Compliance Advisory: Clean Water Agencies Increasing Attention to Significant Non-Compliance Dischargers

SEPA COMPLIANCE ADVISORY
OFFICE OF ENFORCEMENT
AND COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE
National Compliance Initiative: Reducing Significant Non-Compliance with National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System Permits
EPA Document # 305F20002 September 2020
Clean Water Agencies Increasing Attention to
Significant Non-Compliance Dischargers
> To improve surface water quality and reduce potential impacts on drinking water, EPA and states are focusing
increased attention on all individually permitted Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) permit holders in significant non-compliance (SNC)1.
> EPA and state regulators are undertaking this National Compliance Initiative (NCI) to focus increased compliance
and enforcement attention on NPDES-regulated facilities in significant non-compliance, regardless of facility size.
V This advisory is designed to help NPDES permittees achieve or maintain compliance and avoid potential
enforcement and penalties.
About the NPDES Permit Program
States, tribes, and the federal government share responsibility for protecting
human health and the environment; point sources that discharge pollutants to
U.S. waters are one aspect of this responsibility. The NPDES permit program,
created in 1972 by the Clean Water Act (CWA), regulates these sources.
If you own or operate a facility with a permit issued under the NPDES program,
including a state-issued permit, under the CWA you have an obligation to comply
with the effluent limits, reporting requirements, and other requirements in the
permit. Non-compliance may subject you to substantial penalties through
enforcement actions.
What Is the Purpose of This Initiative?
In FY 2018, over 29 percent of the nation's 46,000 facilities with
individually issued NPDES permits were in significant non-compliance
with their permits. Violations range from significant exceedances of
effluent limits, which can harm human health and the environment, to
failure to submit reports, which can mask serious deficiencies.
This NCI is intended to ensure that all NPDES permittees—not
just industrial contributors—are complying with their permits,
NPDES permittees, regardless of facility size or type, will see an
increase by EPA and its state and tribal partners in identifying and
addressing SNC violations using enforcement and other compliance
tools. This NCI aims to cut significant non-compliance in half and
to ensure that the most serious SNC violations are timely and
appropriately addressed. Increased compliance will improve surface
water quality and reduce potential impacts on drinking water.
What Is a National Compliance
Initiative?
National Compliance Initiatives (NCIs) focus
EPA's enforcement and compliance
resources on the most serious environmental
violations. The goal of the NCI program is to
increase compliance using the full range of
compliance assurance tools. Facilities that
are regulated in an area addressed by an NCI
are subject to increased monitoring,
inspections, enforcement actions, and other
compliance activities.
1 Significant non-compliance (SNC) is a designation given by U.S. EPA to NPDES facilities with violations of a more serious nature and
cause for concern. These violations will likely warrant an enforcement response by EPA or the authorized state if not promptly resolved
by the permittee. For the technical definition of CWA SNC, see https://echo.epa.aov/help/reports/dfr-data-dictionarv#cwasnc.
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How Can I Prepare for the NCI?
NPDES permittees are encouraged to assess their
compliance status in one or both of the following ways:
> Review your discharge monitoring reports (DMRs).
> Use EPA's Enforcement & Compliance History Online
(ECHO) tool to look up your facility (see "About ECHO"
box).
If your facility has NPDES violations, EPA recommends
that you take immediate action to correct them. Smaller
facilities have not often been compliance and enforcement
priorities for EPA or the NPDES authorized states. However,
under this NCI, more attention will be given to facilities
approaching or already in significant non-compliance—no
matter their size.
EPA and its state and tribal partners will respond to SNC
violations in a timely and appropriate manner. These
violations are typically resolved either by prompt return to
compliance or return to compliance following an enforcement
action. Remember, violations are subject to enforcement by
either the state or EPA, with potential federal penalties of up
to $54,883 per day per violation. A prompt return to
compliance is critical to reduce the potential for an
enforcement action.
