1. Understanding EPA’s FY National Compliance Initiative: Reducing Significant Noncompliance with CWA-NPDES Permits
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
August 28, 2019 Webinar

2. Webinar Goals
Provide an overview of EPA’s National Compliance Initiative (NCI) Reducing Significant Noncompliance (SNC) with Clean Water Act (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits
Explain how Category I and II noncompliance and SNC are defined, reported, and tracked
Provide an overview of EPA SNC guidance documents
Introduce EPA tools for analyzing SNC
Identify additional SNC-related training needs

3. Webinar Agenda EPA’s “Reducing NPDES SNC NCI”
NPDES Category I and II Noncompliance and Required Reporting
EPA’s NPDES SNC Guidance
Identifying and Tracking SNC Violations
EPA Tools for Analyzing SNC
Wrap-Up (Other SNC-related training needs?)
VII. Additional Information

4. I. EPA’s Reducing NPDES SNC NCI
Implements goal of EPA’s FY Strategic Plan to increase the environmental law compliance rate
Achieve a 50% reduction in the NPDES SNC rate by September 30, 2022
EPA is focused on reducing NPDES SNC because:
National SNC rate has remained consistently high for decades at 20% - 30%
NPDES facilities in SNC are found in all states
EPA has compliance data for the NPDES program in its Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS)
SNC is a well-established concept used by EPA and states for over 30 years
On June 7, 2019, OECA announced its NCIs for FY2020 – 2023, including the CWA NPDES SNC NCI which is focused on working with states to address all individually-permitted NPDES facilities with serious violations (i.e., majors in SNC and minors in Category I) to:
Reduce the NPDES SNC rate from 29.4% to 14.7% by the end of FY2022, while assuring the most serious SNC violations are timely and appropriately addressed
Improve completeness and accuracy of national NPDES compliance and enforcement data

5. I. EPA’s Reducing NPDES SNC NCI (continued)
Strong partnership with NPDES-authorized States is critical to increase compliance with the CWA and meet EPA’s Strategic Plan Goal
OECA’s 2019 policy, “Enhancing Effective Partnerships Between EPA and the States in Civil Enforcement Work”
Cooperative, periodic, and early joint planning and regular communication with states on compliance and enforcement activities
OECA’s 2019 memorandum, “Regional Role in Reducing the NPDES Rate of SNC”
Quarterly meetings with states to discuss SNCs and strategies to address and reduce the SNC rate
Use of the full range of compliance assurance tools (compliance/technical assistance, informal enforcement, formal enforcement)
EPA-State NPDES SNC workgroup: EPA, State, and ACWA involvement
4 workgroup co-chairs includes State co-chair from VA
4 subgroups: Effluent SNC, SNC and Data Quality, Federal Facilities, NCI Communications and Policy
Forum to discuss progress, successes, and best practices in reducing NPDES SNC as well as challenges, issues, and training needs
National EPA-State SNC NCI conference held in April 2019; 2nd conference planned for 2020

6. II. NPDES Category I & II Noncompliance
Federal regulation at 40 CFR § established categories for a subset of permit, enforcement order, and pretreatment program noncompliance of concern for NPDES facilities and noncompliance reporting requirements
Two categories of noncompliance: Category I and Category II
Category I Noncompliance: quantifiable; consists of effluent limit, compliance schedule, and reporting violations meeting criteria of a specified magnitude, frequency, and/or duration, for example:
Violations of monthly average effluent limits for Group I and Group II pollutants identified in Appendix A of 40 CFR §123.45:
40% (for Group I conventional pollutants) or 20% (for Group II toxic pollutants) over the effluent limit for 2 months in a 6 month period; any (Group I or II) monthly average effluent exceedance for 4 mo. in 6 mo. period
Required reports (e.g., DMR, pretreatment, final compliance) late by 30 days
Category II Noncompliance: all other violations of concern that do not meet Category I criteria
Violations that meet Category I or II criteria are called “reportable noncompliance” or “RNC”
40 CFR established noncompliance reporting requirements for the NPDES program.
Early version of the regulation was vague and required reporting of all NPDES violations. EPA worked with closely states to revise the regulation in 1985 to include a set of reporting criteria.
Required noncompliance reporting is focused on a subset of the total universe of NPDES noncompliance – it’s focused on NPDES major permittees that have violations that meet the criteria for Category I or Category II noncompliance as spelled out in the regulations.
Category I noncompliance is based on “patterns of noncompliance:” and generally considered to be more serious than Category II. They are permit or enforcement order effluent limit, compliance schedule, or reporting violations of a specified magnitude, frequency, and/or duration. Two examples on slide. Another example would be violation of a compliance schedule milestone in a permit or enforcement order for starting or completing construction by 90 days or more.
Category II: other violations (e.g., other compliance schedule milestones exceeded; incomplete/deficient reports)
The subset of NPDES violations that meet the Category I and Category II criteria are referred to as “RNC.” (not a regulatory term)

