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Stormwater Unit :: NPDES Wastewater General Permitting Program

National Pollution Discharge Elimination (NPDES) Wastewater Discharge General Permits are administered by the NPDES Unit, along with Individual Wastewater Permits. Information about wastewater general permits is maintained on this site. Questions or requests for additional information on the wastewater permitting program should be directed to the NPDES Unit.

All wastewater discharges to surface water in the State of North Carolina must receive a permit to control water pollution. The Clean Water Act of 1972 initiated strict control of wastewater discharges with responsibility of enforcement given to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA then created the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) to track and control point sources of pollution. The primary method of control is by issuing permits to discharge with limitations on wastewater flow and constituents. The EPA delegated permitting authority to the State of North Carolina in 1975.

There are two categories of NPDES Wastewater Discharge Permits in North Carolina, individual permits and general permits. The wastewater general permits are issued for statewide activities such as the discharge of wastewater associated with sand dredging or discharge of wastewater associated with petroleum-based groundwater remediation. The Division of Water Quality's NPDES Unit is responsible for issuing both individual and general wastewater discharge permits. More information is available through the NPDES Unit.

Active General Wastewater Discharge Permits currently exist for the following activities:

Cooling Tower and Boiler Blowdown

Cooling Waters associated with Hydroelectric Operations

Domestic discharges from Single Family Residences

Non-Contact Cooling Water Discharges

Petroleum-Based Groundwater Remediation

Sand Dredging

Seafood Packaging

The text of the five active NPDES Wastewater Discharge Permits can be downloaded from the "Manuals, Factsheets, Forms, & Documents" section of this web site. For information on active Certificates of Coverage under these general permits, go to the "Active Permits & COC's" section.

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Page last updated December 9, 2008