During the previous years, Individuals, industries, and cities were polluting many water sources by releasing pollutants into the water. These pollutants affected life in the waters in various ways, including the death of marine and freshwater animals.
They also made the water unfit for human and animal use. To address this issue, the US government, through the Clean Water Act, created the NPDES permit program in 1972.
The permit program seeks to address water pollution through the regulation of the discharge of pollutants through point sources into any water body belonging to the United States. The NPDES services permit covers several program areas. They include;
Animal Feeding Operation (AFOs)
This program covers agricultural operations where livestock are kept in confined environments. Manure and wastewater from an AFO could contain pollutants, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which could contaminate the water. The NPDES services permit regulating the discharge of pollutants from AFOs into any water body.
Stormwater
Stormwater is the water generated from rain and snow that flows over hard surfaces like roads, parking lots, and rooftops. This water usually picks up pollutants as it flows towards a water body, and the pollutants could contaminate the water body. Cities, construction sites, and industrial activities are the main sources of stormwater, hence are required to get NPDES services permit before they can discharge stormwater.
National Pretreatment Program
This is a program of the NPDES services established to protect water quality. The program aims to reduce the pollutants discharged by industries and other non-domestic facilities into municipal sewer systems and water bodies.
Industrial Wastewater
Most industries use water to clean their equipment or raw materials, and the wastewater usually contains pollutants affecting water quality. The NPDES services permit program puts certain limits and conditions for industries on how they can discharge wastewater into a water body.
Other industry-specific NPDES services permit programs include mining, oil and gas, pesticide applications, and vessel incidental discharges.
Municipal Wastewater
Municipalities are responsible for collecting and treating domestic sewage and wastewater generated by their residents. Most municipalities have wastewater treatment facilities that are used to treat wastewater before it is released into a water body.
The NPDES services permit program established the city’s limits and conditions to follow when discharging water from their wastewater treatment facilities to a water body.
Knowing All NPDES Program Areas
Knowing which program areas cover your activity is important before applying for an NPDES services permit. Other program areas covered by the NPDES services include aquaculture, pesticide permitting, and vessel discharges.
Author bio- Building off over 3 decades of experience from working with his father Jim Mayfield (Mayfield Enterprises, Inc.), James mastered the industry in Foremanship for over 15 years on HAZMAT and Superfund Sites throughout Southern California. Among many other partners, we has worked with Project Navigator, RE Solutions, Crew Grading Inc., WSP, SCS Engineers, TRC Corporation, GeoSyntec, NV5 Environmental, Entact Corp, Waste by Rail, Michael Baker, ERRG, O&M Corp, Largo Concrete, B&D Construction, Xebec, WorkSmart, JLL Enterprises, Mayfield Enterprises, Inc., Arcadis, and more. In addition to being a Stanford-educated Professor with over 30 publications and books in several languages (see Academic Resume), James’ real passion lies in Construction-related Project Management, Environmental Cleanups, HAZMAT, Excavation, and Field Labor. We are also Minority-Owned. James Mayfield is a Native American citizen of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas & Nebraska.
August 14, 2022