7. II. NPDES Category I & II Noncompliance: Required Reporting
Quarterly Noncompliance Report (QNCR) is a regulatory required report to track Category I and II Noncompliance (i.e., “RNC”) for NPDES facilities and includes:
List of facilities with RNC-level violations during the reporting period (listing facility type, name, location, permit number)
Includes violation information such as type, date, status of “NC” (continuing), “RP” (resolved pending), or “RE” (resolved), and violation status date
Also includes dates and brief descriptions of any actions taken by the NPDES permitting authority to ensure compliance
EPA’s Integrated Compliance Information System for the NPDES program (ICIS- NPDES) automatically identifies NPDES facilities in RNC
40 CFR § requires EPA to make the QNCR available to the public on May 31st, August 31st, November 30th, February 28th of every year

8. II. NPDES Category I & II Noncompliance: Required Reporting (continued)
EPA’s 2015 NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule included significant revisions to 40 CFR §123.45, including replacement of the QNCR with a new NPDES Noncompliance Report (NNCR) that will include both majors and minors
The first new quarterly NNCR is due to be published by EPA by Dec. 21, 2021
Key differences between the QNCR and NNCR:
QNCR focuses on NPDES majors; NNCR will include all NPDES-regulated entities and an expanded universe of compliance and enforcement information
QNCR focuses on self-reported violations on discharge monitoring reports (DMRs); NNCR will include a broader universe of violations from additional sources (e.g., program reports)
NNCR includes electronic DMR data reported directly by permittees reducing the reporting burden for states; its electronic format will make data more accessible and useable (e.g., the ability to sort data) for EPA, states, and the public
In the interim, EPA continues to use the definitions and process for the QNCR

9. III. EPA’s NPDES SNC Guidance
NPDES SNC is:
An EPA enforcement resource management tool developed as national guidance in the 1980s; it is not a regulatory requirement
SNC violations are a subset of the universe of noncompliance of concern (i.e., RNC) at NPDES major permittees reported on the QNCR
EPA’s SNC criteria identify the most egregious RNC violations that warrant priority agency review and response
EPA’s 1989 NPDES Enforcement Management System (EMS) guidance establishes the program performance expectation that a permittee in SNC will promptly return to compliance on its own or the NPDES authority will typically initiate a timely and appropriate formal enforcement action

10. Universe of NPDES Noncompliance (Note: Graphic is not to scale – it is for illustrative purposes only)
Total NPDES-Regulated Universe
Total Universe of NPDES Noncompliance
Subset of NPDES Category I and II Noncompliance or RNC Reported on QNCR
Subset of NPDES RNC on the QNCR that meets EPA’s SNC definition

11. III. EPA’s NPDES SNC Guidance (continued)
EPA uses NPDES SNC:
To prioritize enforcement investigation and response
To set NPDES enforcement program performance expectations for EPA and authorized states in EPA guidance:
“Timely and appropriate” response to SNC violation is an action taken (i.e., either a return to compliance by the permittee or a formal enforcement action taken by the NPDES authority) before the same SNC violation appears on the second official QNCR
In some circumstances, an alternative action (e.g., informal enforcement action) by the NPDES authority may be appropriate; the alternative action and rationale should be documented
EPA may take the lead in an enforcement action in an authorized state consistent with OECA’s 7/11/19 policy, “Enhancing Effective Partnerships Between EPA and the States in Civil Enforcement Work”
In the course of collaborative, joint enforcement work planning with the authorized state
At the request of the authorized state
For significant violations that the authorized state has not timely or appropriately addressed after communication with the state and elevation to senior management, where necessary, per OECA’s policy

12. III. EPA’s NPDES SNC Guidance (continued)
EPA uses NPDES SNC (continued):
To help facilitate the discussion of NPDES enforcement priorities and work- share opportunities in EPA regions’ periodic meetings with states
As an internal and external NPDES program performance measure
Why NPDES SNC is still important:
Well-established violation prioritization approach that is widely understood and used by EPA, states, and the public
Utilizes existing data in EPA’s ICIS-NPDES data system to provide a more complete national picture of serious NPDES violations
Provides the ability to track and measure NPDES noncompliance trends nationally, regionally, and state-by-state