Ensuring Timely and Accurate
Compliance Data
Under the CWA, NPDES permittees are required to report their own compliance data. States and EPA rely on timely,
accurate, and complete self-reporting by permittees (through DMRs and other reports) to evaluate compliance. Failure to
report compliance data in a timely and accurate way is a violation of the permit and the CWA. EPA screens self-reported
compliance data for signs of misreporting. It may refer facilities for inspection to verify that the reported information is
correct, and for criminal or civil enforcement where fraud or violations are identified.
About ECHO
Enforcement & Compliance History Online
(https://echo.epa.gov/) allows permittees to check their
compliance status. A Detailed Facility Report in ECHO
indicates whether a permittee has violations and is in
significant non-compliance.
ECHO provides a quarterly breakdown of compliance
history that describes instances of significant non-
compliance. These can include an enforcement action
or permit compliance schedule violation, violations of
effluent permit limits, or a failure to submit timely
Discharge Monitoring Reports. (Note: In some cases,
significant non-compliance may be incorrectly
designated due to data entry errors or data transfer
problems.)
To view a Detailed Facility Report in ECHO, select the
"Facility Name/ID" tab in the "Quick Search" box and
search for the facility with facility-specific information.
Click the icon "C" under the "Reports" column. Scroll
down to the table titled "Compliance Summary Data"
and check for a "Yes" or "No" in the "Current
SNC/HPV" column. If it is marked "Yes", review the
"Three-Year Compliance History by Quarter" table for
additional information.
Reducing Penalties Through Voluntary Disclosure
Regulated entities who voluntarily discover, promptly disclose, expeditiously correct, and take steps to prevent
recurrence of potential violations may be eligible for a reduction or elimination of any civil penalties that otherwise might
apply. Most violations can be disclosed and processed via EPA's automated online "eDisclosure" system (see
https://www.epa.gov/compliance/epas-edisclosure). To learn more about EPA's violation disclosure policies, including
conditions for eligibility, please review EPA's Audit Policy website at https://www.epa.gov/compliance/epas-audit-policv.
Many states also offer incentives for self-policing; please check with the appropriate state agency for more information.
More Information
The resources below can help you correct violations and achieve compliance.
Be sure to check your permit or contact your NPDES permitting authority (state or EPA) for compliance assistance
information. For information on your state agency, use: https://www.epa.gov/npdes/contact-us-general-information-about-
npdes
Overview of This NCI
> https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/national-compliance-initiative-reducing-significant-non-compliance-national-
pollutant
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Technical Resources, Assistance and Training
>	EPA's NPDES web page: https://www.epa.gov/npdes
>	WaterOperator.org is a free resource portal for small systems operators
>	The Rural Community Assistance Partnership provides training for water operators, utility board members, financial
officers, and community members to help prepare communities to manage their own water systems: www.rcap.org
>	The Water Environment Federation is a nonprofit association that provides technical education and training for water
quality professionals: https://www.wef.org
>	The National Rural Water Association and their State Associations: Provides training and on-site technical assistance
to small and rural water and wastewater systems: https://www.nrwa.org
Financial Assistance and Funding Sources
>	EPA's Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center lists technical assistance partners that work with small and
rural systems to increase financial capabilities: https://www.epa.gov/waterfinancecenter/financial-technical-assistance-
and-tools-water-infrastructure#partners
>	EPA's Water Finance Clearinghouse is a database of financial assistance sources available to fund water
infrastructure needs: https://www.epa.gov/waterdata/water-finance-clearinghouse
Electronic Submission of Discharge Monitoring Reports
>	NetDMR Support Portal: https://netdmr.zendesk.com/hc/en-us
Disclaimer
This Compliance Advisory addresses select provisions of EPA regulatory requirements using plain language. Nothing
in this Compliance Advisory is meant to replace or revise any NPDES permit, any EPA regulatory provision, or any
other part of the Code of Federal Regulations, the Federal Register, or the Clean Water Act.
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