NPDES Permit Program Basics
Regulations
EPA, in coordination with States, the regulated community, and the public develops, implements, and conducts oversight of the NPDES permit program based on statutory requirements contained in the Clean Water Act and regulatory requirements contained in the NPDES regulations. As changes to the NPDES regulations are needed, EPA issues proposed and final rules related to the NPDES permit program.
Clean Water Act
- The CWA is a law enacted by Congress and signed by the President that establishes environmental programs, including the NPDES program, to protect the Nation's waters and directs EPA to issue rules on to how implement this law.
Regulations - When making changes to the NPDES regulations, EPA first develops a proposed rule and provides it in the Federal Register for public review and comment. The Federal Register is a federal government-wide collection of important new documents that is published daily. After receiving public comments, EPA develops a final regulation and again publishes it in the Federal Register. Once each year, all final federal rules are compiled into a document called the Code of Federal Regulations.
Proposed Rules
- When EPA proposes new or revised rules to implement the CWA, they include a Preamble and the text of the new or revised rule. The Preamble is an introduction to the rule that provides a discussion on what issues and information were considered when developing the proposal. EPA publishes proposed rules in the Federal Register and asks for public comment.
Final Rules
- After receiving public comment on a proposed rule, EPA revises the rule, when appropriate, and issues a final rule. Final rules contain a Preamble and the text of the final rule. The Preamble or introduction discusses changes that were made from the proposed rule, what must be done to comply with the final rule, and why EPA chose this approach. EPA publishes final rules in the Federal Register.
Code of Federal Regulations
- The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) includes the text of all final rules issued in the previous year as well as any existing final rules that did not change in the previous year. The CFR does not contain proposed or final rule preambles or information concerning a final rule other than the text.
Notices
- EPA publishes notices in the Federal Register to provide the regulated community and interested citizens with important information related to the NPDES permit program. Typical examples of such notices are advance notices of rulemaking, availability of data or reports, public meetings, certain petitions, and information collection requests.
Other Federal Laws
- Other Federal agencies implement laws in addition to the Clean Water Act that may impact the NPDES permit program.
For access to all federal regulations since 1993 visit the Government Printing Office (GPO)  site.
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