13. IV. Identifying and Tracking SNC: ICIS and ECHO
How the ICIS-NPDES data system is used to identify SNC/Category I Noncompliance:
EPA’s Integrated Compliance Information System for the NPDES program (ICIS- NPDES) is EPA’s national database for NPDES permit and compliance data.
EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) website is a public tool that allows users to search for facilities and view information about their compliance with environmental regulations. Information about compliance in the NPDES program included in ECHO comes from ICIS-NPDES and is refreshed on a weekly basis.
Some states use ICIS-NPDES directly, some have their own NPDES data systems that send data electronically to ICIS-NPDES, and some use both for different types of data. The NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule governs which data must be provided by states to ICIS-NPDES. This rule also requires facilities and states to submit certain data to EPA electronically (e.g., DMRs and inspection data).

14. IV. Identifying and Tracking SNC: ICIS and ECHO (continued)
How the ICIS-NPDES data system is used to identify SNC/Category I Noncompliance:
ICIS-NPDES processing: 1) identifies violations based on the data provided by permittees in their DMRs, 2) evaluates if any required data has not been received on time, and 3) recognizes whether a formal enforcement action has been taken to address a violation.
ICIS-NPDES also characterizes violations as “reportable noncompliance” or “significant noncompliance” if they meet the applicable criteria. Violations that do not meet RNC or SNC criteria are categorized as “non-RNC” violations in ICIS.
EPA uses the term “SNC” in ICIS and ECHO regardless of the major/minor status of the facility.

15. IV. Identifying and Tracking SNC: ICIS and ECHO (continued)
How the ICIS-NPDES data system is used to identify SNC/Category I Noncompliance:
EPA conducts “unofficial” RNC processing runs in ICIS that assign violation-level categorization and facility-level compliance status which can be viewed in ICIS- NPDES but are not shown in ECHO until the “official” date (approximately 2.5 months after the end of the quarter).
As these “unofficial” runs occur, permitting authorities are asked to QA their data and make corrections.
Example Schedule – Q3 FY 2019

16. IV. Identifying and Tracking SNC: ICIS and ECHO (continued)
EPA uses the “official” status in the QNCR for performance measure reporting.
The “RNC Status” in ICIS is the highest-level status according to a defined hierarchy. A facility may have violations that meet the criteria for a lower-level status as well, but only the highest will be identified.
RNC Status Hierarchy

17. IV. Identifying and Tracking SNC: QNCR

18. IV. Identifying and Tracking SNC: Coordinators’ QNCR

19. V. EPA Tools for Analyzing SNC
NPDES SNC/Category 1 Violations Dashboard (ECHO Gov log in required) Violations/ECHO_NPDES_SNC_Category_1_Violations.html?qlikTick et=.tdymJv0.9jpSwoJ
CWA-NPDES SNC Violation Tracker (ECHO Gov log in required)
EPA Region 2 SNC Dashboard

20. VI. Wrap-Up Other SNC-related training needs?
EPA contacts for this webinar:

21. VII. Additional Information
OECA’s FY NCIs at initiatives
OECA’s July 12, 2019 memorandum, “Regional Role in Reducing the NPDES Rate of SNC,” at 07/documents/regionalroleinreducingnpdesrateofsignificantnoncompliance pdf
OECA’s 2019 policy, “Enhancing Effective Partnerships Between EPA and the States in Civil Enforcement Work,” at 07/documents/memoenhancingeffectivepartnerships.pdf
Key EPA enforcement guidance documents that define NPDES SNC and QNCR:
1989 CWA-NPDES ”Enforcement Management System (EMS)” at
1995 OECA memorandum to revise NPDES-SNC definition to include non-monthly average effluent limit violations at
2008 OECA memorandum to clarify NPDES EMS guidance on timely and appropriate response to SNC at

22. VII. Additional Information (continued)
EPA NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule (includes NNCR) at pollutant-discharge-elimination-system-npdes-electronic-reporting-rule
EPA training available:
ECHO at and
ICIS Users Training - Schedule and Recordings at us/articles/ ICIS-NPDES-Training-Schedule
Assortment of CWA NPDES inspector training materials at
NPDES inspector technical training contact:
SNC Reduction Best Practices Webinar Series contact: