
weekly update. Transactions
passing both levels of edit
checking update the PCS
data base.
To meet the diverse needs of its
users, PCS offers three methods
for data entry. These methods
are:
PCS
DATA ENTRY METHODS
PCS-ADE, an on-line data
entry system, provides
immediate feedback to the
user as information is being
entered. Both levels of edit
checking are performed.
PCS-ADE allows large
amounts of data to be entered
rapidly and accurately.
PC Entry, a PC based data
entry system, allows large
amounts of PCS data to be
entered quickly without
accruing "timesharing" costs
at NCC. It performs minimal
edit checking. All
transactions generated by this
method are submitted to the
Batch Card Entry system for
complete edit checking.
Batch Card Entry, a batch
data entry system, provides
an easy method for states
that do not actively use
PCS to submit data to the
system. Batch Card Entry
performs both levels of edit
checking. Feedback to the
user is provided through
"edit reports" listing accepted
transactions, rejected
transactions, and any
associated informational and
error messages.
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PCS Data Entry
Both Levels Edit Checking
Immediate Feedback
Both Levels Edit Checking
PCS offers three methods of data
entry to its users, meeting the
diversified needs of the users.
Interface
States
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PCS REPORTING
PCS offers two basic modes of
reporting: on-line and batch.
Through these modes,
information may be gathered
from the data base and viewed on
the terminal screen, or a "hard
copy" of the gathered
information may be printed.
On-line reporting means that an
individual's informational needs
can be described with a few
simple keyboard commands,
transmitted directly to the PCS
data base, and answered on a
screen display in seconds.
Batch reporting means that
an individual's informational
needs can be described through
submitted requests and
answered on a "hardcopy"
printout including as much detail
as requested.
Three types of PCS report
generation are available,
including the following:
PREDEFINED REPORTS
Predefined Reports offer the
inexperienced user a simple
way of gathering needed
information from PCS. These
reports are system-formatted
reports'with-rows and columns
predefined. These
"standardized" reports may be
accessed through PCS's
Generalized Retrieval and
Inquiry subsystems. There are
23 types of-predefined reports.
Two examples include:
Facility Report provides a
comprehensive description of each
selected permitted facility, it
includes general facility information
and twelve optional detailed facility
informational categories. Optional
information includes compliance
schedule and violation information,
enforcement action information,
pipe schedule information, etc.
Quarterly Noncompliance Report
(QNCR) provides a list of all active
major facilities that have instances
of Reportable Noncompliance
within the current reporting period.
The report includes the name,
location, and NPDES number of
each permitted facility reported;
the instances of Reportable
Noncompliance; and any
enforcement actions taken.
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MANAGEMENT REPORTS
Management Reports offer
managers quick access to
information specific to their
needs. These reports are
generated through PCS's
Manager's Inquiry (MINQ),
Personal Assistance Link
(PAL), and Generalized
Retrieval subsystems.
Examples of the 15 kinds of
Management Reports available
in PCS are:
Moving Base Report provides
quantitative measurements of actual
counts and percentages of facilities
that are in significant noncomplianee
with their compliance schedules,
compliance reporting requirements,
effluent limits, or effluent reporting
requirements,
Manager's Quarterly
Noncomplianee Report (QNCR)
provides managers a list of facilities
that are in Significant
Noncomplianee during the QNCR
quarter. This report includes
facilities with effluent, DMR non-
receipt, compliance schedule, and
compliance schedule reporting
violations,
USER DESIGNED REPORTS
User Designed Reports offer
flexibiEty to the experienced
user regarding the types and
detail of information being
reported and the format of
the resulting report Reports
may be defined through
PCS's Inquiry and
Generalized Retrieval
subsystems* Available report
options allow only needed
information to be reported. A
User Designed Report may be
like one of the following;
Quick Look Report provides users a
way of defining reports that allows
the user to control the content and
design of the report It allows data to
be reported from any of the data types
in PCS.
Quick File Extract provides users
a way to transfer user-defined
information from a PCS data type
to a file on a storage disk at NCC.
The user may then manipulate the
information using various programs
at NCC* such as SAS, or may
download the information to a PC.
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UT OF PCS
PCS supports its users in a
variety of ways. Telephone
support is provided to assist
with operational questions and
problems. Training activities
are provided through EPA
headquarters and regions.
Resource materials are
available for attaining further
operational information.
The PCS User Support Line
is available to anyone who
is seeking assistance. This
line may be reached at
(202)475-8529.
EPA Headquarters and regional
training activities include both
classroom instruction and
personal computer training
presentations. Classroom
instruction is offered throughout
the country on a continuing basis
and includes Basic PCS Training,
Advanced PCS Training
(QNCR), Generalized Retrieval
Training, Manager's Overview,
and ad hoc classes of
concentrated assistance. Training
presentations currently available
include: an Overview of the
Permit Compliance System, an
Overview of Manager's Inquiry,
and an Overview of PCS PAL.
Resource materials in the form of
user guide documentation and
PCS pamphlets are available to
assist in daily operations of PCS
and to provide information
regarding the system.
Available user guide
documentation includes:
Inquiry User's Guide
Generalized Retrieval User's
Guide
Data Entry, Edit and Update
User's Guide
Data Element Dictionary
PCS-PAL User's Guide
Guide to NCC Services
Two PCS pamphlets are
currently available: PCS
Overview and QNCR.
If you have questions regarding
management issues, or would
like to obtain further information
regarding the Permit Compliance
System, please call the Office of
Water, Enforcement and Permits
Division, Compliance
Information and Evaluation
Branch at (202) 475-8313.
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PCS USER SUPPORT
Welcome To:
PCS Training
03/31 12:27.17
(202)475-8529
PCS Overview
Executive
Summary
Inquiry
User's
Guide
PCS
Quarterly
Noncompliance
Report
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